The Avalons (1) (Newport News, Virginia)




Personnel :

Bobby "Bobby" Crawley（Tenor/Baritone）

George Cox（Tenor）

James Dozier（Tenor）

Rafael Ingram（Tenor）

Bernard Purdie（Bass）





Discography :

Singles :
1956 - Chains Around My Heart / Ooh! She Flew (Groove 4G-0141)
1956 - It's Funny But It's True / Sugar Sugar (Groove 4G-0174)
1958 - You Are My Heart's Desire / Dear One (Sandryon 27503)   
1958 - Heart's Desire / Ebbtide (Unart 2007)
1959 - You Can Count On Me / You Do Something To Me (Casino 108)

Unreleased :
1956 - I Follow The Star (Groove)
1956 - Wait A Minute Baby (Groove)
1956 - I Followed A Star (Groove)
1956 - Oh! Sweetness (Groove)
1959 - What's Wrong (Casino)
 



Biography :

The Avalons emerged from the same vibrant Newport News, VA, R&B scene that also yielded the Five Keys, the Leaders, and the Chateaus. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the March 2002 issue of Discoveries, the group's roots lie in a versatile R&B and gospel group dubbed the Chimes, formed in 1947 by tenor/baritone Charles "Bobby" Crawley, tenor Ulysses Hicks, baritone Leroy Harris, and bass Bernard Purdie. Hicks resigned in 1948, later resurfacing in the Five Keys, and with new tenor Maryland Pierce, the group renamed itself the Four Bees, becoming a major favorite on the local nightclub circuit.

When Pierce joined the Five Keys in 1950, erstwhile Key Edwin Wall replaced him in the Four Bees -- Harris also exited soon after, prompting the additions of tenors James Dozier and George Cox. When Wall left the group in early 1951, he was replaced by another Five Keys alum, tenor Rafael Ingram, and at this point the Four Bees rechristened themselves the Encores; the following year, the group toured Canada as part of The Silas Green Show R&B revue, so enjoying the Great White North that they spent about five years touring the nation's eastern provinces.

In the fall of 1955, they hired Five Keys manager Fanny Wolff to oversee their career as well, and almost immediately she won the group a deal with RCA's Groove subsidiary, prompting one last name change to The Avalons. Just days before their first-ever recording session, Crawley's wife fell ill, so he was temporarily replaced by the Cues' Edward Barnes for the studio date -- although two songs were recorded, neither merited official release, and The Avalons returned to Canada in advance of their next session. This time Crawley assumed his rightful place and the gorgeous "Chains Around My Heart" was released in February 1956 -- "It's Funny But It's True" followed in October, but neither record was a hit and Groove terminated their contract. The Avalons again decamped to Canada, releasing "You Are My Heart's Desire" on the tiny Canuck label Sandryon in 1958; a more polished version of the song, abbreviated to simply "Heart's Desire," appeared on Unart about six months after the group split in the spring of 1958. Another unreleased session yielded "You Can Count on Me," released on Casino in early 1959. In the meantime, Crawley returned to Newport News and joined the Five Keys, while Purdie later signed on with the Platters.






Songs :


     
Chains Around My Heart         Ooh! She Flew              It's Funny But It's True

     
Sugar Sugar            You Are My Heart's Desire             Heart's Desire

     
Ebbtide           You Can Count On Me          You Do Something To Me

  
What's Wrong                   Dear One
 








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Standing from left,  Skip Hadden, Tommy Esian & John Magyar.  Seated from left, Jimmy Harris, Ricky Vac & Paul Ticherich.

Ricky Vac & The Rock-A-Ways (Berea, Ohio)
aka The Rockaways (3)

Personnel :

Ricky Vaculig (Ricky Vac) (Lead)

Paul Ticherich

Jimmy Harris

John Magar

Jimmy Gillahan

Tommy Esian

Discography :

Ricky Vac & The Rock-A-Ways
1961 - Collen / How Do You Think I Feel (Hilltop 1871)

Colleen Kaye & The Rockaways (3)
1961 - Two Girls / Tell Me Why (Hilltop 1878)

Biography :

Ricky Vaculig, a 16-year-old Berea High student, decided to start a band after hearing Bill Haley’s "Rock Around the Clock" at the drive-in. Gathering a few fellow classmates and others in 1956, Ricky shortened his name and created the band, Ricky Vac and the Rock-A-Ways, a vocal and instrumental group . Members included Paul Ticherich, Jimmy Harris, John Magar, Jimmy Gillahan, Tommy Esian and later, Skip Hadden. They were also a racially integrated band - one of their guitarists, Jimmy Harris, was black.

Tom Esian, Jimmy Harris, Paul Gillahan, Ricky Vac, Paul Techerich and John Magyar

When Ricky was just sixteen he went to Cleveland and recorded a song he wrote titled "My Baby's Gone". Jack Scott picked it up and released it on one of his albums and it became a national hit. The Rock-A-Ways wrote and played their own original music. Jimmy Harris (the bands guitarist) composed three instrumentals, The Band signed a recording contract the first of which, "Rock-A-Way Boogie" became the bands theme song. The second tune was "Dream Theme", and the third was "Doo Flicky Junction".

Ricky teamed up with Paul Ticherich (the piano player) to write a song about a native gal from Berea. Ricky named the song "Colleen" after classmate Colleen Kaye Siodla, who sometimes sang with the band. The tune was recorded on Hilltop Records, a subsidiary of DOT Records. Ricky Vac and the Rock-A- Ways performed that tune on the Danny Thomas "National Heart Fund" television show. The same year, they backed Colleen Kaye Siodla on Hilltop Records.

The band played at the old Sahara Motel in Cleveland. It was the anchor band for the KYW radio station’s road show. They also played at Paramount Theater on the same bill as The Flamingos and a new singer, Frankie Avalon. The band gained fame along the way. The band music stopped in the early 1960s when Ricky was drafted. He wanted to return to it in 1964, but discovered the British had invaded the nation.

Songs :

Ricky Vac & The Rock-A-Ways

  
Collen                             How Do You Think I Feel 

Colleen Kaye & The Rockaways (3)

   
Two Girls                                    Tell Me Why



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