Jimmy Castor & The Juniors (1) (New-York)

Personnel :

Jimmy Castor (Lead)

Johnny Williams (First Tenor)

Orton Graves (Baritone)

Al Casey (Bass)

Discography :

Singles:
1956 - I Promise / I know The Meaning Of Love (Wing 90078)
1957 - This Girl Of Mine / Somebody Mentioned Your Name (Atomic 100)

Unreleased:
1956 - Search This Heart (demo)

Biography :

Born on June 2, 1943, in Harlem’s Sugar Hill district and raised by his mother and grandmother, Jimmy Castor shined shoes and sold papers to help make ends meet. Learning violin, saxophone, piano and studying theory, he was accepted for the Music & Art High School (‘full of rich kids arriving in limousines with lots of talent but strung out on valium’) but back in Harlem he ran through the Projects with the Cobras and the Falcons (‘baseball teams but really gangs’).

 Jimmy Castor & The Juniors

Doo-wop was the East Coast’s answer to the rock’n’roll explosion and teenage males could be found harmonising on streets, in stairwells and bathrooms. Aged 12 he formed Jimmy Castor & The Juniors and, in 1956, their song I Promise (written by Castor) was turned into a Top 10 R&B hit by the hottest doo-wop band in America: Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers.

  
                                                                                                         Jimmy Castor & Lewis Lymon

He briefly sang with Lewis Lymon & The Teenchords . Jimmy later replaced Frankie Lymon in the Teenagers in 1957.

Jimmy-Castor-Juniors.pdf

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

    
               I Promise                            I know The Meaning Of Love

   
Somebody Mentioned Your Name                    This Girl Of Mine              

Search This Heart

 ...

The Marvels (1) (Harlem, New York)


ref  The Dubs
ref  The Five Wings (1)
ref  The Scale-Tones
 

 Personnel :

Richard Blandon (Lead)

Billy Carlisle (Second Tenor)

Cleveland Still (First Tenor)

James Miller (Baritone)

Thomas Gardner (Bass)

Discography :

1956 - I Won't Have You Breaking My Heart / Jump Rock And Roll (ABC 9771) 


Biography :

The ABC Paramount Marvels formed in 1956 as an outgrowth  of the Five Wings and the Scale-Tones. They had Hiram Johnson as their manager (inherited from the Five Wings), and got a recording deal with ABC Paramount. They recorded one of the most beautiful ballads on wax, "I Won't Have You Breaking My Heart," for ABC.Because of inadequate support and promotion, the record did poorly.

 
                                             (paste-up picture ) Carlisle, Blandon, Still & Miller                               

This group would soon change their name to the Dubs and move to George Goldner's Gone Records. All but Carlisle came from the Scale-Tones. Tommy Grate, formerly from the Five Wings, replaced Tommy Gardner at bass. Mitch Rosalsky
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Dubs/dubs.html

Songs :

  
I Won't Have You Breaking My Heart                Jump Rock & Roll                 
               
...

The Capris (4) (Queens, New York) 
(By Hans-Joachim)

 
Personnel:

Nick (Santo) Santamaria (Lead ) (until 1962)
Mike Mincelli (First Tenor)
Frank Reina (Second Tenor) (Lead from 1962 on)
Vinnie Narcardo (Baritone) (until 1965)
John Caassese (Bass) (until 1965)
John Apostle (from 1966 on)

1969 group
Frankie Reina (Lead)
Mike Mincieli (First Tenor)
Al Dimone (Second Tenor, guitar)
John Apostle (Bass)
Bill Chefalas (Falsetto, Bass guitar)
Mickey Henry (keyboard)
Johnny Harris (Drums)

1982 group
Nick Santo (Lead)
Mike Mincelli (First Tenor)
Frank Reina (Second Tenor)
Tony Danno (Baritone)
Tommy Ferraro (Bass)

Discography:

The Capris

Singles
1958 - There’s A Moon Out Tonight / Indian Girl (Planet 1010/11)
1960 - There’s A Moon Out Tonight / Indian Girl  (Lost Nite 101 / Old Town 1094 / Trommers 101)
1961 - Where I Fell in Love / Some People Think (Old Town 1099)
1961 - Tears In My Eyes / Why Do I Cry (Old Town 1103)
1961 - Girl In My Dreams / My Island In The Sun (Old Town 1107)
1963 - Limbo / From The Vine Came The Grape (Mr. Peeke 118)
1982 - Morse Code Of Love / There’s A Moon Out Again (Ambient Sound 02697)
[Please note: The Capris on “Little Girl / When” (Lost Nite 148) are a different group!]

