by Imagine singing on Dark Side of the Moon, being signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records, and backing up Dionne Warwick, but no one knows who you are. That’s exactly how to describe Doris Troy.
This kind of life is one that inevitably divides opinion. It’s one that some would love; being close to the biggest stars and musical moments in the world, without being harassed by the fame that normally comes with it. To others, it’s an outright injustice – what do you mean you’ve worked on some of the most well-known songs ever, without ever getting the credit for it?
But such is the juxtaposing life of a session musician, wherein you’re often heard and not seen, just as Troy was. In all her 67 years, the singer racked up quite the back catalogue of credits – from singing on tracks by The Rolling Stones to George Harrison to Dusty Springfield, and many in between – and, in this sense, it seems almost quite unbelievable that she never came anywhere near to a household name, given the calibre of the shoulders she rubbed.
Yet Troy was far more than just a backing singer, and could most definitely stand on her own two feet. ‘Mama Soul’, as she was known among her close circles of fans, had one top ten hit in 1963 with ‘Just One Look’, a rush-job song somehow completed in the space of only ten minutes, but managed to cultivate her greatest chart success. With subsequent covers ranging across the musical spectrum from The Hollies to Linda Ronstadt to Harry Nilssen, the power of one song meant that Troy really could have been on to a path of stardom.
However, just as the way these things pan out sometimes, that life never quite fell into her favour. Instead, Troy enjoyed a life of being the covert ingredient of everything from The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd to Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ and George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’. In theory, all of this made her the industry darling of backing musicians, but as is both the blessing and the curse of this line of work, the public knew very little about it.
Subsequently, when Troy met her untimely passing in 2004 at the age of 67, she sadly died with little of the recognition or credit she truly deserved. What other musician could say they had a hand in shaping some of the most acclaimed records in rock, while also helping to create some of the biggest hits in Motown? Very few, it’s safe to bet. But turn your attention to the credits of session singers and musicians, and you’re likely to find a range of credits that are as wide-ranging as they are illustrious. It’s a back catalogue any main artist would kill to have.
As such, the next time you’re listening to ‘My Sweet Lord’ or ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, it’s maybe worth tuning in to the finer details for a little while. Harrison and Mick Jagger’s storming vocals should be allowed to fall by the wayside for once, and allow the dulcet tones of Troy and the other backing singers to draw you in. It’s where you might just find a hidden gem.
