The Honey Bees “She Don’t Deserve You” (Fontana 1939, 1964)

Of all Girl Groups that were quite thoroughly the same group of women, The Cookies had the most diverse set of names. One has to wonder what the reasoning was, given that they had 3 Top 40 hits under their most consistent name.

But as one of those in-demand session singing groups of The Brill Building, time in the spotlight was pretty limited for them, despite their own talents as singers. The group had roots in 1954, when Dorothy Jones, Darlene McCrea and Beulah Robertson formed the group. Their tradition of being more in a support role happened as Robertson left, and was replaced by Margie Hendrix, and the group caught the eye of Ray Charles, seeking to sweeten his sound with audio dessert. More than half the original line up went on to be Raelettes, with Dorothy sticking it out and recruiting Darlene’s sister Ethel “Earl-Jean” and Margaret Ross to reform the group as session singers in 1961.

Here we find them in 1964 rotating lead duties, and Margaret Ross doing a slightly Mary Wells meets Diana Ross lead on this dreamy record about enticing someone away from a less than favorable romantic situation. As Earl-Jean gave a stab at having a solo career (with a modicum of success) in 1964, Darlene McCrea helps out with this record. And for those that are more fans of Margaret’s more urgent vocal style, there were efforts as The Cinderellas, and this record’s own B-side that are in her more traditional vocal presentation.