Rosetta Hightower -

Rosetta Hightower (June 23, 1944 — Aug. 2, 2014) was an American soul singer from Philadelphia who sang in The Orlons and Zip & The Zippers during the early 1960s. In 1968, she reemerged as a solo artist with two singles on Toast, followed by a surnamesake album on CBS and a second longplayer on Rediffusion at the turn of the 1970s.

Background

Rosetta Jeanette Hightower was born on June 23, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hightower attended Overbrook High School, where she sang with Audrey Brickley, Jean Brickley, Shirley Brickley, and Marlena Davis in Audrey & The Teenettes. The quintet sought work in Philadelphia teen clubs, but the Brickley family removed Audrey Brickley and Jean Brickley from the lineup after concerns over nightclub dates.

Hightower, Shirley Brickley, and Marlena Davis continued as a trio at Overbrook High School. The three singers recruited Stephen Caldwell from The Romeos, a male vocal group at the same school, and adopted The Orlons as a response to another Overbrook group, The Cashmeres. Len Barry of The Dovells encouraged The Orlons to audition for Cameo-Parkway, where Dave Appell signed the group after repeated auditions.

Cameo introduced The Orlons with “I’ll Be True” and “(Happy Birthday) Mr. Twenty-One” before Appell placed Hightower in the lead position. The group backed Dee Dee Sharp on “Mashed Potato Time” and “Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes),” then reached national attention behind the Hightower-led “The Wah-Watusi.” Hightower led the main Cameo sequence through “Don’t Hang Up,” “South Street,” “Not Me,” and “Crossfire!” Cameo also placed the group on Pageant as Zip & The Zippers for “Where You Goin’, Little Boy?,” a novelty side with Caldwell in the front position.

Cameo singles lost chart ground after “Crossfire!” Marlena Davis left the lineup in August 1963, and Stephen Caldwell exited during the 1964 lineup cycle. The Orlons continued with Sandy Person, Yvonne Young, and original Teenette Audrey Brickley across later Cameo, Calla, and ABC singles. Hightower used late-Sixties UK touring as a bridge to studio work in London, where she remained after The Orlons closed their first run.

She entered the UK studio circuit through producer Vicki Wickham and arranger-producer Ian Green. Toast issued “Pretty Red Balloons” b/w “How Can You Mistreat (The One You Love)?” as her first UK solo single. Toast followed with “I Can’t Give Back the Love I Feel for You” b/w “Big Bird,” pairing the Ashford-Simpson song with an Eddie Floyd title. CBS then paired Hightower with Green on “One Heart for Sale” b/w a Hightower composition, “What Do I Do.” Hightower also sang backing vocals on the Joe Cocker album With a Little Help From My Friends, a London session credit from the same transition period. CBS extended the Green partnership to a full album.

Hightower

Rosetta Hightower released her debut solo album, Hightower, in 1970 on CBS.

The program draws one Rosetta Hightower–Ian Green title, four songs co-written by Harold McNair with Family/Blind Faith bassist Rick Grech, four songs by Griffin members Kenny Craddock and Colin Gibson, and songs associated with The Beatles (“Black Bird”), Donnie Elbert (“One Thousand Nine Hundred & Seventy Years”), and Labi Siffre (“Rocking Chair”).

“Rocking Chair” asserts the album’s hardest backbeat through brassy punctuation and firm chorus replies. “One Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy Years” tightens the Elbert source with more forward motion and denser vocal pressure. “Black Bird,” “Selfish Woman,” and “Time of Year” sit in a mid-paced band with shorter verse turns and cleaner refrain landings. Hightower’s lead line remains the main force in each arrangement.

A1. “Why” – Hightower, Green
A2. “True Love Adventure” – Grech, McNair
A3. “My Back Yard” – Craddock, Gibson
A4. “Michael” – Craddock, Gibson
A5. “Black Bird” – Lennon, McCartney
A6. “One Thousand Nine Hundred & Seventy Years” – Elbert

B1. “We’ve All Been Together From the Start” – Grech, McNair
B2. “The Time of Year” – Craddock, Gibson
B3. “Selfish Woman” – Grech, McNair
B4. “What a Day It’s Been” – Craddock, Gibson
B5. “Another Uneventful Day” – Grech, McNair
B6. “Rocking Chair” – Siffre

Sessions occurred in August 1970 at I.B.C. Studios in London with producer-arranger Ian Green and engineer Damon Lyon-Shaw. Hightower features session players Rick Grech, Harold McNair, Jim Price, and Bobby Key.

Hightower appeared in a single sleeve whose front cover shows a close portrait of Hightower against a pale ground with the album title stacked at left.

Every Little Bit Soul

Rosetta Hightower released her second solo album, later titled Every Little Bit Soul, in 1971 on Rediffusion.

The album centers Hightower’s voice on compact rhythm sections, background-vocal answers, and brass-colored refrains.

She recasts hits by Dion (“Abraham, Martin and John”), Ike & Tina Turner (“River Deep and Mountain High”), The Supremes (“Stoned Love”), Jackson 5 (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), Gladys Knight & The Pips (“Friendship Train”), Diana Ross (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Remember Me”), Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (“I Don’t Blame You at All,” “Tracks of My Tears”), Stevie Wonder (“Signed Sealed Delivered”), Marvin Gaye (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine”), and Brenda Holloway (“Every Little Bit Hurts”).

“Stoned Love” and “Friendship Train” press group-reply refrains against a steady backbeat. “Tracks of My Tears” and “Every Little Bit Hurts” settle around slower vocal pleading and compact fills. “Signed Sealed Delivered” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” compress the verse turns into brisker chorus returns.

A1. “Abraham Martin and John” (4:36) – Dick Holler
A2. “River Deep and Mountain High” (3:17) – Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich
A3. “I Don’t Blame You at All” (2:54) – Smokey Robinson
A4. “Stoned Love” (2:58) – Frank Wilson, Kenny Thomas
A5. “Never Can Say Goodbye” (2:36) – Clifton Davis
A6. “Friendship Train” (3:51) – Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong

B1. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (2:52) – Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
B2. “Tracks of My Tears” (2:54) – Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, Marv Tarplin
B3. “Remember Me” (3:08) – Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
B4. “Signed Sealed Delivered” (2:32) – Stevie Wonder, Lee Garrett, Syreeta Wright, Lula Mae Hardaway
B5. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (2:41) – Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong
B6. “Every Little Bit Hurts” (2:52) – Ed Cobb

Sessions occurred at I.B.C. Studios in London with producer Ian Green. Ian Green and John Bell arranged the album, while Martyn Ford arranged the chorus parts. Background vocalists Kay Garner and Lisa Strike appear in the sleeve credits.

The Rediffusion sleeve presents a white typographic back cover with the title, tracklist, and production credits in black type.

Discography: