In 2006 when Nona Hendryx was working on "Dear Rosa," a musical thank-you letter to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, the songwriter was reminded of her own past. The song's sharpened political lyrics and soaring gospel-soul harmony seemed perfect for her old group Labelle, so she asked former triomates Patti LaBelle and Sarah Dash to add their voices to the track. Once they were back in the studio together, it was obvious that a new chapter had opened for the three old friends.
"When I heard the playback, I said, 'Oh my, we've still got it,' " LaBelle, 64, remembers. "After 33 years, you'd think something might be missing, but the vocal quality was still there. I said, 'Girls, we've got to do this.' . . . They'd been asking me for years, 'Patti, let's do a reunion,' and I'd always say, 'Not right now; I've got too much on my plate.' But when I heard 'Dear Rosa,' I said, 'I'll move my schedule around to make this happen.' "
She did, and this past September "Dear Rosa" became part of the trio's first album of new material in 32 years, "Back to Now." The three perform at DAR Constitution Hall tonight.
Patti LaBelle is clearly the group's lead singer, by virtue of her freak-of-nature powerhouse soprano. But Hendryx and Dash don't assume the deferential role of conventional backing singers. Their volume may be lower than LaBelle's, but they sing with the same aggression and projection.
Hendryx and Dash almost sound like lead guitars vying with a lead singer -- the reason they come across so well on rock and funk material such as "System" on the new album or their biggest hit, "Lady Marmalade." They almost sound like a two-woman choir belting from a church balcony behind a soloist -- the reason they're so convincing on a gospel-flavored number like "Dear Rosa."
The Patti LaBelle who sings with Dash and Hendryx creates a sound different from her solo performances. "I'm still the same Patti LaBelle," she points out. "But when I'm surrounded by the girls, it just sounds different. Just like there's the Motown sound and the Philly sound, there's the Labelle sound. . . . I've got a big mouth, so they know they have to bring the vocal power. It would sound crazy if I were the only one with the strong voice and they sounded like little babies behind me. But they sound like rock singers or opera singers back there."
"We've never been like the other girl groups," Hendryx, 64, adds. "We've always performed like three individuals. Yes, Patti is the lead singer, but there is an energy of three people singing not the same but at the same time."
The three women began their careers as a more conventional group, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, a Philadelphia quartet that scored three Top 40 pop hits in the early 1960s. Cindy Birdsong left the group in 1967 to replace Flo Ballard in the Supremes. After being dropped by their record label, the three others moved to London in 1970 to reinvent themselves. With the help of their new British manager, Vicki Wickham, they changed their sound as well as their name.
The Bluebelles became Labelle, and a new kind of girl group was born. Vicki "told us to sing out as if we were all singing lead, instead of singing backgrounds," recalls Dash, 63. "It was Nona singing alto, me in the middle and Patti on top. That set us aside from what you were hearing on the radio on a daily basis. It was a 180-degree turn from what the Supremes and the other girl groups were doing at the time. Our music became more full-out, more gospel, more rock."
The three women befriended the Who during their time in London and recorded a version of Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets" with the Who's manager, Kit Lambert, producing and the Who's Keith Moon on drums. That previously unreleased 1970 track is on the new album. In 1971, the trio was invited back to America by their old Philadelphia pal Kenny Gamble to sing on Laura Nyro's legendary album, "Gonna Take a Miracle."
"Kenny and I were best friends as kids before he became a producer," LaBelle says. "He'd come over to my house and protect me from guys. Guys would want to mess with me and he'd say, 'No, she has too good a voice. I'm protecting her till I can record her.' "
Gamble and longtime partner Leon Huff wrote the rock-funk anthem "Tears for the World" with LaBelle. As she belts out a catalogue of the planet's troubles (from starvation in Africa to floods in New Orleans), a Dexter Wansel string chart and the testifying vocals of Hendryx and Dash rise behind her.
"That song is so relevant now," LaBelle says. "People are losing their homes, their jobs and the families. They're killing each other. I'm watching my friends lose things. So right now I'm crying tears for the world. Have mercy."
Labelle Appearing Friday at DAR Constitution Hall (1776 D St. NW). 202-628-4780. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets: $85; 202-628-4780 or http://www.dar.org/conthall The Download: For a sampling of Labelle's music, check out: From "Back to Now": · "Dear Rosa" · "Miss Otis Regrets" · "Tears for the World" From "The Essential Patti LaBelle": · "Lady Marmalade" · "Moon Shadow" · "You Turn Me On"
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