Garnet Mimms

Garnet Mimms (born Garrett Mimms, November 16, 1933) is an American singer, influential in soul music and rhythm and blues. He first achieved success as the lead singer of Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters and is best known for the 1963 hit "Cry Baby", later recorded by Janis Joplin. According to Steve Huey at AllMusic, his "pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers [and] his legacy remains criminally underappreciated."

Biography Born in Ashland, West Virginia, United States, He returned to Philadelphia after serving in the military and, after a spell in a doo-wop group, the Deltones, formed another group, the Gainors, in 1958, with Sam Bell, Willie Combo, John Jefferson, and Howard Tate. The song topped the R&B chart and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. The group followed it up with "For Your Precious Love," a cover of Jerry Butler and the Impressions' original, which hit the Billboard Top 30 later that year, as did the flip side, "Baby Don't You Weep."

In 1964, Mimms left the Enchanters for a solo career; Mimms continued to record for United Artists, and had several minor R&B hits over the next two years, including "One Girl" and a cover of the Jarmels' "A Little Bit of Soap." Some of his recordings at that time, including "It Was Easier to Hurt Her", "As Long As I Have You", and "Looking For You",

He moved to the UA subsidiary label Veep in 1966, releasing several singles including "My Baby", He continued to work with Ragovoy, and in 1968 started recording for Verve Records. Mimms' final recordings for several years were issued on the GSF label in 1972. Mimms later told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “after my father passed in `78, I just lost the zeal for that kind of music. Disco came in, with the lights and the loud music. I was always a balladeer. I didn’t like all that loud stuff.”

Mimms gave up his music career shortly afterwards. In 2007 he returned to recording, and a year later released a new album Is Anybody Out There? on the Evidence label, produced and (primarily) written by Jon Tiven. AllMusic's review stated, "The material is all retro soul-gospel and leaves his previous solo gospel outing in the dust." Tiven co-wrote songs for the album with Felix Cavaliere, P.F. Sloan, Little Milton and Spooner Oldham, among others.

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

Discography Chart singles Year Title Chart positions US Pop USR&B UK 1963"Cry Baby"Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters 4 1 -"For Your Precious Love" / Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters 26 * -"Baby Don't You Weep"Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters 30 * - 1964 "Tell Me Baby" 69 * - "One Girl" / 67 * - "A Quiet Place"Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters 78 * - "Look Away" 73 * - 1965 "A Little Bit of Soap" 95 * - "It Was Easier to Hurt Her" 124 - - "That Goes to Show You" 115 - - 1966"I'll Take Good Care Of You" 30 15 - "It's Been Such a Long Way Home" 125 - - "My Baby" 132 - - 1977"What It Is"Garnet Mimms & the Truckin' Company - 38 44

Note: * Billboard did not publish R&B chart in this period.