Album
1982 - There’s A Moon Out Again!
There’s A Moon Out Again / To Be Loved (Forever) / Morse Code Of Love / Guardian Angel / A Love Of My Own / Imagine / That’s How Love Goes / Boy Meets Girl / Oh Darlin’ / You Are / Tonight I’m So In Love / She’s My Girl (Ambient Sound  LP 37714)

Unreleased
1958 - Darling (demo) / God Only Knows (demo)
1961 - A Hum Diddily Dee Do* (Old Town)
1961 - Stars In The Sky* (Old Town)
1961 - Love Poems (Old Town)
1961 - This Is Romance** (Old Town)
1961 - The Way I Love** (Old Town)
1962 - I Kinda Like You
1964 - It Happened This Time Last Year
1964 - This Time It’s Love
1964 - That Girl In My Heart
1969 - Freedom Medley / Where I Fell In Love
1972 - Are You Happier Now (demo)

* Released on the Collectables LP 5016 in 1982
** Released on Stoop Sounds 128 in 2001

Clay Cole (bb The Capris)
1961 - Twist Around The Clock / Don't Twist (With Anyone Else But Me) (Imperial 5804)

Biography:

The group originally formed in 1957 in the borough of Queens, NY, when all were teenagers. The original lead was Nick Santa Maria (aka Santo), Mike Mincelli (first tenor), Steve Reina (second tenor), Vinnie Narcardo (baritone), and John Caassese (bass). In selecting their name, the guys were apparently unfamiliar with the Philadelphia group that had preceded them by a few years.

At the Apollo (New York City)

Previous interviews with different members of the group make it unclear whether the group was named for the Isle of Capri, or the car of the same name. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. By 1958, the group had been gaining experience performing at local venues, and had even started adding some of their own original material to their repertoire. They attracted the attention of some independent record producers, and were soon in the studio cutting an original ballad called "There's a Moon out Tonight."

For the B-side, they recorded an interesting up-tempo novelty tune titled "Indian Girl." With it's strong 1950s rock & roll flavor, the sides were quickly picked up for release by Planet, a small New York City label. Unfortunately for the Capris though, Planet was not able to effectively promote the record and it became an almost instant obscurity. Original Planet pressings of "There's a Moon out Tonight" can now fetch up to 1,000 dollars in collectors circles, when one of these rare platters surfaces.

At the Apollo (New York City)

Soon thereafter, the group members all went their separate ways, and one would think that's where the story would end. But, for the Capris, things took a different and an interesting turn. By 1960, much of what was being passed off to teenagers as rock & roll was polished pop with a beat; lacking the original vitality of what preceded it in the mid-'50s. Discerning and disgruntled teenagers were looking backward, and radio programs were starting to focus on "oldies," even though these "oldies" may have been released only two or three years earlier.

   
                                                                              Vinnie Narcardo and John Caassese

As luck would have it, the Capris' record found it's way in to the hands of Jerry Greene. At the time, Greene worked for Times Square Records, a legendary New York City "oldies" store that supplied DJ Alan Fredericks with material for his Night Train radio show. Fredericks played the record and now kids were looking to buy it.

Greene was initially able to get a few hundred of the remaining copies of the record from Planet. With the demand exceeding the dwindling number of available copies, Greene finally purchased the masters from Planet, started his own label, and reissued "There's a Moon out Tonight" as Lost Nite 101. But the demand kept growing and so Greene turned to Hy Weiss, who released the disc again, now on his Old Town label.

By early 1961, the record had made the national charts and stayed there for over three months. With a national hit on their hands, the Capris reunited and soon were playing some of the country's most prestigious venues, like the Regal in Chicago and the Apollo in New York City. Trying to capitalize on the success of "There's a Moon out Tonight," Old Town released three more singles by the group, all in 1961.

"Where I Fell In Love" was an average ballad that borrowed lyrically from "Moon" but lacked it's energy. The flip side "Some People Think," another ballad, was a stronger effort by the group. It probably would have done better without the syrupy strings that were added. It barely broke in to the national charts, and quickly dropped out of sight.

Clay Cole (with The Capris and The Ronettes)

Their next release, "Why Do I Cry," was a cliché-filled ballad, again with too much strings added. The flip side, "Tears in My Eyes," was another pleasant ballad by the group. But again, neither side registered with the fans. For their last Old Town pairing, they broke with the back-to-back ballad formula of the previous two releases. "My Island in the Sun" was a nice mid-tempo number with a cha feel.

The flip "Girl in My Dreams" was a decent ballad, although with some overly busy string bass work that somewhat intrudes on the group's vocal efforts. This one also scratched at the bottom of the charts but never took off. Some previously unreleased Capris tracks for Old Town have now been made available on a series of CDs put out by England's Ace Records.

1962 saw the group leave Old Town and move over to the Mr. Peeke label for a single release "Limbo" backed with "From the Vine Came the Grape." Neither of these tunes captured the public's attention. So, by 1963, the Capris were dissolving again, with Santo becoming one of New York City's finest. Over the next few years there would be other personnel changes as the group continued on with performances. But for the next big event in the history of the Capris, we'll fast forward about 20 years.

Clay Cole (with The Capris and The Delicates)

In 1982, Nick Santo re-joined the group and they went in to the studio to record a new album, There's a Moon out Again, for Ambient Sound. Besides doing covers of some Doo Wop classics, the Capris also included a couple of original tunes. One of these was a song called "Morse Code of Love."

