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Shirley And Lee

Band, 1950-1960 US, New Orleans
R&B/Soul, Blues and Rock
A.k.a. Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee The Heart Throbs (3)

Shirley Goodman (June 19, 1936–July 5, 2005) and Leonard Lee (June 29, 1936–October 23, 1976) were two singers from New Orleans who jointly became known as the “Sweethearts of the Blues.” Born ten days apart, they met when they were children, and both of them sang in their Baptist church. They were discovered by studio owner Cosimo Matassa, who heard Goodman and Lee as part of a school singing group when they were thirteen years old. Matassa got Aladdin Records owner Eddie Messner interested in pairing them as a duo, and New Orleans veteran producer Dave Bartholomew produced their first recording, “I’m Gone,” in 1952, and backed the teenaged singers with many of the most skilled session musicians in New Orleans at the time, including saxophonists Alvin “Red” Tyler, Herb Hardesty and Lee Allen, bassist Frank Fields, and drummer Earl Palmer. “I’m Gone” climbed to No. 2 on the rhythm and blues charts in 1952. This success was followed by a string of other duets, including “Shirley, Come Back to Me,” “Shirley’s Back,” and “The Proposal,” backed with “Two Happy People.” These songs gave Shirley and Lee their stage name, and each new release continued the saga of these presumed teenage sweethearts, which added to the duo’s popularity, though they were never romantically involved; Shirley married contractor Calvin Z. Pixley in 1955. Although both Shirley and Lee sang, theirs was often a call-and-response style rather than a two-part harmony. Flagging sales prompted Shirley and Lee to change their song topics, starting with “Feels So Good” in 1955. In 1957 they released their most popular song, the anthem “Let the Good Times Roll,” which sold over a million copies. The song was considered too suggestive by many radio stations, and they banned it from their airwaves. Shirley and Lee remained with Aladdin Records until 1959, when they moved to Warwick Records, followed by Imperial Records in 1962. The duo never equaled their biggest hit, and broke up in 1963. Lee released some singles on his own before he died of a heart attack on October 23, 1976. Shirley moved to Los Angeles, California, and continued singing. She contributed background vocals to Sonny and Cher, as well as the double album Exile on Main Street (1972) by the Rolling Stones and Dr. John’s Gumbo (1972). She quit music for a while in the early 1970s before she reacquainted herself with Sylvia Robinson of the group Mickey and Sylvia, who was also the owner of the All Platinum label. Robinson recorded Shirley on the pre-disco hit “Shame, Shame, Shame” as Shirley and Company on Vibration Records in 1974. This track made it to No. 1 on the rhythm and blues charts and No. 12 on the Billboard pop charts. Her next single, “Cry Cry Cry,” did not sell nearly as well, and Shirley stopped singing professionally. She moved back to New Orleans, where she successfully sued to get her back royalties for “Let the Good Times Roll.” After suffering a stroke, Shirley moved to Los Angeles in 1994. She died there on July 5, 2005, and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in New Orleans.

     
Members
PortraitShirley Goodman
voc 1936-2005 US
PortraitLeonard Lee
1936-1976 US

Discography



Title Artist Year Type
I'm Gone / Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee with Dave Bartholomew And His Orchestra2012Single
The Best Of Shirley & LeeShirley And Lee2009Compil.
Shirley And LeeShirley And Lee2009Single
Rockin' With Shirley & LeeShirley And Lee2009Compil.
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee2005Compil.
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee2000Compil.
Feel So Good / Lee's DreamShirley And Lee1994Single
Rock 'N' Roll Heaven / Let The Good Times RollThe Righteous Brothers / Shirley And Lee1992Single
Shirley And LeeShirley And Lee1990Compil.
Let The Good Times Roll / Oh How HappyShirley And Lee, Shades Of Blue1989Single
The Imperial SidesShirley And Lee / Shirley Goodman1986Compil.
Jimmy McGriff / Junior Parker / Shirley & LeeJimmy McGriff & Little Junior Parker / Shirley And Lee1982Compil.
Shirley & Lee / Otis SpannShirley And Lee / Otis Spann1982Compil.
Happy DaysShirley And Lee1980Album
Let The Good Times Roll / That's What I Wanna DoShirley And Lee1972Single
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee1971Compil.
Barefootin'Robert Parker / Shirley And Lee / Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs1966Single
Let The Good Times Roll / I'm GoneShirley And Lee1965Single
Hey Little Boy/The Golden RuleShirley And Lee1963Single
I'm Gone / Dancing WorldShirley And Lee1963Single
Let's Live it Up / Girl, Your're Married NowShirley And Lee1962Single
I'm Old EnoughShirley And Lee1962Single
Don't Stop Now / A Litte ThingShirley And Lee1962Single
Let The Good Times Roll / Keep Loving MeShirley And Lee1961Single
Well-A, Well-AShirley And Lee1961Single
Two Peas In A PodShirley And Lee1961Single
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee1961Album
Shirley & LeeShirley And Lee1960Single
I've Been Loved BeforeShirley And Lee1960Single
Come On And Have Your Fun / All I Want To Do Is CryShirley And Lee1959Album
True LoveShirley And Lee1959Single
Everybody's Rockin' / Don't Leave Me Here To CryShirley And Lee1958Single
Don't You Know I Love You / Rock All NiteShirley And Lee1957Single
Rockin' With The ClockShirley And Lee1957Single
When I Saw YouShirley And Lee1957Single
That's What I'll Do / A Little WordShirley And Lee1956Single
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee1956Single
Lee Goofed / Shirley Come Back To MeShirley And Lee1956Single
Let The Good Times Roll / Feel So GoodShirley And Lee1956Single
Let The Good Times Roll / Do You Mean To Hurt Me SoShirley And Lee1956Album
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee1956Album
I Want To Dance / Marry MeShirley And Lee1956Single
Let The Good Times RollShirley And Lee1956Single
I Feel Good / Now That It's OverShirley And Lee1956Single
That's What I'll Do / A Little WordShirley And Lee1956Single
You'd Be Thinking Of Me / Feel So GoodShirley And Lee1955Album
Why Did I / Lee GoofedShirley And Lee1954Album
Keep On / Confessin'Shirley And Lee1954Album
The Proposal / Two Happy PeopleShirley And Lee1953Album
Baby / Shirley, Come Back MeShirley And Lee1953Single
Shirley's Back / So In LoveShirley And Lee1953Album
I'm Gone / SweetheartsShirley And Lee With Dave Bartholomew And His Orchestra1952Album
I'm Gone / Lee GoofedShirley And Lee1952Single
Comin' Over / Lee's DreamShirley And LeeSingle
I'll Thrill You / Love No One But YouShirley And LeeSingle
I'm Gone / Lee GoofedShirley And LeeSingle
This Time / Let The Good Times RollTroy Shondell / Shirley And LeeSingle
Wild Thing / Let The Good Times RollThe Troggs / Shirley And LeeSingle
Let The Good Times Roll / Ko Ko MoShirley And Lee, Gene And EuniceSingle
Together We Stand (Divided We Fall)Shirley And LeeSingle
I'll Do It / Lee's DreamShirley And LeeSingle
Bad Girl / Let The Good Times RollThe Miracles / Shirley And LeeSingle
Let The Goodtimes Roll / Earth AngelShirley And Lee / The PenguinsSingle
That's What I'll Do / Don't Leave Me Here To CryShirley And LeeSingle
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Acknowledgements
To all the music fans that are contributing on Discogs, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Thanks to Franz Flückiger for providing Storygram used to visualize band membership.
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