{{Short description|American pop and R&B singer (1942–2026)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Earl-Jean McCrea | birth_name = Earl-Jean McCrea | birth_date = {{birth date|1942|7|9}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|5|7|1942|7|9}} | death_place = | occupation = Singer, organist | genre = Pop, R&B | associated_acts = The Cookies | label = Dimension Records, Colpix Records }}
'''Earl-Jean Reavis''' (née '''McCrea'''; July 9, 1942 – May 7, 2026) was an American pop and R&B singer who was a member of the vocal group The Cookies. Credited as '''Earl-Jean''', she had a solo hit with the original version of "I'm into Something Good", written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and later a bigger hit for Herman's Hermits.
==Early life== Earl-Jean McCrea was born on July 9, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, United States, but lived with her family in North Carolina from the age of two.<ref name=weller/> They returned to Brooklyn to live in Coney Island when she was a young teenager, where she attended Lincoln High School. In 1960, she married Grant Reavis, and had a child.<ref name=weller>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4n5LMaA2xMsC&dq=goffin+earl-jean&pg=PA114 Sheila Weller, ''Girls Like Us''], Simon and Schuster, 2008, pp. 114-122</ref> Gerry Goffin and Earl-Jean McCrea (aka Jeanie Reavis) had a daughter while Goffin and Carole King were still married, as author Sheila Weller said in her book ''Girls Like Us'', chronicling the lives of King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon.<ref name=weller/>
==Career== Reavis's older sister, Darlene McCrea, and the other original members of the Cookies – a group first formed in 1954 – eventually evolved into Ray Charles' backing group, the Raelettes. In 1961, Earl-Jean was persuaded to join a new version of the Cookies.<ref name=allmusic/> The group was signed to Goffin and King's Dimension record label in 1962, and scored hits with "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)", and "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles).<ref name=allmusic>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/earl-jean-mn0000128950|title=Earl-Jean | Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=August 25, 2021}}</ref>
She left the Cookies, and signed for Colpix, where she recorded the Goffin and King song "I'm into Something Good" (Colpix CP 729), which reached no. 38 in the United States on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.<ref name=allmusic/> Later that year in Britain, a cover version by Herman's Hermits topped the charts.<ref name=allmusic/> She recorded a follow-up single in 1964, again written by Goffin and King, called "Randy" (Colpix CP 748) but it failed to reach the chart listings.<ref name=allmusic/>
==Later life and death== McCrea later worked as a specialist in early childhood, and opened a day care center.<ref name=weller/> She died on May 7, 2026, at the age of 83.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mother Earljean Reavis |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/earljean-reavis-obituary?id=61446221 |website=Legacy |access-date=19 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=I just learned that Earljean Reavis passed away on May 7, 2026. |url=https://www.facebook.com/CaroleKing/posts/i-just-learned-that-earljean-reavis-passed-away-on-may-7-2026-her-voice-was-the-/1564503301699958/ |website=Carole King on Facebook |access-date=19 May 2026 |date=18 May 2026}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{discogs artist|Earl-Jean McCrea}} * [https://www.45cat.com/artist/earljean 45cat.com as Earl-Jean]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrea, Earl-Jean}} Category:1942 births Category:2026 deaths Category:Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni Category:American women pop singers Category:Colpix Records artists Category:Singers from Brooklyn Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:People from Coney Island Category:Singers from North Carolina Category:20th-century American women singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:21st-century American women Category:The Cookies members