The Four Haven Knights (New Haven, Connecticut)
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

Personnel :

Leroy Griffin "Gomez"

Robert Johnson

Thomas Griffin

Everett Johnson

Carl Haley


Discography:

The Four Haven Knights
1957 - In My Lonely Room / I'm Just A Dreamer (Atlas 1066 / Josie 824)

The Haven Knights
1958 - Why Go On Pretending / Just To Be In Love (Atlas 1092)

Biography :

Hailing from New Haven, CT,  the original Nutmegs -- lead Leroy Griffin, Sonny Griffin  Dieder Cobb, and a second Leroy Griffin (yes, there were two men with the same exact name) who later became Leroy Gomez , all sang together with other members: Walter Singleterry, Bill Emery, and Gomez's brother Thomas Griffin -- moving in and out of the lineup. The group performed on the street corners of New Haven, especially Webster and Dixon Streets, where Jimmy "Co Co" Tyson was asked to join the key lineup and soon they were a quintet.. The Nutmegs fragmented again and some of the members left to form a group of their own, the Lyres. The Gomez brothers formed the Four Haven Knights.

The group consisted of Leroy Gomez, Robert Johnson, Thomas Griffin,  Everett Johnson and  Carl Haley . In 1956, The Four Haven Knights signing a recording contract with Tommy Robinson's Atlas Records. The manaager Atlas Files show Robinson leased two missing Haven Knights's Sides to Buchanan and Goldman's Eldorado label in the fall of '56; unfortunately, no discs or tapes have ever surfaced. First single was a "In My Lonely Room" b/w "I'm Just A Dreamer" in July, 1957 (Later leased to Josie Records), followed by the poignant "Just To Be In Love" b/w "Why Go On Pretending?" in August 1958.

Tommy Robinson's Harlem-based Atlas Records didn't produce many national hits during its seven-year run in the '50s, but as an independent black-owned label that functioned as an integral part of the local community, it provided a model for later black-owned labels like Detroit's Motown Records. Robinson started Atlas in 1951 and initially recorded a series of saxophone-dominated R&B sides, but increasingly began featuring vocal groups, often with solid regional success. By the mid-'50s, Robinson focused more on his Angle Tone Records imprint, and Atlas was no longer an active label by 1958.

Songs :

   
     Just To Be In Love                         Why Go On Pretending?


   
In My Lonely Room                          I'm Just A Dreamer

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