The Falcons (4) (Detroit)
aka The Newports (1)

Personnel :

Eddie Floyd (Lead)

Bob Manardo (First Tenor)

Joe Stubbs (Second Tenor)

Mark Rice (Baritone)

Willie Schofield (Bass)

Discography :

The Falcons (4)
Singles :
1956 - Baby That's It / This Day (Mercury 70940)
1957 - Sent Up / Can This Be Christmas (Silhouette 521/522)
1958 - This Heart Of Mine / Romanita (Kudo 661)
1958 - Searching For You Baby / Baby Don't You Change Your Mind (Kudo 666) 
1959 - You're So Fine/ Goddess Of Angels (Flick 001)
1959 - You're So Fine / Goddess Of Angels (Unart 2013/United Artists 2013x)
1959 - You Must Know I Love You / That's What I Aim To Do (Flick 008)
1959 - You're Mine  / Country Shack (Unart 2022)
1959 - Just For Your Love This Heart Of Mine (Chess 1743/Anna 1110)
1960 - The Teacher / Waiting For You (United Artists 229)
1960 - I Love You / Wonderful Love (United Artists 255)
1960 - Pow! You're In Love / Workin' Man's Song (United Artists 289)
1962 - I Found A Love / Swim (Lu-Pine 103/1003)
1962 - She's My Heart's Desire / What To Do (Lu-Pine 109)
1962 - Lah-Tee-Lah-Tah  Darling (Atlantic 2153)
1963 - Take This Love I've Got / Let's Kiss And Make Up (Atlantic 2179)
1964 - You're So Fine / Goddess Of Angels  (United Artists 1624)

Eps :
1960 - The Teacher / Waiting For You / You're So Fine / Goddess Of Angels (United Artists 10010)

Unreleased :
1956 - I Love You Dearly  (Mercury) (Unreleased)
1956 - How Could You  (Mercury) (Unreleased)
1959 - This Heart Of Mine (Chess) (Unreleased)
1959 - Romanita (Chess) (Unreleased)
1959 - You're In Love (Chess) (Unreleased)
1959 - No Time For Fun (Chess) (Unreleased)
1959 - Please Don't Leave Me Dear (Chess) (Unreleased)
1960 - Annie  (United Artists) (Unreleased)
1960 - Billy The Kid  (United Artists) (Unreleased)
1960 - Feels Good  (United Artists) (Unreleased)
1960 - You're On My Mind  (United Artists) (Unreleased)
1960 - It Was Meant To Be (United Artists) (Unreleased)
N/A - I Found A Love (Atlantic) (Unreleased)
 N/A - Swim (Atlantic) (Unreleased)
 N/A - Why Didn't Nobody Dance (Atlantic) (Unreleased)
 N/A - No Crying Man (Atlantic) (Unreleased)
 N/A - Alabama Bound (Atlantic) (Unreleased)

 

Wilson Pickett & The Falcons (4)
1966 - You're On My Mind  Anna (Lu-Pine 003)

The Newports (1)
1959 - Chicky-Chop-Chop / Hurry-Arthur Murray (Contour 301)

Biography :

The Falcons didn't start out as a pure rhythm and blues group, nor did they begin with only black members. The group was racially mixed and sang modern and pop R&B harmonizers with a touch of gospel. Bob Manardo and Eddie Floyd worked together in a Detroit jewelry store and decided to form a vocal group. Bob drafted his friend Tom Shetler and Eddie brought in Arnett Robinson.

A local street singer, Willie Schofield, made it a quintet that Arnett dubbed the Falcons. The group had no idea there were previous Falcons groups that recorded for Regent ("How Blind Can You Be," 1951), Savoy ("It's You I Miss," 1953), Flip ("Stay Mine," 1954), and Cash ("I Miss You Darling," 1955). The lineup read Floyd (lead), Manardo (first tenor), Robinson (second tenor), Shetler (baritone), and Schofield (bass). Manardo and Shetler were white and the others black.

This group surfaced years before the same racial combination showed up in THE DEL-VIKINGS and THE MARCELS. The group rehearsed incessantly and was very serious about their singing. Eddie introduced the Falcons to his uncle, Robert West, owner of the Lupine and Flick labels, who arranged a few bookings and signed them to Chicago's Mercury Records for one solid doo wop rocker in a CLEFTONES (Gee)/MOONLIGHTERS (Checker) style with a sax solo and a driving cha-cha beat, titled "Baby That's It."

