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Pauline Shivers Circa 1963 |
Pauline Shivers (born April 28, 1933 ) was born to George Shivers and Rosa Lee
(nee James) Shivers in Memphis , TN. She was the third oldest of eleven siblings.
Pauline was raised in both Memphis ,
TN and Chicago ,
IL where she would find success as a
performer in many of the popular clubs on the north side of Chicago
and later find minor success as a recording artist.
Pauline Shivers married Booker T. Hodges in November of 1952
and that marriage would produce one daughter, Catherine Hodges who died in a car
accident in 1969. After a short marriage
Pauline would go on to meet and marry Sydney
“Birdlegs” Banks in May of 1960.
Before she married Sydney ,
Pauline was already known to many on Chicago ’s
North Side for her outstanding voice. Sydney
was a popular singer on the South side of Chicago .
They would soon be known as Birdlegs & Pauline after a friend suggested
they sing together. Birdlegs & Pauline recorded their first single in 1963
and that would go on to be their greatest success. The song was named “Spring”
and in June of 1963 billboard named it a “Regional Breakout Single”. With
Veejay Records handling the promotion for the small Milwaukee
label (Cuca), Birdlegs & Pauline would find charting success. “Spring” would go on and be a National Charter
on billboard magazine. The song peaked at number 18 and stayed on the billboard
chart for 8 weeks.
With the success of their national charting single they
would go on and perform on the same stages as BB King, and Ike & Tina
Turner. Birdlegs & Pauline would also release an album on the Cuca label. Unfortunately by the time the album was
released in 1964, there was little interest in the group. Still Billboard would go on and give the
album three stars.
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Cover of Album Circa 1964 |
After her divorce from Sydney
“Birdlegs” Banks, Pauline would continue her music career. Pauline would team up with Syl Johnson as part
of a feature vocalist in his Syl Johnson Revue in 1965. She would go on and record for Opex/Expo
labels and was still a popular draw in the club scene of Chicago. She recorded
with Bobby Jones (sometimes credited as Bobby Jonz) on the Expo/Opex label. “No
Messin Around” credited as Pauline & Bobby which was more of a hard soul
type song. She would also release solo singles like “Tell Him No” and the very
popular “Won’t You Come Back Home”. While none of her later records could ever
replace the immortal “Spring” these recordings helped keep her on the local
scene.
Pauline would later leave popular music and find regular
employment. Pauline Shivers-Goggins went
on to become a dedicated member of her church where she served as an
outstanding soloist and youth choir director at Apostolic
Faith Church
in Chicago , IL
until her death in 1997. Even though she left show business many years ago, Pauline
was always known as the entertainer in the family. Whether it was just a family
get together, a funeral or a church event, Pauline was there to sing. When it
came time for her funeral, she even sang at her own funeral! Of course thanks
to the power of recorded music.
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