  
The Capris (1969)

The tune sounded like it came right out of the late '50s, and many thought it was in fact an overlooked "oldie." It was also released as a single in 1982, backed with "There's a Moon out Again." And the song got even more exposure when Manhattan Transfer decided to cover it.

The Capris (1982)

Over the years, "Morse Code of Love" has only grown in popularity and has become one of the most requested tunes on oldies-type radio stations. Once again the Capris scored a home run with a 1950s sound that touched the heartstrings of the listeners and evoked the spirit of a time when life was simpler.
Jim Dunn, All Music Guide

http://www.electricearl.com/dws/capris.html
http://whitedoowopcollector.blogspot.com/2010/12/caprisdarling.html
http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/capris.htm
http://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursc/capris.htm
http://soundcloud.com/the-capris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Capris

Songs :

   
There’s A Moon Out Tonight           Indian Girl           Darling (demo)

   
God Only Knows (demo 1)   God Only Knows (demo 2)    Where I Fell In Love

   
Some People Thin                Tears In My Eyes                  Why Do I Cry

   
Girl In My Dreams             My Island In The Sun           A Hum Diddily Dee Do

   
Stars In The Sky                    Love Poems                     This Is Romance

more songs : KROBIGRAUBART

...

The Rag Dolls  (New York)
aka The Beach Girls (2)

Personnel :

Jean Thomas (Lead)

Mikie Harris

Susan Lewis


Discography :

The Rag Dolls
1964 - Society Girl /  Ragen (Society Girl Bossa Nova) (Parkway 921)
1964 - Dusty / Hey, Hoagy (Mala 493)
1964 - Baby's Gone / We Almost Made It (Mala 499)
1965 - Put A Ring On My Finger / Little Girl Tears (Mala 506)

The Beach Girls (2)
1965 - Goin' Places / Skiing In The Snow (Dynovoice 202)



Biography :

Originally from Sarasota, Florida (Though born in Weymouth, Massachusetts) Jean Thomas had moved to New York in the early 60s and recorded as a solo artist for Cadence and M-G-M. Pitch perfect, she began picking up extra work as a demo singer and from there graduated to full session work, sometimes accompanied by an old friend from Sarasota, Mikie Harris who sang with the Ardons. The recording community liked Thomas for her ability to emote with all the  chutzpah of an eager novice getting his first break in a recording studio, even though she was a pro in her mid-twenties.

    
Jean Thomas                                                                                                                             

  Crewe had used Thomas on "Society Girl" by the Rag Dolls (a fabricated 'answer' record to the 4 seasons' "Rag Doll") which had dented the Hot 100 in late 1964.  Consolidating with a second release, "Dusty", Crewe had Thomas and Harris lay down their vocals over a storming track by 4 Seasons arranger Charlie Calello. The winning four seasons groove bagged a lot of airplay, pushing "Dusty" to # 55 in February 1965, and led to a demend for a group that did not exist outside the confines of a recording studio.

Thomas preferred the quiet backwaters of studio work to the limelight and toured only briefly as a member of the Rag Dolls.  The sessions for ‘Dusty’ were on 24th and 27th October and again on 12th November 1964 to perfect the mix, with ‘Skiing In The Snow’  and ‘Hey Hoagy’ also being recorded. The latter would become the cute ‘B’ side to ‘Dusty’ whilst Bob would release ‘Skiing In The Snow’ as the Beach Girls on Dynavoice 202 to provide another classic harmony laced girl group sound


Songs :

The Rag Dolls

  
Society Girl                                 Put A Ring On My Finger

   
Dusty                                         Little Girl Tears

   
Hey Hoagy                                    Baby's Gone

The Beach Girls (2)

Skiing In The Snow

...

(paste-up picture ) Johnson, Relf, Harris & Sanders

The Upfronts (1) (Los Angeles)
aka The Cubans (2) aka Little Caesar & The Romans (3)

Personnel :

Bobby Relf (Lead / Second Tenor)

David "Caesar" Johnson (Lead / Baritone)

Early Harris (Tenor)

Leroy Sanders (Bass)

Theotis (First Tenor)


Discography :

1960 - Benny Lou And The Lion / It Took Time (Lummtone 103)
1960 - Too Far To Turn Around / Married Jive (Lummtone 104)


Biography :

In 1959 the Cubans disbanded (they would not have been too popular under that name anyway during Castro's Cuban revolution), and David Johnson hooked up with Lummtone Records, owned by Lummie Fowler. He formed the Upfronts (a name Lummie came up with), who included Harris and Sanders of the Cubans, Bobby Relf of the Laurels (lead and second tenor), and a mystery man remembered only as Theotis (first tenor).

   
                                                                                               Bobby Relf of the Laurels

Their first 45, "It Took Time," got a good LA response, but their second, "Too Late to Turn Around," did nothing. They became little Caesar & the Romans. A new Upfronts was formed by Lummie Fowler that included a young bass singer from the area named Barry White.
Jay Warner - American singing groups: a history from 1940s to today

Songs :

    
It took Time                                Benny Lou And The Lions

    
Married Jive                                 Too Far To Turn Around

...