By 1957 they'd moved over to Ewart Abner's Falcon label for "Now That It's Over" and the rhythmic, harmony-filled flip "My Only Love." Changes were now occurring: Manardo was drafted, Shetler volunteered, and Robinson left, all in the space of a month. Baritone Bonny "Mack" Rice (of the Five Scalders, Drummond) replaced Shetler, Lance Finnie took over first tenor, and Joe Stubbs joined as the new lead singer .

The group now began leaning more toward gospel and blues blended with modern. Singles with Kudo and Silhouette went nowhere so West finally decided to put them on his own Flick label. The first issue was a song written by Schofield, Finnie, and West that would initiate some changes in rhythm and blues music. Released in early 1959, "You're So Fine," with its raw, bouncy, funky, shuffle beat and Joe Stubbs's ough-edged vocal, took the public by storm. Flick made a quick deal with United Artists' Unart label for both the group and the release of the single.

Billboard's March 14th review gave it four stars, commenting, "The group comes through with the authentic church sound on this pulsating effort, sung with feeling by the strong lead with help from the group. It could grab coins."It did, charting number two R&B April 6th and number 17 Pop. Their next charter came from Chess Records, trying to capitalize on the Unart hit by repeating the title melody of "You're So Fine" in the chorus of "Just for Your Love" (#26 R&B, late 1959).

The group had a few sides on the Unart parent label, United Artists, making noise only with "The Teacher" (#18 R&B), with another strong Stubbs lead. Their last UA issue was "Working Man's Song." By now, Stubbs had left (later going on to sing on occasion with his brother Levi's group, THE FOUR TOPS, as well as the Contours and the Originals), replaced by a 19-year-old from Prattville, Alabama, named Wilson Pickett.

He did the lead vocal on their 1962 hit "I Found a Love" (#75 Pop, #6 R&B), but before the year was over the group found West farming them out to another label (Atlantic) to further capitalize on the success he'd built.

None of the three Atlantic sides drew much interest and when Schofield was drafted in 1963,  the group disbanded. Robert West wasn't about to let the golden goose get cooked, however, so he took Carlis "Sonny" Monroe, Johnny Alvin, Frank Holt, and James Gibson, known collectively as the Fabulous Playboys, and made them the Falcons (5).

Jay Warner (American singing groups: a history from 1940s to today)

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Falcons/falcons.html
http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/falcons.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/falcons.html

Songs :

   
Godess Of Angels                  You're So Fine

   
Can This Be Christmas           This day

   
Sent Up                               I Found A Love



Cd :






Books :

The Savoys (6) (Newark, N.J.)

Personnel :

Angelo Basilone (Lead)

John Faliveno

Joseph Castellano

Joseph Stefanelli

Sam Monaco

Discography :

1964 - Vision Of Love / Oh Gee Oh Gosh (Catamount 778)
1964 - If You Were Gone From Me    / Oh What A Dream (Catamount 101)
1965 - Crazy / When I Fall In Love  (Catamount 104)
1965 - Gloria / The Closer You Are (Catamount 105)

Unreleased :
1965 - Kathy My Love  (Catamount) (Unreleased)
1965 - It's All Over Again (Catamount) (Unreleased)

LPs :
1965 - I Dig Acappella (Catamount)
Zoom Zoom Zoom / A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening / When I Fall In Love / If You Were Gone From Me





Biography :

The Savoys Abetter-than-average group, the five Italian lads known as the Savoys hailed from the Newark, New Jersey, area, on the outskirts of Branch Brook park at Steven Ceane Village. The Members were John Faliveno,Joseph Castellano, Angelo Basilone, Joseph Stefanelli, and Sam Monaco. They performed more than most mid-'60s acappella acts, doing shows at a variety of sites from Fairleigh Dickinson University to the  Casino at Seaside on the Jersey Shore. Their first single was 1964's "Vision of Love," a Duprees-styled 45 with instrumental backing by the Duponts and a rocking version of the Kodaks' "Oh Gee , Oh Gosh" on the flip.

