doo-wop

 

 

 

.....

 
The Contessas (2) (click on picture)

 

 

 

 

..

The Golden Bells (Highland Park, NJ)

Personnel :

Robert Chauncey “Bobby” Brown (Lead)

Willie Brown (Tenor)

Joyce Stateman Walker (Alto)

Billy Walker (Baritone)

Richard Laws (Bass)





Discography :

1957 - Bells Are Ringing / Pretty Girl (Sure 1001/1002)





Biography :

Joyce Stateman was born in Highland Park, NJ, across the river from New Brunswick. One of five children, Joyce was taught harmony by her mother. Joyce Stateman had left high school at the age of 16 and married William “Billy” Walker of South River, NJ. Joyce and Billy Walker would sing together on occasion but not professionally.


(L to R) Richard Laws, Robert Brown, Joyce Walker, William Walker, Willie Brown.

They were approached by an aspiring talent scout, Wallace Howard, who wanted to put together a group, and he already had Bobby Brown, Richard Laws and Willy Brown who were all still students at New Brunswick High School. The group was the Golden Bells consisting of Robert Chauncey “Bobby” Brown (lead), Willie Brown (tenor), Joyce Stateman Walker (alto), Billy Walker (baritone) and Richard Laws (bass). Bobby and Willie Brown were cousins.

  
                                         (L to R) Joyce Walker, Bobby Brown, William Walker, Richard Laws, Willie Brown

Before long, Wallace Howard had secured a recording opportunity for the Golden Bells at Sure Records in Linden, NJ. Bobby Brown had written two songs that were recorded and released as a single by Sure Records. Bobby sang lead on “Bells are Ringing” while “Pretty Girl” featured Willie Brown on lead. Both sides were published by Howard Music, presumably by Wallace Howard. In 1967, Joyce Walker sang with the Contessas who cut one single in 1968 for the WGW label.

http://www.classicurbanharmony.net





Songs :

  
Bells Are Ringing                                     Pretty Girl

...

Ferris & The Wheels (2) (New York)




Personnel :

Tony Ferris (Lead)

Sal Leggio

Rubin Lopez

Frankie "Love" Montanaro




Discography :

Singles :
1961 - Chop Chop Hole In The Wall / I Want To Dance (Every Night) (Bambi 801)
1962 - Moments Like This / He Was A Fortune Teller (United Art. 458)

Unreleased :
1962 - Following You (United Art.)
1962 - L-O-V-E (United Art.)

Biography :

Ferris & The Wheels were a New-York doo-Wop group in the early '60's lead by Tony Ferris.  The group consisted with  Tony Ferris, Sal leggio, Rubin Lopez and Frankie "Love" Montanaro. Eddie Reilly sing backing vocals at the time the group was first formed. The Group cut two singles "Chop, Chop" b/w "I Want To Dance (Every Night)" on the Bambi label and "Moments Like This" b/w "He Was A Fortune Teller" on United Artists in 1962.

  

Frankie Montanaro aka Frankie Love sang with the Gleams who recorded "You Broke My Heart" b/w "I Dont Know Why You Sent For Me" on Kip records. In 1962, under the name of Frankie Love, he cut "Moon of Love" b/w "Stranger at the Dance" and "First Star" b/w "Save Her Love For Me".






Songs :


Ferris & The Wheels (2)

  
He Was A Fortune Teller                    Moments Like This

  
Chop Chop Hole In The Wall                   I Want To Dance

...

The Gleams


You Broke My Heart


Frankie Love

     
Moon of Love                   Stranger at the Dance                    First Star


Save Her Love For Me





...

The Wildwoods (1) (New Haven, CT.)
 

aka The New Yorkers (1)
 aka The Five Satins
ref : The Scarlets  

 

 

Personnel :


Fred Parris (Lead)

Wes Forbes (Tenor)

Richard Freeman (Second Tenor)

Louis Peebles

Silvester Hopkins

 

 

Discography :

The Wildwoods (1)
1961 - When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano / Heart Of Mine (Caprice 101/102)

The New Yorkers (1)
1961 - Miss Fine / Dream A Little Dream (Wall 547)
1961 - Tears In My Eyes / A little Bit (Wall 548)

 

Biography :

Led by Fred Parris, the Five Satins were among the preeminent doo wop groups of the era, yet their pop succes was essentially limited to just two hits, the immortal "In The Still Of The Night" (1956) and "To The Aisle" (1957). In 1960, after three years with Ember Record, The Five Satins were signed by Cub, a pop subsidiary of the mighty M-G-M label which was enjoying a hot spell on the charts.

  

Though expectations were high, M-G-M were unable to break the Group, and when the Five Satins heard they were to be dropped by the label in 1961, Parris and his cohorts went undercover, fetching up on Wall records, an obscure New York label, as the New Yorkers.

"Miss Fine" appeared on the market at the same time as the Five Satins final Cub release, "Golden Earrings". A somewhat sisillusioned Parris reasoned that a name change might lend the group a fresh lease of life - They also moonlighted as the Wildwoods on other Label, Caprice, during this periode before reverting to their original name on some later records. A little raged around the edges, "Miss Fine" sounded like a demo released as a master. While the vocals and especially the song are top notch, "Miss Fine" would have benefited commercialy from better production values.

 

 Songs :

The Wildwoods (1)

    
Heart Of Mine                 When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano

 

The New Yorkers (1)

   
A Little Bit                               Tears In My Eyes

   
Miss Fine                            Dream A Little Dream

 

 

 

 

CD :

• Summer Holidays... | 01-08-2014
• Doowopheaven | 31-07-2014
• The Golden Bells | 30-07-2014
• Ferris & The Wheels (2) | 28-07-2014
• The Wildwoods (1) aka The New Yorkers (1) aka The Five Satins ref : The Scarlets | 25-07-2014
• The Whirlwinds (3) aka The Five Bops | 23-07-2014
• The Intervals (2) | 21-07-2014
• Danny & The Memories (4) | 20-07-2014
• Ronald & Ruby | 16-07-2014
• The Kuf-Linx aka The Crescendos (4) | 13-07-2014
• The Travelers (3) | 12-07-2014
• The Sinceres (4) | 09-07-2014
• Jessie & The Sequins (3) | 08-07-2014
• The Sessions (2) | 07-07-2014
• The Four Friends (1) | 02-07-2014