K-Chuck Radio: Someone’s Covering the Will-O-Bees

The Will-O-Bees were a three-member folk trio who, in the 1960’s, recorded several pop songs. Some of them actually became big national and international hits – albeit when someone ELSE recorded those same songs.

Let me explain.

The Will-O-Bees – former high school classmates Robert Merchanthouse and Janet Blossom, along with close friend Steven Porter – were originally signed to Date Records, a Columbia Records subsidiary, and recorded several Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil tracks on that imprint. They started out with this track, “Why Can’t They Accept Us” – a song about interracial romance in the vein of tracks like Janis Ian’s “Society’s Child”.

Their next song, “Shades of Gray,” connected the Will-O-Bees with the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil songwriting team, and you can hear how well the Will-O-Bees’ harmony works with the Brill Building powerhouse songwriting duo.

And “Shades of Gray” actually got plenty of airplay – albeit not by the Will-O-Bees, but by the Monkees. Seriously.

Undaunted, the Will-O-Bees went back into the studio, and cut another Mann-Weil track, an amazing ballad called “It’s Not Easy.”

And “It’s Not Easy” eventually became a Top 10 hit in Australia – albeit NOT by the Will-O-Bees, but by Australian superstar Normie Rowe.

After three singles on Date Records, the Will-O-Bees moved to Mann and Weil’s SGC Records imprint, and there were big hopes that the trio’s first single on that label would finally break the band nationally. Specifically – this track.

You can probably figure out how that went. Because “Make Your Own Kind of Music” did become a major hit. Was it a major hit for the Will-O-Bees? Um …

The Will-O-Bees had one final single on their catalog, and yes, it was another Mann-Weil track, a song called “It’s Getting Better.”

And you can already figure out the results, can’t you? Big hit … but instead of the Will-O-Bees having major chart success with this song, it became Cass Elliott’s second big solo track.

So there you have it. The Will-O-Bees, a folk trio that gave it their best shot … only to have their best shots land for other recording stars. Such is the mystery of pop music, I suppose …