The Atlantics (Los Angeles, CA)

Personnel :

Delbert Franklin (Lead)

Chick Carlton (Tenor)

Gaynel Hodge (Tenor)

Barry Lee  "Barry White" (Second Lead / Bass)

Discography :

The Atlantics
1961 - Boo-Hoo-Hoo / Everything Is Gonna Be All Right (Linda 103)
1962 - Remember The Night / Flame Of Love (Linda 107)
1963 - Home On The Range / Let Me Call You Sweetheart (Rampart 614)

Barry White & The Atlantics
1963 - Tracy (All I Have Is You) / Flame Of Love (Faro 613)

Biography :

Eddie Davis, Linda Record company owner,  who loved to bring various artists and musicians together for recordings also used members of the vocal group, The Rivingtons ("Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow") and a young Barry White along with the all Black female vocal group who would later become, The Sa-Shays to fill in on the background vocals. 

   
Gaynel Hodge                                                                                                                                            

Gaynel Hodge wrote and played piano on "Boo-Hoo-Hoo" stroll and recorded it during the summer of 1961 at Capitol Records with Phil Tucker and Delbert Franklin sharing the lead vocals (Phil and Del).
On Linda 107, "Remember The Night"and "Flame Of Love", The members were The Rivingtons (Carl White, Sonny Harris, Al Frazier, Rocky Wilson Jr) Barry White and Gaynel Hodge. On Rampart 614,  "Home On The Range" features an 18-year-old Barry White on lead vocals with members of the Los Angeles doo-wop group, The Rivingtons and the Sa-Shays on background vocals.

Songs :

   
Boo-Hoo-Hoo                                Remember The Night

   
Tracy (All I Have Is You)                       Flame Of Love

   
 Home On The Range                     Let Me Call You Sweetheart 

Everything Is Gonna Be All Right

...

The Mints  (Center, Texas)
aka The Four  Mints

Personnel :

James Wilson (Lead)

Gene Warr (First Tenor)

Aubie McSwain (Second Tenor)

Al Warr (Bass)

Discography :

Singles :

The Mints
1956 - Busy Body Rock / "(Don't Leave Me) Alone (Lin 5001)
1956 - Night Air / Pledge Of Love (Ken Copeland) (Lin 5007 / Imperial 5432)
 

The Four Mints
1956 - What'Cha Gonna Do / Night Air (Choctaw 8002/Imperial 5432)
1957 - Gold / Ruby Baby (Decca 30465)

1958 - Hey Little Neil / Teenage Wonderland (NRC 003)

1958 - You Belong To My Heart / Wolf (NRC 011)
1959 - Tomorrow Night / Pina Colada (NRC 037)

Lps :

1959 - The Fabulous Four Mints (AZTEC ALP 1002)
Journey's End / Love Is The Reason / You'll Never Walk Alone / Lonesome Road / Roll 'Em Pete / Born To Swing / Only You / Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall / Falling In Love / Scarlet Ribbons / Ruby Baby

Biography :

The Four Mints (also known simply as the Mints) were a true oddity, a respected white vocal group in the midst of the early rock & roll era, capable of doing convincing R&B. James Wilson (lead), Gene Warr (first tenor), Aubie McSwain (second tenor), and Al Warr (bass) had known each other since childhood and sung together for years, throughout the '40s. Their main influence was gospel music, and they'd sung in churches for most of their lives.

The quartet had sung locally around Center, TX, mostly at local events and church functions. They took on the name the Four Mints and crossed over into popular music and R&B in 1954-1955. They'd always listened to the black R&B vocal groups of the period and proved good -- even inspired -- students: unlike, say, the Crew Cuts, the Four Mints didn't "bleach" out the sounds that they learned to create, but kept them intact even as they made them their own.

They were, in many respects, the group equivalent of the phenomenon that Sam Phillips claims to have been searching for, a white man who could sing black music.What's more, they were good enough to get bookings far outside of Center, even managing to cross paths with Elvis Presley in the process and even getting his future drummer, D.J. Fontana, on the skins for some of their gigs in Louisiana.

They cut a handful of songs for Lin Records in Gainesville, TX, including "Night Air" and "Little Mama Tree Top" (the latter unissued for 40 years). Although sometimes identified, for convenience's sake, as a doo wop group, the Mints were more animated than most of the acts to which the name is usually applied -- their models were groups like the Treniers, most of all, more so than the balladeer-type outfits usually called doo wop groups.

The Four Mints left Lin after just a few months for the much larger Decca label in 1956. They failed to generate any hits, but Decca's promotional efforts on their behalf and the resulting exposure gave them the intro the needed to break out of the south and become a national act.

