Editing Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans

{{short description|American vocal group}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}
[[File:Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans 1962.jpg|thumb|The group in 1962]]
'''Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans''' was an early 1960s 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.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=159}}</ref> The Blue Jeans were backing vocalists [[Darlene Love]] and Fanita James, both of whom were also members of the [[girl group]] [[the Blossoms]].<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p20657|pure_url=yes}} |title=Biography by William Ruhlmann |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref>

==Career==
Despite Sheen's status as group leader, by the time the [[Trio (music)|trio]] entered the recording studio, Spector was often using Love as the group's primary vocalist. Sheen sang lead on the group's first [[hit record|hit]], 1962's "[[Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah]]" (originally from the 1946 [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] movie ''[[Song of the South]]''). Love, meanwhile, handled the lead vocals on the follow-up [[single (music)|single]], 1963's "[[Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart]]". Sheen and Love shared lead vocal duties on the final single,  "[[Not Too Young to Get Married]]".<ref name="AMG"/>

Sheen and Love shared vocal duties on the only album the group ever recorded, ''Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah'' (1963).<ref name="Larkin"/>

Sheen can be heard as lead vocalist on the group's final [[sound recording and reproduction|recordings]], "[[The Bells of St. Mary's (song)|The Bells of St. Mary's]]" and "[[Here Comes Santa Claus]]", two tracks on the Spector-produced album, ''[[A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector]]'' (1963), on which Love also appears as a solo artist.<ref name="Larkin"/>  On the cover of this album, a group portrait shows Sheen with two Blue Jeans vocalists (actually two more Spector session singers, Lillian Washington and future [[Honey Cone]] member Carolyn Willis, who toured with Sheen as the Blue Jeans, although both Love and James continued as the Blue Jeans in the recording studio).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/1459994147620507/|title=In Memory of Rosetta Hightower Green|website=Facebook}}</ref>

After 1963, the group was dropped by [[Philles Records]] and effectively ceased to exist.<ref name="Larkin"/> Sheen went back to using his real name, recorded some tracks for [[Capitol Records]] in the mid-1960s, and later joined a [[concert tour|touring]] version of [[the Coasters]], which featured original bass singer [[Bobby Nunn (doowop musician)|Bobby Nunn]].<ref name="AMG"/> Sheen had previously been a member of [[the Robins]], joining in 1957.  Love recorded a few solo hits, but, more memorably, was the lead vocalist on at least two hit records by [[the Crystals]]. It is also established that Sheen, Love, and James (with the rest of the Blossoms) were the voices on the Crystals' hits "[[He's a Rebel]]" and "[[He's Sure the Boy I Love]]".{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==Discography==
===Albums===
*''Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah'' (1963)

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;
|-
!rowspan="2"|Year
!rowspan="2"|Title
!colspan="2"|Peak chart<br />positions
!rowspan="2"|Label
!rowspan="2"|[[A-side and B-side|B-side]]
!rowspan="2"|Album
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
!align=centre| [[Billboard Hot 100|US<br />Pop]]
!align=centre| [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|US<br />R&B]]
|-
|rowspan="1"| 1962
|align=left| "[[Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah#Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans version|Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah]]"
| 8
| 7
|rowspan="3"| [[Philles Records|Philles]]
|rowspan="1"| "Flip and Nitty"
|rowspan="2"| ''Zip-a-Dee Doo Dah''
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1963
|align=left| "[[Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart|Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?]]"
| 38
| —
|rowspan="1"| "Dr. Kaplan's Office"
|-
|align=left| "[[Not Too Young to Get Married]]"
| 63
| —
|rowspan="1"| "Annette"
|rowspan="1"| 
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans}}
[[Category:American pop music groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1962]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1963]]
[[Category:Philles Records artists]]
[[Category:1962 establishments in the United States]]