Their second single for New Jersey's Catamount label was "Gloria" (the Cadillacs ) b/w "The Closer You Are" (the Channels) done acappella. "Gloria" was arranged in a smooth yet powerful Passions style and was one of 1964's best-selling acappella singles reaching number three on Danny Style's radio show survey. Their unique up-tempo arrangement of "The Closer You Are," done in a lively "I'm So Happy" vein (the Ducanes), reached number 23 on Times Square's record sales survey in March 1965.
The Savoys became a staple of the Catamount label through 1965 with singles like "If You Were Gone from Me" and "When I Fall in Love."

 "Gloria" wound up on Relic Records' January 1965 first Best of acappella compilation (a series of seven Lps that would eventually become the dominant contributor to the mid-'60s vocals-only craze).  Also in 1965 the Savoys added four sides to the i Dig Acappella LP for Cat-Time, including their previous two singles and "A Lovely Way To Spend an Evening" (The Angels) b/w "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom" (The Collegians).
Jay Warner (American singing groups: a history from 1940s to today)
http://beaudaddy.com/savoys/index.html

Songs :

   
Vision Of Love                        Kathy My Love

    
The Closer You Are                             Gloria

   
Crazy                                    It's All Over Again

...

Otis Williams & His New Group (1)
 aka The Charms (1) (Cincinnati, Ohio)



Personnel :

Otis Williams (Lead)

Winfred Gerald (Tenor)

Rollie Willis (Bariton)

Lonnie Carter (Tenor/ Baritone)

Matt Williams (Bass)





Discography :

1955 - Miss the love / Tell me now (Deluxe 6088)
1955 - Gum drop / Save me, save me (Deluxe 6090)
1955 - That's your mistake / Too late I learned (Deluxe 6091)



Biography :

The Charms toured with The Clovers, Big Joe Turner and others in 1955.  In late 1955 the group split and The Charms left Otis Williams to join Henry Stone‚ new Chart Records label. 
Otis immediately recruited his cousin, baritone Rollie Willis, and put an ad in the local papers to get some more singers.

 
Otis Williams & The Charms (Originals)

He ended up with tenor Winfred Gerald, tenor/ baritone Lonnie Carter, and bass Matt Williams. They, too, began appearing as the "Charms." At this point the original group sued for the use of the name. We'll see later how that worked out.

Otis Williams continued to record on DeLuxe Records, as Otis Williams and His New Group.  Their first hit entered the R&B and the Top 100 chart on the same day, January 28, 1956.  "That's your mistake" became a #14 R&B hit and a #48 pop hit.

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Charms/charms.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/charms.html




Songs :

   
That's your mistake                 Too late I learned

   
Gum drop                               Save me, save me

   
Miss the love                          Tell me now



Cds:

The Ovations (3) (Queens, New York)
aka Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)

Personnel :

Sammy Cantos (Lead)

Gary Willet (First Tenor)

Ron Buchter (Second Tenor)

Greg Malmeth (Baritone/Bass)

Discography :

The Ovations (3)
1964 - Who Needs Love / Remembering (Josie 916)

Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)
1965 - That's How Girls Get Boys / Remember Lori (Ascot 2192)

Biography :

The Ovations are another you white vocal group who made their way to the Josie label in the 1960's. The Group consisted of Sammy Cantos (Lead), Gary Willet (First Tenor),Ron Buchter (Second Tenor) and Greg Malmeth (Baritone/Bass). They hailed from Flushing and Bayside in the New York city borough of Queens.They were all still in high school when they recorded two sides for writers and producer Neil Levenson and Steve Duboff. Levenson had already been successful writing "Denise" for Randy & The Raimbows (Rust 5059) in 1963.

Jubilee then bought the Masters and released "Who Needs Love" / "Remembering" as Josie 916 on January10,1964.  "Who Needs Love" was picked as the 'Boss Record of the Week" on the popular Murray the K radio show in New York City.  However, with no promotion and changing musical tastes, record sales and applause for the Ovations was mostly confined to their local Queens neighborhood. The Group stayed together long enough to release another favorite "That's How Girls Get Boys" / "Remember Lori" as Little Romeo & The Casanovas (Ascot 2192) in 1965

Songs :

The Ovations (3)

   
Who Needs Love                               Remembering     


Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)

   
That's How Girls Get Boys                       Remember Lori              





...

