Inez and Charlie Foxx — “Don’t Do It No More”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 24, 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,025) Inez and Charlie Foxx — “Don’t Do It No More”

Everybody have you heard, he’s gonna cheat on me! A cheatin’ lover slowburner from sister and brother Inez and Charlie Foxx. No one hit wonderbird, Inez was “one of the most underrated of all the female singers of the 60s and 70s”. (Sir Shambling’s Deep Soul Heaven, http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/F/inez_charlie_foxx/index.php)

Michael Jack Kirby tells us:

Charlie was the more musically inclined as a child; he sang with the Gospel Tide Choir, which Inez later joined. Heading to New York in 1960, little sis got the first break while Charlie, three years older, was still struggling to wedge his foot in a door . . . . Calling herself Inez Johnston, her first professional recording session was for Brunswick Records in the fall of 1960 . . . . Sue Records owner Henry “Juggy” Murray used to tell the story of how the struggling pair approached him one winter 1963 day outside the Turf restaurant . . . . They pitched an idea for a song and, impressed with such brashness and confidence, he invited them upstairs, several floors above the Turf, to the Sue offices where they sang “Mockingbird” on the spot. The tune’s origin can be traced to a softly-sung children’s song, “Hush Little Baby,” specifically the opening lines ‘Hush little baby don’t say a word, mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird…if that mockingbird don’t sing, mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.’ . . . It had a rhythmic, in-your-face quality a world away from the original song and Juggy was sure it would be a hit if recorded exactly as the two had presented it to him. A session was set up . . . . Inez sang, Charlie answered and the back-and-forth wordplay resulted in a distinctively unique recording . . . . Juggy felt the record would do better if he positioned it as an Inez Foxx solo single . . . . [which] reach[ed] number two on the R&B chart at the end of August . . . while simultaneously entering the pop top ten. . . . Making Inez a star became Murray’s main focus. “He’s the One You Love” came next but struggled; the perception may have been that “Mockingbird” was a novelty one-shot. The Foxx siblings returned to the nursery rhyme concept for third single “Hi Diddle Diddle” . . . and it charted briefly in December. . . . “Ask Me” was in and out of the charts in January 1964. “Hurt By Love” managed a two-month run in May and June. The records continued to credit Inez Foxx, ignoring the two obvious voices on every song. Charlie kept his ego in check, as he was really more interested in writing and learning the producing end of things. Five more Symbol singles were released, uneventfully, through early 1966 . . . before they parted ways with Juggy Murray. [They i]mmediately signing a deal with the Musicor label . . . . Musicor started Dynamo Records to focus on R&B artists, in the process granting them permanent billing as Inez and Charlie Foxx. Inez blossomed as a live performer during this time; she appeared more self-assured, acquiring a flamboyant wardrobe (she often donned a tiger-striped outfit) while Charlie supplied the backbone. . . . The second Dynamo single, “I Stand Accused” (an R&B hit for Jerry Butler in ’64), reached the charts in the spring of ’67. “(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count the Days” was their biggest single for Dynamo, going top 20 on the R&B charts at the beginning of 1968 while spending several weeks on the pop charts. . . . Charlie was doing more writing and producing for other acts . . . . [and] Inez and Charlie . . . grew apart as an act in the early 1970s. She belted out one final R&B hit for Dynamo, “You Shouldn’t Have Set My Soul on Fire,” in 1971. Her solo career was reignited two years later at Stax Records in Memphis with a series of releases on the Volt label . . . .

http://www.waybackattack.com/foxxinez.html

Sir Shambling’s Deep Soul Heaven adds:

As is quite obvious from their vocal approach, they sang together in local churches, and after they left [high school], Charlie tried to get into pro sports as a basketball player or American footballer, while Inez decided on a gospel career, joining the Gospel Tide Chorus. Her talent was spotted by local impresario Charles Fuller who persuaded her to go solo, and who also suggested moving into the secular arena. She journeyed to New York and made her first two records for Brunswick . . . . Charlie joined her there having failed to make it as an athlete in the early 60s and they resumed their singing and songwriting partnership. . . . For Inez and Charlie – as well as Juggy Murray – the problem later in 1963 was how to follow up a surprise novelty smash. Not surprisingly perhaps they went with another similarly styled and paced “Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush” and then with the bouncy “He’s The One You Love” but neither made the top R & B charts. Their next two 45s “Hey Diddle Diddle” and “Ask Me” both just made it into the top 100 R&B placings as 1963 moved into 1964 . . . . The quality of their 45s throughout 1964 was very high indeed. Starting with the splendidly hard R&B of “Hurt By Love” which put the duo back in higher reaches of the charts, “La De Da I Love You”, based on the Supremes “Where Did Our Love Go” riff but featuring incomparably better vocals, and finishing with the “High Heel Sneakers” sound of “I Fancy You”, this was music to savour. . . . Their final Symbol 45 was “Hummingbird” which was heavily influenced by the more modern dance sounds coming out of Detroit . . . . In 1966 the duo signed to Musicor, a subsidiary of Scepter/Wand . . . . [B]y the end of 1967 [Charlie] decided that he’d had enough performing leaving Inez to carry on as a solo act. By the end of the decade he was . . . running his own Tee Off label . . . . Even though Inez had another seven Dynamo 45s over the next couple of years, there was only one hit, the excellent big production number “You Shouldn’t Have Set My Soul On Fire” at the start of 1971 . . . . She journeyed south to Memphis, signing for Stax who placed her on their Volt logo for one memorable album and five superb singles. . . . By 1975 her career was over, suddenly and without any apparent explanation. . . .

http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/F/inez_charlie_foxx/index.php

Here is UK swinging “[s]ixties pop diva-turned-avant jazz singer” (Jason Ankeny, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/julie-driscoll-mn0000261098#biography) Julie Driscoll’s excellent ’65 A-side:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.

When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.