The Astors aka The Chips (3) (Menphis, Tenessee)



Personnel :

Curtis Johnson

Elihue Stanback

Sam "Byrnes" Jones

Richard Harris



Discography :


The Chips (3)
1961 - You Make Me Feel So Good / As You Can See (Satellite 105)

The Astors
1963 - What can it be / Just enough to hurt me (Stax 139)
1965 - I found out / Candy (Stax 170)
1965 - In The Twilight Zone / Mystery Woman (Stax 179)
1967 - Daddy Didn't Tell Me / More Power To You (Stax 232)
N/A - Candy (Live) (Stax) (Unreleased)
N/A - Come Out Tonight (Stax) (Unreleased)
N/A - A Woman Who Needs The Love of A Man (Stax) (Unreleased)
N/A - Strut Miss Sally (Stax) (Unreleased)
N/A - Uncle Willie Good Time  (Stax) (Unreleased)



Biography :

The Astors, Curtis Johnson, Eliehue Stanback, Sam (Byrnes) Jones, Richard Harris, grew up in The Orange Mound community in Memphis, Tennessee, while attending Melrose High School, along with Richard Griffin, a member of the original group called The Duntinos, and Harold Johnsn, Curtis' brother who joined the group when Richard Harris left the group for a while in 1967. The group was organized in 1958 by a neighborhood pianist, Herman "Red" Arnett who held auditions for a singing group at his home in the "Mound".

"Red" brought Curtis, Eliehue, Richard, Sam, and Richard Griffin, together for months of work before calling them a "group". The group, The Duntinos, quickly made a name for themselves performing regularly at local Beale Street and area venues. "Red" taught the guys to perform, and they learned to entertain under the tutelage of Rufus "Walking The Dog" Thomas, while working the "Chittlin Circuit" with him and his band, The Bearcats.

The Chips (3)

After Curtis and Eliehue graduated, the Duntinos moved to Buffalo, New York with Curtis' ralatives, looking, for the "Bright Lights" of New York, but found that Buffalo was very cold, and a long way from "The Big Apple". After working a few jobs in Buffalo, the group return to Memphis to do some backup vocals for Carla and Rufus Thomas and other artist recording at a new studio, then called Satellite Records. In 1961 the group recorded their first release "You Make Me Feel So Good"(Curtis -lead), a song that Curtis wrote b/w  "As You Can See"(Eliehue-lead), written by Eliehue Stanback.

The group's name was changed to The Chips for this release, named after producer, Chips Moman.  In 1961, Curtis joined the Air Force, but continued to record when on leave from the Military.  In 1963 the group's name was changed again to The Astors for the next release, written by guitarist, Larry Lee who played with Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock and later played with Al Green for years. That record was " What Can It Be" b/w "Just Enough To Hurt Me"(Curtis-lead).
In 1965, Stax Records, formerly Satellite, released a song  on the group "Candy" that was recorded while Curtis was on leave.

"Candy"(Curtis-lead), written by Booker T & MG's guitarist Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes, was their biggest record.  The song b/w "I Found Out" , written by Eliehue, climbed to #12 on the Billboard Top 100 R&B charts, and #63 on the Top 100 Pop charts. As "Candy" moved up the charts, The Astors performed on shows at the Uptown Theater in Philly, the Howard Theater in D.C., The Regal Theater in Chicago, and The Apollo Theater in New York.  The other performers on these shows included The O'Jays, The Coasters, Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions, and Redd Foxx to name a few.  The Astors also spent 2 1/2 months performing on tour with The James Brown Review.

http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/astors.htm
http://www.curtisj.com/Astors.htm




Songs :

   
What can it be                       Just enough to hurt me
 

Bobby Sanders

The Cheerios (1) (Los Angeles)
aka  The Chandeliers (2)
aka Linda Carr & The Impossibles (2)

Personnel :

Bobby Sanders (Lead)

Ralph Chestnut (Bass)

Clotelle King

Andrew Bayone (Cheerios & Chandeliers)

Joe Lawson (Cheerios & Chandeliers)

Discography :

Linda Carr & The Impossibles (2)
1961 - I'll Never Get Married / Happy Teenager (Skyla 1111)
1961 - (I'm In Love With) The Garbage Man / Shy One (Ray Star 779)

The Cheerios (1)
1961 - Ding Dong Honeymoon /  Where Are You Tonight (Infinity 11)

The Chandeliers (2)
1962 - Give Me Your Love / She's A Heartbreaker (Sue 761)

Biography :

Linda Carr was just 14 years of age at the time of this, her debut recording. Her powerful voice belied her tender years. In '61, talent scount, recording artists producer and writer, Bobby Sanders (real name: Jerome Lenoir) brought gifted singer, Linda Carr to producer Steve Venet. Happy Teenager happily launched her long and remarkable international singing career as one of the queens of the Northern Soul musical genre. The writer, Richard George, had written many songs while at UCLA and later while working in the Hollywood film industry.

