The Five C's (Gary, Indiana)

Personnel :

Clarence Anderson (Lead Tenor)

Curtis "Tab" Nevils (Tenor)

Harvey Honey (High Tenor)

Melvin Carr (Baritone)

Carlos Patterson (Bass)

Discography :

Singles :
1954 - Tell Me  / Whoo-Wee Baby (United 172) 

1954 - My Heart's Got The Blues  / Goody, Goody (United 180) 


Unreleased :
1954 - There's No Tomorrow (United) 

1954 - I Long For You (United)
1954 - Only By You I Want To Be Loved (United)

1954 - Going My Way (United)

Biography :

Gary, IN-based R&B vocal group the Five C's formed in 1951 -- according to Marv Goldberg's profile on his R&B Notebooks website, founders Clarence Anderson (lead tenor), Curtis Nevils (tenor), and Carlos Patterson (bass) originally adopted the name Three C's, and performed as a trio while finishing their careers at Gary's Froebel High School. After graduation, the group expanded with the additions of baritone Melvin Carr and high tenor Harvey Honey, nicknaming the latter "Clyde" solely for the purposes of accuracy in renaming themselves the Five C's.

Because all five members worked in the Gary mills, they were forced to restrict their live appearances to weekends, but by late 1953 they'd earned enough to enter Chicago's Universal Recording Studio to cut their debut single, "Tell Me." Issued in early 1954 on the local United label, the disc was a minor local hit, and the Five C's reentered the studio in May to cut their sophomore effort, "My Heart's Got the Blues," backed by saxophonist Eddie Chamblee's orchestra. The record made less of an impact than its predecessor, and a third United session remains unreleased.

  
Eddie Chamblee                                                                         The Five C's                    

Carr quit the group soon after to join the military, and with new baritone Leroy "Clifford" Hicks, the Five C's continued intermittently for over a decade, never again recording but playing the occasional Froebel High alumni gathering and the like. In the late '60s, they even shared a bill with another Gary quintet: an up-and-coming sibling group called the Jackson 5.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/5Cs/5cs.html

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

 

Tell Me /  Whoo-Wee Baby

    
My Heart's Got The Blues            I Long For You            There's No Tomorrow

     
Going My Way              Only By You I Want To Be Loved             Goody, Goody

….

Darrell & The Oxfords (1)  (New York)
ref : The Linc-Tones

Personnel :

Jay Siegel

Hank Medress

Warren Schwartz

Fred Kalkstein

Discography :

1959 - Picture In My Wallet / Roses And Red (Roulette 4174)
1960 - Can't You Tell ? / But Your Mother She Said No (Roulette 4230)

Biography :

In 1955, Neil Sedaka was sitting in his math class at Lincoln High School when he heard Jay Siegel singing Falsetto. They decided to form a group and recruited three members of Mrs. Eisen's Choral (Hank Medress, Cynthia Zolotin and Eddie Rabkin), the Linc-Tones was Born. Piano prodigy Sedaka decided The Tokens sounded better as a name; Rabkin left the following year and was replaced by Siegel. Cynthia's family had connections in the city at the Brill Building, which opened doors for her and Neil.



The quartet auditioned for Morty Craft, owner of the Willows' label, Melba, and recorded "I Love My Baby" (with a lead vocal by Rabkin) backed with "While I Dream" (lead by Sedaka), both written by Neil and another Lincoln High student, Howard Greenfield. This led to an appearance on Ted Steele's Teen Bandstand show on WOR-TV, though the single didn't catch on outside the N.Y. area. The group gradually separated and in '58 Hank and Jay ventured forth with Warren Schwartz and Fred Kalkstein as the oddly-named Darrell and the Oxfords; two 1959 singles on Roulette included the ballad "Picture in My Wallet."

Late in the year another shake-up occurred when Hank and Jay began singing with younger Lincoln High student Phil Margo, who played piano, and his 12-year-old brother Mitch. They came up with another strange name, Those Guys, then in 1960 Joe Venneri joined and the group functioned as a quintet for several years. Craft signed them again, this time for the Warwick label, insisting they ditch that "Those Guys" misnomer. Reviving the Tokens name, they hit the top 20 in the spring of '61 with a catchy 'doo-be-doo-be-dum...' tune penned by Margo and Medress, "Tonight I Fell in Love."

