Gigi and the Charmaines’ brief and only Billboard chart appearance at #117 in 1961 doesn’t reflect the trio’s great solo work on six different labels, nor does it take into account their work backing Lonnie Mack, or their singing behind artists that included Little Willie John, James Brown, Bobby Freeman, Conway Twitty, Gary U.S. Bonds and Hawkshaw Hawkins at the King Records’ studio. These achievements made them Cincinnati’s top girl group.

Gigi Griffin (aka Marian Jackson), the group's lead singer, was able to meld passion with vocal precision in a manner that suggests a more sophisticated Diana Ross, and her partners Dee Watkins and…