Biography
The Jarmels emerged in the early 1960s as a quintessential one-hit wonder ensemble, scoring their sole notable success when the single “A Little Bit of Soap” climbed to number 12 on the American charts during 1961. Although the group’s remaining five releases never approached comparable commercial traction, the song retained a lasting foothold in public memory through later cover versions, including a mid-1960s hit by the Exciters and renewed chart entries by England’s Showaddywaddy in the 1980s.
All five members hailed from Richmond, Virginia, where they had first sung together in local churches and schools before forming the act in the late 1950s. Nathaniel Ruff (born 1939), Ray Smith (born 1941), Paul Burnett (born 1942), Earl Christian (born 1940), and Tom Eldridge (born 1941) took their unusual name from a street in Harlem. Their manager, Jim Gribble, who also handled the Mystics and the Passions, secured them a contract with Laurie Records in New York in 1961. The signing set the Jarmels apart from most of the label’s roster, which consisted largely of white artists favoring a pop orientation over R&B; the Virginia quintet instead fused both influences, most clearly recalling the post-1958 sound of the Drifters.
Their opening single, “Little Lonely One,” registered strong regional play in New York yet failed to register on national charts. The second effort, “A Little Bit of Soap,” written and produced by Bert Berns—who would later manage Neil Diamond and Van Morrison and who had already worked with the Drifters—entered the U.S. top 20 in summer 1961 and remained on the charts for six weeks. No subsequent release repeated that achievement; none of the four singles that followed charted at all. The final recording, “Come on Girl,” appeared in 1963, after which the group continued performing into the mid-1960s amid repeated personnel changes. One later member was Major Harris, who subsequently joined the Delfonics.
All five members hailed from Richmond, Virginia, where they had first sung together in local churches and schools before forming the act in the late 1950s. Nathaniel Ruff (born 1939), Ray Smith (born 1941), Paul Burnett (born 1942), Earl Christian (born 1940), and Tom Eldridge (born 1941) took their unusual name from a street in Harlem. Their manager, Jim Gribble, who also handled the Mystics and the Passions, secured them a contract with Laurie Records in New York in 1961. The signing set the Jarmels apart from most of the label’s roster, which consisted largely of white artists favoring a pop orientation over R&B; the Virginia quintet instead fused both influences, most clearly recalling the post-1958 sound of the Drifters.
Their opening single, “Little Lonely One,” registered strong regional play in New York yet failed to register on national charts. The second effort, “A Little Bit of Soap,” written and produced by Bert Berns—who would later manage Neil Diamond and Van Morrison and who had already worked with the Drifters—entered the U.S. top 20 in summer 1961 and remained on the charts for six weeks. No subsequent release repeated that achievement; none of the four singles that followed charted at all. The final recording, “Come on Girl,” appeared in 1963, after which the group continued performing into the mid-1960s amid repeated personnel changes. One later member was Major Harris, who subsequently joined the Delfonics.
Albums