He wrote Happy Teenager as an answer song to Dion's Lonely Teenager. Steve Venet  arranged to record her with Bobby Sanders, Ralph Chestnut and Clotelle King billed as the Impossibles. Steven Venet  next recorded Linda's follow-up release, I'm in Love With the Garbage Man, a clever and fun record. In '64, Linda signed with Sam Cooke's Sar label with Steve Venet producing the release with Sanders and Cooke doing the backup work.  Next she signed with Don Costa's DCP label and in '65 had a release that got some action. In '66, she had several releases on the Bell label and later with the Ranwood label. She had the talent but never had the song or promotion to make it big.

   

After their singles with Linda, the Impossibles,  Bobby Sanders, Ralph Chestnut and Clotelle King recruited Andrew Bayone & Joe Lawson. The Quintet with Bobby Sanders on Lead had a release on Infinity in September 1961 billed as The Cheerios. They also recorded for Sue Record as The Chandeliers.  During this period, Bobby Sanders also recorded as a single artist and with Dorsey High School friends as the Extremes.

Songs :

Linda Carr & The Impossibles (2)

  
I'll Never Get Married                             Happy Teenager     

  
(I'm In Love With) The Garbage Man                       Shy One                     



The Cheerios (1)

  
Ding Dong Honeymoon                    Where Are You Tonight   


The Chandeliers (2)

  
Give Me Your Love                         She's A Heartbreaker

...

The Rovers (Sacramento, Calif.)
aka The Five Rovers

Personnel :

Oliver "Sunny" Stevenson (Lead)

Jay Payton (Tenor)

Hank Swarn (Baritone)

Billy Ray Williams (Bass)

Ralph Helms (High Tenor)

Discography :

The Rovers
1954 - Ichi-Bon Tami Dachi / Why-Ohh (Music City 750/Capitol 3078) 

1955 - Salute To Johnny Ace /Jadda (Music City All Stars) (Music City 780) 

1955 - Whole Lot Of Love / Tell Me Darling (The Gaylarks) (Music City 792)

The Five Rovers
1956 - Down To The Sea / Change Your Mind  (Music City 798)

Biography :

The Rovers formed in 1954, and They recorded for Music City as both the rovers and The Five Rovers. Payton was about ten years older than the others.

By the middle of 1954, they'd added high tenor Ralph Helms to the group. Another student at Grant Union, he was one of those guys who just hung around until one day you noticed he was part of the group. Most of the songs that the Rovers practiced were either by the Clovers or tunes that they'd written themselves. All the tunes that they ended up recording were original songs.

"Ichi-Bon Tami Dachi" means number one girlfriends. Payton wrote the song based on his time in the service in Japan. Just after recording their one disc as the Rovers for Music city, it was leased out to Capitol records for greater distribution as sales began to increase.

When their last disc for Music city was released, they were on their way to Breaking up.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Rovers/rovers.html

Songs :

The  Rovers

   
Ichi-Bon Tami Dachi                          Salute To Johnny Ace

    
Whole Lot Of Love                            Why-Ohh

The Five Rovers  

   
Change Your Mind                                Down To The Sea

...

The Blue Notes (2)  (Asheboro in North Carolina )
 aka The Bluenotes (4) aka  The Epidemics  

Personnel :

Joe Tanner (gtr)

Pat Patterson

Tom Underwood

Ralph Harrington


 

Discography :

The Blue Notes (2)
1955 - Christmas Chimes / There'll Always Be a Christmas (Colonial 408)
1956 - On A Sleepy Sunday Afternoon / Who's Gonna Sing Your Love Songs  (Colonial 409)

The Bluenotes (4)
1958 - You're A Tiger / Let Her Know  (Colonial 7779)
1958 - I Waited   / Never Never Land  (Colonial 9999)
1959 - I Don't Know What It Is / Summer Love (Brooke 111)
1959 - You Can't Get Away From Love / I Don't Know What It Is (Brooke 111)
1960 - I'm Gonna Find Out / Forever On My Mind  (Brooke 116)

