The Hepsters

The Hepsters (Cleveland, OH.)

Personnel :

Joe Williams (Lead)

Raymond Harvey (First Tenor)

Carl Brown (Second Tenor)

Bobby Woods (Bariton)

Paul Hayes (Bass)



Discography :

1955 - Rockin' N Rollin' With Santa Claus / I Had To Let You Go (Ronel 107)
1956 - This-A-Way / I Gotta Sing The Blues (Ronel 110) 


Biography :

The Hepsters got together in early 1954 as the Five Stars and had been formed by Joe Williams, a student at East Technical High.  Other members were Art Kirkpatrick, Raymond Harvey, Carl Brown, and Woody Woodall. Like many inner-city youth, the group practiced at a settlement house, the Friendly Inn Settlement House, and paid their dues playing talent shows and teen benefit affairs.

The Five Stars

The group's break into the recording business came when they auditioned for Estrella Young, who was working for a local booking agency. Young had the group change its name to the Hepsters and worked with the singers in honing their talents for the recording studio and developing original material.

Dave Clark, through nationwide contacts he developed for years as a promotion man, found the group via Young and brought them to Chicago to record. The first release by the Hepsters was "Rock 'n' Rollin' with Santa Claus" backed with "I Had To Let You Go". The Hepsters' second release was "This-a-Way" backed with "I Gotta Sing the Blues." "This-a-Way" was written by the leader, Williams, and the flip was written by Clark.The Hepsters were a talented group but never had the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities with a top-flight hit song.
Doowop The Chicago Scene (Robert Pruter)
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Hepsters/hepsters.html





Songs :

     
Rockin' N Rollin' With Santa Claus      I Had To Let You Go        This-A-Way


I Gotta Sing The Blues