The Webchords (New Jersey)

Personnel :

Nino Cosentino

Dominic Pandisha

Tommy Champion

Joey Arminio

Biography :

Vocal group formed in 1958. Joey Arminio  was from Staten Island and Dominic Pandisha from Brooklyn both of them moving to River Styx in Hopatcong where they met Nino Cosentino and  Tommy Champion.  Joey Arminio sang with the Elegants when they very first started.

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(L to R) Eddie Miller, Tom Fagan and ed Burkhalter

The Chancers (Auburn, Alabama)

Personnel :

Eddie Miller (Lead)

Tommy Fagan (Tenor)

Fred Burkhalter (Bass/ Baritone)

Discography :

1958 - Shirley Ann / My One (Dot 15870)

Biography :

Vocal & Instrumental Trio, the Chancers formed in the late 1950s at A.P.I. (Alabama Polytechnic Institute), which in 1960 became Auburn University.  Better known as the KA Trio. Tommy Fagan (from Fort Valley), a member of this group, has gained added fame for himself and the trio by writing a ballad entitled "Remember The Night," which was previewed in february 1958 over a national TV hookup by singer Autry Inman. RCA has released the record­ing. The Chancers began singing as a group about 1956 when they met as KA fraternity brothers. Tommy Fagan and Eddie Miller (from Anniston)  were roommates at the time, be­gan experimenting and came up with some very fine arrange­ments, with Fagan on the tub bass, a wash tub arrangement, and Miller on the guitar.

  
                                                                                                    Autry Inman ("Remember The Night")

 Fred Burkhalter (from Rome, Ga.) soon joined the group ad­ding his bass and baritone voice to those of Fagan, tenor, and Mil­ler, lead. The Chancers got their start by entertaining at fraternity activi­ties. Sev­eral of their originals were played over WAUD, and the group per­formed on Fagan's hometown sta­tion, WEPM in Fort Valley, Ga. The big break came when Jeff Whatley, Auburn's expert in high fidelity, sent tape record­ings of their work to Tru Pub­lishing Company. Tru sold Fa­gan's song, "Remember the Night" to RCA victor, who became very interested in both the group and the song. The group will record several songs, two of which, "My One" a song composed by the trio and "Shirley Ann" will be released by Dot records.

Songs :

The Chancers

  
My One                                          Shirley Ann

Autry Inman


Remember The Night

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Mac Boswell & The Outcasts (1) (Lavonia, GA)

Personnel:

James Malcolm "Mac" Boswell (Lead)

John Clark

Fiske Minton

Harry Williams

Brown Ellis

Discography :

1959 - I Thought You Knew / Rang Dang Do Lally  (Wonder 117)

Biography :

Vocal and instrumental group from Nashville Tennessee, fronted by James Malcolm "Mac" Boswell and composed by John Clark, Fiske Minton, Harry Williams and Brown Ellis. At 19 Mac Boswell and the Outcasts have made several tours of the south  and the Southeast appearing with stars like Ferlin Husky and Jerry Lee Lewis. The group began in 1957 while the boys were attending West End High School at Nashville Tennessee. After working together for months, they entered several talent contests - Winning Many.

John Clark, Harry Williams, Fiske Minton, ???, Mac Boswell and Brown Ellis

This encouraged them on bigger things. Searching for new material they went to Jacksonville, Florida to see Mae Axton who co-authored "Heartbreak Hotel". Mae took a liking to the boys and worked with them improving their style. The boys really dug ib and worked hard for another ten months, playing as many tours and dates as they could. On May 20, 1959 Bill Lowery of National Recording Corporation i, Atlanta cut their first record which was released in July 1959.

  
                                                                                                                                         Mac Boswell

Everywhere Mac and the boys have played, they have the audience in the palm of their hand and fan mail has been terrific. After playing three songs on a morning TV show, in one city, they received over 500 letters which is evidence of the tremendous acclamation they have enjoying.

