• The Ambers (1)

    The Ambers (1) (Los Angeles)


    Personnel :

    Ralph Mathis (Lead)

    Barry Tompkins (Second Tenor)

    Stan Voetz (Bariton)

    Manny Haber (Bass)

     

    Discography :

    1958 - Never Let You Go / I'll Make A Bet (Ebb 142)

     

    Biography

    The Ambers were a group from San Francisco's George Washington High School: Ralph Mathis (lead and brother of Pop singing sensation Johnny Mathis), Barry Tompkins (second tenor), Stan Voetz (baritone), and Manny Haber (bass).

      
                                                                                Ralph Mathis

    December 1957, the Ambers did a single session for Ebb Records. Ebb Records, run by Lee Rupe (the ex-wife of Specialty Records' owner Art Rupe), was a minor Los Angeles rock and R&B label of the late 1950s.

      The Ambers (1)
    Ralph Mathis at The Apollo Theater (1958)                                                                                 

     Session producer Jesse Johnson decided to throw in more voices, and rounded up everyone he could find to do additional vocals and clapping .Present in the studio , the Jaguars became part of the backup on the Ralph Mathis and the Ambers session. "Never Let You Go" b/w "I'll Make A Bet" were released in March 1958.

     

    Songs :

         
     Never Let You Go                             I'll Make A Bet

     ...


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  • The Kampus Kids aka Rick & The Legends (4)
    The Kampus Kids (East Liverpool, Ohio)
    aka Rick & The Legends (4)
    aka Riki & The Rikatones

     

    Personnel :

    Rick Palmer (Guitar / Lead Vocal)

    Jerry Nolan (Rhythm Guitar / Vocal)

    Jay Stewart  (Guitar Bass / Vocal)

     

    Discography :

    Rick Palmer
    1958 - You Threw A Dart / My Greatest Wish (Carlton 491)

    The Kampus Kids
    1960 - Leave Me Alone / Mr Rainbow Man (Ensign 5000)

    Riki & The Rikatones
    1960 - Whiphash    / T.N.T. (Manhattan 201)

    Rick & The Legends (4)
    1963 - The Diary Of A Teenage Bride / All Of Your Love (JD 155)
    1965 - I Wonder Why / Leave Me Alone (JD 162)
    1966 - I Wonder Why / Love Me Like I Know You Can (UA 5093)

     

    Biography :

    Originally from East Liverpool, Ohio, the group begin in 1958 as The Teen-Kings, a musical group  comprised of Rick Palmer, Bill Pipes, Don Hay and Jerry Nolan.  In November 1958, Rick Palmer recorded  "You Threw a Dart" b/w "My Greatest Wish" released On Carlton records.In 1959 Rick Palmer on lead vocal and lead guitar teamed up Jerry Nolan on rhythm guitar and vocal and Jay Stewart on bass and vocal. Their current manager  sold their contract to Buck Ram. As Their new manager, Buck provided the group with "Mr. Rainbow Man" and "Leave Me Alone" released on on the new Ensign label (Antler’s subsid) as the The Kampus Kids.

    The Kampus Kids aka Rick & The Legends (4)
    The Kampus Kids - From top : Jay Stewart, Jerry Nolan & Rick Palmer

    The single made it all the way into the top five on radio station WNOR in Norfolk, Virginia. Even though the song was extremely popular regionally it failed to achieve success nationally. After several ups and downs they moved to Cleveland Ohio where their manager had a "You Write 'Em and I'll Record 'Em" business for songwriters who wanted to hear their songs recorded. They were his house band and some of the recordings they made for him were released on his Manhattan label as Riki & The Rikatones, two Rockabilly "Whiphash" and "T.N.T.". In the very early 60s (1961/1962) the band relocated to the Norfolk, Virginia area & played Virginia Beach regularly as well as the naval base officers club. It was here that the band got to open up for and back-up the late, great Roy Orbison. Rick Palmer also did lots of session work and played with Ray Peterson on "Tell Laura I love her".

    The Kampus Kids aka Rick & The Legends (4)  The Kampus Kids aka Rick & The Legends (4)
                                                                                          clockwise from top left: Jean Palmer, Buzzy Rose, Jerry Nolan and Rick Palmer

     He backed up Nashville artist, Minnie Pearl also. In 1968 the band relocated to Massachusetts where they recorded "Love me like I know you can" in their basement for the United Artists label. In 1962 Buzzy Rose joined Rick Palmer and Jerry Nolan as their drummer and added Rick's wife Jean  (keyboards & vocals). They call themselves The Coachmen and changed to Rick & The Legends. Soon they cut their first record on the JD label "The Diary Of A Teenage Bride" b/w "All Of Your Love". The next record was "I Wonder Why" b/w "Leave Me Alone". Then United artists cut "I Wonder Why" and a new song Rick wrote, "Love Me Like I Know You Can".

     

    Songs :

    The Kampus Kids

      
    Mr Rainbow Man                                   Leave Me Alone

    Rick & The Legends (4)

      
    The Diary Of A Teenage Bride                    All Of Your Love            

      
             I Wonder Why                           Love Me Like I Know You Can


    Rick Palmer


    You Threw A Dart


    Riki & The Rikatones

      
    Whiphash  (Rockabilly)                      T.N.T. (Rockabilly)    

    ..


