The Chantels (Bronx, New York)
aka The Tunemasters

(By Hans-Joachim) 

Personnel :

Arlene Smith (Lead)

Lois Harris (First Tenor)

Sonia Goring (Second Tenor)

Jackie Landry (Second Alto)

Rene Minus (Alto / Bass)

Discography:

The Chantels

Singles
1957 - He's Gone / The Plea (End 1001)
1957 - Maybe / Come My Little Baby (End 1005)
1958 - Every Night / Whoever You Are (End 1015)
1958 - I Love You So / How Could You Call It Off (End 1020)
1958 - Sure of Love / Prayee (End 1026)
1958 - If You Try / Congratulations (End 1030)
1958 - I Can't Take It / Never Let Go (End 1037)
1958 - I'm Confessin / Goodbye To Love (End 1048)
1960 - Whoever You Are / How Could You Call (End 1069)
1961 - I* / Believe Me (My Angel)* (End 1103)
1961 - I'm The Girl / There's Our Song (End 1105)
1961 - Look In My Eyes / Glad To Be Back (Carlton 555)
1961 - Well I Told You / Still (Carlton 564)
1961 - Summertime / Here It Comes Again (Carlton 569)
1963 - Eternally / Swamp Water (Ludix 101)
1963 - Some Tears Fall Dry / That's Why You're Happy (Ludix 106)
1965 - There's No Forgetting You / Take Me As I Am (TCF 123)
1966 - You're Welcome To My Heart / Soul Of A Soldier (Verve 10387)
1966 - Indian Giver / It's Just Me (Verve 10435)
1969 - Maybe / There's No Forgetting You (Roul 7064)
1970 - Love Makes All The ..../ I'm Gonna Win Him Back (RCA 74-0347)
1997 - So Real / My Memories Of You (Stoop Sounds 113)
* The Veneers (Annette Swinson Smith, Valerie Swinson, Barbara Joyner, Lorraine Joyner)

Unreleased :
1957 - Tasty Kisses (End)
1958 - I’ve Cried (End)
1959 - Two Loving Hearts (End)
1959 - Miracle Of Love (End)
1959 - Chantel Rock (End)
1961 - Cotton Fields (End)
1966 - From This Moment On (unreleased)
1966 - Lonely Am I (unreleased)
1966 - Lover’s Chant (unreleased)

The Tumemasters
1957 - It's All Over / Sending This Letter (Mark-X 7002)

Willie Wilson & The Tumemasters
1958 - I've Lied / Sending You This Letter (End 1011)

Willie And Arlene And The Tunemasters
1958 - I've Lied / Sending You This Letter (End 1011)

Richard Barrett & The Chantels
1959 - Come Softly To Me / Walkin' Through Dreamland (Gone 5056)
1959 - Summer's Love / All Is Forgiven (Gone 5060)

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Eps :
1958 - Sure Of Love / Prayee / I Love You So / How Could You Call It Off? (End 201)
1958 - Memories Of You / I’ll Walk Alone / C'est Si Bon / Congratulations (End 202)

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Lps:

1958 - We are The Chantels (End LP 301)
Maybe / The Plea / Come My Little Baby / Congratulations / Prayee / He's Gone / I Love You So / Every Night / Whoever You Are / How Could You Call It Off / Sure Of Love / If You Try

1961 - There's Our Song Again (End LP 312)
There's Our Song Again / Never Let Go / Believe Me (My Angel) / C'est Si Bon / Ific / My Darlin' / I'm The Girl / I / My Memories Of You/ / I'll Walk Alone/ I 'm Confessin' / Goodbye To Love

1962 -The Chantels on Tour (Carlton LP 144)
Look In My Eyes / Summertime / Glad To Be Back / Still / Well I Told You / You’ll Never Know / Here It Comes Again (Carlton LP 144)

1964 - The Chantels Sing Their Favorites (Forum Circle LP 9104)
There's Our Song Again / Never Let Go / Believe Me (My Angel) / C'est Si Bon / Ific / I'm The Girl / I / My Memories Of You / I'll Walk Alone / I'm Confessin'

