***On The 50^th Anniversary Of The Release Of The Dixie Cups’ Chapel Of Love  

 

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

Some songs in any generation act as markers for that generation. For the generation of ’68, my generation (and Bill Clinton’s but I will make that connection more fully in a minute), one of those songs was the Dixie Cups’ Chapel of Love which was released fifty years ago this week. Of course that was a time in our generation when the world was young and we were full of wonder, enough wonder to echo Scott Fitzgerald’s words about what those long ago old Dutch sailors must have felt when they eyed Long Island and caught a glimpse of that “fresh green breast of the new world” and all its possibilities. A time before the flame burned out in America and we could no longer claim the rights of innocence.  And we were innocent then about lots of things, including the subject of the song, marriage to that special one that had caught your eye and whom you could not live without unless you were hitched. A lot of us, including this, writer were caught up in the trail leading to marriage, leading to the eternity of togetherness almost automatically without thinking. Like a lot of things though not every search for the newer world ended happily. But don’t blame the Dixie Cups for that. Okay.

 

Of course Chapel of Love was one of those iconic songs that even fifty years later one can remember and sing (well at least lip-synch) without a problem, or without embarrassment. Even Bill Clinton. On an interview show today on public radio the guests today included the Dixie Cups reminiscing about the song, how it was produced, the trials and tribulations of the music road as result of their success, and the lasting fame they have received from that one big, big hit. One of the singers, I forget which one, mentioned that at a concert in New York City they were introduced to Bill Clinton who knew exactly who they were and moreover broke out into the song at the mere mention of their names. Pretty good. Guess what, if anybody asked me I too could break out and sing the song without missing a beat. Thanks, sisters.              

 For those who don't remember though here you are:

 

Chapel of Love  

 

Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

Spring is here, the sky is blue, whoa oh oh
Birds all sing as if they knew
Today's the day we'll say, "I do"
 And we'll never be lonely anymore because we're

 

Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

 

Bells will ring, the sun will shine, whoa oh oh
I'll be his and he'll be mine
We'll love until the end of time
And we'll never be lonely anymore because we're

 

Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Goin' to the chapel of love
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Goin' to the chapel of love

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Songwriters

SPECTOR, PHIL/BARRY, JEFF/GREENWICH, ELLIE

 

 

‘Chapel Of Love’ Song Turns 50

 

Members of the singing group The Dixie Cups, from left, Rosa Hawkins, Barbara Hawkins and Athelgra Gabriel, pose for a photo during the reception for the 13th Annual Pioneer Awards presented by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 in New York. (Frank Franklin II/AP)

Fifty years ago, three young women from New Orleans hit it big with the release of their single “Chapel of Love.” The Dixie Cups song was an instant chart-topping hit on the pop and R&B charts, displacing the reigning champs of the Billboards, The Beatles, and reclaiming the charts for American musicians in the midst of the British Invasion.
Since 1964, the song has become a part of American culture, providing the soundtrack for countless weddings and used in movies like “The Big Easy” and “Father of the Bride,” and on the TV show “Glee.”

It surpassed everybody on the chart, and it knocked the Beatles out of first place.

– Rosa Hawkins

The group was comprised of two sisters, Rosa Hawkins and Barbara Hawkins, along with their cousin Joan Marie Johnson.
Today The Dixie Cups are still performing, but not with the original line-up. The newest Dixie Cup is Athelgra Neville, who the sisters refer to as “our sister from our extended family.”
All three ladies joined Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to talk about “going to the chapel.” The Hawkins sisters reminisced about the unlikely way they got their big break — a high school talent show, in which the group did not even place.
“There was a talent scout in the audience, and he didn’t know how to get in touch with us,” Barbara said. “We used to babysit for Larry McKinley, who was the disc jockey in New Orleans, and we were at his home, and his wife’s cousin won second place. Her name was Barbara. So she asked me to go with her to the talent scout, and we ended up going to his home. Well, when we walked in, he kept looking at me. So then he said, ‘Are you one of the ladies who was in the green dresses at the talent show,’ and I said yes. So he went and picked up the program and showed me that he had circled our names. He said, ‘I’ve been trying to get in touch with you guys. You guys were wonderful.’ He said, ‘I want to talk to you about recording,’ and we sang for him, and he just went crazy.”

The Dixie Cups pose for a photo with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in September 2005. (Courtesy of the Dixie Cups)

The rest, as they say, was history, and once the group signed to a label, it took next to no time for “Chapel of Love” to climb the charts.
“When it was released, it went zoom,” Barbara said. “Joe [Jones] had told us that, ‘Your chance of making a number-one record is a 150 million to one.”
“The Beatles were out, and they had, at that time, their time was ‘Love Me Do,’” Rosa added. “But ‘Chapel of Love,’ it was released, it surpassed everybody on the chart, and it knocked the Beatles out of first place and kept first place for three weeks.”
To this day, the song remains a classic and is often used in movie soundtracks. According to Neville, the theme is timeless.
“Everybody wants to get married,” she said. “Every woman wants to go to the chapel. So, you know, I think that’s what did it.”

Guests

• Barbara Ann Hawkins, original member of The Dixie Cups.
• Rosa Lee Hawkins, original member of The Dixie Cups.
• Athelgra Neville, newest member of The Dixie Cups.