Johnny Barnes, Bobby Dunn, William Goodman & Les Cooper

The Empires (1) (Harlem, New-York)
aka The Prestos aka The Whirlers





Personnel :

Johnny "Buddy" Barnes (Lead)

Les Cooper (Tenor)

William Goodman (Bass)

Bobby Dunn (Baritone)





Discography :

 
The Empires (1)

Singles :
1954 - My Baby, My Baby / Corn Whiskey (Harlem 2325)
1955 - Magic Mirror / Make Me Or Break Me (Harlem 2333)
1955 - I Want To Know  / Shirley (Wing 90023)
1955 - Tell Me Pretty Baby / By The Riverside (Wing 90050)
1956 - My First Discovery  / Don't Touch My Gal (Wing 90080)
1956 - Whispering Heart / Linda (Whirlin' Disc 104)

Unreleased :
1955 - Happy Am I  (Wing)
1955 - Your Christmas And Mine  (/Wing)
1955 - You Are My Baby (Wing)
1955 - The Clock (Wing)


Lightnin' Junior & The Empires (1)
1955 - Somebody Changed The Lock / Ragged And Hungry (Harlem 2334)   


The Prestos
1955 - Looking For Love  /' Til We Meet Again (Mercury 70747)

The Whirlers
1957 - Magic Mirror / Tonight And Forever (Whirlin' Disc 108/Port 108)

Biography :

The Empires hailed from Harlem, so it's only right that they began their recording career on the Harlem Records label. Consisting of Buddy Barnes, William Goodman, Bobby Dunn, and Les Cooper, the group came together in earnest in 1953, practicing R&B, pop, and gospel tunes, and occasionally performing in the area at small venues.  After a long search for a label to record them, they happened upon Morty Shad's Harlem label and released “Corn Whiskey” backed with “My Baby My Baby” ( Harlem #2325).

Because they were from the Empire State, they first used the name the Empires. That single was a bust, but they got more chances at Harlem Records and in 1955 released the first version of one of their most beloved ballads, “Magic Mirror ,” backed with “Make Me or Break Me” (Harlem #2333).  They were then relegated to providing background vocals for an artist listed as Lightning Junior on Harlem (#2334). Lightning Junior was an alias for blues artist Champion Jack Dupree, but when nothing happened with this single, the Empires were released from Harlem Records. From there, the group landed at Mercury Records and recorded for both Mercury and their Wing imprint label under different names.

Clockwise from top left : James Pender, William Goodman, Bobby Dunn, Johnny Barnes & Les Cooper

On Mercury, they were the Prestos for one great release titled “Till We Meet Again ” backed with “Looking for Love” (Mercury #70747), and on the Wing wing, they kept their Empires name and released three singles, with “By the Riverside” being the most successful of the three (Wing #90050) in 1956. Mercury was really pushing and promoting their Wing subsidiary very heavily in all major markets of the country. Sadly, the records received much more trade promotion than actual airplay, and Wing eventually folded (not for a lack of trying) . Like their label mates the Platters and the Penguins, the Empires/Prestos were also managed by Buck Ram, but they did not attain the same level of success.

Citing the success of the Channels on the Whirlin' Disc label, the group pitched a recording contract with the company and got it. The result was two singles for the label—the first was a two-sided ballad release, “Linda” backed with “Whispering Heart” as by the Empires (Whirlin' Disc #104) in 1956, followed by a remake of “Magic Mirror” backed with a great up-tempo number called “Tonight and Forever". the latter as by the Whirlers (Whirlin' Disc #108) in 1957, a name inspired by the name of their label. This was one of the last releases for Whirlin' Disc, and it never got the push it deserved and flopped. At this point, the Empires/Prestos/Whirlers broke up, but there is a happy ending. Lead singer Les Cooper had a big instrumental hit in 1962 for the Everlast Records label (#5019) called “Wiggle Wobble.” It peaked at number 12 on the R&B charts and number 22 Pop. Despite many follow-ups for a myriad of record labels, Cooper was never able to cash in again.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Empires/empires.html

Songs :


The Empires (1)

     
       Corn Whiskey                        Magic Mirror                      Make Me Or Break Me

     
I Want To Know                          Shirley                                Tell Me Pretty Baby

     
By The Riverside               My First Discovery                      Don't Touch My Gal

  
Whispering Heart                             Linda       


Lightnin' Junior & The Empires (1)

  
Somebody Changed The Lock                    Ragged And Hungry   


The Prestos


Til We Meet Again  / Looking For Love


The Whirlers

  
       Magic Mirror                              Tonight And Forever







…