Linda Parrish and Patti Valentine’s time performing as the duo 2 Of Clubs was brief but sweet. This 10-inch vinyl mini-album contains their complete recordings, together in one place for the first time.
All these years after their records were first released, 2 Of Clubs remain fondly remembered inCincinnati, thanks to a handful of excellent mid-60s singles for Fraternity Records. Patti had been singing for kicks with various groups when she was offered her first paying job, performing at the popular Guys & Dolls nightspot. There she met Linda, who also sang at the club, and whose husband Carl Edmondson led the Driving Winds, the house band. The two young women performed as soloists at first, but became a duo after discovering their voices blended well together.
In the 1950s and 60s, theCincinnatimusic was dominated by King Records. In its shadow was Fraternity, a smaller concern launched by Harry Carlson. In addition to working at Guys & Dolls, Carl Edmondson was kept busy at Fraternity, producing the Charmaines, Lonnie Mack and others. Harry Carlson visited the club to see 2 Of Clubs perform, liked what he heard, and decided to add then to the label’s roster, with Carl as their manager and producer.
Recorded at King’s studio, the duo’s cover of Petula Clark’s ‘Heart’ was issued in August 1966. On the B-side was ‘My First Heart Break’, written by Carl and Linda. The record did well, registering in radio station charts inCincinnati,Chicagoand other regions, before peaking at #125 on Billboard’s national chart in October. Wasting no time, Fraternity rushed out their follow-up that month, featuring ‘Walk Tall Like A Man’, a song previously recorded by Verdelle Smith, backed with ‘So Blue Is Fall’, composed by Linda back when she was in high school. Although a slow burner, the record became even more successful than ‘Heart’, charting at #75 in Cash Box, #62 in Record World and eventually, five months after release, at #92 in Billboard’s Hot 100.
By the end of 1967, Fraternity had put out three more 2 Of Clubs singles, all recorded at RCA’s studios inNashville. Each disc featured covers of songs by established writers, with B-sides penned by Carl and Linda. ‘Let Me Walk With You’, first recorded by Jody Miller, would become Linda’s favourite 2 Of Clubs recording, but the song’s waltz tempo probably hindered its mass appeal. Ike and Tina Turner’s recording of ‘River Deep – Mountain High’ had been very successful in theUKand other countries, but had bombed in theUSA. The 2 Of Clubs version lacked the big-budget production of the original, yet did become popular inCincinnati. ‘Look Away’ had reached the pop and R&B charts for Garnet Mimms in 1964. Patti and Linda performed the song with their usual panache, right down to the double-time ending, but their admirable recording would prove to be 2 Of Clubs’ final Fraternity single.
In addition to the tracks released during their time with the company, a trawl through the Fraternity master tape archive in recent years uncovered the duo’s versions of ‘I’ll Come Running Over’, a song previously recorded by Lulu, and ‘He Calls Me Child’, the writers of which are unverified. Both tracks feature on this collection of every known 2 Of Clubs recording.
The breakdown of Linda and Carl’s marriage signalled the end of 2 Of Clubs as a going concern. Patti continued to sing in clubs with Carl’s band for a few years until she got married and moved toIllinois. The two women remained friends, though, and did reunite as 2 Of Clubs for occasional live shows, including a big oldies festival organised by WGRR inCincinnatiheadlined by Little Richard in 1999. There were too few female duos in the world of 1960s pop music. Let’s hear it for 2 Of Clubs, one of the best.
