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Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans was an early 1960’s vocal group produced by Phil Spector, and was initially conceived as a vehicle for the lead vocals of Bobby Sheen, who took the stage name Bob B. Soxx. “The Blue Jeans” were backing vocalists, Darlene Love and Fanita James, both of whom were also members of girl group The Blossoms.|Despite Sheen’s status as group leader, by the time the trio entered the recording studio, Spector was often using Darlene Love as the group’s primary vocalist. Sheen sang lead on the group’s first hit: 1962’s “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (originally from the 1946 disney movie Song of the South). Love, meanwhile, handled the lead vocals on Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans’ two follow-up singles: 1963’s “Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts?” and “Not Too Young to Get Married”.|Sheen and Love share vocal duties on the only album the group ever recorded (1963’s Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah).|Sheen can be heard as lead vocalist on the group’s final recordings, two cuts on the classic Spector-produced LP “A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector” (1963), on which Love also appears as a solo artist. On the cover of this album, a group portrait shows Sheen with two “Blue Jeans” vocalists who have been tentatively identified as James and yet another Blossoms member, Gloria Jones.|After 1963 the group was dropped by Philles Records and effectively ceased to exist. Sheen went back to using his real name, cut some tracks for Capitol Records in the mid 1960’s, and later joined a late-running touring version of The Coasters (he had also been a member of The Robins). Love, meanwhile, recorded a few solo hits, but, more memorably was the lead vocalist on at least two hit records by The Crystals. |
