Return to Rock-and-Roll Page.Garnet Mimms put a few records in the top forty in the 1960's and had one notable soul song in the top ten. He was one of the early soul singers on the 60's pop music scene.
When he was born in 1933 in Ashland, West Virginia, his name was Garrett Mimms. His family moved to Philadelphia, where he was raised. Mimms sang in gospel groups such as the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four, and the group with which he would record his first record (in 1953), the Norfolk Four. He served in the military for a while. When he got out and returned to Philadelphia, doo-wop was a very popular form of music, so he formed his own doo-wop group in 1958 and called it the Gainors.
The Gainors recorded with the Red Top label and in 1961 two of its members, Garnet Mimms and Sam Bell, left to form a new group, Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, along with Zola Pearnell and Charles Boyer. They soon tired of competing with other acts in the Philadelphia area that had a different sound from theirs, such as Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Chubby Checker, and Bobby Rydell.
Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters headed for New York, where they began to work with successful songwriter/record producer Bert Berns. Berns signed them to the United Artists label and, with songwriting partner Jerry Ragavoy, wrote a song for them. Titled Cry Baby, it proved to be their biggest seller, topping the R&B chart and going to number 4 on the pop chart in 1963. The song helped to set the pace for soul music, and came before huge hits in the same vein by artists such as Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding later in the decade. The group followed with a cover of Jerry Butler's hit For Your Precious Love and on the flip side of the same record, Baby Don't You Weep, both of which hit the top forty later the same year.
The group folded and Garnet Mimms struck out on his own. His most notable recording this time was another song from Berns and Ragavoy titled I'll Take Good Care Of You, his second record on the R&B chart and his final top forty hit on the pop chart, in 1966. Mimms worked with Jimi Hendrix in England the following year. He did some recording on the MGM and Verve labels. The producers of funk band Brass Construction had him record a fast-paced dance song titled What It Is. Released as by Garnet Mimms and the Truckin' Company, it barely reached the charts in England in 1977.
A compilation of his hits from the 1963-1966 era can be found on the album Warm & Soulful. Garnet Mimms and his terrific rendition of Cry Baby helped to create the distinctive sound of soul music in the 60's.
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