Doris Troy

Doris Troy was born Doris Elaine Higginsen in the Bronx on January 6 1937 and was the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. She later took her grandmother's name and grew up as Doris Payne. Her parents disapproved of 'subversive' forms of music such as rhythm & blues, so she originally began singing in her father's choir. She was working as an usherette at the Apollo where she was discovered by James Brown. Taking her stage name from Helen of Troy, she worked with Solomon Burke, the Drifters, Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick before she co-wrote and recorded 'Just One Look', which achieved the number ten position in the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.

The song was recorded in ten minutes in October 1962 with producer Buddy Lucas as a demo for Atlantic Records. However, after Atlantic heard the demo, they decided not to re-record it, but release it as it was. 'Just One Look' was the only Doris Troy US chart hit. Musicians on the song included Ernie Hayes on organ, Wally Richardson on guitar, Bob Bushnell on bass, and Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie on drums. The song has since been covered by the Hollies, Major Lance, Linda Ronstadt, Bryan Ferry, Anne Murray, Klaus Nomi and Harry Nilsson in a duet with Lynda Laurence. Doris's only foray into the UK Singles Chart was 'Whatcha Gonna Do About it', which reached number 37 in December 1964.

As her solo career peaked, she sang back-up for the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Kevin Ayers, Edgar Broughton, Pink Floyd (on their album Dark Side of the Moon), George Harrison, Johnny Hallyday, Vivian Stanshall, Dusty Springfield, Nick Drake, Junior Campbell and Carly Simon.

She was signed by the Beatles to their Apple Records label in 1969 and released the Doris Troy album the following year, co-produced by Troy and George Harrison. Doris worked in the UK throughout the 1970s, appearing at Ronnie Scott's Club and recording a live album, The Rainbow Testament. Her People Records album, Stretching Out, was not a big seller.

Mama, I Want To Sing! is a stage musical based on her life and was co-written with her sister, Vy, a popular New York radio personality. It ran for 1,500 performances at the Heckscher Theatre in Harlem. Doris played her own mother, Geraldine. Chaka Khan played her aunt in the London production, as did Deniece Williams. Mama, I Want to Sing! was also made into a motion picture, starring Ciara, Patti Labelle and Hill Harper, which was released on DVD in 2012.

Doris died from emphysema at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 67.

 

Doris Troy, Doris La Belle - and the other Doris La Belle

Apart from a few typically sparse biographies such as the one above, it may surprise you to learn that we know very little about Doris Troy. Doris is of course, more familiar to soul fans for her Cameo-Parkway recording 'I'll Do Anything', a song that became so popular in the UK, it even spawned a revival of Tony Blackburn's MGM version which was covered up as Lenny Gamble and re-released on the Casino Classics label as the flip side of the Flirtations' 'Little Darling (I Need You)' back in 1978. It may also surprise you to learn that although Doris's 45s are much sought after in collecting circles, there is one single which is probably much harder to acquire than any of the others and remains missing from most Doris Troy collections. The 45 in question is 'Hit and Run Lover' c/w 'Groovin' with Rosko' (Mother MOT 4), which she recorded under the name of Doris La Belle. The problem is, 'Hit and Run Lover' doesn't sound like Doris Troy.

The single is so obscure, there were no label scans of it to be found anywhere online. The scans on this page are from Emperor Rosko's personal copy of the 45. To find out more about this elusive record and indeed Doris Troy herself, I delved into it with several people who might have some answers.

Chris Gibbons was the producer of the Mother label sessions. Chris provided some surprising information: The Doris La Belle on the A-side definitely wasn't Doris Troy. In fact, the singer of 'Hit and Run Lover' was actually Elizabeth Thompson also known as Barry St John, an artist probably best remembered in soul circles for a song called 'Everything I Touch Turns to Tears', which was released back in 1967 on the Columbia records label.

Apparently, there'd been a mix-up at the studio and what was intended to be a Barry St John/Doris La Belle single had been released as Doris La Belle on both sides. Whether or not Barry St John is aware of any of this or even the single being released, remains unknown, as I have been unable to track her down thus far.

From a collector's point of view, the 45 is quite an enigma due to its rarity and the fact that it has two very collectable artists on one release. Actually, make that three artists, as the keyboards player on the 'Groovin' with Rosko' side was none other than the legendary Rick Wakeman!

Emperor Rosko's recollections of Doris Troy

Doris and I met at functions and 'Rosko's Round Table' etc. She was sweet and nice and a great singer. She could be described as a 'one-take mama' - a real professional in the studio, which was fortunate for me on my budget at the time! I created the Mother label and I think we had 15 or so releases. I thought it would be a good earner with my name behind it; I was wrong! The Beeb frowned on one playing one's own product. As far as I can remember, the 'Groovin' with Rosko' recording took place somewhere in London's West End. I just said, "Come sing for some readies" and she did! I gave her the name 'Doris La Belle' to avoid any potential contractual problems with other labels she was involved with at the time. I don't recall exactly how many copies were pressed, but runs of around ten thousand were usually the norm. That was back in the days when we worked fast!