The Pipes (1) (Oakland, California)

Personnel :

Louis Candys (Lead Tenor)

Irving Swanigan (Lead Tenor)

Harold Foreman (Tenor)

Huey Roundtree (Lead Baritone )

Leevern Ball (Bass)

Discography :

1956 - Be Fair / Let Me Give You Money (Dootone 388)
1956 - You Are An Angel / I Love The Life I Live (Dootone 401)
1958 - So Long / Baby Please Don't Go  (Jacy 001/002) 

Biography :

Oakland, CA-based R&B combo the Pipes formed on the grounds of the city's McClymonds High School in 1953. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the April 1979 issue of Goldmine, the original group -- lead tenor Louis Candys, tenors Irving Swanigan and Harold Foreman, baritone Huey Roundtree, bass Leevern Ball, and pianist Ed Kelly -- first performed as the Cool Tones; after Swanigan's exit, the remaining quintet traveled to Los Angeles in search of a recording deal, but were summarily dismissed due to their youth.

After graduating in 1955, the group returned to L.A. and signed with Dootone. At that point, they dropped the Cool Tones moniker in favor of the Pipes, inspired by the "Danny Boy" lyric "The pipes, the pipes are calling." Dootone owner Dootsie Williams nevertheless hedged his bets by announcing to the trade press the signing of two new groups: the Cool Tones and the Pipes. The latter name won out by the time their debut single, "Be Fair," hit retail in early 1956.

    Though a local hit, the Pipes never traveled beyond the California circuit and the single stalled. "You Are an Angel" followed that summer. Hampered by minimal marketing effort, it quickly disappeared and when their Dootone contract expired, the Pipes opted against renewal, returning to Oakland and contenting themselves with the occasional weekend gig. In 1958 they founded their own label, Jacy, to release a rare single titled "So Long." A year later, the Pipes returned to Dootone to record one final session that Williams shelved. The group dissolved for good soon after. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Pipes/pipes.html

Songs :

   
          Be Fair                                      You Are An Angel

     
               So Long                                 Let Me Give You Money

    
I Love The Life I Live                      Baby Please Don't Go

...

The Elites (1) (Staten Island, NY)

Personnel :

Bill "William" Jessup

Mike Luciano

Mike Mancini

Paul Marinelli

Discography :

Single :
1959 - Northern Star / In The Little Chapel (Abel 225)

Unreleased :
1959 - Six long Month
1959 - Some Day

Biography :

Vocal group from Staten Island composed by Bill "William" Jessup, Mike Luciano, Mike Mancini and Paul Marinelli. The Group recorded four songs for Abel Records from Buffalo, New York. Only "Northern Star" and "In The Little Chapel" were released in 1959.

Songs :

  
   Northern Star                                 In The Little Chapel

  
Six long Month                            Some Day

...

The Golden Tones (2) (Richmond, Ca.)

Personnel :

Joe Simon (Lead)

Bill johnson Jr

James Spells

Lynn Foster

Lawrence Thomson

Discography :

1959 - Little Island Girl / Doreetha (Hush 101)
1960 - You Left Me Here To Cry Alone / Ocean Of Tears (Hush 102)

Biography :

Joe Simon (born September 2, 1943, Simmesport, Louisiana) is a chart-topping, Grammy Award winning, soul and R&B artist. Like many other African-American artists from the era, Simon began singing in his father's Baptist church. He pursued his vocal abilities full-time once the family moved to Richmond (near Oakland, California) in the late 1950s. There Simon joined the Golden West Gospel Singers and became influenced by Sam Cooke and Arthur Prysock.

  
The Golden West Gospel Singers                                                                      Joe Simon 

In 1959, Golden West Bass Bill Johnson persuaded Joe Simon to quit gospel singing and try his hand at R&B. Johnson offered Simon a place in his son's secular quartet the Echo Tones. The Echo Tones were then composed of James Spells, Lynn Foster, Lawrence Thomson & Bill johnson Jr.

