The Chants (2) (San Pedro, California)   
aka The Gallahads (3)
ref The Gallahads (2)

Personnel :

Arthur Lee Sprewell (Lead)

Elliott Sprewell

Tyrone Sprewell

Lewis Booker

Eugene Booker

Mack Givens

Discography :

The Chants (2)
1959 - The Graveyard Hop / A Thousand Miles In My Path (Big Moment 101/102)   ???
1960 - Heaven And Paradise / When I'm With You (Night Owl 40)

Jimmy Pipkin & The Gallahads (3)
1962 - This Letter To You / The Answer To Love (Donna 1361)

The Gallahads (3)
1964 - Keeper Of Dreams / Sad Girl (Beechwood 3000)

Biography :

The Gallahads -- led by Jimmy Pipkin -- are best remembered for "Lonely Guy," an enormous smash hit in 1960. Lead vocalist Pipkin, Bobby Dixon (first tenor and lead), "Tiny" Tony Smith (second tenor), and bass man Ernie Rouse formed this vocal group in Seattle, WA, in 1952, while they were still in junior high. Ten years later, The Famous Gallahads  from Seattle Broke up, Jimmy Pipkin then based in California picked up a vocal group called The Chants. This group  hailed from San Pedro, California. Members included Arthur Lee Sprewell,Elliott Sprewell, Tyrone Sprewell, Lewis Booker, Eugene Booker, and Mack Givens. The Chants had already recorded  "Heaven And Paradise" b/w "When I'm With You" release en 1960 by Night Owl Records and probably in 1959, "The Graveyard Hop" b/w "A Thousand Miles In My Path" on the Big Moment Label.. Label copied as Jimmy Pipkin & The Gallahads. The Chants recorded "This Letter To You" and "The Answer To Love" on Donna Records. The "Answer To Love" is a typical Pipkin ballad and sticks to The Gallahads' trademark sound. In fact, The Chants could almost be taken as a Gallahads clone. In 1964, Chuck Markulis, who owned the rights to the Gallahads name, produced two Gallahads sides for the Beechwood label, "Keeper Of Dreams" backed with "Sad Girl" But it's still the Chants recorded the Songs.


Songs :

The Chants (2)

  
A Thousand Miles In My Path               Heaven And Paradise    

When I'm With You

Jimmy Pipkin & The Gallahads (3)

  
This Letter To You                               The Answer To Love

The Gallahads (3)

  
Keeper Of Dreams                                     Sad Girl            


...

 The Whippoorwills (Brooklyn, New-York)
aka  Eddie & The Starlites (2)         Ref : The Starlites (1)

Personnel :

Eddie Jenkins (Lead)

Robert Honey

Teddy Odes

Vel Miller

Archie Price

Discography :

Eddie & The Starlites (2)

Singles:
1959 - To Make A Long Story Short / Pretty Little Girl (Scepter 1202)
1963 - Come On Home / I Need Some Money (Aljon 1260/1261)
1972 - Three Steps To Go / Nobody But You And Me (Bim Bam Boom 102)
1973 - I Can Dream / You Told Me So (Vintage 1004) 

Unreleased
1959 - I Love You (Scepter)
1960 - Come On Home (alt. version)

Lp :
1964 - Al Browne Presents Dyno Sounds (Moon AB 1)
To Make A Long Story Short

The Whippoorwills
1961 - Deep Within / Going To A Party (Josie 892)


Biography :

 In 1955 Keyes joined a vocal group dubbed the Starlites with Cliff Rice, Sony Eugene, Charlie Saunders & Vic Rice. The Starlites earned a record deal with Al Browne and his tiny Peak label as a result of winning a local talent contest. Their single "Missing You" went nowhere, and in 1958 he joined the Velours, which cut several singles for the Cub label. Al Browne had several different groups which he called the Starlites. The story of Scepter Records starts with Florence Greenberg, who was a thirty-something housewife in the New Jersey suburbs of New York in the mid-1950s.  The first single on the label (Scepter 1201) was "Why Why Why"/"Ugly Duckling" by Don Crawford & the Escorts.

Al Browne (Piano) with his band

When Al was producing for the Scepter Label on some early releases, he took the Starlites with him.  Here, They became Eddie & Starlites for their release in Late December 1958 - cut in October at a split session with the Criterions/Kents. At that time the group has been much change members, completely different than the group on Peak and consists of Eddie Jenkins, Robert Honey, Teddy Odes, Vel Miller and Archie Price. Al Browne must have recorded them many times, because of the material that appeared years later on various labels. He Used "Three Steps To Heaven" on his "Dyno Sounds" Moon LP. Five years later, the group’s next record was issued on Al’s reactivated Aljon Label.

The group made appearances at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre with Murray the K, with Alan Freed at Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, the world famous Apollo theater, the Majestic Theatre in Pennsylvania, the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, and the Uptown Theatre in Pennsylvania. They have made numerous tours arounds the country. In 1961, not seeing their careers take off, lead singer, Eddie Jenkins and Robert Honey and probably the other members of the group recorded as The Whippoorwills for Josie records the titles "Deep Within" (wrote by Eddie Jenkins and Robert Honey) and "Going To A Party ".

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

Eddie & The Starlites (2)

      
To Make A Long Story Short          Pretty Little Girl              Come On Home

     
I Can Dream                      I Love You                 Come On Home (alt. version)

     
I Need Some Money        Nobody But You And Me / Three Steps To Go     You Told Me So

The Whippoorwills

  
   Deep Within                                   Going To A Party


...

