Ya know, every so often Old Mon acts his age and spins an old doo-wop tune on his Kenwood. And one of the best, bar none, was a sixties ballad by George Goodman and the Fabulous Headliners called "Let Me Love You."
And hey, Old Mon's not alone in his admiration of the song. Paul Mawhinney, of Record Rama fame and vinyl collector extraordinaire, said this when he was asked what one song from his stacks of wax he would play for company:
"I would put a record on called 'Let Me Love You' by George Goodman & His Headliners, a wonderful ballad and a Number 1 record in Pittburgh and Baltimore. It’s the most released non-hit record in history!"
As far as we can figure, it was issued five times, twice on national labels. The record was first released in 1964 on Sharpsburg's Val label (#1), credited to George Goodman & His Headliners, and reissued a couple of times. (Val Records was local label operated by florist Augie Bernardi.)
It was released again on Warner Brothers in 1965 (#5632), and pressed again by A&M (#1011) in 1968 under The Headliners. It became a huge regional hit but never charted nationally.
In fact, the group had a little cottage industry going on with the label for a brief spell and was Val's big act; we suspect that it was Goodman's home base - he was also heavily into the industry side, producing, distributing, and promoting records - but we can't verify the Val connection. Their 45's from the Middle Street label were:
RECORD Val #1-1964
SIDE A: Let Me Love You (2:57)
SIDE B: Let Me Love You (instrumental - 2:57)
The song was written by Genne Salo and produced by George Goodman.
RECORD Val #3-1964
SIDE A: Starlight And Moonbeams (2:35)
SIDE B: I'm So Tired (2:40)
The song was written by Rodney Williams and George Goodman. Goodman also produced the session.
RECORD Val #5-1964
SIDE A: I'll Cherish Your Love (2:18)
SIDE B: Secret Love (2:20)
RECORD Val #6-1965
SIDE A: Need You (2:14)
SIDE B: Starlight And Moonbeams (2:18)
(Listing from Youngblood's Oldies Database)
And just who were these guys that had the doo-wop ballad down to an art form in a city that took its vocalists seriously? They were George Goodman (baritone), Rodney Williams (lead), and Melvin Peters (tenor).
The Hill's Goodman died young in the late 60s. Travis Klein, of Itzy label fame, filled us in on his bio: "George Goodman, from the Hill District, got his start in the mid 60's working for Herbie Cohen's Fenway Distributors on Fifth Avenue, Uptown. He was very involved in distributing and promoting R & B records for them and helped break Charlie and Inez Foxx's "Mockingbird" on Sue Records.
Melvin Peters started his career with The Five Mellows, and also worked with the Del Vikings and Marcels. In the early 1960's, he joined Chuck Jackson and the Motown group The Originals. Then it was back home as a Headliner. He spent the seventies working with Solid Gold, Flashback, and the Katch. Now he's with a Cleveland group called Mellow Class.
After Goodman's death, we've been told, the Headliners played and toured regionally for awhile, before eventually heading to Texas to harmonize, allegedly as faux-Marcels (at least until the real Marcels found out).
And that's all we could find out about the short-lived Headliners, other than they're not to be mistaken with Motown's Headliners of the same era, and they're on several compilation albums, such as Itzy's Pittsburgh's Greatest Hits series. If you can add to their tale, give us a yell. Meanwhile, enjoy "Let Me Love You."
George Goodman and the Headliners - "Let Me Love You"
23 comments:
One of my fav songs....yep the chills hit me hard on this one & still does! Headhunters tho ??
also all these years I been singing take me in your arms & now was was I hearing wrong, is it heart ?? Thanks for this great post ;)
Dusty - Thanks. I do appreciate the Headhunter note; I've had this post up for 15 months and you're the first to notice my gaffe. Got it fixed now.
And I wouldn't worry about the lyric. I thought it was heart, to be honest, but since it's not published anywhere I can find, who cares? (and when I listen, half the time it sounds like heart; the other half sounds like arms) It's whatever you think sounds right.
