The Five Playboys (Pittsburgh)
(Update By Hans-Joachim)

Personnel :

Mickey Sands (Lead)

Sammy Juliano

Meraldo "Tony" Bertoni jr

Eddie Lucente

Joey Fabry

Discography

1957 - Pages Of My Scrapbook / Love me right (Fee Bee 213)
1957 - Pages Of My Scrapbook / When We Were Young (Fee Bee 213/Dot 15605)
1958 - Angel Mine / She's My Baby (Fee Bee 232)
1958 - Why be a fool / Time will allow (Mercury 71269)
1959 - She's My baby / Mr Echo (Petites 504)
N/A - Never Let Her Go Spring Is Here (Fee Bee) (Unreleased)
N/A - Spring Is Here (Fee Bee) (Unreleased)

Biography :

The 5 Playboys were a singing group from Pittsburgh, Pa. They recorded several albums in Chicago and New York for labels like Dot, Mercury and Fee Bee. The mega-hit song "One Summer Night" recorded by the Danleers was actually stolen from The 5 Playboys. Joe Averbach, the promoter for The 5 Playboys and the Del Vikings gave the song to the Danleers without cutting The 5 Playboys in on the deal. Two of the Playboys, Meraldo (Tony) Bertoni jr. and Sammy Juliano were driving in the car when they heard their song come on the radio. Their jaws dropped at hearing someone else singing their magical song without their consent or compensation. The copyright laws we have today were not in place then. The playboys broke up as a result. The playboys made a great contribution to the music industry with songs like "pages of my scrapbook". They performed in many venues and appreciated the fans who enjoyed their music. Tony is my dad and he still croons a note every now and then.

Songs :

   
Why Be A Fool                             Mr Echo  

   
Angel Mine                                   She's My baby                      Love Me Right

   
When We Were Young                   Never Let Her Go                Spring Is Here

  
Time Will Allow                   Pages Of My Scrapbook

Betty & Dupree (Chicago, Il.)
aka  Etta & Harvey


Personnel :

Etta James

Harvey Fuqua

Discography :

Betty & Dupree
Single :
1959 - I Hope You're Satisfied / If It Ain't One Thing (Kent 318)
Unreleased :
1959 - We're In Love (Kent)

Etta & Harvey
1960 - If I Can't Have You / My Heart Cries (Chess 1760)
1960 - Spoonful / It's A Crying Shame (Chess 1771)

Biography :

The success of "Roll with Me Henry" on the Bihari brothers' Modern label prompted Etta James  to split from the Peaches and pursue a solo career. She had a few more but minor hits, notably "Good Rockin' Daddy" (1955) and "Tough Lover" (1956 ). She also did some appealing duets with Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows as "Betty and Dupree," but by the late 1950s James had fallen into obscurity.

James and Fuqua were also romantically involved, and Fuqua, who was becoming more immersed in A&R work for Chess, was thus the reason that James left Modern and joined Chess in 1959. James and Fuqua were quickly recorded together under the name of "Etta and Harvey," and came up with a fine double-sided hit, "My Heart Cries' and 'If I Can't Have You" (1960).

But the songs harked back to the 1950s and did not represent James' subsequent work on chess. There was another Etta & Harvey duet release in December 1960. This time it was "Spoonful"/"It's A Crying Shame."
Robert Pruter "Chicago Soul"


Songs :

   
I Hope You're Satisfied                    If It Ain't One Thing

We're in Love

...

