Songfacts®:

• Written by J.J. Reynolds and Bert Carroll, arranged by Bert Carroll and conducted by Richard Weiss, this death rock ballad made it to #11 on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey but failed to chart on Billboard. It was #83 on CashBox's Top 100 for July 22, 1961. The B-side was "Deep In a Young Boy's Heart."
• Cathy Carroll's real name was Carolyn Stern. She was a mezzo-soprano with a huge voice and an often melodramatic style. This song is an admirable example of her vocal ability: she holds the final note for seven seconds. Carroll was billed as a "Typical American Girl" when she was sent on a promotional tour. Her backup singers included the Earls and the 4Evers.
• Carroll's "Poor Little Puppet" charted on Billboard as #91 in August 1962. Other notable songs include "He's Famous," which is a tribute to Elvis Presley, and "Every Leaf That Falls." She also covered Johnny Ray's "Cry" and recorded an answer song to Brian Hyland's "Ginny Come Lately," appropriately titled "Johnny Come Lately." She recorded for various, mostly independent labels, including Philips, Cheer, Musicor and Dot. Her recordings were re-issued on a Cheer Records collection CD in 2005, "The Cathy Carroll Story: Not Just a Poor Little Puppet." Later in Carroll's career she experimented with country-western and girl-group styles. She retired from music in the 1970s. She has two children. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Ekristheh - Halath, for all above