Lillian Walker (March 5, 1944 – February 5, 2023) – Life, Love & Peace (1971)
The recently departed original member of the Exciters and "Tell Him" fame sang on this powerful freedom anthem written and produced by Herb Rooney.
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Lillian Walker was one of the original members of the Exciters, best known for their girl group classic “Tell Him” that went top-five on both the R&B and pop charts in 1963 and inspired Dusty Springfield to become a blue-eyed soul singer when she heard it.
Born in the Jamaica section of Queens, New York City, Walker and her three classmates Brenda Reid, Carolyn (Carol) Johnson, and Sylvia Wilbur formed a vocal group named the Masterettes while in high school. They were a sister group to the Masters, and Wilbur was eventually replaced by Masters member Herb Rooney. Lead singer Brenda Reid and Rooney later married.
After changing their name to the Exciters, in early October, 1962 they recorded a song produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. “Tell Him” was written by Bert Berns, who co-wrote “Twist And Shout” for the Isley Brothers and became a top producer and owner of BANG Records before his early death at age 38 in 1967. It had previously been recorded twice as “Tell Her” by Gil Hamilton and Ed Townsend.
“Tell Him” became a huge hit, climbing to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 R&B in early 1963. When British singer Dusty Springfield touched down in New York City on her way to Nashville to make a country album, she heard it playing while on a late night walk by the Colony Record Store on Broadway. The song’s power blew her away, and was one of the reasons she steered her career in a blue-eyed soul direction. As she recalled years later:
“The Exciters sort of got you by the throat. We first heard it briefly in New York; we were stopping in New York for the first time ever, and, I was going past a record shop; a Colony record shop, open till at least 4, if not all night, and I just walked past, I mean it was the thrill of being in New York and it was night time; the buildings were so huge and it was like – who needed drugs? It was just incredible, and I…out of the blue comes blasting at you ‘I know something about love,’ and that’s it. That’s what I wanna do.”
The song’s success earned them a slot as one of the opening acts on the Beatles’ first U.S. tour. Their first follow up single was “He’s Got The Power” (1963), co-written by Ellie Greenwich and Tony Powers, which stalled out at #57 on the Hot 100.
The Exciters’ sound evolved as the decade progressed. They kept working with Berns, and released a pair of singles on the Shout subsidiary of his BANG Records. The upbeat jam “Number One” was co-written by Herb Rooney and released in October, 1966. Its B-side was the phenomenal “You Got Love,” co-written by Berns and legendary producer Jerry Ragovoy. The funky number “Soul Motion” was co-written by Berns and Jeff Barry and released in early 1967, b/w “You Know It Ain't Right” which Berns co-wrote with Wes Farrell.
In 1969, they released the album Caviar and Chitlins on RCA Victor. Its upbeat opening cut “Blowing Up My Mind” was the LP’s lead single and only hit #49 R&B (b/w the superb “You Don't Know What You're Missing (Til It's Gone!),” but became a Northern Soul classic. Both sides were co-written by Rooney and Larry Banks, and the two of them co-produced the album with Paul Robinson.
Other highlights included “Movin’ Too Slow,” the emotional tale of a relationship wrecked by drink and drugs, the poignant “If I Could See Into Tomorrow,” and the stellar love anthem closing cut “Turn Me On.”
Two years later in 1971, the Exciters dropped the Black liberation-themed LP Black Beauty, produced and arranged solely by Rooney.
The album’s amazing opening cut was “Life, Love & Peace,” a powerful freedom anthem written by Rooney. It combined a driving organ, funky bass line, superb gospel-soul vocals, and meaningful lyrics that urged us to come together and “forget about all the hurt that we've done to one another.”
“Life, Love & Peace” should have and would have been recognized as one of the best, most stirring peace songs of the era if it had come out on a major label and gotten decent airplay. But instead, it was one of the first releases on the brand new label Today Records (which was soon to be run by the genius producer Patrick Adams) and got overlooked.
Black Beauty also featured the superb heartbreak tale “Leaving Him Tomorrow,” co-written by Rooney and T. Kaye, and the utopian vision of a brighter future “Don't It Make You Just Feel Good?” which was written by Rooney.
Rest in Power, Lillian Walker.
Further info:
“Lillian Walker-Moss - An interview with the singer of the 1960's pop/soul group the Exciters,” MusicGuy24-7, September 24, 2018.
“Lillian Walker-Moss, co-founder of ‘Tell Him’ hitmakers The Exciters, dies,” SoulTracks.com, February 6, 2023.
#soul #funk #Exciters #LillianWalker