The Heart Beats were an American all-female garage rock band, based in Lubbock, Texas, and founded around 1966. They were led by drummer and lead vocalist Linda Sanders, along with younger sister Debbie Sanders (guitar), Debbie McMellan (bass guitar), and Jeannie Foster (guitar and keyboards). The Sanders sisters met McMellan and Foster in a music class when Debbie Sanders was about ten years old and the other girls were about 12 or 13. The Sanders' mother Jeanne Sanders became the band's manager, supervising them closely to "maintain in appearance and reality a group of decent, wholesome girls." Linda Sanders later wrote: "Our mom always knew what potential we had, but I don't think we ever really realized it. She saw our talent and our uniqueness as an all girl band. She thought we could really go places and become well known. Her faith and dreams in us proved to be a reality." The Heart Beats were at the time one of just a few all-female rock and roll bands anywhere in the world. They attracted nationwide attention in the summer of 1968, when they won the battle of the bands on the popular ABC-TV variety show Happening 68, hosted by

Mark Lindsay Mark Lindsay (born March 9, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders. Early life Lindsay was born in Eugene, Oregon, and was the second of eight children of George and Esther Ellis Lindsay. The ...

and Paul Revere of

Paul Revere & the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revol ...

. Their winning performance was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the Outsiders' "

Time Won't Let Me "Time Won't Let Me" is a garage rock song that was recorded by the Outsiders in September 1965. The song became a major hit in the United States in 1966, reaching #5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week of April 16 of that year. It is ranke ...

". Mrs. Sanders turned down a recording deal with ABC Records because she wanted her daughters to stay in school, but the band put another prize, a Volkswagen mini-bus to good use. The VW became the band's tour bus. They recorded at Robin Hood Brians' in Tyler, TX which was released on their own "Heart Beats" label in early 1969. The A-side, "Cryin' Inside" was co-written by the legendary Texas singer-songwriter Ronnie (Mouse) Weiss. Later in the year they recorded 2 songs with

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...

in his Clovis, NM studio although the songs went unreleased. They were written by Linda's husband, who had also been her music teacher. After he was killed in a car accident in 1971, the songs were released as a commemorative single on their own label as "Linda Kennington & The Heart Beats". Although they never signed a national recording contract, the Heart Beats became a popular regional attraction, and they stayed together until the 1980s.

References

All-female bands Garage rock groups from Texas Musical groups from Lubbock, Texas {{US-rock-band-stub