1987 - Arlene Smith & The Chantels (Murray Hill LP 385)
Maybe / If You Try (alternate take) / Prayee / So Real (previously unreleased) / The Plea / I Can't Take It (There's Our Song Again) / Look In My Eyes (Stereo) / Every Night (alternate) / I'm Confessing / Whoever You Are (Stereo) / Goodbye To Love (alternate) / He's Gone / Every Night / Sure Of Love / Congratulations / I'm The Girl (alternate) / I'll Walk Alone / Memories Of You (alternate) / Come My Little Baby / I Love You So / How Could You Call It Off (alternate) / My Darling / Prayee (alternate) / If You Try /Goodbye To Love /Never Let Go / To Live My Life Again (Arlene Smith) / C'est Si Bon / Ific / How Could You Call It Off / Mon Cherie Au Revoir (Arlene) / Two Loving Hearts (unknown group) / I've Lied (Willie & Arlene) /All Is Forgiven (stereo - Richard Barrett & Chantels) / Is It Because (Ronnie Baxter) /Summer's Love (with Barrett) /Come Softly To Me (with Barrett) / Maybe (alternate) / Peruvian Wedding Song (stereo - prev. unreleased)

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Biography:

„One of the very first girl groups, the Chantels are best-known for their 1957 hit "Maybe." Between 1957 and 1963, the trio racked up a number of hit singles, but none of them was ever as popular as "Maybe," which came to be regarded as one of the definitive singles of the genre. All five members of the Chantels - Arlene Smith, Lois Harris, Sonia Goring, Jackie Landry, and Rene Minus  - met as children, when they sang in the choir of Saint Anthony of Padua, a Bronx-area school. Arlene Smith was the leader of the quintet.

Smith wrote all of the group's early material and she was the one who convinced the other girls - whose age ranged between 14 and 17 at the time - to audition for Richard Barrett, a record producer and a member of the doo wop group the Valentines. Barrett signed the band to End Records and produced the Chantels' first single, a Smith song called "He's Gone." Released in the summer of 1957, the single peaked at number 71. However, the group's second single - another Smith composition called "Maybe" - was a smash hit, peaking at number two on the R&B charts and number 15 on the pop charts in early 1958.

"Maybe" sold more copies than its chart position suggests; the single was pirated by several other small record labels and none of those sales were tallied for the final chart position. For the next year, the Chantels tried in vain to deliver a follow-up as successful as "Maybe."  Two hit singles - "Every Night (I Pray)" and "I Love You So" - followed on End Records, but the label dropped them after a handful of other records failed to make an impact. Around that time, Smith left the group to pursue a solo career and Harris had left the group.

The Chantels didn't replace either singer and continued as a trio.In the summer of 1959, the group supported Richard Barrett on his single, "Summer's Love," which peaked at number 29 on the R&B charts. In 1961, the Chantels signed with Carlton Records, where they had two minor pop hits: "Look in My Eyes" and "Well, I Told You."

Carlton dropped the group the following year and the band moved to Ludix, where they had a minor hit with "Eternally" in the spring of 1963. The Chantels continued performing until the end of the decade; they officially disbanded in 1970. A few years later, Arlene Smith re-formed the Chantels, recruiting four new members; the other original members all retired from the entertainment business.

Smith continued to lead various incarnations of the Chantels into the '90s. When she wasn't touring the oldies circuit with the Chantels, Smith worked as a schoolteacher.”
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

http://www.thechantels.com
http://doowopy.de/old/02page/C/eChantels.html
http://www.electricearl.com/dws/chantels.html
http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/the_chantels.html
http://history-of-rock.com/chantels.htm
http://www.classicurbanharmony.net/Barrett%20Legacy%203%20copy%208.pdf

 
Songs :

     
Maybe                                      He's Gone                      Every Night (I Pray)

     
I'll Walk Alone                          The Plea                       Come Softly To Me
 

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