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Betty Everett - It's in Her Kiss (1963)

Track listing:
  1. It's in Her Kiss 2:16
  2. Hands Off 2:02
  3. You're Not Good 2:22
  4. June Night 2:33
  5. Hound Dog 2:29
  6. With You I Stand 2:41
  7. It Hurts to Be In Love 2:27
  8. Until You Were Gone 2:52
  9. The Prince of Players 2:42
  10. I Need You So 2:14
  11. Chained To Your Love 3:02
  12. Down in The Country 2:25
  13. I Can't Hear You [Bonus] 2:37
  14. Getting Mighty Crowded [Bonus] 2:10
  15. Gonna Be Ready [Bonus] 2:35
  16. The Real Thing [Bonus] 2:06
  17. The Shoe Won't Fit [Bonus] 2:24

Notes

Japan 24-Bit Remaster

"The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" is a song written by Rudy Clark. A rock and roll classic as recorded by Betty Everett in 1964.

Dave Marsh in his book The Heart of Rock and Soul (New York: Plume, 1989. ISBN: 0452263050 / 0-452-26305-0) opines that Betty Everett's "The Shoop Shoop Song" "while [credited] as a solo performance is one of the finest girl group hits, undoubtedly the best one made outside the genre's New York/ Philadelphia/ Los Angeles axis" (p. 398). In fact the song was rejected on behalf of the premier girl group of the early '60s the New York-based Shirelles [2] and was first recorded in New York City by Merry Clayton with vocal accompaniment by the Blossoms; produced by Jack Nitzsche and entitled "It's in His Kiss" Clayton's version was released in June 1963 on Capitol with no noticeable result.

Calvin Carter, the chief a&r man for the Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records found "It's in His Kiss" while visiting New York City in search of material for the Vee-Jay roster which included Betty Everett. After Everett had a hit with another song Carter brought back from New York: "You're No Good" Carter suggested Everett cut "It's in His Kiss" as the follow-up single and Everett - who found the song puerile - reluctantly agreed. The accompanying vocals on Everett's recording were provided by Vee-Jay session regulars the Opals who were four teenage girls from East Chicago, Indiana.

Another version of "It's in His Kiss" by Los Angeles-based vocalist Ramona King (produced by Jerry Riopelle) was released on Warner Brothers in January 1964 the week prior to the release of Everett's version; although Everett's single was more likely to receive airplay due to her being an established hitmaker (with "You're No Good") Vee-Jay feared losing sales to the King version and opted to distinguish Everett's version by issuing it under the title "The Shoop Shoop Song" referring to the song's background vocals. "The Shoop Shoop Song" became Everett's career record reaching #6 in April of 1964. According to Cash Box "The Shoop Shoop Song" was also a #1 R&B hit.

Although Cher's replication of the Betty Everett hit would top the UK charts in 1991, the Everett original was overlooked in the UK in 1964 although Everett's minor 1965 US hit "Getting Mighty Crowded" (#65) would reach #29 UK. In 1968 UK label President Records re-issued "Getting Mighty Crowded" and "The Shoop Shoop Song" on one single with "The Shoop Shoop Song" as the A-side reaching #34.

"The Shoop Shoop Song" had its first significant UK profile as performed by a male act: the Searchers - with Mike Pender on lead - cut the song as "It's in Her Kiss" for their April 1964 album release It's the Searchers. The song - similarly entitled - was subsequently recorded by the Hollies and the Swinging Blue Jeans2 while "Britgirls" Helen Shapiro, Lulu and Sandie Shaw recorded "It's in His Kiss" but none of these versions was released as a single.

"The Shoop Shoop Song" first became a major UK hit in 1975 via a disco version by Linda Lewis produced by Bert de Couteaux and Tony Silvester and featuring Luther Vandross as a background vocalist: entitled "It's in His Kiss" - despite containing a variant of the "shoop shoop" background vocal - Lewis' version reached #6.

Betty Everett (November 23, 1939, Greenwood, Mississippi – August 19, 2001, Beloit, Wisconsin) was an African-American R&B singer and pianist. She is known for her biggest hit single "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)."

At the age of nine, Everett began playing the piano and singing gospel music in church. She continued these activities while growing up until moving to Chicago in 1957 to pursue a career in secular music. She recorded for various small local labels before she was discovered in 1963 by A&R musical director Calvin Carter, from the then fast-growing independent label, Vee-Jay Records.

That same year, an initial single failed, but her next Vee-Jay release, a bluesy version of "You're No Good" (written by Clint Ballard, Jr. and later a #1 hit for Linda Ronstadt), just missed the U.S. top 50. Her third single, the catchy "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", was her biggest solo hit (a surprise for Everett, who did not want to record it and allegedly felt that the song was too silly[citation needed]). It peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and made #1 on the Cashbox R&B chart.

Her other hits included "I Can't Hear You", "Getting Mighty Crowded" (covered by Elvis Costello in 1980), and several duets with Jerry Butler, including "Let It Be Me" which made the US Top 5 in 1964 and was another Cashbox R&B number 1. After Vee-Jay folded in 1966, she recorded for several other labels, including Uni, Fantasy, and ABC.

After an unsuccessful year with ABC, a move to Uni brought another major success in 1969 with "There'll Come A Time", co-written by producer and lead singer of The Chi-Lites, Eugene Record, This rose to #2 in the Billboard R&B listing (#26 on the Hot 100) and topped the Cashbox chart. However, most of her later work could not match the success she had with Vee-Jay, although there were other R&B hits with "It's Been A Long Time" and "I Got To Tell Somebody", which re-united her with Calvin Carter in 1970. Her final recording came out in 1980, again produced by Carter. Her awards include the BMI Pop Award (both for 1964 and 1991) and the BMI R&B Award (for 1964).