Leonard Lee born June 29,1935

Leonard Lee (June 29,1935 - October 23,1976) was an American R&B singer, who came to prominence as one half of 1950's duo, Shirley and Lee.

Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee were bororn ten days apart, they met when they were children, and both of them sang in their Baptist church in New Orleans. They were discovered by studio owner Cosimo Matassa, who heard Goodman and Lee as part of the Joseph Clark High School singing group when they were thirteen years old. Matassa got Aladdin Records owner Eddie Messner interested in pairing them as a duo, and New Orleans veteran producer Dave Bartholomew produced their first recording, “I’m Gone,” in 1952, and backed the teenaged singers with many of the most skilled session musicians in New Orleans at the time, including saxophonists Alvin “Red” Tyler, Herb Hardesty and Lee Allen, bassist Frank Fields, and drummer Earl Palmer.

                                  

“I’m Gone” climbed to No. 2 on the rhythm and blues charts in 1952. The record contrasted Goodman's soprano with Leonard's baritone. This success was followed by a string of other duets, including “Shirley, Come Back to Me,” “Shirley’s Back,” and “The Proposal,” backed with “Two Happy People.” These songs gave Shirley and Lee their stage name, and each new release continued the saga of these presumed teenage sweethearts, which added to the duo’s popularity, though they were never romantically involved.

In their early songs, they pretended as if they were sweethearts and were dubbed "the Sweethearts of the Blues". Still just teenagers when they found success, Goodman's grandmother chaperoned her while they toured with Big Mama Thorton as her opening act. Nightclubs often stopped serving alcohol when they performed due to their age. Although both Shirley and Lee sang, theirs was often a call-and-response style rather than a two-part harmony.

Flagging sales prompted Shirley and Lee to change their song topics, starting with “Feels So Good” in 1955. In 1957 they released their most popular song, the anthem “Let the Good Times Roll,” which sold over a million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The song was considered too suggestive by many radio stations, and they banned it from their airwaves. Although a follow-up single, "I Feel Good". also made the charts. The duo's later releases were less successful, and the pair moved to the Warwick label in 1959, followed by Imperial Records in 1962. The duo never equalled their biggest hit, and broke up in 1963.

Leonard made some subsequent solo records with little success. In the mid 1960's Goodman moved to California, where she worked as a session singer on records by Sonny & Cher, Dr. John and others, and also formed a duo for a time with Jesse Hill. She sang backing vocals on the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street album, but then briefly retired from the music industry.

On October 15,1971 Shirley & Lee were reunited for one show only at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. The playbill included musicians of the early rock era, including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Bobby Rydell.

Lee eventually returned to school, earned a degree in social work, and worked for a government poverty agency as a social worker. He died of a heart attack in New Orleans on October 23,1976 aged 40, and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery and Mausoleum in New Orleans. In 1994, Shirley suffered a stroke and moved back to California to live with her son. She died there at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on July 5th of this year. She was 69 years old.

(Edited from Discogs & WBSS Media)

Shirley Goodman born 19 June 1936

Shirley Goodman (born Shirley Mae Goodman, 19 June 1936  - 5 July 2005) was an American R&B singer known best for Shirley and Lee, a 1950s R&B duo. Later in her career, she had a resurgence with the disco hit, "Shame, Shame, Shame" in the 1970s.

Shirley Mae Goodman and Leonard Lee (29 June 1936 – 23 October 1976) were born just ten days apart in 1936 and grew up in New Orleans' Seventh Ward. One of their friends was a girl named Evangeline, whose parents owned the only piano in the neighbourhood. Every night after school, Shirley, Lee and about a dozen pals would congregate in Evangeline's living room and harmonise. The kids found out about Cosimo Matassa's J & M Studio and pestered him to let them record "I'm Gone", a song they had put together. By chance, Eddie Mesner, co-owner of the Los Angeles-based Aladdin label, got to hear and liked a tape of the song at Cosimo's while in town to audition talent.

Leonard Lee, Justin Adams & Shirley at Cosimo's

After tracking down she and her pals, Mesner offered Shirley and Leonard Lee a recording contract. The simple two-chord "I'm Gone" - featuring the band of Dave Bartholomew, the same group that worked on Fats Domino and Smiley Lewis' early Imperial recordings - was an instant smash late in 1952, earning Shirley & Lee the sobriquet, the Sweethearts of the Blues. Other territorial R&B records followed, including "Shirley's Back" from 1953, "Feel So Good" and "I'll Do It" from 1955.

                               

In 1956, Shirley & Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" and "I Feel Good" crossed over into the pop charts. Immediately transformed into the Sweethearts of Rock'n'Roll, they were embraced by the first wave of white teenage record buyers of the 1950s. The cuddly New Orleans duo was tailor made for young consumers of the era, as in trade magazines, and on record, they were the picture of

adolescent innocence. They retained their popularity by working through most facets of romance, including break-ups, reunions, revenge, flirting and, eventually, rocking all night long.

Each new release was another chapter in their love affair that lasted nearly a decade, but in real life the pair's friendship was strictly platonic. While some dismiss their records as childish and repetitive, their music was undeniably classic New Orleans R&B. Their recordings always included the top-rated local session men, and their material was usually clever and provocative. But eventually the hits dried up and the duo bowed out of Aladdin in 1959. Soon after, Mesner sold his label and publishing to Imperial's Lew Chudd, supposedly to cover his gambling debts.

Shirley & Lee then signed with Warwick and had some minor success. In 1962, Imperial's Dave Bartholomew was interested again, but try as he might, he couldn't find a way to make the duo sound commercial. Shirley & Lee finally broke up in 1963, Lee remaining in New Orleans and Shirley heading for Los Angeles, where she found work as a session singer. Her voice can be heard on several albums by Dr. John, the Rolling Stones' "Exile On Main Street" and records by Sonny & Cher and Jackie DeShannon. She occasionally tried to work more duet magic when she cut records as Shirley & Jessie (with Jessie Hill on Wand in 1966), Shirley & Alfred (with Brenton Wood - Wood's real name is Alfred Smith - on Whiz in 1968) and Shirley & Shep. Leonard Lee also cut solo singles for the GNP Crescendo, Trumpet and Broadmoor labels.

Shirley was pulled back into the limelight by another veteran of R&B duets, Sylvia Robinson - of Mickey & Sylvia fame. During the late '60s, Robinson founded the All Platinum label in New Jersey. She recorded new artists and tried to resurrect such veteran R&B acts as Donnie Elbert, Dave "Baby" Cortez, Billy Guy (of the Coasters), Derek Martin and Lonnie Youngblood. In 1974, Robinson crossed paths with Shirley, who was working out of music at the time. She was invited to the East Coast to cut the vocals on a disco record. The song, "Shame, Shame, Shame" as by Shirley & Co., was a huge hit the next year. In 1976, Leonard Lee, who had become a social worker, died of a heart attack, aged just 40.

Shirley married and changed her name to Shirley Mae Goodman Pixley. By the time the '80s rolled around, Shirley had returned to New Orleans and was no longer performing secular music. In 1988, she won a federal court judgement that granted her a half share of the writer's royalties from "Let The Good Times Roll", which was beginning to generate tremendous royalties. However, Leonard Lee's widow and daughter relentlessly appealed the decision. In 1994, Shirley suffered a stroke and soon after moved to California to be with her son. She died on July 5th, aged 69.

(Edited from various sources mainly Jeff Hannusch's notes in "Let The Good Times Roll" Ace CD)