The Pink Doilies

Pink Lady and Other Selected Songs
Floodplain Records
There are times when things do not align and outstanding talent never breaks out. The Pink Doilies were a talented group of three female singers who tried hard to break out into the mainstream but never could. One reason is that they did not have the flash or famous songwriter backing of groups like the Supremes. Second, they did not write lyrics that teenagers could relate to like The Shangri-La’s, The Marvelettes, or The Dixie Cups and so on. The groups that broke out into the mainstream generated a veritable cornucopia of songs teenagers could dance to or find something socially or personally relevant in their lyrics.
The Pink Doilies, Mary, Beth, and Camila sang about more mature themes. They wrote all their recorded songs themselves, which was quite unusual for the time. Perhaps that is why they never attracted the big labels who wanted to control the entire package from looks to lyrics to instrumentation and then stage presence and touring schedule. From the beginning, people who heard them live marveled at their singing abilities and arrangements. Unfortunately, teens, the audience that bought the lions-share of singles, did not embrace the group or their music. Another thing that may have cost them fans was that they started as studio singers and did not tour with the groups they sang for. Not to be crass, but they did not have the dazzle of many other multiple singer female groups. As a mixed race group, they also did not gain a significant audience in the American South where segregation was still a reality, though by the mid-sixties, against federal law.
Perhaps now is the time to correct the wrongs, to give the Pink Doilies a listen again and see whether they deserve the attention they never got. Should we give them that attention now? Let everyone know in your comments.
Fiction: story, narrative, lyrics, libretto, and arrangement human generated; music and images AI Generated.
00:00 Pink Lady
03:22 She Walks Alone
06:57 You Won’t See Me
09:50 My Burden
12:54 So Mean