Hello, Stranger
Barbara Lewis lights up
By John Berger
Saturday's all-star oldies concert
Star-BulletinIt's not unusual these days for female recording artists to be songwriter/musicians. But when when Barbara Lewis first walked into a Chicago recording studio in 1961 things were different. The "girl groups" and pop-chart solo acts of the day generally sang songs selected for them by producers or record-label executives. Lewis was an exception.
Barbara Lewis
"I wrote my whole first album," she explained by phone from the Florida offices of Hello Stranger Productions. Best known as the silky smooth singer of "Hello Stranger," "Baby I'm Yours" and "Make Me Your Baby," Lewis also plays several instruments.
She'll give Honolulu a taste of her instrumental talents -- as well as sing her hits -- Saturday at Tom Moffatt's Oldies 107.9 Million Dollar Party at Blaisdell Arena.
"I enjoy doing the concert dates because I get to do a lot of things on stage," Lewis said. "I love the performing end of it. I'm not tired of singing my records because I was retired so long that it's like starting all over again. Every show is a new experience."
Lewis returned to music four years ago. She'd retired in the early'70s ("Everything seems glamorous but I became disillusioned at the business" ).
Can you imagine Miss Hello Stranger as an armed security officer? She had a successful career in security but "fell back into music." These days she juggles oldies-act concert dates with a club gig in Orlando that allows her to stretch as a singer and musician. She added a recording studio to her home several months ago and is working on a new album of original songs.
Lewis was a small-town girl anticipating a career in nursing when her father met a man looking for new songs. She'd been writing since age 9. Her father had started teaching her guitar when she was 6 -- "harmonica a little before that" -- and she also played keyboards and bass. So she borrowed "an old raggedy tape recorder" and cut home-demo versions of a couple of her songs.
The man was Ollie McLaughlin -- famous at the time as the man who'd discovered Del Shannon and made him a national recording artist. McLaughlin quickly recognized Lewis' potential, became her manager, and got her a contract with Atlantic Records.
Lewis hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 with one of her originals, "Hello Stranger," in 1963. Yet, Atlantic almost didn't release it.
"They wouldn't release it for a year," Lewis recalled. "They said it was too different."
It wasn't until Ruby & The Romantics hit with "Our Day Will Come" on another label that the Atlantic honchos gave Lewis' song a chance.
Lewis adds that she was the one who had to be convinced when McLaughlin and New York producer Bert Berns brought her "Baby I'm Yours" in 1965.
"I hated that song (because) I think I was afraid of it. When I heard the dub (demo tape), I thought 'I can't do it any better than that' -- and it was a guy singing it! I think it's good to be afraid of something because then you give a little more."
Tom Moffatt's Oldies 107.9
Million Dollar PartyFeaturing: Barbara Lewis, Lenny Welch, the Shirelles, the Drifters, the Coasters, the Tokens, the Crystals, and the Champs.
altitudes.
