The Dartones

The Four Jewels  (Washington, D.C)
aka The Impalas (3) aka The Jewels (5) 


Personnel:

Sandra Peoples

Margie Clarke

Carrie Mingo

Grace Ruffin



Discography :

The  Impalas (3)
1961 - For The Love Of Mike / I Need You So Much (Checker 999)

The Four Jewels
1962 - Loaded With Goodies / Fire (Start 638)
1963 - Johnny Jealousy / Someone Special (Start 638)
1963 - All That's Good / I Love Me Some You (Start 641)
1963 - Dapper Dan / Loaded With Goodies  (Checker 1039)
1964 - Time For Love / That's What They Put Erasers On Pencils For (Checker 1069)
1964 - Baby It's You / She's Wrong For You Baby (Tec 3007)

The Jewels (5)
1964 - Opportunity / Gotta Find A Way (Dimension 1034)
1964 - This Is My Story / My Song (Federal 12541)
1965 - Smokey Joe / But I Do (Dimension 1048)
1966 - Papas Left Mama Holdin' The Bag / This Is My Story (Dynamite 2000)

Biography :

The Four Jewels formed at Roosevelt High School in Washington, DC. The group was first known as the Impalas. They changed their name to the Four Jewels. The Four Jewels consisted of Sandra Bears, Grace Ruffin, Margie Clarke and Carrie Mingo.

Along with other talented young singers out of Washington, DC, such as The Marquees (the first vocal group that Marvin Gaye sang with) and Billy Stewart, The Four Jewels would gather at the home recording studio of the legendary R&B singer, Bo Diddley, who then lived in Northeast Washington. In the early 1960s, Carrie Mingo left the group, and she was replaced by Martha Harvin (now known as Martha High). In 1964 the group released their first national hit "Opportunity" on the Dimensions label.

The Dimensions label was owned by rock and roll promoter, Don Kirshner. The song “Opportunity” stayed on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks.The Jewels have over 20 recordings, which have made an impact on the national and local R&B charts. Jewel’s member, Grace Ruffin, is the cousin of the legendary DC singer, Billy Stewart.

  
The Jewels                                                                                                                 The Jewels

The Jewels sing back up on the Billy Stewart song “Reap What You Sow”. They recently appear on the CD, The Velons & Their Divas (October 2007), where they sing new music written by Reese Palmer of The Marquees (which featured a young Marvin Gaye) (“Sugar Wooga Baby”), as well as a song penned by The Jewels (“Someone to Love”) In 1965, now The Jewels Impressed with The Jewels talents, Brown recruited the ladies to join him as part of the legendary “James Brown Revue”. The Jewels went on the road for one year with James Brown as his background singers. They appear on the song “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”. On the James Brown song “Don’t Be A Dropout”, James Brown calls out “The Jewels” during the song, and the Jewels recorded several songs produced by Brown, including “This Is My Story.”

http://www.myspace.com/thefabulousjewels

The Echoes (5) (Los Angeles)

aka The Innocents

Personnel :

Al Candelaria

Darron Stankey

Jim West

Discography :

1962 - Time / Dee Dee Di Oh (Andex 22102)

Biography :

The Innocents were from the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. They met in high school around 1958, and the name of their group was originally called the Echoes. . Although the Original group included Larry New, he was dumped in favor of Jim West and his extended vocal ability.

After one recording for Andex / Keen, they had a chance meeting with Kim Fowler and Gary Paxton. Though Fowley initially expressed no interest in hearing the group, once he and Paxton did, they knew the group had a sound they were looking for and directed the Echoes over to the Indigo label under the direction of Jim Lee. The group cut their first record Honest I Do, as the Innocents, which was named after their car club.
http://colorradio.com/innocents.htm
 

Songs :

   
Time                                  Dee Dee Di Oh

 ...

 
 The Clefs : (L to R) Fred Council, Frank Newman, Scotty Mansfield & Pavel Bess (top) Frank Motley (Bot.) Leo Carter

The Clefs (1)  (Arlington, Va)
aka  Scotty Mann & The Masters (1) 

Personnel :

George Henry "Scotty" Mansfield (Lead Tenor)

Frank Newman  (Tenor)

Fred Council (Baritone)

Pavel Bess (Bass)

Discography :

The Clefs (1)
Singles :
1952 - We Three / Ride On (Chess 1521)
1954 - I'll Be Waiting / Please Don't Leave Me (Peacock 1643)
^{Unreleased :}
1952 - Sorry (Chess)
1954 - What Did I Do (Peacock)
1954 - I'm Wondering (Peacock) 


Scotty Mann & The Masters (1)
Singles :
1956 - The Mystery Man / Just A Little Bit Of Loving (Peacock 1665)
Unreleased :
1956 - Your Memory (Peacock)
1956 - Goodness Gracious Baby (Peacock) 

1956 - I'll Be Waiting (Peacock)

Biography :

The Clefs had their beginnings during late 1950 in the greater Washington D. C. area. The members of the original group were Scott Mansfield on lead, tenors Pavel Bess and Frank Newman, baritone Fred Council, and bass Gerald Bullock. They performed at various gigs in and around their home area and put in plenty of time on their harmony and musical presentation. By the spring of 1952 Leroy Flack had replaced Bullock on bass. Soon The Clefs had the opportunity to record a demo record which was heard by Lillian Clairborn, a D. C. music scout and manager.  The demo was shopped to Chess Records in Chicago and soon the group had a session in the studio for the label. By late October Chess Records released two tunes by the group with the Frank Motley combo. The songs were "We Three", and a 'B' side jump tune called "Ride On".

 Chess # 1521 got a decent review in the trade press and so The Clefs had their first recorded effort on the street. Radio airplay was limited mostly to the Chicago area, and in their home city of Washington D.C., there wasn't much of a ripple for the group's record. For the next year and a half the group kept at it until in 1954. By then they were a foursome as Leroy Flack had left and Bess became the new bass for the group. Somehow, even though there was some interest from Vee-Jay, they were subsequently hooked up with Don Robey in Houston Texas and his Peacock label. The group had a record on Peacock by the end of the year : "I'll Be Waiting" and "Please Don't Leave Me" released on # 1643. When that single by the group did not do much in sales or airplay, the group changed their name to Scotty Mann & The Masters. With their new identity the group had one release for Peacock on # 1665 : "The Mystery Man" and "Just A Little Bit Of Loving". As with their previous attempts, this one was not successful.

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Clefs/clefs.html
http://myweb.clemson.edu/~campber/chess1.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/clefs.html

Songs :

The Clefs (1)

  
We Three                               Ride On

I'll Be Waiting / Please Don't Leave Me


Scotty Mann & The Masters (1)

  
The Mystery Man                          Just A Little Bit Of Loving

 

….