They followed their idols, the Treniers, into the same Las Vegas clubs and remained popular for years. McSwain left the quartet in 1960. He was replaced, and the group lasted for another two years, breaking up in 1962.
Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

The Mints

     
Magic Of Love                        Night Air                        Busy Body Rock

(Don't Leave Me) Alone

The Four Mints

     
Ruby Baby     You Belong To My Heart / Wolf       What'Cha Gonna Do / Night Air

       
Gold                      Hey Little Nell              Teenage Wonderland


Tomorrow Night / Pina Colada

...

The Bronzettes (1) (Philadelphia, Pa.)


Personnel :

?


Discography :

1964 - Run, Run You Little Fool / Hot Spots (Parkway 929)
1965 - Hot Spot Part 1 / Part 2 (Parkway 992)

Biography :

The Bronzettes were a Philadelphia group , that were produced by Chubby Checker after his hitmaking days were over. Stress on HITMAKING, not creative. Chubby (and the whole Cameo-Parkway complex) continued to make great, danceable records all through the 1960s, despite the fact that the British Invasion pretty much shut the door on Chubby's chart career after 1964.

Chubby saw it coming, and decided that if those moptops were gonna keep him from having big hits, he'd better give himself some leeway for a career on the other side of the studio glass. So he wrote and produced this record for a local girl group (whom nobody seems to know anything about - not even the super-geeks at Spectropop) and released it in the fall of 1964 .....and the Bronzettes were never heard from again, leaving us one cool 45 to listen to and wonder about.
http://ontherecordshow.blogspot.com/2012/01/bronzettes-hot-spot.html



Songs :

   
Run, Run You Little Fool                           Hot Spots

...

The El Reys (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
(By Hans-Joachim)

Personnel:

Stush Bogdan (lead)

Chuck Black

Randy Riddle

Time Eyermann

Rick Jablonski

Bill Marszalek

Discography:

1965 - Diamonds And Pearls / Rocket Of Love (Ideal 94706)
1965 - Beverly / Angalie (Ideal 95388)

Biography:

In 1961, a group of young men from Bishop Canevin High School in Pittsburgh, PA came together to form a band which they named the “El Reys,” Spanish for “The Kings.” Originator and lead singer Stush Bogdan, along with Chuck Black, Randy Riddle, Time Eyermann, Rick Jablonski, and Bill Marszalek started out performing at their own high school dances.

As their popularity grew, they went to perform at other schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages and talent shows.  As good fortune would have it, Augie Bernardo of Ideal Records was at one of these talent shows, liked what he heard and saw, and signed them to the label.  At this same show, the legendary Bo Diddley, who was performing at a nearby lounge, stopped in to enjoy the sounds, and invited the guys to hear his show.

The El Reys went on to record four songs for Ideal Records: Angalie, Beverly, Diamonds And Pearls, and Rocket Of Love.The group also appeared on the Clark Race television program, and in 1964 they opened for the Rolling Stones at the famous West View Danceland. Unfortunately, service in the Vietnam War put an end to their brief career.
http://www.el-reys.com

Songs:

   
Diamonds And Pearls                            Beverly


Rocket Of Love

Jimmy Castor & The Juniors (1) (New-York)

Personnel :

Jimmy Castor (Lead)

Johnny Williams (First Tenor)

Orton Graves (Baritone)

Al Casey (Bass)

Discography :

Singles:
1956 - I Promise / I know The Meaning Of Love (Wing 90078)
1957 - This Girl Of Mine / Somebody Mentioned Your Name (Atomic 100)

Unreleased:
1956 - Search This Heart (demo)

Biography :

Born on June 2, 1943, in Harlem’s Sugar Hill district and raised by his mother and grandmother, Jimmy Castor shined shoes and sold papers to help make ends meet. Learning violin, saxophone, piano and studying theory, he was accepted for the Music & Art High School (‘full of rich kids arriving in limousines with lots of talent but strung out on valium’) but back in Harlem he ran through the Projects with the Cobras and the Falcons (‘baseball teams but really gangs’).

 Jimmy Castor & The Juniors

Doo-wop was the East Coast’s answer to the rock’n’roll explosion and teenage males could be found harmonising on streets, in stairwells and bathrooms. Aged 12 he formed Jimmy Castor & The Juniors and, in 1956, their song I Promise (written by Castor) was turned into a Top 10 R&B hit by the hottest doo-wop band in America: Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers.

  
                                                                                                         Jimmy Castor & Lewis Lymon

He briefly sang with Lewis Lymon & The Teenchords . Jimmy later replaced Frankie Lymon in the Teenagers in 1957.

Jimmy-Castor-Juniors.pdf

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

    
               I Promise                            I know The Meaning Of Love

   
Somebody Mentioned Your Name                    This Girl Of Mine              

Search This Heart

 ...