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  • The Cordials (3) aka The Stompers (2)

    Bobby (Boris) Pickett

    The Stompers (2) (Los Angeles)
    aka The Cordials (3)

     

    Personnel :

    Bobby (Boris) Pickett

    Leonard "Lenny" Capizzi

    Bill Capizzi

    Ron Deltorto

    Lou Toscano

     

    Discography :

    The Stompers (2)
    1962 - Quarter To Four Stomp / Foolish One (Landa 684)

    The Cordials (3)
    1962 - Eternal Love /  The International Twist (Reveille 106)

     

    Biography :

    Bobby (Boris) Pickett was born in Somerville, Massachusetts. After high school, he spent three years in Korea in the US army signal corps. Upon demobilisation, Pickett headed for Hollywood, where he wanted to break into movies and stand-up comedy - his first nightclub act included a horror film routine. His initial success was modest, and in 1961 he joined a vocal group called the Cordials.  The Cordials were Leonard "Lenny" Capizzi, Bill Capizzi, Ron Deltorto, Lou Toscano and Bobby Boris Pickett. It specialised in the doo-wop close-harmony style and occasionally Pickett would enliven shows by intoning the spoken section of Little Darlin', a hit by the Diamonds, in his Karloff voice.

    The Cordials (3) aka The Stompers (2)     The Cordials (3) aka The Stompers (2)

    The Cordials soon came to the attention of the record producer and songwriter Gary Paxton. Under his guidance, the Cordials, a white group in a mainly black genre, recorded "Eternal Love"  and "The International Twist" both written By the Capizzi brothers .  Gary Paxton produced the Next single "Quarter To Four Stomp", a surf-orientated adaptation of Garу US Bonds’ “Quarter To Three” . The single was released under the name of the Stompers. 

    The Stompers (2) aka The Cordials (3)

    Shortly after this release Bobby Boris Pickett left for a solo career and co-wrote "Monster Mash" with Cordials/Stompers member Leonard Capizzi to take advantage of the Mashed Potato dance craze. Pickett's half-spoken, half-sung narration includes a brief snatch of a heavily accented Bela Lugosi impersonation as well as the Karloff voice. The refrain ran, "He did the mash/ He did the monster mash/ The monster mash/ It was a graveyard smash".

    Songs :
    (updated by Hans-Joachim) 


    The Cordials (3)

      
    Eternal Love                      The International Twist 


    The Stompers (2)

      
    Quarter To Four Stomp                            Foolish One


    Bobby Pickett


    Monster Mash

    ...


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  • The Hi Tones (2)

    The Hi Tones (2) (New York)

     

    Personnel :

    Jay Thompson

    David Eason

    Charles Baskerville

    William White

     

    Discography :

    1960 - Let's Have A Good Time / Fool, Fool, Fool (King 5414)

     

    Biography :

    Co-written with the “5” Royales’ Lowman Pauling, ‘"Let's Have A Good Time" was also credited as being composed by Jay Thompson, David Eason, Charles Baskerville and William White on the label. The likelihood is that these were the group members brought to King by Lowman Pauling for this one-off 45. Eason and White had been members of the Glendells from Waycross, Georgia in 1959 who had performed with Ruth Brown on a show. She encouraged the group to move up to New York. Charles Baskerville had been a member of the Videos vocal group, who recorded on Casino in 1958 and 1959 and went on to be a member of Shep & The Limelighters. Maybe Baskerville and Jay Thompson teamed up with Eason and White and came up with this rocking blues vocal group gem.

     

    Songs :

      
       Fool, Fool, Fool                           Let's Have A Good Time


    ...


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  • Lena Calhoun & The Emotions (2)
    Louise Williams & Beverly Pecot

    Lena Calhoun & The Emotions (2) (Los Angeles)

     

    Personnel :

    Lena Calhoun  (Lead)

    Louise Williams

    Beverly Pecot

    Diane Irvin

     

    Discography :

    The Emotions (2)
    1961 - I Ran To You / Been Lookin' Your Way (Flip 356)

    Lena Calhoun & The Emotions (2)
    1961 - First Love Baby / I Ran To You (Flip 357)
    1961 - I Can Tell (I'm Losing Your Love) / Been Looking Your Way (Flip 358) 

    -----
    The LaVettes (With Lena Calhoun)
    1960 – You'll Be Mine / Teen Age Idol (Emjay 1920=45)

     

    Biography :

    LA'S Flip label is most famous for having been the imprint under which Richard Berry recorded ‘Louie Louie’. Other acts to feature on the label were the Dreamers, the Six Teens and Lena Calhoun & the Emotions. The latter outfit were a female quartet led by Lena (a younger girl from Compton)  and backed by Louise Williams and Beverly Pecot of the Six Teens, and Diane Irvin  (who had originally auditioned for the Six Teens in early 1956). The group had three consecutively numbered releases on Flip in 1961. "T Ran To You" / "Been Lookin' Your Way" (Flip 356) was the first, "I Can Tell (lm Losing Your Love)" (Flip 358) the last, with ‘Been Lookin" Your Way" reissued as its flip.  "I Can Tell" was actually recorded as a trio (without Diane Irvin) and is a punchy R&B-based item just waiting for dance floor action once a few copies turn up. Lena Calhoun was the youngest member of the group and also had a release as one of the Lavettes on Emjay Records in the same year.

     

    Songs ;

      
     I Ran To You                                Been Lookin' Your Way

      
             First Love Baby                     I Can Tell (I'm Losing Your Love)


    ...


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