Saturday, April 6, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Doris Troy doesn't like thinking about how much money record companies cheated her out of in the late 1950s and early '60s. The memories are just too painful.
But on Feb. 29, Troy and 11 other rhythm and blues recording artists finally received the recognition they deserved. They also were awarded grants from $15,000 to $20,000 each at the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's seventh annual Pioneer Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
"I'd like to have had a fit, especially when they told me I was going to get $15,000," said Troy, an 18-year Las Vegas resident. "I was so nervous that I sang my thank you's in a song. I'm just so honored that they selected me."
The nonprofit foundation -- supported by industry giants such as Bonnie Raitt, Ruth Brown, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen and Sam Moore -- was formed to provide economic and medical aid to R&B artists who have been forgotten by the music industry.
The Washington, D.C., organization lobbies record companies to pay royalties to artists who haven't been justly compensated. Since it was formed, six record companies have responded with funding.
"Some artists would get a Cadillac, or some amount like $500," Troy, 59, said of her era. "They gave me 'short money' every quarter. It was nothing. I had so many friends who were in the same position, and they became drug addicts. I said that wasn't going to happen to me."
Religion her cornerstone
Troy turned to her faith for strength. Her father, the Rev. Randolph Higginson, was pastor of the Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church in Harlem, and it was there that she learned to place her life in God's hands.
"If you are going to worry, don't pray," Troy strongly believes. "And if you pray, don't worry."
When not singing in the church choir, Troy would sneak into the Apollo Theatre in Harlem to listen to legendary performers Josephine Baker, Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. There she worked as an usherette until they found out she was under age and her mother made her quit.
"Pearl Bailey gave me some makeup, and she got the owner to buy us new uniforms," Troy said. "After working there, that's when I told my mother that I wanted to sing. She said to go sing in the church."
Going pop
In 1958, the aspiring singer formed a group without her parents' consent. Called the Halos, it was a trio featuring another female singer and a male friend. A year later, Troy decided to strike out on her own. Collaborating with fellow writer Gregory Carroll, they penned the 1963 top 10 hit "Just One Look."
Troy credits its success to a simple three-part harmony and an absence of string orchestration, which many groups were using in the early 1960s. The unique hesitation in pronouncing the lyrics came about as an accident in the studio.
"I started to cough, and the producer said let's keep that in," Troy said, laughing. "Every other line, we would make words three syllables."
Atlantic Records had recorded "Just One Look," but didn't do anything with it until Troy went on the road with Chuck Jackson, who featured her as the female singer on his hit "Tell Her I'm Not Home." Then Atlantic released it, and the song quickly climbed the charts.
"My whole life has been a miracle," Troy said. "People ask, 'How did it happen?' I tell them God fixed it."
International hit
With a hit song, Troy went to England in 1969 where she became a recording sensation with her song "What'cha Gonna Do About It." Throughout the 1970s, she also was one of the most-sought-after session singers in the industry.
While in London in 1970, Troy did a recording session with Billy Preston. George Harrison, who was doing a lot of collaborations with Preston, liked Troy's style and asked if she was signed with anyone. When she said she wasn't, he immediately asked her to become a session singer with the Beatles' Apple Records.
"George wanted to be a producer so bad. He was really into it," Troy recalled. "Music was foremost with him and all the other artists. Everything came afterwards."
The other artists Troy is referring to who frequently recorded at Apple while she was there included the rest of the Beatles, Carly Simon, the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and Stephen Stills.
To the rescue
One night when Mick Jagger, Simon and Paul McCartney were having problems getting the background singing down for one of their tracks, they called Troy at 3 a.m. and asked if she could drop by the studio and take a listen. They sent a car especially for her.
When Troy arrived, she did some quick arranging and within a short time Simon was "on track." The song, "You're So Vain," became a huge hit.
"I was the highest-paid session singer in the world at one time," Troy said matter-of-factly. "Mick and me became good friends. I used to tell him someone in your family must have been messing around (to have inherited such a good R&B style). He used to laugh and call me Mama Soul."
In addition to being a session singer, Troy routinely counseled up-and-coming performers. Elton John's band was once doing backup for Troy when she saw that he was acting a little depressed.
"I noticed he had these plain thick glasses," Troy said. "I grabbed a copy of Ebony magazine and showed him some b-bop glasses. I told him to get some of these."
The rest is music history.
Giving advice freely
Another time, Troy was asked by a friend to drop by and listen to a young guitarist whom she was told had a unique style.
When she arrived, she was amazed to see him playing behind his back and doing all kinds of wild string bending and amplifier feedback.
"I said, 'You need to go to England, man.' That sound was too weird for America. I knew no one would appreciate him until he went to England and kicked butt."
He did, and when he returned to the United States, Jimi Hendrix became an electrifying success.
While in England, Troy also performed with her own group, the Gospel Truth. She returned to the United States in 1974 to do some recording in Los Angeles, but after visiting Las Vegas, she fell in love with the city and moved here to take a job with entertainer Lola Falana.
Las Vegas favorite
Falana was headlining at the Aladdin when Troy signed on as a backup singer.
"Lola was fabulous," Troy remembered. "It got so she would give me a solo. When she got sick, I decided to jump out on my own."
Falana was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987 and hasn't performed professionally since.
In the early '80s, Troy also performed in a jazz revue at the Tropicana called "Let Me Off Uptown." She played the part of songstress Dinah Washington. The show was a tribute to some of the great jazz artists.
Shortly thereafter, Troy's sister, Vy Higginsen, decided to write a musical based on Troy's rise from a Harlem choir to an international recording star.
"Mama, I Want to Sing" opened off-Broadway in 1984 and has since been the longest-running show off-Broadway. Several road companies have performed it in major cities throughout the United States, Japan, Italy and Switzerland.
That same year, Higginsen left the show to have a baby, and Troy took her part (of her own mother). She has since played the role off and on for eight years.
The show went to London in January 1995 and when it closed in July, Troy remained behind for a little rest and relaxation. Then in November, she was informed that the Rhythm and Blues Foundation had nominated her for an award.
On May 18, Troy will be returning to London to appear at the popular Mezzo restaurant and nightclub. With her newfound musical career, she hopes to record a new Doris Troy CD in Europe.
"I just tell people to follow your dreams," Troy said optimistically. "Don't let no one tell you you can't do something. You just keep going. There's always light at the end of the tunnel."
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