Hey Little Girl-The Larks-'51-Apollo 429.

The history of the Larks begins with Thermon Ruth, who had formed the Selah Jubilee Singers in Brooklyn around 1927, By the 1940s, they were operating out of Raleigh, North Carolina and were composed of Thermon Ruth, Alden ("Allen") Bunn, Junius Parker, Melvin Colden (who had been in the Norfolk Jazz Quartet and Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, starting in 1937, and whose name is often misspelled as "Coldten"), and Jimmy Gorham. The Selahs had a daily program of jubilee music that aired over WPTF in Raleigh.by Marv Goldberg - The Larks' next session was on July 26, 1951. Only two songs were recorded this time: "Hey Little Girl" and "Little Side Car" (fronted by Allen). "Little Side Car" was a reworking of a wonderful double-entendre tune ("I'm in love with you baby/Let me ride in your automobile") that seems to have originally been done by Smokey Hogg (as "Too Many Drivers") for Modern in 1947. Other versions were by Rosetta Howard & Big Three Trio ("Too Many Drivers") on Columbia in 1948, Willie Love and His 3 Aces ("Little Car Blues") on Trumpet in 1951, Lowell Fulson ("Let Me Ride Your Little Automobile") on Swing Time in 1953, and Smiley Lewis ("Too Many Drivers") on Imperial in 1954. ads August saw the release of "Little Side Car"/"Hey Little Girl." Both sides got excellent reviews the week of September 8, 1951. Other records reviewed that week were the Johnny Otis Orchestra's "Harlem Nocturne," the Orioles' "I'm Just A Fool In Love," Sonny Til's "My Prayer," Little Sylvia's "How Long Must I Be Blue," and Moose Jackson's "Cherokee Boogie." "Little Side Car" became the Larks' second chart hit, climbing to #10. However, it too only lasted a mere week, and these were the only two chart hits the Larks would have! But Apollo, smelling sales blood, wasted no time in issuing another record in September: the beautiful "I Don't Believe In Tomorrow" (which proved Allen Bunn could sing as sweet a ballad as Gene Mumford), backed with David McNeil's rocker "Ooh...It Feels So Good." Thermon Ruth told Todd Baptista: "We didn't work day jobs. It was a little rough. Bess [Berman of Apollo Records] would give a loan to us once in a while. I'd tell her Gene was going to quit or something, and she'd give us a little money."