The Gallahads (2)

The Gallahads (2) (Seattle, Wa)
ref The Gallahads (3) aka the Chants (2)

 

Personnel :

Bobby Dixon (First Tenor/Lead)

Jimmy Pipkin (First Tenor/Lead)

"Tiny" Tony Smith (Second Tenor)

Clifton James (Baritone/Tenor)

Ernie Rouse (Bass)


Discography :

The Gallahads (2)
1960 - Gone / So Long (Nite Owl 20)
1960 - Lonely Guy / Jo Jo The Big Wheel (Del-Fi 4137/Donna 1322)
1961 - Be Fair / I'm Without A Girlfriend (Del-Fi 4148)
1961 - Why Do Fool Fall In Love / Gone (Rendezvous 153)

Jimmy Pipkin & The Gallahads (3) aka The Chants (2)
1962 - This Letter To You / The Answer To Love (Donna 1361)

The Gallahads (3) aka The Chants (2)
1964 - Keeper Of Dreams / Sad Girl (Beechwood 3000)

Jimmy Pipkin's Gallahads (2)
1964 - My Offering / Have Love Will Travel (Sea Crest 6005)

Biography :

The Gallahads -- led by Jimmy Pipkin -- are best remembered for "Lonely Guy," an enormous smash hit in 1960. Lead vocalist Pipkin, Bobby Dixon (first tenor and lead), "Tiny" Tony Smith (second tenor), and bass man Ernie Rouse formed this vocal group in Seattle, WA, in 1952, while they were still in junior high. At first they called themselves the Echoes, but by the time they traveled to L.A. to record for Del-Fi Records and the Donna subsidiary, they were calling themselves the Gallahads. The group had only few releases , but each had enormous impact. Their first single, "Lonely Guy," was released on both the Del-Fi and Donna labels, almost simultaneously. It proved to become an enormous smash, charting between June and September of 1960 and peaking at number nine in the Top Ten. In Los Angeles, it spent ten weeks at number one on the KFWB Fabulous Forty, the number one station in town. It also charted at number 111 on the national pop charts.

1959 (At the Birdland Club) L to R : Joe Hardy, Bobby Dixon, Tony Smith, Clifton James and Jimmy Pipkin.

By the time of their next release, the Gallahads' lineup had changed a little bit: joining lead singer Pipkin and Ernie Rouse were fellow Seattlite Ray Robinson and L.A.-based doo wop/R&B musician/arranger/producer Charles Wright, who also worked with label-head Bob Keane as an A&R man and produced and arranged recordings by Little Caesar & the Romans and other acts. The A-side, "Be Fair," was sung in classic doo wop style and generated a bit of controversy because the story involved a blind boy ("it's no fun being blind") crossing the street with his girl friend who realizes that while his girl is "holding my hand, she's kissing my best friend." It's not clear who objected to the song, but the single hit another snag regardless. Disc jockey Alan Freed, whose radio show was broadcast on L.A.'s KDAY in 1960, failed to compensate the Gallahads for a few scheduled appearances, so they signed a complaint with AFTRA (a musician's union). Freed not only dropped the record but influenced fellow DJ Dick Clark to do the same, and it quickly fell off the charts.

  
The Gallahads (1974) L to R : Ernie Rouse, Jimmy Pipkin (at top), "Tiny Tony" Smith, Charles Sampson.

Pipkin's final Gallahads single failed to earn them airplay as well and the original group soon split up. Jimmy Pipkin then based in California picked up a vocal group called The Chants. This group  hailed from San Pedro, California. Members included Arthur Lee Sprewell,Elliott Sprewell, Tyrone Sprewell, Lewis Booker, Eugene Booker, and Mack Givens. The Chants had already recorded  "Heaven And Paradise" b/w "When I'm With You" release en 1960 by Night Owl Records and probably in 1959, "The Graveyard Hop" b/w "A Thousand Miles In My Path" on the Big Moment Label. Label copied as Jimmy Pipkin & The Gallahads. The Chants recorded "This Letter To You" and "The Answer To Love" on Donna Records. The "Answer To Love" is a typical Pipkin ballad and sticks to The Gallahads' trademark sound. In fact, The Chants could almost be taken as a Gallahads clone. In 1964, Chuck Markulis, who owned the rights to the Gallahads name, produced two Gallahads sides for the Beechwood label, "Keeper Of Dreams" backed with "Sad Girl" But it's still the Chants recorded the Songs.  Meanwhile, the Gallahads name resurfaced again in 1964 with "My Offering," this time with Billy Burns on lead vocal and a white teen band called the Counts backing them up. The Seattle-based Pipkin continued to perform with an oldies version of the Gallahads.

Songs :

The Gallahads (2)

     
Gone                               So Long                                 Lonely Guy

     
Jo Jo The Big Wheel                     Be Fair                  I'm Without A Girlfriend


Why Do Fool Fall In Love


Jimmy Pipkin & The Gallahads (3) aka the Chants (2)

  
This Letter To You             The Answer To Love

The Gallahads (3) aka the Chants (2)

  
Keeper Of Freams                    Sad Girl

 
Jimmy Pipkin's Gallahads (2)

  
My Offering             Have Love Will Travel

..