From Over The Rainbow to Lady Marmalade!
Formed in Philadelphia in 1962 under the name The Bluebelles, Patti LaBelle and her bandmates Cindy Birdsong, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash soon garnered a great reputation as a live act.
Early hit tunes included I Sold My Heart To The Junkman, Down The Aisle (The Wedding Song), You’ll Never Walk Alone (Liverpool’s anthem), and Over The Rainbow.
In 1967, Cindy Birdsong left the group to join The Supremes, with whom LaBelle had been touring. This caused a rift between the band members who fell out as a result.
In 1971, the group changed their name to LaBelle and released their self-titled album. Notable tunes here are covers of Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones) and You’ve Got A Friend (Carole King).
The same year, they recorded Jimmy Mack with Laura Nyro as backing singers for her album Gonna Take A Miracle.
Their second album, Moonshadow (1972), did have the Cat Stevens tune on it, as well as Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who.
On their third album, Pressure Cookin’, we hear The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Gil Scott-Heron) and (Can I Speak to You Before You Go to) Hollywood, with lyrics describing how the band members felt about Cindy leaving them for Diana Ross.
The producers credited for Pressure Cookin’ are Vicky Wickham and a “friend,” the “friend” being none other than Stevie Wonder, who also wrote Open Up Your Heart, another track featured on the album.
Inspiration must have struck following working with Stevie, as their next album, Nightbirds, included LaBelle’s signature song, Lady Marmalade.
Lady Marmalade sold 1 million copies in the U.S. and has remained a contender for the working band’s setlist for five decades since.
Covered by Sabrina, All Saints, and most famously featured in Moulin Rouge (Christina Aguilera), it would become the tune that defined LaBelle.
LaBelle Tunes | Related Pages
Jimmy Mack
You can learn how to play Jimmy Mack by Martha and The Vandellas using chords, lyrics, TAB, a chord chart, a backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Ebm | Gbmaj7 | Dbmaj7 | Gb |
Jimmy Mack, Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy Mack, when are you comin’ back…
Lady Marmalade
You can learn how to play Lady Marmalade by LaBelle using chords, lyrics, chord analysis a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Gm7 | C9 |
He met Marmalade down in old New Orleans…
Over The Rainbow
You can learn how to play Over The Rainbow by Eva Cassidy using chords, lyrics, TAB, chord analysis, a chord chart, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Gsus2 /F# | Em /D | Bm7b13 | G7 Amadd4 /B |
Somewhere over the rainbow…
You’ve Got A Friend
Learn how to play You’ve Got A Friend by Carol King using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recordings.
| Em | B7/F# | Em B7/F# | G B7/F# Em Em/D |
When you’re down and troubled and you need some lovin’ care…
Labelle on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about LaBelle tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.