Candy & The Kisses
aka
Sweet Soul
Ref. Honey Love & The
Love Notes
(Port Richmond, New York)
Group members:
Beryl “Candy” Nelson (lead)
Suzanne Nelson
Jeanette Johnson
Discography:
Candy
& The Kisses
Singles:
Singles:
1963 - A Good Cry / Let The
Good Times Roll (R&L 500) 1963
1964 - The 81 / Two Happy
People (Cameo 336)
1964 - Soldier Baby (Of
Mine) / Shakin’ Time (Cameo 355)
1965 - Keep On Searchin’ /
Together (Scepter 12106)
1965 - Out In The Streets
Again / Sweet And Lovely (Scepter 12125)
1966 - Tonight's The Night /
The Last Time (Scepter 12136) (first pressing)
1966 - Let Love Win / The Last Time (Scepter 12136) (second pressing)
1966 - Let Love Win / The Last Time (Scepter 12136) (second pressing)
1968 - Chains Of Love /
Someone Out There (Decca 32415)
Unreleased:
n/a - Smokey Joe’s*
n/a - Are You Trying To Get
Rid Of Me Baby?
n/a - You Did The Best You
Could
n/a - I’ll Settle For You
n/a - Lookie Lookie (What I
Got)
n/a - All You Gotta Do
n/a - One Sweet Kiss
*Released in 1965 in France
as ‘Smokey’ on the Vogue EP INT 18007
Honey Love & The Love
Notes
1965 - We Belong Together /
Mary Ann (Cameo 380)
Love Notes
1966 - Baby Baby You / Beg
Me (Cameo 409)
Sweet Soul
1969 - If You Love Him / Oh Oh
Oh No (Mercury 72976)
Biography:
Armed with a fly name and
gifted producers and writers, this Port Richmond, NY, group still didn't click.
The group consisted of sisters Candy and Suzanne Nelson and their friend
Jeanette Johnson. The Nelsons' father was a minister and they developed their
singing skills in his church. For a while they were the Symphonettes but never
recorded as such; they became Candy and the Kisses with their first release, “After
I Cry” b/w “Let the Good Times Roll,” issued in 1963 on R&L Records. The
hurtin' ballad sold well, where played, but it didn't get played much or in
many places.
"The 81" b/w “Two
Happy People” (Cameo Records, 1964) was their biggest record; Kenny Gamble and
Jerry Ross wrote the shuffler about the popular Philly dance. Leon Huff and
Cindy Scott wrote the flip; Gamble & Huff later united to become
Hall-of-Fame songwriters and producers. "The 81" stopped short of
Billboard's pop Top 40 and nested in the 50s. Cameo followed with Phil Spector’s
“Soldier Boy (of Mine)” b/w “Shakin’ Time” (1965), but politics killed the
potential two-sided hit and the Cameo deal.
They signed with Scepter
Records in 1965 and were assigned to the writing team of Josephine (Joshie)
Armstead, Valerie Simpson, and Nicholas Ashford. However, excellent material
like “Keep on Searchin’,” “Sweet and Lovely,” “Out in the Streets Again,” “I'll
Settle for You,” “Mr. Creator,” and “Are You Trying to Get Rid of Me Baby,”
fail to chart. Even a remake of the Shirelles' 1960 hit "Tonight's the
Night" and "You Did the Best You Could" misfired.
In 1968, the final Candy
& the Kisses recording appeared on Decca Records; when "Chains of
Love" b/w "Someone out There" didn't bust a grape, Candy retired.
Suzanne, Jeanette, and new lead Beryl Martin tried again as Sweet Soul on
Mercury Records in 1969. Their only single "Oh No, Oh No" b/w
"If You Love Him" didn't win, place, or show, and they disbanded.
Additional notes: Candy
& The Kisses recorded with Harriet Laverne under the alias of Honey Love
& The Love Notes for Cameo Records. Candy & The Kisses on the R&L
label was possibly a different group.
Links:
Songs:
A Good Cry
Let The Good Times Roll
The 81
Two Happy People
Soldier Baby (Of Mine)
Shakin’ Time
Keep On Searchin’
Together
Out In The Streets Again
Sweet And Lovely
Tonight's The Night
The Last Time
Chains Of Love
Someone Out There
We Belong Together
Mary Ann
Baby Baby You
Beg Me
If You Love Him
Oh Oh Oh No
Smokey Joe’s
Let Love Win
Are You Trying To Get Rid of Me Baby
You Did The Best You Could
I’ll Settle For You
Lookie Lookie (What I Got)
All You Gotta Do
One Sweet Kiss