Limmie & Family Cookin' was an American family soul and pop group from

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

History

Although

Limmie Snell Limmie Frank Snell, Jr. (October 4, 1948 – May 27, 1986) was an American soul singer, born in Dalton, Alabama, United States. He grew up in Canton, Ohio, and attended McKinley Senior High School, but did not graduate. According to anoth ...

was born in Dalton, Alabama, his family moved to Canton when he was very young. He recorded with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

from age 11 as a solo artist before joining his sisters, Jimmie and Martha, to form the Limmie & Family Cookin'. They released one

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the Shire ...

, then signed with

Avco Embassy Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as ''The Graduate'', '' The Produc ...

, where they released three singles which hit the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1973-74: "You Can Do Magic" (UK No. 3), "Dreamboat" (UK No. 31), and "A Walkin' Miracle" (UK No. 6). The last of them was a cover version of a song by

The Essex The Essex was an American R&B vocal group formed in 1962. They are best known for their 1963 song " Easier Said Than Done". Career Founding members Walter Vickers (guitar) and Rodney Taylor (drums) were members of the United States Marine Corps ...

. Despite their success in the United Kingdom, they dented the US charts only once, with "You Can Do Magic" (No. 84 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 42 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

). Their releases were primarily produced by

Sandy Linzer Sandy Linzer (born 1941) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Denny Randell and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let ...

and Steve Metz. Because of their popularity in the UK, they continued performing there regularly into the 1980s. They split into two musical ensembles, the second of which was formed in 1976 under the name Limmie Funk Limited. Its line-up consisted of Limmie on vocals,

Nick Straker Nick Straker (born Nicholas Bailey) is a London-born musician, who had hits in Europe and the US in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Career Straker joined his first band, called Stonehenge, in 1969. The band changed its name in 1971 to Matumbi, ...

aka Nick Bailey on keyboards, Pete Hammond on bass guitar, Gary Andrews on percussion, Andy Gierus on guitar and Phil Towner on drums. Limmie Snell died on May 27, 1986, at age 41. Jimmie Snell (born December 11, 1946, in

Newton, Alabama Newton is a town in Dale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census its population was 1,511. Once the county seat of Dale County, Newton lost this distinction to nearby Ozark in 1870, and is now a small farming community. It incorporated ...

), died on March 12, 2016, at age 69.

"You Can Do Magic"

"You Can Do Magic" was the biggest of three hit singles Limmie & Family Cookin' had in the UK charts in the 1970s. In 1997, the track was covered by Mike Stock under the name The Mojams, for an investigation on ITV programme ''

The Cook Report ''The Cook Report'' was a British ITV current affairs television programme presented by Roger Cook which was broadcast from 22 July 1987 to 24 August 1999. The series featured the journalist investigating corruption, criminals, government soc ...

'' into chart rigging. Fronted by Edwina Currie's daughter Debbie (then a trainee journalist for the production company Central Television), the single, credited to The Mojams featuring Debbie Currie, was released by Gotham Records and peaked at number 86 in the UK singles chart.

Discography

Singles

References

External links