The “Golden Hits Of The 60s” 

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JARMELS

“A LITTLE BIT OF SOAP”

(Bert Burns)

Laurie 3098

No. 12   September 18, 1961

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Bert Burns (a.k.a. Bert Russell, Russell Byrd) died of a heart attack years before he hit 40 and light years

before he would run out of creative energy.  He wrote “Twist and Shout,” the Rolling Stones’ “Everybody

Needs Somebody to Love;’ and JANIS JOPLIN’s “Piece of My Heart;” produced the Drifters, Lulu, the

McCoys, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond; and headed Bang and Shout Records. Writing “A Little Bit of Soap,”

Bert created two One-Hit Wonders–the Jarmels and NIGEL OLSSON­ and revived the career of a third, the

EXCITERS.

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The Jarmels–lead vocalist Paul Burnett (b. 1942), tenor Earl Christiansen (b. 1940), bass Tommy Eldridge

(b. 1941), baritone Ray Smith (b. 1941; no relation to the rockabilly wonder RAY SMITH), and tenor

Nathaniel Ruff (b. 1939) were all from Richmond, Virginia, and had been crossing paths for years.  They

attended the same church; they sang in the same glee club in school. They eventually became good friends,

and in the late ’50s decided to pull themselves together into a legitimate singing group.  By 1960, they had

traveled to New York City where they lifted the group name from a street sign in Harlem.

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Jim Gribble, manager of the Passions and THE MYSTICS, happened on to the group, liked their material,

and pointed them toward Bob and Gene Schwartz at Laurie Records. Although Laurie was well known as a

doo-wop label, their artists were usually Italian (e.g. the Belmonts, the Del Satins), not black. Still, six

singles in all were issued, all of them with a smooth racially inte­ grated feel to them.

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The Jarmels’ debut disk, “Little Lonely One,” was also a first 45 for Bobby Vinton; neither charting. The guys

hit pay dirt with the Bert Russell (a.k.a. Bert Burns) tune, “A Little Bit of Soap.”  It cracked the Top 10, but

nothing else the fellows ever waxed even brushed the Hot 100.  “Soap” was loaded with magic, and over the

years, The Exciters, Garnet Mimms, Paul Davis, Nigel Olsson, and Showaddywaddy all charted with their

renditions of the Jarmels’ original; the latter went Top Five in Great Britain in 1978.

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When their recording contract with Laurie Records ended in 1963, the Jarmels returned to Virginia and

apparently disbanded–for awhile.  Reports are that fellow One-Hit Wonder MAJOR HARRIS, later of the

Delfonics and still later a successful soul solo, was a practicing member of the group.  No further records

were ever released under the Jarmels name, though, in 1990 Burnett and Eldridge with new members–

Carlton Hatch and Jimmy Smith­ returned to making occasional appearances.