The Sedates (New York)

Personnel :

John Downer

Wendell Davis

John Dyches

Jerald Reed

Steve Adamson

Discography : 

Singles :
1958 - Please Love Me Forever / I Found (Port 7004 / MRB 171 / 20th Century )
1962 - Bei Mir Bist Du Schon / Girl Of Mine (Trans Atlas 692à)
Unreleased :
1959 -  Don't Laugh At My Dreams
1959 -  Miracle In the Night

Biography :

Vocal Group From New York, the Sedates were composed by John Downer, Wendell Davis, John Dyches, Jerald Reed and Steve Adamson . In 1958, The group wrote and recorded  "I Found" and "Please Love Me Forever" wrote by Johnny Malone and recorded by Tommy Edwadrs for MGM two months before. Sedate's "Please Love Me Forever" was reviewed on September 15, 1958s. Edwards' version of "Please Love Me Forever" spent 3 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 61. The Sedates version, although excellent, will go unnoticed. In 1959, the Sedates wrote a lot of good songs like "Don't Laugh At My Dreams", "Miracle In the Night" and the splendid "Girl Of Mine". Despite several studio recordings, none of their pieces were published. It was well after separating that Trans-Atlas released "Girl Of Mine" with "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" in 1962.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

  
    Girl Of Mine                                 Please Love Me Forever

  
        I Found                                    Don't Laugh At My Dreams

  
Bei Mir Bist Du Schon                          Miracle In The Night
...

(L to R) Murrie Eskridge , O. C. Perkins, Millard Edwards, James Dennis Isaac, Jimmy Allen & Kermit Chandler

The Sheppards (2) (Chicago, IL.)

Personnel :

Murrie Eskridge (Lead / Top Tenor)

Millard Edwards  (Lead / Tenor / Bass))

O. C. Perkins (Second Tenor / Baritone)

Jimmy Allen (Baritone / Second Tenor)

James Isaac (Tenor / Bass)

Kermit Chandler (Guitar)

Discography :

Singles :

The Sheppards (2)
1959 - Island Of Love / Never Felt Like This Before (Apex 7750)
1960 - Just Like You / Feel Like Lovin' (Apex 7752)
1960 - Meant To Be / It's Crazy (Apex 7755)
1960 - Society Gal / Just When I Needed You Most (Apex 7759)
1960 - Come Home Come Home / Just Like You (Apex 7760)
1961 - Tragic / Come Home, Come Home (Apex 7762)
1961 - Tragic / Feel Like Lovin’ (Apex 7762)
1961 - Never Let Me Go / Give A Hug To Me (Pam 1001)
1961 - Glitter In Your Eyes / Every Now And Then (Wes 7750)
1961 - Every Now And Then / Glitter In Your Eyes (Vee-Jay 406)
1962 - Come To Me / Tragic (Version With Echo) (Vee-Jay 441)
1962 - Loving You / Elevator Operator (Abner 7006)
1963 - Pretend Your Still Mine / Walkin' (Okeh 7173)
1967 - Stubborn Heart / How Do You Like It (Mirwood 5534)
1969 - What's The Name Of The Game / Glitter In Your Eyes (Sharp 6039)
1969 - Steal Away / Island Of Love (Bunky 7764)
1969 - Your Love (Has A Hole In It) / I'm Not Wanted (Bunky 7766)

The Shepards
1965 - Little Girl Lost / Let Yourself Go (ABC-Paramount 10758) 

Murrie Eskridge
1961 - So In Need For Love / Never Felt This Way Before (Apex 7764)

Lps:

1964 - The Sheppards – Collectors Showcase Vol. IV (Constellation CS 4)
Island Of Love / Never Felt Like This Before / I'm Not Wanted / Never Let Me Go / Forgotten / Queen Of Hearts / Tragic / Elevator Operator / Give A Hug To Me / Come To Me / Loving You / Glitter In Your Eyes

Biography:

The group was formed in 1959 by the members of two earlier groups, the Ballads and the Bel Aires (who had actually gotten a record, "Rockin' and Strollin'," released by Decca), who decided to pool their abilities under one cover -- in addition to Eskridge, who sang in a full, soulful wail, and the smoother-voiced Edwards, the members included baritone Jimmy Allen, bass Dennis Isaac, and second tenor O.C. Perkins, with Kermit Chandler playing guitar. Edwards, Perkins, and Chandler also wrote songs, providing them with a stream of originals, which helped set the group somewhat apart from most of their rivals. The sextet, taking the name the Sheppards, signed to Apex Records, a company owned by Bill "Bunky" Sheppard (who had produced the Bel Aires' single) in late 1958.

