Little Things Like That - LITTLE PATTIE (1967) - Pop Archives - Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s

LITTLE PATTIE
Little Things Like That
(Russ Titelman - Larry Kolber)
Australia 1967

Track on 1967 HMV album, almost but not quite the title track: the album was Little Things Like This. The artist's name appeared on this album as simply Pattie.

Teenaged pop star Little Pattie's real name was Patricia Amphlett (she is a cousin of Divinyls singer Chrissie Amphlett). Her career kicked off at the end of 1963 with a double-sided surf craze hit, He's My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy backed with Stompin' At Maroubra. She later moved on from the surf novelty with a number of well-chosen and well-produced songs: see, for example, her recordings of the Crewe-Linzer-Randell song Pushin' A Good Thing Too Far and Les Vandyke's Dance Puppet Dance.

Further reading: 1. The definitive source on Little Pattie is Graeme Browne's booklet on her career, available through OzMusicBooks. 2. Little Pattie: Stories and Thoughts at Long Way to the Top. 3. Little Pattie entry at Wikipedia. 4. Patricia Thelma 'Little Pattie' Amphlett, OAM at Australian War Memorial's Who’s Who in Australian Military History. 5. Citation for OAM for services to the entertainment industry, 2003.

BARBARA MILLS
Little Things Like That
(Russ Titelman - Larry Kolber)
USA 1965
Original version?

Listen: Barbara Mills - Little Things Like That.mp3

Recorded in May' 65, the song itself goes back further, copyrighted in May '64. This version seems to have the edge as the original. (Thanks to Davie Gordon.)

Single on Hickory #134765 by Barbara Mills (b. Henley), produced by her brother, Larry Henley of Hickory recording group The Newbeats.

Biographical details on Barbara Mills are hard to find. The most I can find is in a brief biography at Last.fm: Born Barbara Henley in 1938 in Tyler TX... is retired & lives in Michigan. (All Music Guide gives Larry's birthplace as the smaller town of Arp, TX, 18 miles from Tyler, in 1941, although an old friend at Larry's guestbook wants to subtract a few years from that.)

The Newbeats Page has a section on Barbara Mills which includes session dates, discography, Billboard reviews and a photo of Barbara (cropped, above).

Brother Larry was best known in the 60s as the falsetto lead on the Newbeats' hits (Bread And Butter, Break Away [From That Boy]) and later as co-writer of The Wind Beneath My Wings.

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Co-writer Russ Titelman is probably best known as a producer for the likes of Eric Clapton, Little Feat, George Harrison, and Brian Wilson. He wrote a number of choice but often overlooked songs in the 60s, notably the sublime What Am I Gonna Do With You (Hey Baby), written with Gerry Goffin and recorded by The Inspirations, The Chiffons, Lesley Gore and Skeeter Davis.

Some Russ Titelman compositions are listed in a Spectropop post by Declan Meehan, for whom Titelman is one of the greatest unsung co-writers or writers... especially in the girl group genre. A later post by Mike Edwards notes some of Titelman's co-writers.

See also the annotated playlist from a Spanish radio show dedicated to Russ Titelman productions and compositions (at Flor de Pasi?n).

Lyricist Larry Kolber also wrote a number of songs with Barry Mann. The Spector-produced Paris Sisters hit I Love How You Love Me (1961, #5 USA) is a Mann-Kolber song.
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Another Barbara Mills song, Queen Of Fools, has been reissued thanks to the Northern Soul movement (see, for example, Out On The Floor at Tower Records UK). Little Things Like That appears not to be currently available on CD.

Further reading: Timothy White interviews Russ Titelman (Billboard, 1996, reprinted at Spectropop.com)