Songs :

 I Thought You Knew


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The Quintones (1) (Chicago)

Personnel :

Donald Burrows (Lead)

Clifford Sutherland (First Tenor)

Freddie Williams (Second Tenor)

Ralph Fulham (Baritone)

Bill McDonald (Bass)

Discography :

1957 - South Sea Island / More Than A Notion (Park 57 111)

Biography :

The Quintones releasing one record "South Sea Island" backed with "More Than A Notion." The lead singer was Donald Burrows, and he was supported by first tenor Clifford Sutherland, second tenor Freddie Williams, baritone Ralph Fulham, and bass Bill McDonald. Another vocalist in the area, Willie Crowley, was often recalled as a as a member of the Quintones, but he wasn't on the record but occasionally sang with the group. The Quintones were featured in two big shows. One was the Herb Kent-promoted show in the Children's Building with Lee Andrews and the Hearts, the Pastels, and other Altgeld Gardens groups. The other show was out in Harvey, some school out there, Herb Kent promoted it. The Dells were on the show and the fellows who did 'Cherry Pie,' Marvin and Johnny. Those acts got top billing and everything. The Quintones were not together very long. They were still attending Carver High when they made the record, and six months after recording it they had disbanded.
(Doowop: The Chicago Scene)

Songs :

  
More Than A Notion                       South Sea Island

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The Cellos (Manhattan, New York)

Personnel :

Alton Campbell（Lead）

Billy Montgomery（Tenor）

Cliff Williams（Tenor）

Bobby Thomas（Baritone）

Alvin Williams（Bass）

Discography :

Singles :
1957 - Rang Tang Ding Dong / You Took My Love（Apollo 510）
1957 - Under Your Spell / The Juicy Crocodile（Apollo 515）
1957 - The Be Bop Mouse / Girlie That I Love（Apollo 516）
1958 - I Beg For Your Love / What's The Matter For You（Apollo 524）

Unreleased :
1958 - Doo Doo Wah （Apollo)
1958 - Buffalo Bill （Apollo)
1958 - Love That Girl Of Mine （Apollo)
1958 - Don't Wait (with Dolly Lyon) （Apollo)

 Biography :

The Cellos' singing was as smooth as the sound of their instrumental namesake. Formed at Charles Evans Hughes High School on West 18th Street in Manhattan, the Cellos were Alvin Williams , Billy Montgomery, Alton Campbell , Bobby Thomas, and Cliff Williams, their inspirations were the Heartbeats, the Cleftones, the Harptones, and the Coasters.Alvin Williams wrote their original material, including a number called "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I'm the Japanese Sandman)" that so impressed the engineer on their first demo session, Lewis Merenstein (who later produced Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, and Van Morrison), that he brought it to Apollo Records, which was owned by his uncle. 

The group got a contract from that demo, and had their first session in January of 1957. "Rang Tang Ding Dong" b/w "You Took My Love" reached number 62 on the Billboard national chart during a ten-week run, a promising beginning; the song was covered by the likes of Chuck Miller ("House of Blue Lights") and Ray Stevens. This was a feat the group was never able to repeat. The Cellos were extremely versatile, capable of delivering soaring, dreamily ethereal harmony numbers ("You Took My Love") or scorching, funny novelty songs ("Juicy Crocodile") with equal aplomb.  

Few groups had their range, and even fewer an in-house songwriter of Williams' caliber; between them, they made some gorgeous and memorably funny doo wop and R&B records. But they never managed to connect nationally, despite their receiving the blessing of tastemaker Alan Freed and a featured spot at one of his Brooklyn Paramount shows.

    Undaunted, their management got them booked onto national tours, and some of their records got decent airplay. The sales didn't follow suit, however, and by the end of 1958 the group had called it quits, although Alvin Williams remained in the business for a few more years.

Songs :

     
Rang Tang Ding Dong             You Took My Love                   Under Your Spell
 
     
The Juicy Crocodile         The Be Bop Mouse               Girlie That I Love

     
I Beg For Your Love         What's The Matter For You         Love That Girl Of Mine


Doo Doo Wah (Unreleased)
Don't Wait (with Dolly Lyon)
Buffalo Bill (Unreleased)
What's The Matter For You (Outtake)

...