 They made their debut in 1959 with "Island of Love," featuring Edwards on the lead vocal. The smoothly romantic ballad was a great showcase for the group that got into Billboard's "Bubbling Under" listings during the summer of that year. If the single's A-side was classic doo wop, the B-side, "Never Felt Like This Before," featuring Eskridge's lead vocal (sounding like a more passionate Jackie Wilson), was more representative of soul music and a much more forward-looking record. The Sheppards went on to release a handful of follow-up records on Apex, of which "Come Home Come Home" earned some airplay in the Midwest and local sales but never broke out to national audiences or chart placements.

Their efforts culminated with "Tragic," an achingly beautiful ballad that got them onto American Bandstand, the biggest single piece of national exposure they had during their history -- "Tragic" became the group's best-known track and is one of those songs that, when heard, usually makes non-soul fanatics scramble to find the artist's name. By this time, the Sheppards had developed a wonderfully engaging and commercial style that should have put them in the front ranks of soul groups of their era -- "Come to Me" sounds almost more like Ben E. King/Rudy Lewis-era Drifters than the Drifters did, yet somehow it never got heard.

In 1962, the group was shifted by Sheppard to his new Pam label, co-founded with Carl Davis, who had one major success to his credit with "Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler. Their debut on the new label, "Give a Hug to Me," was successful in Chicago but never got any wide exposure outside of the city. A brief association with Vee-Jay Records didn't do anything to raise the Sheppards' profile as a recording act. They also got one single, "Pretend You're Still Mine," issued on OKeh during 1963, courtesy of Davis. In 1967, the group released one single, "Stubborn Heart," but by that time their style was a little too dated to have much chance of competing. It was around this time that they were reduced to a quartet, when Edwards exited to begin a solo career under the name Mill Evans, on the King label. The group had ceased to exist by the end of the decade.

Songs :

(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

The Sheppards (2)

     
Island Of Love                Never Felt Like This Before                 Just Like You

     
            Feel Like Lovin'              It's Crazy / Meant To Be       Just When I Needed You Most

     
Come Home Come Home / Just Like You                   Tragic                     Never Let Me Go / Give A Hug To Me

     
Glitter In Your Eyes               Every Now And Then                  Come To Me      

     
                         Tragic             Loving You / Elevator Operator    Walkin'/ Pretend Your Still Mine     

     
   Forgotten                            I'm Not Wanted                      Queen Of Hearts

     
Tragic (Version With Echo)                Society Gal            What's The Name Of The Game


Steal away


The Shepards

  
Little Girl Lost                           Let Yourself Go

Murrie Eskridge


So In Need For Love

...

The Kavetts (Chicago, IL,)
aka The Kavettes

Personnel :

Jessie Birden (lead vocals)

Discography :

The Kavetts
1963 - I've Got A Story To Tell You / Stay With Me (Len Dre 101)

The Kavettes
1964 - I'm Not Sorry For You / You Broke Your Promise (Okeh 7194)

Biography :

For every glittering success story on the Windy City soul scene, countless artists came and went without much of anvone noticing. Such was the case with the Kavetts, a female quartet that had a 1963 release on the microscopie Len-Dre label, pairing the wonderfully raucous "l’ve Got À Story To Tell You" and "Stay With Me". It seems to have been the logo’s inaugural release, and maybe its only one. They turned up the next year on OKeh as the Kavettes, with another one-off coupling of "You Broke Your Promise" and "I'm Not Sorry For You". Among the good things the group had going for them were songwriters Karl Tarleton and Andre Williams, who provided much of their material. Tarleton would quickly establish himself as a Windy City soul scribe, penning Joyce Kennedy's "65 Blue Rock outing "l’m A Good Girl" with Andre Williams and two 1967 hits: Gene Chandler’s "To Be A Lover" for Checker and Jackie Wilson's Brunswick outing "I Don't Want To Lose You". No such luck for thKavetts, despite their roof-raising lead singer.

Songs :

The Kavettes

  
  I'm Not Sorry For You                         You Broke Your Promise

The Kavetts

  
         Stay With Me                         I've Got A Story To Tell You

...