The Charmaines (Cincinnati, Ohio)
(The early Years)

Personnel :

Marian "Gigi" Jackson

Dee Watkins

Irene Vinegar

Discography :

The Charmaines
1961 - If you were mine / Rockin' Old Man (Fraternity 873)
1961 - What kind of girl (Do you hink i am) / All you gotta do (Fraternity 880)
1961 - Only Love (Fraternity) (Unreleased)
1962 - Where is the boy tonight / On the wagon (Dot 16351)
1963 - G. I. Joe / Don't Take Away Your Love (Fraternity 909)
1963 - Goodbye Baby Goodbye / Midnight (Dave Rockingham Trio) (Fraternity 917)
1964 - I Idolize You / Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu (Fraternity 921)

Lonnie Mack bb The Charmaines
1963 - Baby, What's Wrong (Fraternity 918)
1964 - Say Something Nice To Me (Fraternity 920)

Biography :

Gigi and the Charmaines’ brief and only Billboard chart appearance at #117 in 1961 doesn’t reflect the trio’s great solo work on six different labels, nor does it take into account their work backing Lonnie Mack or their singing behind artists that included Little Willie John, James Brown, Bobby Freeman, Conway Twitty, Gary U.S. Bonds and Hawkshaw Hawkins at the King Records’ studio.

These acheivements made them Cincinnati’s top girl group. They won a recording contract with Fraternity Records on a local televised talent show. The group’s debut 1960 Fraternity 45 "Rockin’ Old Man" backed with "If You Were Mine", for which Gigi wrote the lyrics. More 45s, including What Kind Of Girl (Do You Think I Am), which topped a rival version from Erma Franklin in the summer of 1961, followed and they worked on local dance party shows . The mystery of how one 45 was released on Hollywood-based Dot label is explained and also the story of how the girls moved to and recorded in Canada.
http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/gigi.htm

Songs :

The Charmaines

     
Only Love                    Where is the boy tonight               On the wagon

      
All you gotta do                    What Kind Of Girl                If You Were Mine 


      
Rockin' Old Man                      I Idolize You                    Rockin' Pneumonia ...

    

        Lonnie Mack & The Charmaines      Carl Edmondson (bb The Charmaines)

    
Say Something Nice To Me                  Baby Please Don't Go

...

The Note-Torials (Philadelphia)

Personnel :

Freddy Faulkner

Jack Wittenberger

Dave Perry

Buddy Bomze

Stan Reisman

Discography :

1958 - My Valerie / Loved and Lost (Impala 201/Sunbeam 119)

Biography :

The Note-Torials from Philadelphia recorded "My Valerie" and "Loved and Lost" on the Impala and Sunbeam labels in 1958 and 1959. The members of the group were Freddy Faulkner, Jack Wittenberger, Dave Perry, Buddy Bomze and Stan Reisman. This racially mixed group hailed from several sections of Philadelphia including north and west philly, east falls, and mount airy. Their recordings received most air play in the Philadelphia-New Jersey-New York listening areas.

Songs :

   
Loved and Lost                                        My Valerie

 ...

The Crowns (2) (New-York)
aka The Five Crowns (1)  aka The Drifters
(Update By Hans-Joachim)

Personnel :

James "Papa" Clark (Lead)

Benjamin Earl Nelson "Ben E. King" (Second Tenor)

Charlie Thomas (Tenor)

Dock Green (Baritone)

Elsbeary Hobbs (Bass)




Discography :

1958 - Kiss And Make Up  / I'll Forget About You (RnB 6901)



Biography :

On a fateful day in 1957, Benjamin Earl Nelson  was singing to himself while working in his father's restaurant. One of the patrons that day happened to be Lover Patterson, manager of the 5 Crowns. In need of a second tenor/baritone, Patterson snapped him up.

At the time, the other Crowns were Sy Palmer (lead), Charlie Thomas (tenor), Dock Green (baritone), and Elsbeary Hobbs (bass). Within a short while, Sy Palmer left and was replaced by one of the mainstays of the original 5 Crowns, James "Papa" Clark.

In 1958, this group recorded "Kiss And Make Up" and "I'll Forget About You" for Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman's R & B label. "Kiss And Make Up" began to make some noise locally, and the Crowns were booked into the Apollo Theater (as part of a Dr. Jive show) for the week beginning May 30, 1958.

The Crowns with manager Lover Patterson

They'd released one record, but in about a year from the time they became the Drifters, they were at the top of the heap. And they stayed there for many years

The Drifters

http://www.uncamarvy.com/5Crowns/5crowns.html



Songs :

   
I'll Forget About You                              Kiss And Make Up



Cds :