| Pearl's a Singer | |
| Cover: | ElkPAS.JPG |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Elkie Brooks |
| Album: | Two Days Away |
| B-Side: | You Did Something for Me |
| Released: | 25 February 1977 |
| Recorded: | 1976 |
| Genre: | Blues rock, soft rock |
| Length: | 3:39 |
| Label: | A&M |
| Producer: | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller |
| Chronology: | Elkie Brooks |
| Prev Title: | He's a Rebel |
| Prev Year: | 1976 |
| Next Title: | Saved |
| Next Year: | 1977 |
"Pearl's a Singer" is a song by English singer Elkie Brooks, as taken from her 1977 album Two Days Away which was produced by the song's co-writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The original version of "Pearl's a Singer" had been introduced by the duo Dino and Sembello – also the song's co-writers – on their 1974 self-titled album which Leiber and Stoller had produced.[1]
The song is a ballad, telling the story of a failed singer who still dreams of the success she might have had.
Brooks would recall that at a rehearsal session for her Two Days Away album "Jerry Leiber [said]: 'I want to play you this song, I don't think you're going to like it, it's too countryish for you but I'll play it for you anyway.'...I said: 'Go on, I've got an open mind, I like a lot of country [music].' I listened to 'Pearl's a Singer' and told [Leiber & Stoller] I liked it but that they needed to [modify it with] a middle section. To which Jerry said: 'No problem'. And with that he disappeared and came back half an hour later with the [modified] version of 'Pearl's a Singer'" which Brooks recorded.[2] Brooks - "To be honest [in the mid-1970s] I just wanted to enjoy myself in music and I never thought 'Pearl...' was going to be a big hit but [after] it was released on my birthday in 1977 the record company really pushed it, [it] got played on all the radio stations and became very successful. No one was more surprised than me."[3]
"Pearl's a Singer" afforded Elkie Brooks her debut chart single – thirteen years after she'd recorded her first track – reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in spring 1977. It remained her highest placing in that chart until "No More the Fool" reached No. 5, in early 1987.
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 65 |
| Europarade Top 30[5] [6] | 17 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[7] | 9 |
| Portugal Music Week International Charts[8] | 8 |
| Chart (1977) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] | 91 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] | 95 |