The Mel-O-Dots (New York)


Personnel :

Earl "Ricky" Wells (Lead)

Pat Ross (First tenor)

Robby Wells

Robert Adams

 

Discography :

Singles :
1952 - Just How Long / One More Time  (Apollo 1192)   

Unreleased :
1952 - Rock Me Baby  (Apollo)
1952 - Baby Won't You Pease Come Home  (Apollo)

Biography :

The Mel-O-Dots recorded four sides for apollo on March 17, 1952. Apparently this was their first and last visit to Apollo's facilities. Titles are “Just How Long” featuring Pat Ross, and “One More Time” featuring Ricky Wells.

The Other two songs "Baby won't you please come home" and "Rock me Baby" were not issued until Relic's Apollo series of Lps released these Gems in the 1990s. Earl "Ricky" Wells & Robby Wells  had both been in Deek Watson's second Brown Dots group on Manor and The Mystery Quartette.

Songs :

   
One More Time                                Rock Me Baby

   
             Just How Long                       Baby Won't You Pease Come Home

...

The Plants (1) (Baltimore, Maryland)


Personnel :

George Jackson (Lead)

Steve McDowell (First Tenor)

James Lawson (Baritone)

Thurmon Thrower (Bass)


Discography :

The Plants (1)
1957 - Dear I Swear / It's You (J&S 1602)
1958 - From Me / My Girl (J&S 1617 / 1618)

George Jackson  (backed by the Unisons)
1962 - Watching The Rainbow / Miss Frankenstein (Lescay 3006)

The Plants (2) (Different group)
1959 - I Searched The Seven Seas / I Took A Trip Way Over The Sea (J&S 248/249)


Biography :

Baltimore doo wop quartet the Plants formed in 1955. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the December 1976 issue of Yesterday's Memories, the group was founded by lead George Jackson, first tenor Steve McDowell, bass Thurman Thrower, and baritione James Lawson, longtime friends who grew up in the same neighborhood. Originally dubbed the Equadors, in early 1957 they auditioned for J&S Records owner Zell Sanders backstage during a Moonglows concert at Baltimore's Royal Theater. Sanders agreed on the spot to manage the group, changing their name to the Plants in the process. Their debut single, "Dear I Swear," followed on J&S that autumn.

   
                                                                                                                 The Plants with  Dickie "Piano" Williams

The record proved a local hit but failed to catch on nationally, despite appearances throughout the East Coast as well as a guest shot on the famed Baltimore TV showcase The Buddy Dean Show.  "From Me" followed in the spring of 1958, and when it too failed to make an impression at radio, the Plants dissolved. In 1959, Zell got another group, called them the Plants and had them record "I Searched The Seven Seas"/"I Took A Trip Way Over The Sea." A year later, Sanders assembled a new Plants lineup (personnel unknown) for "I Searched the Seven Seas." In 1962 George Jackson surfaced as a solo act with the Lescay label single "Watching the Rainbow."
Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Plants/plants.html



 Songs :

The Plants (1)

     
My Girl                                 From Me                               It's You 



 Dear I Swear

 George Jackson  (backed by the Unisons)

  
Watching The Rainbow           Miss Frankenstein

The Plants (2) (Different group)

  
I Searched The Seven Seas  I Took A Trip Way Over The Sea


...

1961 - Johnny & The Tokens At the Palisades Park 

Johnny & The Tokens (3) (Brooklyn, New York)
aka Johnny & The Kings (4)
aka A Pair Of Kings
aka The Grace Notes


Personnel :

John Guiffre (Lead)

Jimmy "Sims" Smith

Jerry Vance

John Truscelli

Discography :

The Grace Notes
Unreleased :
1957 - Send Me An Angel / First Love

A Pair Of Kings
1959 - Once / The Monster (RCA 7659)
1960 - Just Two Guys / I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight  (Warwick 608)
1961 - Ev'rytime / Just Two Guys (Warwick 647)

Johnny & The Tokens (3)
1961 - The Taste Of A Tear /  Never Till Now (Warwick 658)

Johnny & The Kings (4)
1961 - The Taste Of A Tear /  Never Till Now (Warwick 658)

Biography :

Jerry Vance attended James Madison H.S. with Barry Mann. Jerry played alto sax in the H.S. dance band. In 1956 his senior year, Jerry joined a group called the Grace Notes. Jimmy "Sims" Smith sang lead and two other members were John Guiffre and a girl. The group wrote, produced and arranged their session at Nola Studios. The demo was unmarketable and the group soon broke up. Jimmy and Jerry stayed together and met an independent producer who recorded them at Long Island studio, doing two songs which were unreleased; On both sides, singing background was a young girl named Ellie Greenwich.

A Pair Of Kings                                                                                      

The fellows were becoming disenchanted when they met Howie Epstein, John McCarthy and Terry Phillips. Howie got the group an audition with RCA. As "A Pair Of Kings", Jerry and Jimmy recorded "The Monster". A pair Of Kings moved to Morty Craft's Warwick label, keeping their RCA Name. After two releases, John Guiffre rejoined the group after getting out of the service. With a four member named John Truscelli, they released "The Taste Of A Tear" b/w  "Never Till Now" as Johnny & The Kings.

