The Cake: 1966–1968 edit

The Cake formed in New York in 1966, starting out as an a cappella vocal trio singing at Steve Paul's The Scene. Their debut single was the Jack Nitzsche and Jackie DeShannon penned song, "Baby, That's Me". The production of the song, which was arranged by Harold Battiste, mimicked the Wall of Sound technique created by Nitzsche and Phil Spector. Billboard named the song #64 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.^[2]

What set The Cake apart from other girl groups of the time is that they recorded their own material, as well as a number of R&B standards. Their own songs were in the vein of 1960s baroque pop with intricate madrigal-style vocal harmonies.^[1] They released two albums on Decca Records, The Cake (1967) and A Slice Of Cake (1968). Both were recorded at the Gold Star Recording Studios in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Barooshian and Morillo both appeared in You Are What You Eat, a 1968 documentary film produced by Peter Yarrow. In the film, Barooshian performed the Sonny & Cher hit "I Got You Babe" with Tiny Tim. She sang the male part, while Tiny Tim sang the female.^[1]

Post-breakup edit

Following the break-up of The Cake in 1968, Jacobs and Barooshian toured with Dr John, as his backing singers.^[3] New Orleans pianist Dr John, Malcolm John Rebennack,^[4] was a session musician on The Cake's albums.^[3]

Jeanette Jacobs edit

Jacobs married musician Chris Wood from the English group Traffic, in November 1972, at Kensington Register Office.^[5] Jacobs had first met Wood in late 1967, during the recording session of Jimi Hendrix's album Electric Ladyland (1968). She had briefly come to London, accompanying Hendrix. In 1969, Wood travelled to the United States and joined Dr John on his tour, alongside Jacobs and Barooshian.^[4] In 1970, Jacobs followed Wood back to the United Kingdom, and became part of the supergroup Ginger Baker's Air Force.^[6] Jacobs appeared on the 1970 self-titled album, and had vocals on the songs "Da Da Man", "Early In The Morning", "Don't Care", "Aiko Biaye" and "Do What You Like".^[7] The married couple shared a West London Flat, but Jacobs' kept an open relationship and used drugs. She eventually left Wood in 1977.^[4] Jeanette Jacobs-Wood died on January 1, 1982, aged 32,^[6] from the effects of a fatal seizure. Towards the end of her life, Jacobs had regularly suffered with epilepsy.^[4]

Eleanor Barooshian edit

In 1968, Barooshian contributed backing vocals to "Why Are We Sleeping?", a track on The Soft Machine, the 1968 debut album by the British psychedelic rock band of the same name.^[6] In the early 1970s, Barooshian recorded an album in Japan with Tetsu Yamauchi titled Tetsu (1972). She was a songwriter and applied vocals on the songs "Wiki Wiki", "Alexandra Stone", "Who Would I Be in the World Babe", and "Baby Blue".^[8] Later in life, she went by the name Chelsea Lee.^[3] Eleanor Barooshian died on August 30, 2016, aged 66.^[1][3][9]

Barbara Morillo edit

After disbanding in 1968, Morillo returned to New York, Metropolitan area. She began performing as a lead vocalist in a series of groups including The Act (as a duo with Rahni Raines), Nightflyte (with Stephen Gaboury, Lincoln Goines, Kim Plainfield, Libby McLaren, and Roger Squitero), Ryo Kawasaki and the Golden Dragon, Bamboo (with Jason Shocair),^[10] and Triptic Soul (with violinist Karen Lee Larson).^[11] In the festive season, Morillo is apart of The Carolling Carollers, an a capella group. Their CD won a New York Indie Award in 1997 as best album of the year.^[10] She is the leader of her own band, Barbara Morillo and Shrine.^[12]

The Cake formed after The Ronettes, but were the predecessor of girl groups The Runaways, the Shangri-Las, and the Go-Go's.^[1]

The Kevin Ayers song, "Eleanor's Cake (Which Ate Her)" was written about Barooshian. The song appears on the LP Joy of a Toy released in 1969.^[1]

Jacobs was the inspiration for the Wings song, "Medicine Jar". According to songwriter Colin Allen, "Medicine Jar was born out of my frustration, caused by Jeanette’s constant use of Mandies. The song’s line 'I know how you feel now your friends are dead', related to friends who had died because of drugs."^[13] The song was released in 1975, appearing on the Venus and Mars album.

In 2006, after a thirty seven-year hiatus, Barooshian and Morillo reformed The Cake, to perform at a one-off Jimi Hendrix tribute concert in New York, organized by Hendrix archivist and documentary film-maker, David Kramer. The show also featured Buddy Miles, Johnny Winter, Jose Feliciano and Leon Hendrix. Their two Decca albums have been re-released on CD by Rev-Ola Records.

Studio albums edit

• The Cake (Decca, 1967)
• A Slice of Cake (Decca, 1968)

Compilation edit

• More of Cake Please (Rev-Ola (Cherry Red), 2007^[14])

Singles edit

• "Baby, That's Me" / "Mockingbird" (Decca, 1967)
• "I Know" / "You Can Have Him" (Decca, 1967)
• "Fire Fly" / "Rainbow Wood" (Decca, 1968)
• "P.T. 280" / "Have You Heard The News 'bout Miss Molly" (Decca, 1968)

• The Cake on Myspace
• The story of The Cake at Dangerous Minds
• The Cake discography at Discogs