The Bluenotes (4) (Featuring Doug Franklin)
1957 - Page One / Mighty Low (Colonial 434)

The Bluenotes (4) (Featuring Ralph Harington)
1960 - Summer Love / It Had To Be You (Brooke 119)

Doug Franklin & The Bluenotes (4)
1958 - My Lucky Love / Drizzlin' Rain  (Colonial 7777)
1958 - I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now / I Used To Wonder (Colonial 8888)

Johnny Dee & Bluenotes (4)
1957 - Teenage Queen / It's Gotta Be You (Colonial 433)
1957 - 1000 Concrete Blocks / In My Simple Way (Colonial 435)

Ebe Sneezer (Johnny Dee)  & The Epidemics
1957 - Asiatic Flu / That's All I've Got (Colonial 436)

Biography :

The Bluenotes were a vocal group featuring Tom Underwood, Joe Tanner, Pat Patterson, and Ralph Harrington.  They recorded at Colonial and Brooke Records, two labels of North Carolina. Their first single, Page One/Mighty Low, was released in 1957 on the Colonial label and the last single, It Had To Be You/Summer Love, was released in 1960 on the Brooke label.

  
With Ebe Sneezer (Johnny Dee ) &  Cecelia Batten                                                                         

They also sang on several other records on Colonial with other artists. They had a pop singles chart entry in 1959 with "I Don't Know What It Is."  So, masquerading as Ebe Sneezer with the Epidemics, Johnny Dee recorded the "Asiatic Flu" and "That's All I've Got" with the Bluenotes.
Joe Tanner had success after the breakup of The Bluenote.

He worked with Roy Orbison. He also arranged and produced many songs, including In Dreams (Roy Orbison), A Rose and a Baby Ruth (George Hamilton IV), and Sittin' In the Balcony (John D. Loudermilk. He also played guitar on Orbison's hit, Oh, Pretty Woman.

With Ebe Sneezer (Johnny Dee )
http://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursb/bluenotes.htm
http://www.ihesm.com/Loudermilk1.html

Songs :

   
I Don't Know What It Is                                   Mighty Low         

   
Summer Love                                       You're A Tiger

...

The Tri-Lites (Sacramento, CA)
aka The West Winds
Richard (Doowoper51) 

Personnel :

Mona Donato

Bonnie Donato

Ron Andre

Discography :

The Tri-Lites
1964 - Will Tomorrow Be Just Another Day / Hot Dog, Here He Comes  (Enith 721)
1964 - Your Lookin' at My Guy / Owee Owee (Enith 1266)

The West Winds
1964 - You Know I'll Miss You / What A Kiss That Was (Enith 1269)
1964 - Your Lookin' at My Guy / Owee Owee (Kapp 588)

The Looking Glass
1966 - Silver And Sunshine / If I Never Love Again (Valiant 750)
1967 - Lonely Stranger / Love Is Not Everything (WB 7050)

Biography :

They're sisters Mona and Bonnie Donato, and Ron Andre, from Sacramento (Ron and Bonnie were married in 1969 and are now married 41 years!). Nancy (daughter of Ron & Bonnie) other aunt, Linda Donato, later replaced Mona when Mona started her own family.

Initially the Tri- Lites with Enith International ("Tomorrow" & "Hot Dog, Here He Comes" & "Your Lookin' at My Guy" & "Owee Owee.") Later sold to KAPP and they changed our name to The West Winds.
and again released "Your Lookin' at My Guy" & "Owee Owee."
Signed with Valiant Records produced by Barry Devorzon released "Silver & Sunshine" (written by the Adrissi Brothers who also wrote classic Never My Love) and "Love is not Everything."

Valiant sold out to Warner Brothers and they kept The Association and The Looking Glass (not Brandy Looking Glass) released "Lonely Stranger" & "If I never Love Again." [I think it's Linda Donato now on harmonies for these tracks]
Performed with Sonny & Cher, Kinks, Jackie Wilson, Brenda Lee, The Browns, Ray Peterson, and Barbara McNair, among others.
Richard (Doowoper51) 

Songs :

   
Will Tomorrow Be Just Another Day      Your Lookin' at My Guy

   
Hot Dog, Here He Comes         You Know I'll Miss You (The West Winds)

   
What A Kiss That Was (The West Winds)    Love Is Not Everything (The Looking Glass)

 ...