The Mello-Harps  (Brooklyn, New-York)

aka The Levee Songsters
aka The Teen-Tones (1)
aka The Melloharps
aka The Teentones

Ref The Leopards (1)

Personnel :

Arnold "Johnny" Malone (Lead)

Vernon Staley (First Tenor)

Joe Gowder (Second Tenor)

Daniel Elder (Baritone)

Ossie Davis (Bass)



    


Discography :

The Mello-Harps
1955 - Love Is A Vow / Valerie (Do-Re-Mi 203)
1956 - Searchin' / Love Is A Vow (Rego 1003)
1958 - Gumma Gumma  / No Good (Casino 104)

The Melloharps
1955 - I Love Only You / Ain't Got The Money (Tin Pan Alley 145/146)
1956 - What Good Are My Dreams / Gone (Tin Pan Alley 157/158)

Teacho Wiltshire & The Melloharps
1956 - My Bleeding Heart / I Couldn't Believe (Tin Pan Alley 159/160)

The Teen-Tones (1)
1956 - Love Is A Vow / Walkie Talkie Baby (Rego 1004)

Lee and Larry & The Teentones
1956 - Have A Happy (The Dedications Song)/ Oh Yes (Rego 1005)

The Levee Songsters
1959 - Our Love Is A Vow / Walkie Talkie Baby (Karen 1004)

The Leopards (1)
1963 - Valerie / Mah Mah Chicken Pot Pie (Leopards 5006)






Biography :

Brooklyn-based R&B vocal group the Mello-Harps formed in 1955. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the April 1990 issue of Record Collectors' Monthly, co-founders Arnold "Johnny" Malone (first tenor), second tenor Joe Gowder, baritone Daniel "Bunny" Elder, and bass Ossie Davis were longtime friends from the borough's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

After adding a fifth member, high tenor Vernon Staley, the Mello-Harps began touring the local nightclub circuit, and while performing at Brooklyn's Club Baby Grand they negotiated a management deal with musician Larry Lucy, who quickly landed them a record deal with the Do-Re-Mi label.  The Mello-Harps beautiful debut, "Love Is a Vow," followed in the autumn of 1955. One of the scarcest singles of the doo wop era, it earned little attention upon its original release but later achieved cult classic status among R&B aficionados.

   
Teacho Wiltshire                                                                                                               

By year's end Davis resigned from the lineup, and upon adding bass Bobby Hawkins (the brother of NBA Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins), the Mello-Harps signed to Tin Pan Alley Records to issue their sophomore effort, "I Love Only You." "What Good Are My Dreams" followed in early 1956, and when the group's commercial fortunes failed to improve, Elder exited in the wake of their fourth single, "My Bleeding Heart." Tenor William Brown signed on prior to cutting a re-recorded "Love Is a Vow" for the Rego label. 

   
                                                                                                              A configuration of the Mello-Harps (or The Leopards)

Credited to the Teen-Tones, the song fared no better the second time around, and Staley was the next to turn in his resignation. Tenor David "Sonny" Forte signed on for 1957's "Gumma Gumma," a novelty tune that restored the Mello-Harps moniker. Despite saxophone contributions from the great King Curtis, the single went nowhere and after an aborted session for Juggy Murray's Sue label, the group split in 1959. In the early 60s, Joe Gowder formed another group, which re-recorded "Valerie" (with Joe himself doing lead). Along with the flip, "Mah Mah Chicken Pot Pie" (also led by Joe), it was released on the Leopard label in 1963, as the "Leopards." David Forte was also in this group.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/MelloHarps/melloharps.html



 

Songs :

The Mello-Harps

  
Love Is A Vow                                             Valerie

     
 Searchin'                       Gumma Gumma                             No Good



The Melloharps

  
I Love Only You                       Ain't Got The Money

  
What Good Are My Dreams                            Gone            


Teacho Wiltshire & The Melloharps


My Bleeding Heart / I Couldn't Believe


The Teen-Tones (1) / The Levee Songsters


1959 - (Our) Love Is A Vow / Walkie Talkie Baby


The Leopards (1)

  
             Valerie                              Mah Mah Chicken Pot Pie







…

Bobby Sanders

The Chandeliers (2) (Los Angeles)
aka The Cheerios (1)
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 Blends (1) (Brockton, Massachusetts)
aka The Fabulous Blends

Personnel :

Big John Croft (Lead)

Richie Harris

Charlie Garner

Richie Solomon

Discography:

The Blends (1)
1960 - Someone To Care / Now It's Your Turn (Casa Grande 3037)
1960 - A Thousand Miles Away / Music, Maestro, Please (Casa Grande 5000

Big John & The Fabulous Blends
1960 - Hey! Little Fool / Baby You're Wrong  (Casa Grande 5001)

The Fabulous Blends
1989 - Graduation Time / Starlight, Starbright (Casa Grande 3039)

Unreleased :
1960 - Everybody's Got A Home (But Me) (Casa Grande)

 Biography :

This fine group was from the Brockton/New Bedford area and landed a contract with Casa Grande after winning a WBZ radio contest held at Fort Devens. The group was led by Big John Croft, who sang lead and played guitar. He was backed by three singers, a drummer and electric bass.