Top : Tony Harris - Bottom : Jimmy Ellis & Billy Marshall

The Centuries (1) (Los Angeles)

Personnel :

Billy Marshall (Lead)

Tony Harris (Tenor)

Jimmy Ellis (Baritone)

Discography :

1962 - I Won't Stop Lovin' You / Geraldine (Dootone 469)

Biography :

Jimmy Preacher Ellis was born in 1935, in the rural farming community of Foreman, Arkansas. Like most youths, his first singing experience came in church, where he and his brother both sang. By 1950 Ellis had moved to Seattle, Washington where he began singing in the choir at the nearby Mount Baker Baptist Church. Eventually his vocal talents came to the attention of the Reverend F.F. Billups who asked Jimmy to join The Traveling Four, since their baritone singer had just quit. By 1955 The Traveling Four split up, and Ellis, now 20 years old, entered the military service. By the late 1950s, he was back in Seattle and began to seriously pursue his interest in playing the guitar. In spite of his developing instrumental skills, Ellis wasn't quite ready for a solo career.

  
Tony Harris                                                                                                                                 

Instead, Although living in Seattle, Ellis made excursions to Los Angeles during the early sixties to record for the Romack Label. Ellis had made a deal with Dootsie Williams at Dootone Records on West First Street. He recruited former ex-Traveling Four members, Tony Harris and Billy Marshall, to form a doo-wop group called The Centuries. Tony Harris had already embarked on a solo career with several records in 1957 and 1958 on the Ebb label. In early spring 1962 the trio entered the Dootone studios and recorded " Geraldine" backed with "I Won't Stop Lovin' You". The single id not fare very well. Consequently, the three Centuries split up and returned to their respective families. In 1964 and now a solo artist,Jimmy Ellis headed to Los Angeles, hoping to record and later that year his first record single was released. Later in 1964, he met R&B songwriter 'Fats' Washington. Ellis recorded a couple of singles that were released on Washington's Movin' label. Later he had a couple more singles released this time on the Ride label which was another one of Washington's.

Songs :

  
     Geraldine                                      I Won't Stop Lovin' You

...

Ella Lee Lewis Jr.

The Ivoleers ((Manhattan, New York)
aka The Ivories (2)

Personnel :

Ella Lee Lewis Jr. (Lead)

Johnny Earl Jackson (Baritone/Bass)

Richard Lewis (First Tenor)

Moses Brown (Baritone)

"Blinky"  (SecondTenor)

Discography :

The Ivories (2)
1957 - Me And You / I'm In Love (Mercury 71239)

The Ivoleers
1959 - Lovers' Quarrel / Come With Me (Buzz 101)

Biography :

When the Ivories / Love Notes disbanded in the Summer of 1957, Johnny Earl Jackson, who was part of the original Ivories who recorded on Jaguar Records "Alone" and "Baby Send A Letter",  formed a new group. Since the Ivories were no longer in existence (having become the Love Notes), he recycled the name.  The New Ivories group consisted of his girlfriend, Ella Lee Lewis Jr. (lead), her brother, Richard Lewis (first tenor),  Moses Brown (baritone), a second tenor named "Blinky" and Johnny Earl Jackson (baritone/bass).

 They recorded "Me And You" and "I'm In Love" released by Mercury Recordsin November 1957. Moses Brown left the Ivories and was replaced by a baritone named "Chink." , They changed their name by  to the Ivoleers and  recorded "Lovers' Quarrel" and "Come With Me" for Bobby Smith's Buzz label in early 1959. http://www.uncamarvy.com/Ivories/ivories.html

Songs :

The Ivories (2)

  
Me And You                                   I'm In Love

The Ivoleers

  
Come With Me                                Lovers' Quarrel



...

Fred Parris & Lewis "Lou" Peeples

Freddie & Lou  (New Haven, Connecticut)
ref The Five Satins

Personnel :

Fred Parris

Lewis "Lou" Peeples

Discography :

1961 - You'll Be Mine Tonight / Rosalie (Thunder 2150 / Astra 1003)

Biography :

Fred Parris & Lewis Peeple were part of The Five Satins, best known for their 1956 million-selling song, "In the Still of the Night." After a few singles as the Scarlets, the New Haven quintet know as the Scarlets was called by Uncle Sam. Fred Paris was then stationed in Philadelphia and was able to return to New Haven for weekends. He formed a new group that included Lou Peebles (tenor), Ed Martin (baritone), Stanley Dortch (tenor), and Jim Freeman (bass). Fred wanted a new name since none of these new members had been in the Scarlets. He liked the idea of something soft and red like the Velvets and the Scarlets. The result: the Five Satins.

        
Lewis "Lou" Peeples

In 1961, after several years punctuated by a few hits, Fred and company decided to keep making name changes until something stuck, so they became the Wildwoods (“When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano,” Caprice) and the New Yorkers, whose “Miss Fine” (Wall) reached number 69 Pop and This is also where Fred Parris & Lewis Peeple recorded "You'll Be Mine Tonight" b/w "Rosalie" as Freddie & Lou. not much recognition there for an act that’s spent five years under another name, so they went back to the Five Satins for one side on United Artists .

Songs :

  
          Rosalie                                  You'll Be Mine Tonight

...