The Ronettes
The Ronettes () were an American girl group from New York City. One of the most popular groups from the 1960s, they placed nine songs on the "Billboard" Hot 100, five of which became Top 40 hits. The trio from Spanish Harlem, New York, consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. Among the Ronettes' most famous songs are "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up", and "Walking in the Rain", all of which charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100. "Walking in the Rain" won a Grammy Award in 1965, and "Be My Baby" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Raelettes
Reformed by Ray Charles from the all-girl singing group The Cookies, The Raelettes were officially established in 1958. Like Ray Charles, they were signed by Atlantic Records, who released a few singles with them, and hired them as backing vocals for other acts (in the studio and live). Ray 'discovered' The Cookies in 1956, in Philadelphia. That night he went out to a concert by the Lionel Hampton Band. Chuck Willis opened the show, and he was accompanied by the girls. Ray, as he later stated, was immediately hooked on their way of singing. He had already recorded "Drown In My Own Tears" with Mary Ann Fisher (who also toured with the band as a featured solo singer between 1956 and 1958), supported by two other girls, but now he wanted to make this kind of female backing vocals part of his sound, permanently.
He first invited The Cookies for a recording session in New York City, in August 1956, where they taped "Lonely Avenue", "I Want To Know" and "Leave My Woman Alone". Margie Hendrix, Dorothy Jones, and Darlene McCrea formed the first line-up. In 1958 The Cookies were re-baptized as The Raelettes (Raeletts, Raelets, etc.), and started touring with The Genius.
Margie Hendrix explained the name change from "Cookies" to "Raelet(t)(te)s" in an October 1961 interview in the French jazz magazine Jazz Hot: "Since we became an integrated part of Ray Charles' orchestra, it would have been perfectly stupid to continue using the 'Cookies' name. On a nice morning Ray tackled the problem, and came to the conclusion that only two names were possible: the 'Silver Bells' or the 'Raelets'. I immediately rejected the 'Silver Bells' - that name appeared ridiculous to me. And that's how we called ourselves the Raelets. We've never been [called] the 'Raylettes': that name would be an error. In American [English] Ray is [a name] for men, and Rae is for the ladies."