THE ELGINS

The Elgins were a Motown group who experienced limited success in the mid-1960s.

Its founding members were Robert Fleming, Johnny Dawson, Cleo “Duke” Miller, and Norman McLean. They initially performed as the Sensations, the Five Emeralds, and the Downbeats. Under the latter name, they released a single on Motown’s Tamla imprint, “Request of a Fool” / “Your Baby’s Back,” in 1962.

Motown suggested the addition of a female lead, Saundra Mallett (who later married and became Saundra Edwards). Their debut single with that line-up was “Put Yourself in My Place” / “Darling Baby,” released on the V.I.P. subsidiary in December 1965. Early pressings gave the group’s name as the Downbeats, but label chief Berry Gordy wanted to call them the Elgins (a name previously used by the Temptations). Despite its B-side status, “Darling Baby” became the bigger hit, peaking at #4 on Billboard magazine’s Rhythm & Blues chart. It also went to #1 in Los Angeles.

In the fall of 1966, the Elgins charted for the second time, with “Heaven Must Have Sent You.” Motown then put out an album on the group, Darling Baby. Their next release, “I Understand My Man” / “It’s Been a Long Time,” proved somewhat less successful, causing the Elgins to break up in 1967.

Meanwhile, in England, Motown singles remained highly popular on that country’s Northern Soul scene. This led to reissues of “Heaven Must Have Sent You” and “Put Yourself in My Place,” both of which made the UK charts in 1971. Their unexpected success prompted the male members of the Elgins to reunite with a new lead singer, Yvonne Vernee Allen. (Saundra Edwards was uninterested.)

In 1972, Jackie Moore’s remake of “Darling Baby” hit #22 on the Billboard Soul chart. In 1979, Bonnie Pointer’s remake of “Heaven Must Have Sent You” reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1989, an Elgins group composed of Vernee Allen, Johnny Dawson, Norman McLean, and Jimmy Charles recorded a new version of “Heaven Must Have Sent You” with the English producer Ian Levine. It came out as a single on Nightmare Records. Three years later, the group released “It’s Sensational” on Levine’s Motorcity label. Saundra Edwards also made solo recordings for Motocity. She died in 2002.

In 1997, a British CD combined the Darling Baby album with one by the Monitors, another Motown group whose success was limited. Ten years later, Motown released an Elgins anthology.

Rock critic Dave Marsh included “Heaven Must Have Sent You” in his 1989 book, The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.

Charted singles:

“Darling Baby” (1966) R&B #4, Pop #72
“Put Yourself in My Place” (1966) Pop #92, UK #28 (1971)
“Heaven Must Have Sent You” (1966) R&B #9, Pop #50, UK #3 (1971)
“It’s Been a Long Time” (1967) R&B #35, Pop #92

Also worth hearing is “Stay in My Lonely Arms,” the B-side of “Heaven Must Have Sent You.”