THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,900) Betty Everett — “1900 Yesterday”
This was an out-of-leftfield #33 hit by the house band at the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Garden Bar — but Betty Everett’s version is sooooo much better — “still an all-time fav”. (Otis, https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/103323), As pcno2832 puts it, “Wow. This is so much better than the elevator-music version. Too bad it wasn’t the one that became a hit.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jEhx_K74v4) But, best of all, Qutoobe recalls:
When I was a little boy (maybe 6 or 7) this record was a prize in a bag of Lay’s potato chips-no kidding! I loved it then and still love it. Imagine a little white boy in the midwest grooving’ on this while his mother tried to understand! I played it over and over, practically wore it out!
The hit version by Liz Damon’s Orient Express “spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 33 the week of February 13, 1971, while reaching No. 4 on Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart, No. 29 on the Cash Box Top 100, No. 15 on Canada’s RPM 100, and No. 16 on RPM‘s ‘MOR Playlist’.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Yesterday) Joe Viglione describes the Express’ version:
“1900 Yesterday” is as classic a slice of middle-of-the-road/adult contemporary music as you’ll find, and the hit single is up there with Ray Conniff’s Top Ten 1966 hit, “Somewhere My Love” . . . . Indeed, Liz Damon’s group of three frontwomen and six male musicians sounds as enamored of Ray Conniff and his sound as Ric Ocasek and the Cars were of the Velvet Underground [see #1,862]. . . . The record is absolutely delightful if you consider the strange combination of genres — girl group meets middle-of-the-road. The sounds are not strange bedfellows, it’s just that for the time this was the antithesis of hip, though that hit single keeps coming back — as wonderful a tune as the Five Stairsteps’ “O-o-h Child,” albeit lighter, much lighter. . . . a timeless hit single . . . worth hearing again and again.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/liz-damons-orient-express-mw0000079467
Ron Wynn tells us of Betty Everett:
Betty Everett sang gospel growing up in Greenwood, MS, before relocating to Chicago and moving into secular music. She began recording for Cobra in 1958, then joined Vee-Jay in the early ’60s and started to land hit records. Her original version of “You’re No Good,” though sung with fire and verve, didn’t make much impact until it was turned into a number one pop hit by Linda Ronstadt in 1975. Her next single, “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss),” was her first major release, peaking at number six pop in 1964. Her next success was the duet “Let It Be Me” with Jerry Butler [see #347], a soul version of the Everly Brothers tune that reached number five R&B that same year. Everett’s finest song as a solo act was 1969’s “There’ll Come a Time,” which reached number two on the R&B charts and also cracked the pop Top 30 at number 26. Everett was now on Uni, where she remained until 1970. She continued recording for Fantasy until 1974 and made one other record for United Artists in 1978.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/betty-everett-mn0000058361#biography
Concord Records tells us more:
A Sagittarian, she began singing in her mother’s church when she was six years old; she also played the piano. . . . Betty’s career has had its ups and down. She originally started singing the blues because, back in Greenwood, a blues singer came through town frequently, and she fell in love. As Betty puts it: “He didn’t come to Greenwood enough for me! Then I thought, ‘Well, maybe if I get out there and do what he’s doing, maybe I’ll see more of him.’” That’s exactly what she did! Her family moved to Chicago when she was 17, and she soon went on the road with Muddy Waters. She says she didn’t last long at that because she was too shy and too young. At one point, Ike Turner [see #212, 329, 837, 1,866] wanted to hire Betty (this in pre-Tina days), but, very inexperienced in the worldly-wise life of most r&b musicians, she called a relative and asked to be taken home. “Come pick me up, these people over here’s crazy!” It was in a Chicago club called The Hideaway that Betty Everett was first noticed by record company people.
Wikipedia takes us aboard the Orient Express:
Liz Damon’s Orient Express was an American soft rock band from Hawaii, featuring lead singer Liz Damon, two female backup singers and a rotating backup band. The name apparently derived from the original backup band being entirely Asian. (Damon herself was of mixed European, Hawaiian, and Choctaw descent.) Their only song to make the Top 40 was “1900 Yesterday”. . . . Damon’s backup singers on the 1970 album At the Garden Bar, Hilton Hawaiian Village were her sister Edda Damon and Sydette Sakauye. In the early 1970s, Sakauye left and was replaced by Meri McPherson. While the Damon sisters and McPherson were constants, their backup band underwent numerous personnel changes. . . . The band was the house band at the Garden Bar at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for 18 months and recorded its first album, At the Garden Bar, Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1970. Originally released on Makaha Records, it was then picked up by White Whale, who released it as an eponymous album and also released “1900 Yesterday” as a single. White Whale Records was under financial distress at the time (embroiled in a years-long dispute with their marquee band, The Turtles, and unable to develop any further acts other than a few one-hit wonders) and folded shortly after “1900 Yesterday” became a hit. Liz Damon’s Orient Express released Burt Bacharach’s “Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets” . . . in late 1971, and it became their second and last US chart single. . . . The group released three more albums during the 1970s, consisting mostly of covers. In 1979, the group released a comedy album. During the late 1970s, the band moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where they performed until their breakup in the mid-1980s.
Here is Liz Damon’s Orient Express:
Here are the Lennon Sisters on the Andy Williams show, performing a questionable medley of “1900 Yesterday” and the Beatles’ “Yesterday”:
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