Song: Sugar & Spice
Album:Sugar & Spice: A Collection
The Cryan' Shames were a very underrated mid-60s pop group that had their biggest success with this cover of The Searchers Brirish Invasion hit Sugar & Spice. They are also not to be confused with the British group The Cryin' Shames. So it's understandable if you think The Cryan' Shames are British but they're from Chicago. They started out in Hinsdale, IL as The Prowlers with Gerry Stone on rhythm guitar, Tom "Toad" Doody on vocals and Dave Purple on bass & keyboards. They added lead guitarist James Fairs and drummer Dennis Conroy from The Roosters and renamed themselves The Travelers. They also added one armed tambourine player Jim Pilster and named him JC Hooke. Though they performeed mostly covers, Fairs had started writing and would write most of their songs. The group signed up with producer Bob Monaco and his Destination label. But they had to change their name as there was a folk group called The Travelers. Their cover of The Searchers hit Sugar & Spice got them enough attention that The Cryan' Shames signed with Columbia Records. Sugar & Spice reached #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached #4 in Chicago. And that's the story of the band. They never really broke outside Chicago. They continued to record despite personnel changes due to guys getting drafted into the service. They split up in 1969 and JC Hooke & Tom Doody continue to lead a version of the group today. Dave Purple went on to a long career as a recording engineer until his death in 2000. Of course the Nuggets comps have kept groups like The Cryan' Shames alive and this Sony/Legacy comp covers their career. Here's The Cryan' Shames performing Sugar & Spice in Bolingbrook, IL Aug. 2009.
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