They were famous for their tight harmony and exciting stage routines, including exceptional choreography. Billboard picked them as an outstanding up-and-coming group in 1960, but after touring the East Coast and Europe, the group split up and disappeared. The group was also known as the Fabulous Blends. They cut nine sides for Casa Grande in 1960 and 1961.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

    
Someone To Care             Now It's Your Turn             A Thousand Miles Away

   
 Music, Maestro, Please           Hey! Little Fool            Baby You're Wrong

     
        Starlight, Starbright               Graduation Time         Everybody's Got A Home (But Me)

...

Beverly, Victoria & Debra

The Bow Ribbons (Los Angeles)
ref : The Shadows (4)

 

Personnel :

Victoria Peace

Beverly ?

Debra ?


Discography :

The Bow Ribbons
1959 - Hey Diddle Diddle / Quick Like (Elroy Peace & Bow Ribbons) (Trans-Continental 3001)
1959 - Mr. Spoon / Our Father (Motif ZM-018)

The Shadows (4) (Elroy Peace and Paul White)
1958 - You Make My Heart Sing Ah! / Pretty Window (Dick Garrett & The Shadows ) (Fraternity 795)


Biography :

Vocal group The Bow Ribbons, comprised of three young lasses : Beverly, Victoria & Debra between 6 and 8 years old. The Bow Ribbons were Elroy Peace's little daughter Victoria, age 6, and two nieces, Beverly and Debra age 7 and 8. The Young Trio recorded for Transcontinental Records owned by Brad Atwood the sides "Hey Diddle Diddle" and "Quick Like" where the girls backed  Elroy  with Eddie Cochran on guitar. Some months later, they recorded two new songs "Mr. Spoon" and "Our Father" released by Milton Vedder's label Motif. the four songs recorded by the trio were all composed by Ray Stanley.

  
Elroy Peace                                                                                                                               

Ray Stanley was born Stanley Nussbaum in Dermott, Arkansas in 1924. Songwriter and vocalist Stanley teamed up with Jack Lewis at American Music and were responsible for the Crest label's first four releases. In May 1956, 'Glendora' a Ray Stanley song was covered by Perry Como whose version made the top ten on RCA. Lewis then left American and founded Sherman Music with Billy Sherman. Ray played piano on Eddie Cochran's early sessions in Gold Star Studio in mid 1956 including 'Skinny Jim', 'Half Loved' and 'My Love To Remember'.

In late 1956 Ray made a couple of demos of songs he composed. These demos are now mostly famous as Eddie Cochran sat in on guitar and provided some of his best recorded guitar licks. Songs include: 'Market Place', 'Pushin', 'Love Charms', My Lovin' Baby' and 'Kiss & Make Up'.  In 1958, Elroy Peace and Paul White are The Shadows. One of the most memorable songs of bandleader Ted Lewis  was "Me and My Shadow" with which he frequently closed his act.  Around 1928, he started to use a shadow mimicking his movements during his act.   Several Afro-American played the Shadow.  Elroy Peace and Paul White were two of them in the forties.

Young Elroy Peace and Paul White (The Shadows)

Elroy Peace's first record was probably "Onion Breath Baby" for the Swing Time label in 1953. Followed a duet with Willie Mae Thornton on Peacock. After the Fraternity single as the Shadows, he was heard on West Coast labels such as Keen, Romeo, or Helga. In the early sixties, during a tour in Australia & New-Zealand, Elroy recorded at least two singles which were issued on local labels.




Songs :

The Bow Ribbons

  
Our Father                                                 Mr. Spoon

Elroy Peace & The Bow Ribbons


Quick Like


The Shadows (4)


You Make My Heart Sing Ah!


...

The Princetones (New Jersey)

Personnel :

Peter Prince (Lead)

Larry Williams

Tom Ruggeri

Mike Paladino

Discography :

1958 - Guardian Angel (Allegro)
1961 - My Life (Rome)
1961 - My Madonna (Rome)

Biography :

Mike Paladino was in a number of groups as a kid including the Princetones. A product of St. Joseph's High School, West New York. Mike and a friend Pete Prince formed the Princetones - Pete Prince - wrote the classic tune Guardian Angel outside of Leone's pizza parlor in West New York. The group was the first to record a demo of the song in 1958.  The song was basically stolen from the group after they performed it at St. Celicia's high school in Englewood, NJ. It was subsequently done by no less than five groups but the Princetones were never given recognition for it.  After the departure of Mike Paladino for the Bon-Aires, Peter Prince & Tom Ruggeri formed a new group and cut two Unreleased sides for Rome Records "My Life" b/w "My Madonna".

Songs :

     
Guardian Angel                   My Madonna                               My Life

 ...