  
1960 - Johnny & The Kings                                                                                         

In 1961, The Tokens were one of the hottest and most talented groups in early 60s. kicking things off with "Tonight i Fell In Love" on the Warwick Label. Big boy RCA-Victor came up with a big money offer, and the Tokens jumped over There, immediately hitting #1 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". their phenomenal career took all from there.

1961 - Johnny & The Tokens At the Palisades Park

 Morty Craft of Warwick was not happy about losing these moneymakers and reacted by changing the Name of Johnny & The Kings into Johnny & The Tokens (his label had done extremely well with Johnny & The Hurricanes) . They were good enough to make a brief appearance on the national chart. This name was never used again.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 
 

A Pair Of Kings

  
     The Monster                                         Once                
 

Ev'rytime


Johnny & The Tokens (3) / The Kings (4)

  
       Never Till Now                                The Taste Of A Tear

...

The Mystery Quartette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
(By Hans-Joachim)

Members :

Robby Wells

Earl "Ricky" Wells

Mickey "Whistler" Dissaro (aka Mickey Martin)

Frank "Skeets" Squillace

Discography :

1950 - Go Tell Your Troubles To Somebody Else / Pretty Baby (Essex 703/713)
1950 - Mommy's Boy / Don't Cry Darling (Essex 706)



Biography :

The Mystery Quartette on Essex has to be one of the first integrated R&B vocal groups. A photo of them shows two white and two black singers. Very unusual for 1950.
In the photo (top) the guy on the left is Robby Wells. His cousin (with the guitar) is Earl "Ricky" Wells.

The Mystery Quartette With the boxer Max Baer ( 1950 in New York City)

The white members were Mickey "Whistler" Dissaro (top right) and Frank "Skeets" Squillace (top middle). Ricky Wells and Robby Wells had both been in Deek Watson's second Brown Dots group on Manor, and Ricky Wells would go on to the Mel-O-Dots on Apollo. Billy Wells joined the Four Tunes in 1955 as a rotating replacement member.

Mickey Dissaro was also known as "Mickey Martin."



Their Songs :

   
Go Tell Your Troubles To Somebody Else      Pretty Baby


   
Mommy's Boy                       Don't Cry Darling

The Four Pearls (Tacoma, Wa)
aka The Fabulous Pearls

Personnel :

Artis Johnson Jr

Elsie Hall

Lloyd Foster

William Watson

Discography :

The Fabulous Pearls
Single :
1959 - Jungle Bunny / My Heart's Desire (Dootone 448)

Unreleased :
1959 - She'll Understand (Dootone)
1959 - Baby Drop Top (Dootone)
1959 - I Laughed So Hard (Dootone)

The Four Pearls
1960 - Look At Me / It's Almost Tomorrow (Dolton 26)

Biography :

The Pearls were an R&B vocal group that formed at Tacoma's McCord Air Force Base in March, 1957. Artis Johnson Jr. -- an alumni of Oakland, CA's Midnights -- recruited three other singers (Elsie Hall, Lloyd Foster, & William Watson) & they competed in the military's annual Tops-N-Blue talent contest. By the next year's show Johnson & Hall had added new members: Rueben Martin & Ronald Small, they took the prize, & ended up performing Hall's "My Love" on the Ed Sullivan Show which aired from New York City on August 31st.  Back home, the Pearls began working weekends at Seattle's top R&B dancehall, the Birdland (2203 E. Madison Street), where they were backed by house-band, the Dave Lewis Combo. In February, 1959, the quartet left Seattle by car & drove to Los Angeles with hopes of getting discovered. Arriving at the offices of Walter "Dootsie" Williams' Dootone Records, they lucked into an immediate audition – & as the Los Angeles Sentinel noted on March 19th: "after hearing them sing just once he immediately signed them to a long term contract." Ensconced in a recording studio with Ernie "Raunchy" Freeman's ace band – Williams was ecstatic about his Fabulous Pearls, declaring that "Both sides of this record will explode."

Well, not quite: even though the newspaper figured that the single's A-side ("Jungle Bunny") was an innocent "Easter-timed" (!) single, its title was actually based on some racist graffiti that Hall had once seen as a little girl. Williams thought it had "a slight edge due to its unusual style," but its edginess caused it to flop – so he began promoting the B-side, "My Heart's Desire," without much more luck. Three additional tunes -- "She'll Understand," "Baby Drop Top" & "I Laughed So Hard" -- were also cut, the latter finally surfacing on compilation CDs in 1995.  Back in Seattle -- & now recast as the Four Pearls -- they were signed in July, 1960, by Bob Reisdorff to his Dolton Records label which was scoring hits with Northwest acts like the Fleetwoods, Ventures & FranticsThe beautiful "Look At Me" (with Dave Lewis on piano) & "It's Almost Tomorrow" (with the Frantics) were cut by audio engineer, Kearney Barton, at his Northwest Recorders studio (622 Union Street).  When issued by Dolton around August, KOL & various other Northwest radio stations gave "Look At Me" some support, but it failed to grow into a broader hit & the Four Pearls headed to Canada where they played their final gigs.
http://nw-music-archives.blogspot.com/2009/12/four-pearls-northwest-doo-wop-1957-1960.html


Songs :

The Fabulous Pearls

   
Baby Drop Top                     Jungle Bunny

     
My Heart's Desire                  I Laughed So Hard

 The Four Pearls

     
            Look At Me                          It's Almost Tomorrow

...