First I Look at the Purse has also been covered by David Bromberg, Rod Stewart, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, The Cortinas and Nashville Pussy. "First I Look at the Purse" was the last Contours hit featuring original lead Billy Gordon. It also features the renewed line-up of Contours, as several original members had left back in 1964. Shortly after its release, Gordon departed the group, and Motown, for good, due to personal problems. He was replaced with Joe Stubbs, brother of lead singer of fellow Motown group The Four Tops, Levi Stubbs. In the early 2000s, the Contours performed the song on the
Cuddly Dudley (singer) band, The Embraceable Four, with whom he supported The Platters on their 1960 UK tour, and released a second single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Too Pooped To Pop". In 1961 he became the lead singer with "The Redcaps", with whom he released a single "Sitting on a Train". Originally known as "Red-E-Lewis and the Redcaps" (named after Gene Vincent's The Blue Caps) original lead singer Reddy Lewis (Edward Stubbs) had left to form the Red Cats, with Jimmy Page on guitar. The Redcaps comprised Mick Green, Vic Cooper, Frank Farley, Johnny Patto and Johnny Spence, and from May–July 1961