Gee Whiz, Look at His Eyes

Carla Thomas wrote this song when she was just 16 years old. It's a very innocent song where she finds herself thinking of how she can approach her crush - the guy who is "awful nice" and has eyes that hypnotize. Even by 1960 standards, the lyrics were old fashioned, but Thomas delivered them so convincingly (especially the first, extended "Geeeee...") that the song caught on and landed in the Top 10 of the American Pop charts. Carla is the daughter of Rufus Thomas, who was recording for Satellite Records in Memphis, which would later morph into Stax. When Rufus played a demo of the song for label boss Jim Stewart, he heard the hit potential and went all out to record it properly. Stewart booked a group called the Veltones to do background vocals and also a 3-piece string section led by his former violin teacher Noel Gilbert. The session was booked for and August day in 1960 at 2 p.m. in their studios on McLemore Avenue, which was a converted theater with no air conditioning. By 2:30, the arranger had not arrived, so Stewart took over the session, working out the arrangement on the fly with Gilbert. When they were finally ready to go, it was 5 o'clock and the musicians were making overtime. They rolled tape and got it right in the first take, with the then 17-year-old Thomas nailing her vocal on the first try. A few days later, Thomas started her freshman year at Tennessee A&I University, and in March 1961, the song peaked at #10.

Thomas wrote this song, which makes her the first woman to chart a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with a song she wrote herself. The next woman to do this was Doris Troy, who made #10 in 1963 with "Just One Look."

The single was distributed by Atlantic Records, who had a deal with Carla's label, Satellite. When the song became a hit, Atlantic wanted a full album, so Satellite owner Jim Stewart traveled with producer Chips Moman from Memphis to Nashville and recorded more songs with Thomas, working around her class schedule at Tennessee A & I University. The album, also titled Gee Whiz, was released in 1961.