Songs :

  
Picture In My Wallet                             Roses And Red     

  
But Your Mother She Said No                       Can't You Tell ?           

 ...

The Baltineers (Baltimore, Maryland)
aka The Val-Tone

Personnel :

Percy Cosby (Lead)

William Kennedy

Thomas Smith

Joseph Wiggins

Discography :

The Val-Tones
1955 - Tender Darling / Siam Sam (DeLuxe 6084)

The Baltineers
1956 - Moments Like This / New Love (Teenage 1000)
1956 - Tears In My Eyes / Joe's Calypso (Teenage 1002)

Biography :

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, The Val-Tones were discovered by Henry Stone, DeLuxe A&R man while they were working a club in Miami, Florida. The members Were Percy Cosby (Lead), William Kennedy, Thomas Smith, And Joseph Wiggins. The Act has been together for about three years and have been touring the country from border to border and coast to coast. The Quartet cut "Tender Darling" b/w "Siam Sam" for the Deluxe Label.

The Val-tones change their name to the Baltineers and recorded four sides for The Teenage Label owned by Bill "Bass" Gordon and Ben Smith . Bill "Bass" Gordon, recorded with the Colonials for the Gee label in 1954. He began the Teenage label in New York in 1955. The label, Black-owned and operated, was one of the rarities among the independant labels in the mid-1950s.
Thanks to Marv Goldberg

Songs :

The Val-Tones

  
Tender Darling                              Siam Sam



The Baltineers

  
Moments Like This                                      New Love       


Tears In My Eyes / Joe's Calypso


...

The GI's (Army Base)
aka  Doug Van Beck Trio


Personnel :

Doug Morris

Richard Vanderbilt

William Beck


 

Discography :
 

The GI's

Singles :
1963 – Please Wait / Dance The Wiggle Wobble (Festival 502)
 

Eps :
1963 - The GI's (Festival FX 1341)
Please Wait / Too Much Dreamin's No Good / Blizzard / Dance The Wiggle Wobble

1964 - The GI's (Festival FX 1368)
When Does It Get To Be Love / Lucy / Indian Surf / Surf No. 1 (Surfin' Little Girl)

Doug Van Beck Trio

Singles :
1964 - Surfin' Little Girl / A Workin' Man's Day Is Never Done (Fargo 1064)
1964 - A Whole Lot Of Surfin' / A Workin (Judy 6500)





Biography :

This vocal group, made up from three US Army soldiers. They met during their military service in France. They sing mostly in American military camps for armed theater. Following an appearance at the french TV, they got a contract with the French's Festival label and cut eight songs.

When they returned to the United States after their military service, they recorded two singles as Doug Van Beck Trio. Doug Morris later wrote "Sweet Talkin' Guy" for The Chiffons and produced many Laurie label acts.

Songs :

The GI's

     
     Lucy                      Too Much Dreamin's No Good                   Please Wait

...

      Top :  Lenny LaMonica & Tom Nigra -  Below : "Little" Johnny Schilling andTony Valastro

Johnny Schilling & The Sherwoods (4) (Chester, NY.)

Personnel :

"Little" Johnny Schilling (Guitar/Vocals)

Tom Nigra (Bass/Vocals)

Tony Valastro (Tenor Sax/Vocals)

Lenny LaMonica (Drums)

Discography :

1964 - Marcelle / King of the World (C&A 507)

Biography :

Little Johnny Schillingand the Sherwoods was a vocal & instrumental group from Chester, NY. Little John on guitar and vocals, Tom Nigra on bass and vocals, Tony Valastro on tenor sax and vocals and Lenny LaMonica on drums. The band was formed in 1962 and played steadily all over New York state and Jersey.

Johnny Schilling & The Sherwoods  recorded two fabulous Doo Wop  "Marcelle" and "King of the World" for C&A Records producer, Vinnie Catalano in New York City in 1964. They played together until 1968. Little John Schilling is still working as a musician in Central Florida with Nightly Blues, a blues, jazz and r&b group. Little John and the Sherwoods are not to be confused with another band called the Sherwoods from Connecticut.

Songs :

  
King of the World                                Marcelle
...