Earl-Jean
b. Ethel Earl-Jean McCrea, North Carolina, USA. Together with Margie Hendrix and Pat Lyles she formed the Cookies who first recorded on Lamp in 1954. They joined Atlantic in 1955 and were heard singing backing vocals on many hits on that label in the mid-50s. They had their own Top 10 R&B hit in 1956 with In Paradise and shortly afterwards went to work with Ray Charles under the name the Raelettes. Earl-Jean reformed the group with new members Dorothy Jones and Margaret Ross in 1962 and signed to Goffin And King's label Dimension as both artists and session singers. They had US Top 20 hits with Chains (later recorded by the Beatles) and Don't Say Nothin Bad (About My Baby)’. In 1964 Earl-Jean went solo on Colpix and her first single I'm Into Something Good, another Goffin and King composition, became her only US hit, reaching the bottom of the Top 40. A year later the song became a UK number 1 hit for Herman's Hermits. Earl-Jean's follow-up single, Randy, failed to chart, and although she continued to record as Darlene McCrae, was unable to find a consistent success.