Millions of listeners have no doubt heard “Workin’ on a Groovy Thing”; problem is they are probably more familiar with the 5th Dimension’s Top 40 version than the original by Patti Drew. Although Drew' recorded a number of fine tunes, she never quite hit it big, and the stress of what was in her words a “brutal” touring schedule led her to suddenly retire from the music industry in 1971. Yet despite her limited output, she gave beach music audiences two excellent recordings in “Tell Him” and “Workin’ on a Groovy Thing.”
Patti Drew was born in Charleston, South Carolina, but her family moved to Evanston, Illinois, in 1956. There Patti and her sisters, Lorraine and Erma, sang in the choir at their local church. Patti’s mother was a housekeeper for Maury Lathowers, the regional promotional manager for Capitol Records, and one Sunday, she asked Lathowers to come to church to hear her daughters sing. Lathowers ending up booking a formal audition for the girls, and after playing the demo for Capitol exec Peter Wright, they signed the group to a contract. Calling themselves the Drew-vels, for their first release they recorded a song Erma’s husband, Carlton Black, had written. “Tell Him,” with Black singing bass, was a huge regional hit in the Chicago area in 1964, though it only made it to #90 on the national R&B charts. The group released a few more singles, but having had no national success, they decided to break up.
Thanks for sharing this song
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