George "Danny" Daniels,Alfred Toddman,  Lucille "Vicky" Burgess , James Cooke, Eugene "Sonny" Cooke,

The Charmers (1) (New York)
ref The Chorals 

Personnel :

Lucille "Vicky" Burgess (Lead/Tenor)

Eugene "Sonny" Cooke (Lead/Baritone)

Alfred Toddman (First Tenor)

James Cooke (Second Tenor)

George "Danny" Daniels (Bass)


Discography :

1954 - The Beating Of My Heart / Why Does It Have To Be Me? (Central 1002)
1954 - Tony, My Darling / In The Rain" (Central 1006)
1954 - I was Wrong / The Mambo (Timely 1009)
1954 - The Church on the Hill / Battle Axe (Timely 1011)

Biography :

The vocal group The Charmers was formed in late 1953 and its members were Vikki Burgess, George Daniels, Alfred Toddman, and James and Sonny Cooke. They set up a recording date with Central Records run by Lee Magid and Larry Newton (who was also head of Derby Records).

   Alfred Toddman, Eugene "Sonny" Cooke, George "Danny" Daniels

The second side released by Central in mid December of 1953 by The Charmers on the songs "The Beating Of My Heart" and "Why Does It Have To Be Me?" on #1002. The record was a steady if unspectacular seller for the first few months of the year, with heaviest action in the Northeast corridor of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. In late April of the year The Charmers have their second record for Central.

  
                                                                                                                Lucille "Vicky" Burgess

This second effort does not do as well as their previous release. In October of the year Hy Seigel of Timely Records announces the signing of The Charmers to his label. Soon they cut two singles on the Label. Vikki Burgess joins with Myrna Hamilton and Renee Stewart and form a group called The Solirettes and are signed to top New York independent label Old Town Records.  All of the efforts by the group remain unreleased and The Solirettes become a dim memory of the time. Burgess now forms another group with Margaret Moore and Estelle Harper and call themselves The Joytones.  In 1956, Alfred Toddman, Eugene "Sonny" Cooke and George "Danny" Daniels sang with the Chorals on Decca.
http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/vburgess.html
 

Songs :

     
The Beating Of My Heart        Why Does It Have To Be Me?          Tony, My Darling        

     
In The Rain                         I Was Wrong                         The Mambo

 
The Church on the Hill  / Battle Axe

...

The Corals circa 1960 (left to right): Dino Amaral, Tommy Ciccone, Richard Mancini, Louie Camp & Joe Mancini

The Corals (1) (Rhode Island)

Personnel :

Richard Mancini (Lead)

Joe Mancini (Baritone)

Louie Camp (Bass)

Dino Amaral (First tenor)

Tommy Ciccone (Second  tenor)

Discography :

1957 - The Girl I Left Behind / Why Oh Why (Ace) (Unreleased)
1960 - Foolish Pride/ I’ll Always Love You (Stereo) (Unreleased)

Biography :

Their first lineup was called The Idols and they made quick headway on the local scene. The group expanded and evolved over the next couple of years and was re-christened The Corals. They often worked in tandem with The Videls and other local doo-wop groups. In 1957, The Corals recorded their first efforts at Ace Recording Studios in Boston . The two sides which were pressed into an acetate, but there was not enough interest to follow through with a pressing. By 1960, The Videls had parlayed the New England success of their first record, “Place In My Heart”, into a major label record deal and hit it big with “Mister Lonely”. 

 The Idols circa 1956 (left to right): Eddie Palmisciano, Richard Mancini & Joe Mancini

They encouraged The Corals to come to New York City to try their hand at a major studio and provided the songs and production at Stereo Studios in The Brill Building. Again, the sides were made into an acetate, but there were no takers at the labels. They continued performing in New England with The Videls on weekends, but soon the demands of their “day jobs” prohibited them from commuting on a regular basis. It so happened that The Corals were in transition at that time as well –

The Videls "road" group: Norman Marzano, Bobby Calitri & Joe Mancini (left to right), Richard Mancini (seated)

Dino and Tommy had left the business and Louie had decided that his future was as a saxophonist, not as a singer, and had formed his own group, The Savoys. Literally putting two and two together, the remaining Videls, Norman Marzano and Bobby Calitri, joined forces with Joe and Richard to become the “new” Videls allowing Peter and Vini to remain at work in New York.
http://www.ripopmusic.org/musical-artists/composers/the-mancini-brothersthe-corals/

Songs :


Why Oh Why

...

The  Four Winds (Chicago)

...

The Five Campbells (West Oakland, CampBell Village, Ca.)

Personnel :

Robert Woods (Baritone/Guitar)

Al "Adolph" Jacobs (Guitar)

Donald Alexanders (Tenor)

George Ashford (First & Second Lead)

Marvin "Toots" Hawkins (High Tenor)

Discography :

1956 - Morrine / Hey Baby (Music City 794)

Biography :

All the members hailed from West Oakland's CampBell Village neighborhood. Due to the group's short lifespan, they cut only one record for Ray Dobard (Music City's owner). Down in CampBell Village, there was a beautiful girl called Morrine. Everyone was in love with her. Then the group wrote the song "Morrine"and dedicated it to her.

  
                                                                                                                Woods, Alexanders, Ashford, Hawkins, Jacobs

"Morrine" garnered a lot of play in the Bay Area. As all members of the Five Campbells were under the age of eighteen, their performance exposure was limited to dance hall, parties and school gymnasiums. Dobard paid them nothing except the car fares to local talent shows he had part-sponsored.

   
Al Jacobs with the Medallions                                                    Al Jacobs with the Coasters

Al Jacobs quit soon after the record came out and went with the Robert Ward Band. He later moved on to Jimmy Green's Medallions and the Coasters...



Songs :

   
Morrine                                          Hey baby

...

Linda & The Del Rios (5) (New Bedford, Ma.)

Personnel :

Linda Steele (Lead)

Antone Tavares (Tenor)

Arthur Tavares

Ralph Tavares (Second Tenor)

John Tavares

Peter Boo

Discography :

1962 - I Don't Want To Be Loved / Come On, Let Me Try (Crackerjack 4005)

Biography :

The father of Arthur "Pooch", Antone "Chubby", Feliciano "Butch" and Perry Lee "Tiny" Tavares, was a multi-talented musician with a passion for Wes Montgomery and Jimmy McGriff, who played guitar and sang in small clubs in the Tavares hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their oldest brother John, kindled his siblings interest in the tight, fluid singing of R&B harmony groups. Formed in 1959 by John Tavares. They were signed at Crackerjack Records by Sue Records Inc.'s owner Juggy Murray Jones. 

The Del Rios were actually a male doo-wop group, Linda Steele (from Providence RI.)  was added just for this tune, written by Bob Yorey. Linda got pregnant just after their record was released and Juggy Murray ( Producer) dropped them. Originally released on Crackerjack 4005, b/w "I Don't Want To Be Loved". Crackerjack was a subsidiary label of Sue .

   

It had been John's idea to form a group (originally called The Del Rios) . When John dropped out, Butch joined and when Pooch had a minor operation, Tiny replaced him. After Pooch returned to the group, the brothers couldn't tell Tiny to leave, so they turned their quartet into a quintet, changed their name to Chubby & the Realities, Chubby & the Turnpikes and soon to just The Turnpikes Then the group became Tavares!.

Songs :

 
Come On, Let Me Try 

...