by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)
On this week’s Music Monday playlist, “Sarah Dash: Nightbird, Fly,” we take a closer look at the musical career of the late Sarah Dash, most known as one third of the pioneering rock/soul trio LaBelle. Sarah passed away early last week at the age of 76.
Six decades ago, at a time when young musical acts still formed from local friends getting together instead of backstage at the Disney Channel, Sarah and Nona Hendryx were two members of the Trenton, NJ-based Del-Capris. They soon paired up with Patricia Holte and Cindy Birdsong from across the river, who were part of the Philly-based Ordettes. And Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles were soon born.
This traditional 1960s girl group survived the decade touring the chitlin circuit, becoming favorite live performers (nicknamed The Sweethearts of the Apollo) even if their string of mid-60s Atlantic Records singles was commercially unremarkable amid competition backed by powerhouses like Motown, Stax, and Phil Spector.
When Birdsong left the group to take Florence Ballard’s spot in The Supremes, and as Aretha Franklin took up residence as Atlantic’s reigning diva, it’s a wonder the group survived.
But the remaining trio’s inescapable singing talents were recognized in the United Kingdom – where the British rock music community often championed the Black artists and sounds that had provided rock’s roots. They connected with British music manager Vicki Wickham (known for her work with Dusty Springfield), and were soon re-invented as LaBelle.
As if to symbolically transition from their ‘60s sound to their new world, among their first projects was a 1971 collaboration with legendary folk rock singer/songwriter Laura Nyro on the album Gonna Take A Miracle. On it they offered prominent backing vocals for Nyro’s tribute to the hits of ‘60s soul, kissing goodbye the sounds of their past.
Way ahead of their time, Labelle were by the early ‘70s three Black women performing funk-infused rock music, trading their matching dresses and wigs first for jeans and afros, but later for futuristic space outfits of silver and feathers. (Costume designer Larry Legaspi later went on to design the costumes for the group KISS.)
They were no longer playing the chitlin’ circuit – now they were opening for The Who (The Who’s manager Kit Lambert actually produced Labelle’s first album as a trio). They even became the first Black female group on the cover of Rolling Stone. They were Afro-punk – decades before that phrase existed.
Dyson signed to Columbia Records in the Clive Davis era and started putting out records – and by 1970, he had his first modest R&B hit, “
Listening to the two albums Jackson & Yancy produced for Dyson, you’ll note similarities between songs like “Close to You” and the hits that Natalie Cole had that same year. (Late in her career, Natalie actually covered a Dyson tune from this era, ‘The More You Do It.’)