The Chimes (3) (Los Angeles)
aka The Champs (1)
ref: The Wonders (4) aka The Wanderers (3)

Personnel :

Horace "Pookie" Wooten (Tenor)

David Cobb (Second Tenor)

Charles Jackson (Tenor)

Booker Jones (Baritone)

Talbert Walton (Bass)




Discography :

The Chimes (3)
Singles :
1955 - Zindy Lou / Tears On My Pillow (Specialty 555)
1956 - Chop Chop / Pretty Little Girl (Specialty 574)
Unreleased :
1956 - The Chimes Ring Out (Specialty)

Tony Allen & The Chimes (3)
1956 - Especially / Check Yourself, Baby (Specialty 570)

Tony Allen & The Champs  (1)
1955 - Nite Owl / I (Specialty 560)

The Wonders (4)
1958 - Be My Love Be My Love / Tell Me    (Forward 601)

Tony Allen & The Wonders (4)
1958 - Be My Love, Be My Love / Tell Me  (Tampa 157)
1959 - Loving You / Lookin' For My Baby (Jamie 1119)

Bobby Starr (Tony Allen & The Wonders (4))
1959 - Sweet Man / Please Give Me A Chance (Radio 120)

Tony Allen & The Wanderers (3)
1961 - Everybody's Somebody's Fool / If Love Was Money (Kent 356)

Biography :

In August 1955, The Chimes from South Central, Los Angeles, under band leader Horace "Pookie" Whooten signed a contract with Specialty Records. The group consists of Horace "Pookie" Wooten (Tenor), David Cobb (Second Tenor), Charles Jackson (Tenor), Booker Jones (Baritone) and Talbert Walton (Bass) . In September, they released "Zindy Lou" and "Tears on My Pillow" their first single, the A-side with influences of African rhythm and a hypnotic singing in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, the local charts reached, but without nationwide reactions.

  
                                                                                                                                                    Tony Allen

Robert Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell songwriter and arranger at Specialty Records make session With Tony Allen, held at Master recorders in Hollywood on 12 August 1955 with The Chimes singing behind him even though they were billed on the Record as The Champs.  The Chimes backed everybody on Specialty.  They were properly named on Allen's sequel Single Especially. The back of Especially was improvised in the studio based on an idea by Charles Jackson "Check Yourself, Baby". The collaboration as a session musician with Allen was abruptly terminated by its breach with Specialty. Then the band released again in April 1956 under their own name "Pretty Little Girl" and "Chop Chop".

  
David Cobb & Horace "Pookie" Wooten                                                                                     

The record career of the Chimes was already finished in 1956, but the connection to Tony Allen was maintained: So supported him  Horace "Pookie" Wooten, Charles Jackson & David Cobb as "The Wonders" and "The Wanderers" repeatedly in various publications. Horace "Pookie" Wooten, Charles Jackson & David Cobb would go on to form The Lions in 1960, and later reformed as The Resonics.

Songs :

The Chimes (3)

     
Zindy Lou                      Tears On My Pillow                        Chop Chop

  
  Pretty Little Girl                   The Chimes Ring Out


Tony Allen & The Chimes (3)

  
       Especially                      Check Yourself, Baby


Tony Allen & The Champs (1)

  
Nite Owl                                             I       


The Wonders (4)

  
Be My Love Be My Love                   Tell Me                   


Tony Allen & The Wonders (4)

  
       Loving You                      Lookin' For My Baby

Bobby Starr (Tony Allen & The Wonders (4))

  
      Sweet Man                     Please Give Me A Chance

Tony Allen & The Wanderers (3)


Everybody's Somebody's Fool / If Love Was Money



…

Claude Robinson & The Creations (4) (Cleveland, OH)

Personnel :

Claude Robinson (Lead)

Annette Tucker

Robert Ray Jamison

Tyrone Robinson

Rudolph Rome

Discography:

Claude Robinson bb The Creations (4)
1960 - Kisses / Cotton Pickin' Mama [no group] (Studio 1002)

The Creations (4)
1962 - Seventeen / You'll Always Be Mine (Patti-Jo 1703)

Biography :

The Creations, a short-lived group from Cleveland, OH, consisted of Annette Tucker, Claude Robinson, Rudolph Rome, Robert Ray Jamison & Tyrone Robinson. Tucker was fascinated by show business, and befriended Johnny Bristol when he appeared in Cleveland with Jackey Beavers as Johnny & Jackey. They regularly rode in from Detroit to appear at the Play-Mor, the Circle Ballroom, and other venues. Claude Robinson was the leader of this group and lead singer.

He wrote and composed all their songs.  The Patti-Jo label that they recorded for was out of Philly. The group broke up because the boys went into the Service, Claude Robinson who was married, went back to college, Annette got married. This was in 1960. Claude was working in New York in 1960. And the others were in the service.

Songs :

The Creations (4)

You'll Always Be Mine

Claude Robinson bb The Creations (4)

  
Kisses                                     Cotton Pickin' Mama

…..