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Jennell Ruth Hawkins (née Grimes, April 8, 1938 – October 13, 2006) was an American R&B and jazz singer and musician who recorded within the Fifties and early Sixties, and had a US High 50 chart hit in 1961 with “Moments To Bear in mind”.
Jennell “Jenny” Grimes was born in Los Angeles, and whereas at Jefferson Excessive College fashioned a singing group, the Fidelitones, with pals Marc Gordon (later a profitable songwriter and document producer), Ray Brewster, and Invoice Piper.
She additionally turned acquainted with fellow pupil and aspiring songwriter Richard Berry, and in 1954 she and Berry recorded certainly one of his songs, “Every Step”, with arranger Maxwell Davis, which was launched on the Aptitude label, credited to Ricky and Jennell. She additionally performed piano on “My Aching Coronary heart” by the Flippers in 1955.
Though initially reluctant, as she noticed herself as extra of a pianist and organ participant than a singer, she joined Berry’s backing group, the Dreamers, and sang lead on the Dreamers’ personal 1957 single, “Since You’ve Been Gone.” She married Lawrence Hawkins in 1956, and round that point joined one other vocal group, the Combonettes, who recorded three singles for the Combo label, together with “Hello Diddle Diddle”.
She made her first solo recordings in 1961, releasing “I Pity You Idiot” on the Dynamic label earlier than recording Richard Berry’s music “Moments To Bear in mind” on the small Titanic label.
The document turned domestically profitable and, retitled ” “Moments”, was reissued by the bigger Amazon document label owned by DJ Rudy Harvey. The document rose to no.16 on the nationwide Billboard R&B Chart, and no.50 on the pop chart. She adopted it up in 1962 with a model of Barrett Robust’s hit “Cash (That’s What I Need)”, co-written by Berry Gordy, which reached no.17 on the R&B chart. She additionally launched two albums on the Amazon label,
The Many Moods of Jenny (1961), credited to the Jennell Hawkins Quintet, and Moments To Bear in mind (1962). Nonetheless, Hawkins turned disillusioned with Harvey’s enterprise practices (he was later the sufferer of an unsolved homicide), and she or he left the recording enterprise quickly afterwards to commit herself to her household and church.
She later labored for funeral firms, driving a hearse and enjoying the organ at funerals. Within the Seventies she re-emerged with a sextet to again Johnny Morisette on his jazz-funk recording of “I’m Hungry”. She additionally carried out often along with her sextet in Los Angeles nightclubs, usually showing along with saxophonist Massive Jay McNeely.
In 2002, she reunited with the Dreamers to carry out at a doo wop revival occasion. She suffered a critical stroke in 2005, and died the next 12 months on the age of 68, on the day she was as a consequence of obtain a mayoral certificates to recognise her contributions to native music.Wiki