So, I got a Val re-issue with the vocal on both sides. Is the instrumental version a sax thing or what? One of the most beautifil non-hits ever.
Dave near Boston
Dave - the Val original was backed with an instrumental version; I think they had a reissue with "I'm So Tired" on the B Side.
Warner also released a version with an instrumental version on the flip; I've not seen an A&M record.
As far as whether it was sax version or not, can't help you; I don't have the vinyl. I can tell you I've never heard of one with vocals on both sides; maybe it was a bootleg.
Was George a Goodwin or Goodman?
Anon - thanks; good eye. That post has been up since 2009 and had over 1,000 hits, and you were the first to catch the typo. Fixed it up; appreciate the note.
Ron: Makes me feel good that your writing is now 100%. I was looking for death info on George Goodman, and that's when I notice the difference in names. I checked two states, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Was there another state where George may of been from?
Anon - Goodman didn't leave anything behind as far as bios or obits go that I could find. I'll post if something pops up or I bump across someone from the era that knew his background.
Ron, would you know how old George Goodman was when he passed away? Also, how old was he at passing?
I bought "Let Me Love You" as a Warner Bros. new release in 1965. The instrumental is simply the backing track (minus the vocal).
I also bought "Need You" when it was reissued in summer 1967. The backing track is identical to the one on Johnny Jack's recording.
My all time favorite song. The first time I heard this song was at a dance at the Y.M.C.A. in downtown Pittsburgh.
Ron, I think George died in Buffalo. He jumped out of a window. I don't know the year or his age. My guess is he would have been about 73 now.
Trav
I worked with George at Fenway Records in 1967. He was a great guy, very funny. Every once in a while he would sing and dazzle all of us in the warehouse. I'm sure that many besides me miss him.
Thanks for taking the time to post this........everyone!
One of my older brothers bought the 45 when I was only about 4 or 5 years old (circa 1964-65). I played it over and over, loved it that much. Never knew these guys were from the ‘Burgh. Great instrumental arrangement. Sounds like the Skyliner’s instrumental backing.
This is Mike Colaizzi, former lead guitar and keyboard player for The Electrons, who released "It Ain't No Big Thing" in Pittsburgh in '67. Back in '64 we recorded with The Headliners in a small recording studio, and later played with them on stage at a high school dance in Mt. Oliver. Not that it really matters at this late date in 2020, but it's always been a mystery to me if one or more of our instrumental backings in the studio recordings made its way onto one of their releases.
I realize this is an old post,but.
I remember on the Charlie Apple Radio Show, he was interviewing man ,from New England, that had a Doo Wop newsletter. The man had a story that a bog group,he wouldn't name, had a flop with "Let me love you". George heard it and bought the backtrack. The rest is Pittsburgh history.
Just an old Pittsburgh guy that grew up in the fifties and early sixties in a Pittsburgh Coal Mining Patch that lived for the songs that George Goodman and the headliners sang along with so many other great Doo Whop songs that groups gave us. I still get lost in the fifties with those great memories. I never want to leave.Thank you George.
Georgie as we called him was my first cousin. He was a number of years older than me. I was just looking through some old photos and came across a pic of Georgie. He must haven been 5 or 6. His dad was married to my Aunt Esther. We were all brought up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. I think about himm often.
I love the song "Let me Love you" and whenever I think of it, I search for it and play it. Someone posted and asked about "Val" Records. That was the name of Georgie's wife. Last I saw Georgie, he was headed to Baltimore to work in the recording industry. And, then I heard he'd died by suicide. I could never get the real story and have to rely on my youthful memories of him.
Cheryl
This was a big song in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. I often wonder as to who Genne Salo is. Can't seem to find any information on the composer of such a great song.
I concur!
One of the best, if not the best, to come from the 'Burgh',
I still have an acetate copy of Let Me Love You, I've had it for almost 20 years. I got it from my uncle, don't know where he got it. The label is from United Recording Services at 100 7th Street in Pittsburgh and the song info is handwritten. B side is the instrumental cut, A side has written, "Featuring Rodney".
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