April 27 , 2008

Garnett Mimms

Mimms grew up in Philadelphia, where he sang in gospel music groups such as the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four, and the group with which he would record his first record (in 1953), the Norfolk Four. He returned to Philadelphia after serving in the military and formed doo-wop group The Gainors in 1958.

In 1961 Mimms and Sam Bell from The Gainors left to form a new group, Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters with Zola Pearnell and Charles Boyer. The group moved to New York and began to work with successful songwriter/record producer Bert Berns. Berns signed them to the United Artists label and wrote the hit "Cry Baby" for them with songwriting partner Jerry Ragovoy. The song topped the R&B chart and went to #4 on the pop chart in 1963 and paved the way for soul hits by Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding later in the decade.

Mimms went solo and performed another Berns and Ragovoy hit "Take Good Care Of You" in 1966. Mimms worked with Jimi Hendrix in England the following year. He did some recording on the MGM and Verve Records labels.

In the 1970s he released a few funk songs as Garnet Mimms and the Truckin' Company.

Mimms was given a Pioneer Award in 1999 by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

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