Millie Small

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Millie Small
Millie Small (1964).jpg
Millie Small in 1964
Background information
Birth name Millicent Dolly May Small
Also known as Little Millie Small, Millie Small
Born (1946-10-06) 6 October 1946 (age 78)
Gibralter, Clarendon, Jamaica
Genres Blue beat, ska, reggae
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1962–72
Labels Fontana, Island, Trojan

Millicent Dolly May "Millie" Small, CD (born 6 October 1946),[1] is a Jamaican singer-songwriter, best known for her 1964 cover version of "My Boy Lollipop".

Career

Small was born at Gibralter in Clarendon, Jamaica, the daughter of a sugar plantation overseer.[1] Like many Jamaican singers of the era, her career began by winning the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest at the age of twelve.[2] Wishing to pursue a career as a singer she moved to live with relatives in Love Lane in Kingston.[2] In her teens, she recorded a duet with Owen Gray ("Sugar Plum") in 1962 and later recorded with Roy Panton for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One record label as 'Roy and Millie'.[1][2] They had a local hit with "We'll Meet".[1][2]

These hits brought her to the attention of Chris Blackwell who became her manager and legal guardian, who in late 1963 took her to Forest Hill, London, where she was given intensive training in dancing and diction.[2] There she made her fourth recording, an Ernest Ranglin rearrangement of "My Boy Lollipop", a song originally released by Barbie Gaye in late 1956.[2] Released in March 1964, Small's version was a massive hit, reaching number two both in the UK Singles Chart[3] and in the US Billboard Hot 100, and number three in Canada.[4] It also topped the chart in Australia. Initially it sold over 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[5] Including singles sales, album usage and compilation inclusions, the song has since sold more than seven million copies worldwide.[1][6] Small was not a one-hit wonder. For example, subsequent recordings such as "Sweet William" and "Bloodshot Eyes", both charted in the UK at numbers 30 and 48 respectively.[3]

"My Boy Lollipop" was doubly significant in British pop history. It was the first major hit for Island Records (although it was actually released on the Fontana label because Chris Blackwell, Island's owner, did not want to overextend its then-meagre resources; in the US, the record appeared on the Smash Records subsidiary of Mercury Records), and Small was the first artist to have a hit that was recorded in the bluebeat style (she was billed as "The Blue Beat Girl" on the single's label in the US).[1] This was a music genre that had recently emerged from Jamaica, and was a direct ancestor of reggae.

She appeared on the 1964 Beatles TV special Around The Beatles.

On 6 March 1965, Small appeared on the Australian television programme Bandstand. This was as part of a concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Kings Domain, Melbourne, part of the Moomba Festival. She performed "My Boy Lollipop", "What Am I Living For" and "See You Later, Alligator".[7] Small continued to tour and perform up to the early 1970s.

On 6 August 2011, the 49th anniversary of Jamaica's independence, the Governor-General created Small a Commander in the Order of Distinction, for her contribution to the Jamaican music industry.[4][8] The award was accepted on her behalf by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga.[9]

In July 2012 she stated that she had been recording again and planned to perform in Jamaica for the first time in over 40 years.[9]

Personal life

She had a brief relationship with Peter Asher of the 1960s duo Peter & Gordon.[10]

She lived in Singapore from 1971 to 1973 before returning to England, which is now her home.[2] She has an adult daughter, who studied art and the music industry.[11]

Discography

Albums

Selected singles

Year Single Label
1963 "Don't You Know" / "Until You're Mine" Fontana
1964 "My Boy Lollipop"
"Sweet William"
"I Love the Way You Love" / "Bring It on Home to Me"
1965 "I've Fallen in Love with a Snowman" / "What Am I Living For"
"See You Later, Alligator" / "Chilly Kisses"
"My Street" / "It's Too Late"
"Bloodshot Eyes" / "Tongue Tied"
1966 "My Street" / "A Mixed Up Fickle Moody Self-Centred, Spoiled Kind of Boy" Brit
"Killer Joe" / "Carry Go Bring Come" Fontana
1967 "You Better Forget" / "I Am in Love" Island
"Chicken Feed" / "Wings of a Dove" Fontana
1968 "When I Dance with You" / "Hey Mr. Love"
1969 "Readin' Writin' Arithmetic" / "I Want You Never to Stop" Decca

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "The Woman Who Started It All", Jamaica Gleaner, 13 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Grizzle, Shereita (2014) "Millie Small's 'My Boy Lollipop' Introduces Teenager To The World", Jamaica Gleaner, 20 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ DVD: The Best of Bandstand 1965-66 Volume Three
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2012) "LOLLIPOP DREAMS - Millie Small plans JA concert", Jamaica Observer, 8 July 2012, retrieved 2012-07-12
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ [1] Archived November 6, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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