The California Chiffons - Tonight's the Night

[tas6010]

Boy, you learn something new every day!

[elamite66]

in any case the do a very close imitation of the Shirelles hit

[JimmyBoi2]

Picture is of the NYC Chiffons........

[xpmark1]

I think this version by the California Chiffons is perfect.The Shirelles are very much a favorite girl group.

[russieross]

I like both versions. Although the Shirelles version had better instrumentation, the Chiffons lead singer was better.

[dylandollyspud]

@russieross Shirley Owen was lead singer of the Shirelles and her wonderful voice sounds great on this track

The Shirelles were the very first black girl group to hit the top slot in 1961, and Shirley made the group massive at the time, and opened doors to the girl groups.

They cut a few decent singles, especially Mama Said, but like most of the girl groups, the hits dried due to rotten songs and not the British Invasion. Music was moving on, but at least they were original at the time.

[craignshari]

Thanks for posting. Cool song we never got much radio play for. Cheers.

[carlvis1]

I like the Chiffons but they can't compare to the Shirelles who were one of the best motown girl groups.

[tjbnyc76]

@carlvis1 The Shirelles recorded for Scepter Records in New York, not Motown.

[elamite66]

@tjbnyc76 of course you're correct but doesn't the lead singer sound exactly like the lead singer of the Shirelles?

[yellowlinda]

The New York Chiffons were also the Four Pennies (2 singles, with Sylvia Peterson singing lead. This group singing "Tonight's the Night" is not the celebrated "He's So Fine" Chiffons.

[chrysler30062]

What a nice version never heard befor

[yellowlinda]

This group was also The Unforgettables on Colpix, who recorded "Was It Alright/And It Hurts in 1961. They also recorded "No More Tomorrows" on Wildcat in 1961 and a version of "After Last Night" on Reprise.

[lajas46]

@yellowlinda THEY ALSO RECORDED AS THE FOUR PENNIES WITH THE SONG "MY BLOCK"

[regcart]

Love The Chiffons another group who was amazing in its day......I love girl groups!!!!!!!!

[DonCheechio]

Hey, I'll meet cha @ Chookies for an egg cream. Awesome song & memories . . .

[oriskany]

It's a feets-tappin' afternoon for me........Motown, nothin' but Motown!

[kibbutznik19]

I guess you did listen to music other than Motown... the Chiffons weren't signed to that label, I don't think. But good choice in music anyway!

[WillerRemyMa]

No right, neither were the Shirelles who made and wrote the original. Motown or not, it's all so good! :)

[dovermoreno]

I had 5 sisters growing up in the sixties and one of my fondest memories is of them puting 45's on the record player and lip syncing to the their favorites.....and Tonight's The Nighthis was definitely one of them.

In my mind's eye I can still see them all holding hair brush-microphones and hamming it up in our living room back home in Illinois.....

Good times ! Good times !!

[arunachalagirl]

Interesting. I thought they were all the same group. I like them both!

[GeeTee15]

I love their song "One Fine Day" :)

The Chiffons :) I think i like them now!

xxxxxxxxxxx

[WillerRemyMa]

Except they're not the same Chiffons. The 'One Fine Day' Chiffons formed in 1962, and are from the Bronx. This group formed in 1958, in Los Angeles, and broke up in 1961. That's why the Bronx group were able to use their name! :)

[creeper70gang]

they should get their respect like all other big groups,excellent talent that i respect till the very end

[drpesky]

Great its a pity they never as far as i know came to the UK

[cgburdett]

WillerRemyMa I really hope you don't mind this shameless plug =]....

I have a CD with this on its called Poodle Skirts And Poni-Tails Vol.1 it has loads of rare tracks on it... I'm selling my stuff as I'm going travelling for an extended period and thought it might be appreciated by people viewing/listening to this youtube entry! PM me for details =]

[chasteer]

Hi any cds left?  charlie

[cgburdett]

yep... PM sent

[dovermoreno]

Yesssssssss.

I am now chair dancing !!!!

[imbiissiblle96]

I'ld love to dance this one with you!

[madean17]

this is music

[smileyrubio323]

I LOVE THIS SONG :D

[smileyrubio323]

i love this rola :D

[cgburdett]

I usually like the Shirelles but I think this version is so much better. It actually has some bite, the vocals are powerfull and the beat is tight. The Shirelles' version has been put through a blender and sounds a bit limp and weak by comparison. If I was on a dancefloor, or even just dancing around anywhere I'd much rather this version was playing.

[WillerRemyMa]

Thanks for the comment. My thoughts exactly! :)

[behdoc]

I like this version, not as much as the Shirelles but I still like it.

[Komet67]

Thanks for posting this for us to enjoy. Good memories from that era no matter who is singing it.

[thekid1552]

Not even close. The Shirelle's version is the best.

[johnandlat]

this group was from California. They are not The Chiffons that we think of. This group had no success on the charts and that's why The Group from NYC was able to use that name

[WillerRemyMa]

Thanks for the heads-up! Do you know any other recordings by this group. I dig their sound so much! Is the song 'Doctor of Hearts' by this group as well?

[johnandlat]

no I don't know any other recordings by this group

[yellowlinda]

@johnandlat This group of "Chiffons" also recorded as The Unforgettables on Colpix, who had a minor hit with "It Hurts" in 1961. They released two more singles including the celebrated "Doctor Of Hearts" on Reprise and "No More Tomorrows" on Wildcat.

[johnandlat]

@yellowlinda yea, but the picture is of the more popular group that we know as the Chiffons

[POOH875]

it seems like they use the shirelles intro because it sounds just like it then it change to the chiffons

[travis7310]

Yeah, at first, I was going to tell the person that this was the Shirelles. I'm glad that I listened before making an ass of myself!

[POOH875]

hahahah me to

[vaman77788]

They copied the Shirelle's version very closely. The string intro on here seems off-key, and the drums have the "heavy" sound of a bar band...not mixed in with the other instruments. A good attempt, but doesn't quite make the same statement as the Shirelles.

[cabbitness1983]

love it!

[KingdomKupcake]

This is cool la la 'tonights the night'.

Thank u for sharing!

[mb7668]

It's very hard to cover something like this, which was a big hit for the Shirelles. This is not bad, but I like the Shirelles version better.

[gary922003]

Tonights the Night was not written by Sam Cooke for the Shirelles, it was actually written by Lead singer of the SHIRELLES , Shirley Owens Alston Reeves, with their producer Luther Dixon who helped co write this smash hit! You are right though Sam Cooke did work with them and wrote a song just for them using all their Shirelles song titles in it , the song is called ONLY TIME WILL TELL , its on many of their compilation cds.

[peterandreasen]

This song is out on CD just now. Early Girls vol. 5.

This is actually not the "do-lang do-lang" girls, but another group called "The Chiffons" wonder if they are the same who did "doctor of hearts"

[gary922003]

there is a reason why the SHIRELLES version went to the top of the charts!Its the defintitve one.. the SHIRELLES rock!

[WillerRemyMa]

I like the Chiffons version better, but yeah, Shirelles rock!

[POOH875]

BOTH SOUNDS GOOD

[sixbebig]

the shirell's version was actually written and produced by sam cooke...he was working with them during that time.sam had a lot to do with their success over the chiffons

[cmartin501]

this song is perfect, we gotta start making songs like these again, bring them back and keep them alive forever. this is great for the future, this is what we need, there are many singers out there, we need this.

cm501

[mcoldskool]

OMG I loved the hell outta this song!!!