This song was co-written and produced by Phil Spector and features his Wall Of Sound production technique. In this case, I find that the layers and layers of background instruments and vocals are intrusive; they tend to overwhelm what would otherwise be a pretty good song. I'd have loved to have seen what the Funk Brothers would have done with this at Motown, for example.
Sonny Charles, given name Charles Hemphill (born 1940), was from Blytheville, Arkansas; his family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he was 10. The Checkmates, Ltd., the band that he fronted, came together in Fort Wayne; they got their name because the band was racially integrated and their skin tones resembled the squares on a chessboard.
"Black Pearl" was the only significant hit for The Checkmates, Ltd., reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band split up in 1970 and reformed a couple of times after that. Charles released a solo album in 1982 but then dropped off the radar, except for touring with The Steve Miller Band from 2008 to 2012.
Created August 6, 2026.