     
               The Golden Tones                                                                                                               The Golden Tones

The ensemble changed their name to the Golden Tones in 1959, releasing "Little Island Girl" b/w "Doreetha", which was followed by the single "You Left Me Here To Cry Alone" b/w "Ocean Of Tears". Following the release, Hush Records owners, Gary and Carla Thompson, urged Joe to take on a solo career, which he pursued with the Veejay imprint releasing 'My Adorable One' in 1964. He later had a successful career as a soul singer in the 60's and '70s

Songs:

    
Doreetha                                    Little Island Girl

   
You Left Me Here To Cry Alone                     Ocean Of Tears            
 

...

The Nobles (1)  (New Haven, Connecticut)

Personnel :

Dickey Bernardo

Joey Kakulis

Sal Tramauche

Pat Cosenza

 
Discography :

The Nobles (1)
1957 - Poor Rock'n'Roll / Ting A Ling (Klik 305)
1963 - Why Be A Fool / The Search (Time Square 33)
1964 - Crime Don't Pay / Darkness (Time Square 12)
1976 - Oh Baby / My Confession (by the Blue Dots) (Robin Hood 136)

Nicky & The Nobles (1)
1958 - School Bells / School Day Crush (Gone 5039 / End 098)

Biography :

To fans of "kiddie lead" in the Frankie Lymon tradition Nicky & The Nobles is a good choice. They first recorded for Klik Records from New Haven, Connecticut. The label was owned by the late Marty Kugell. He operated from his own small studio at 944 Chapel Street in downtown New Haven where he recorded countless street-corner group who were trying to emulate the success of the big groups of the time. One of these street-corner groups was The Nobles.

The original members  were Dickey Bernardo, Joey Kakulis, Sal Tramauche and Pat Cosenza. One of their first recordings "Why Be A Fool" probably date from 1956. In the winter of 1958 they recorded "Poor Rock'n Roll". It was released on Klik 305 with "Ting A Ling" on the on the flip side. (These two tracks were re-released in the TIMES SQUARE label in 1962 as the label first single) It Was immediatly followed by attacks from Boston and New Haven city officials on the Alan Freed touring "Big Beat" rock and roll stage shows.

A near riot in Boston led to the subsequent banning of Freed's show in New Haven which directly inspired the Nobles'Song "Poor Rock'n Roll" Was handled by the GONE label in the summer of 1958, but it got lost in the buckshot of new releases which owner George Goldner pupped out every week. In 1958 Nickie Delano joined the group and they became Nicky & The Nobles. They had Schoolhouse Rock' released on the END Label in 1958 and in 1959 they released another single on the GONE label: "School Bells" backed with "School Day Crush". This singie was re-released on the END label in 1961.

Songs :

The Nobles (1)

       
Poor Rock'n'Roll                     Ting A Ling                        Why Be A Fool

        
The Search                               Darkness                    Crime Don't Pay


Oh Baby


Nicky & The Nobles (1)

     
School Bells                           School Day Crush

  .

(l-r) Keith Lardner, Kenneth Ransome, Jimmy Hinds and Frank Manner]

The Chariots (2) (Liverpool, England)

Personnel :

Jimmy Hinds

Ken Ransome

Frank Manner

Keith Lardner

Discography :

1962 - Problem Girl / Song Of A Broken Heart (Piccadilly 35061)

Biography :

Jimmy Hinds who was born and raised in Liverpool, with the other three members being Keith Lardner from London, West Indian born Ken Ransome and the oldest group member Frank Manner. Nigerian born Frank Manner had been a member of Decca's The Southlanders throughout the 1950's.

The Chariots had aspirations to emulate The Drifters but "Problem Child" proved to be their only release. However, they did manage to tour the UK with Little Eva and Brian Hyland .

Songs :

  
Song Of A Broken Heart                          Problem Girl           


...