You Showed Me the Fun in the World: Shirley, Lee and Songs about Hugging

 
Shirley and Lee never wrote a song that was not about dancing or having fun. And that takes discipline, don’t you think? If remembered at all, they’re best know for the song “Let the good times roll.” Their version however, has been tarnished by a variety of appropriations, and obscured by a number of covers, perhaps most famously by Sam Cooke.

My personal associations of this song mostly relate to pop-culture conceptions of the American 50s. You hear this song in bad commercials trying to evoke the era; you hear it appropriated in Johnny-rocket style faux 50s diners and you hear the song on “oldies” stations. The song has become an icon of nostalgia. But a nostalgia for the myth of the 50s, not a reality. Not unlike Woody Guthrie’s “This land is your land,” the song has come to represent something that was never on its agenda. This should not be the fate of the song, nor for Shirley and Lee. I’ll tell you why.

Shirley & Lee - Let the good times roll

The sound of Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee was cultivated in one the musically richest cities on the planet, and they came to the music business at an unusually young age. The two were good neighborhood friends, living in New Orleans, and at the age of 15, they developed a dream to become rhythm & blues stars. Not far from their neighborhood was the legendary Cosimo Recording Studio. The kids thought they could become pop stars if only someone would record them. After much pestering at the studio, a recording engineer told them he would record one track, if they would pay him $2.00. Many weeks—and soda pop deposits later—they raised the money. They dressed in their Sunday best and recorded “I’m gone.”

After the studio waxed the vinyl, the kids took the record and disappeared back into the fray of New Orleans. A couple weeks later, Eddie Mesner of Aladdin records was visiting the studio. The story goes that the engineer was testing out the equipment, and he played used magnetic tape from a previous session. That tape held Shirley & Lee’s “I’m gone.” Mesner was captivated. He pressed the engineer to give him information about the kids. No one even knew their names. So, the search began. Weeks were spent combing the neighborhood for Shirley & Lee. Eventually, they were discovered and invited to a recording session. This is where it gets interesting.

Shirley & Lee recorded their first singles in the sultry Louisiana summer of 1952. Nearly all of their duets were love songs about one another, which earned them the nickname of “Sweethearts of the Blues,” but there is no evidence were lovers. Yet, there is so much chemistry in their songs, it’s hard to imagine they weren’t…

One can only fantasize what their live shows were like. Picture this: teenagers Shirley & Lee playing a rent-party with a second-rate p.a. singing their very hearts out where the only item on the agenda was Having Fun. They sang about rocking and rolling, before the term rock & roll had really been coined. Rocking and rolling—at the time—was still a reference to certain…nighttime activities.

Whether it was their age, or the times, one might think their lyrics are naïve and repetitive. I would argue they are deliberately focused. Consider some of their titles, “Feel So Good,” “I Feel Good,” and “I Want to Dance.”

Here is an excerpt from one of their representative tracks.

When I Saw You

When I saw you
I saw everything
I saw the fun in the world
And diamond rings
All the money in the world
I wouldn’t take for you
When I saw you
I saw everything
I wanna hug you
Kiss you and
be mine for keeps

In my opinion, Shirley & Lee made some of the most spirited, profoundly fun-time music ever made. And yet, historically, they were living under the strain of racial injustice in the south. There is no evidence of strife in their songs. This is often the case with music. One could theorize that the harsher the conditions, the more spirited the song, if only to balance the circumstances.

Their songs had influence outside of the American R&B niche. Their records were shipped to Jamaica and found an attentive audience. Early Jamaican DJs, with their souped-up systems, migrated to parties around the city and found that Shirley & Lee cuts were guaranteed floor-fillers. It was these same DJs, like Coxsone Dodd, who would start their own recording studios and later cover Shirley & Lee songs. One duo who based their style on the New Orleans kids was Derrick & Patsy. The two covered “Let the Good Times Roll,” to great effect.

Derrick & Patsy - Let the good times roll

When Derrick sings, “Come on baby, trrrrilllll my soul” and Patsy sings back, “Come on baby and let’s close the door….ohhh, ohhh, I’m in the mood,” the original intentions of the song are palpable. I can’t say so much for future versions. Dance songs today have ramped up the bass, and toned down the optimism. Many pop hits have an aggressive sense of seriousness and lyrics suggest cynicism and bitterness, as if partying were more a task than a privilege. And that’s fine. But Shirley & Lee project a philosophy of happiness that is hard to beat. Plus, they sing about hugging:

“I want to dance” (L. Lee)

[…]
I wanna hug
I wanna kiss
I wanna hug because I’m feeling good
I wanna laugh
Until I cry
I wanna laugh because I’m feeling good

In 1962, after several records misfired, Shirley & Lee went their separate ways. Leonard Lee attempted a solo career as “Mr. Lee.” It didn’t go very far. Shirley also went on to do solo and studio work. She recorded with the amazing Brenton Wood (“Oogum boogum song,” “Gimme little sign”) as Shirley and Alfred (Wood’s real name was Alfred Swift). You would’ve thought the group would’ve been magic, but they sunk after a meager output of singles. Shirley also went on to sing back up vocals for the Rolling Stones on Exile on Main Street, who were presumably fans of the original pair.

Much later, in 1974, Shirley recorded the track “Shame Shame Shame,” with Sylvia Robinson (of Mickey and Sylvia), and the track went to #1 on the soul charts. The success inspired one last reunion. Under the name of Shirley & Co., Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee came together for one last session. The label they were recording for was seduced by the disco fad, and insisted the record fall in style. The Shirley & Co record went the way many of great artists caught in disco fad (remember what happened to Fred Astaire?). That is to say, down. The single from the record, “Disco Shirley” was a complete flop. However, Shirley & Lee never lost sight of their original motives. The last song they would ever record was called, “I like to dance.”

~Michael Neault

Works consulted

Kolanjian, Steve. “Shirley and Lee: Volume 1” Collectables records.