1956 - Is That Exactly What You Wanna Do / Cause I Love You So (Beverly 702)
Biography :
James L.Uzzell, Georges Wooten, Jay Dee Uzell & Lindberg Uzeell are the part of the Kool Toppers that later became The Corsairs (2).
Top Row (Left to right) Leamond Drumgo (Manager), James L.Uzzell, Georges Wooten, Jay Dee Uzell Bottom Row (Left to right) Charles Joyner, Irving B.Perry , James Lewis (Lindberg Uzzell not pictured)
Songs :
Is That Exactly What You Wanna Do Cause I Love You So
Ron Treodway, Rich Kenny, Frankie Adams & Mike Grim
The Emperors (3) (Columbus, OH) aka The Emporers
Personnel :
Frankie Adams (Lead)
Mike Grim
Ron Treodway
Rich Kenny
Discography :
The Emperors (3) 1963 - Steve Allen / Darlin' In The Moonlight (Olimpic 245)
Lattie Moore bb The Emporers 1962 - Skinnie Minnie Shimmy / You Got Me Woundering (Olimpic 4980)
Caleb & The Playboys (7) bb The Emporers 1963 - I'm Yours / See About Me (Olimpic 4575)
Biography :
Olimpic records was formed by Nick Kurlas and Phil Gary for releasing records by himself and his group, the Catalinas. Kay-Gee was a 'subsidiary' label of Olimpic. Olimpic assembled a studio group called The Emperors for backing solo artist consisted of Mike Grim, Ron Treodway and Rich Kenny. They back up in 1962 country singer Lattie Moore on their Olympic's as The Emporers.
Mike Grim, Frankie Adams, Ron Treodway and Rich Kenny
They Joined recording artist Frankie Adams who wrote The "Steve Allen" song and make up the dance to it, everyone knew these talented boys had their own unique style of singing and dancing. (Note on the Olimpic 245)
The Mystics (1) aka The Overons (Brooklyn, New York)
Personnel :
Phil Cracolici (Lead)
Albee Cracolici (Baritone)
George Galfo (Second Tenor)
Bob Ferrante (First Tenor)
Al Contrera (Bass)
Discography :
The Overons 1958 - The Bells Are Ringing (Unreleased) 1958 - Prayer To An Angel (Unreleased) 1958 - Why Do You Pretend (Unreleased) 1958 - Big Brown Eyes (Unreleased)
The Mystics (1) 1959 - Hushabye / Adam and Eve (Laurie 3028) 1959 - Don't Take The Stars / So Tenderly (Laurie 3038) 1959 - Wim O Weh (Unreleased) 1959 - Red Red Robbin (Unreleased) 1959 - In My Faithful Heart (Unreleased) 1959 - All Through The Night / I Began to Think of You (Laurie 3047) 1960 - White Cliffs of Dover / Blue Star (Laurie 3058) 1960 - Star Crossed Lovers / Goodby Mister Blues (Laurie 3086) 1961 - A sunday kind of love / Darling I know now (Laurie 3014) 1965 - In my faithful heart (Unreleased) 1982 - Now The Summer Is Here / Prayer To An Angel (Ambient Sound 02871) N/A - Again (collectables LP 5043) N/A - It's only a paper moon (collectables LP 5043) N/A - Let me steal your heart away (collectables LP 5043) N/A - Over the rainbow (collectables LP 5043) N/A - Save A Dream (Unreleased)
Rusty Lane & The Mystics (1) 1961 - Karen / Come The Day (Laurie 3031)
Judy Allen bb the Mystics (1) 1959 - Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree / Sentimental Me (Laurie 3025)
Scott Garrett bb the Mystics (1) 1959 - Love Story / Graduation Souvenirs (Laurie 3029)
Rusty Lane bb the Mystics (1) 1959 - Karen / Come The Day (Laurie 3031)
Don Press bb the Mystics (1) 1959 - More Than Ever / Ask The Robin (Laurie 3036)
Rocky Hart bb the Mystics (1) 1959 - Come With Me (Cub 9052) Connie Francis bb the Mystics (1) 1964 - Tommy (MGM13237)
Pete and Vinnie bb the Mystics (1) 1963 - Hand Clappin' Time Part 1 / Part 2 (Big Top 3155)
The Tradewinds bb the Mystics (1) 1965 - The Party Starts At Nine / Summertime Girl (Red Bird 3155)
Biography :
The are so many great stories surrounding the great Brooklyn group - the Mystics. How they met, how they had a classic recording snatched away from them, how they bounced back with a huge hit of their own and how they survived over the years as one of those perennial favorites of the doo-wop era of music. Here's the story of this very interesting group. In Brooklyn, there was a group of about 15-20 guys that hung around together singing on the street corner. "It all started when they started doing those rock and roll shows -you, know Alan Freed," recalls Phil Cracolici. "We used to go see the Valentines, Dion and the Belmonts, the Heartbeats, and dance in the aisles with the girls. Afterwards, we'd try to sing like those groups on the way home." Phil says "you know they say that back then there was guys singing on every streetcorner - that wasn't an exaggeration! No matter what street corner you'd go to - there were guys singing."
Out of that group of guys would emerge a number of great doo-wop talents and at least two memorable groups - the Passions and the Mystics. They would later help along the career of a third group - the Classics. And so it is that these three groups will be remembered together forever as the great Brooklyn threesome.
The Mystics came first. It all started around Bay Parkway and Cropsey Avenue they would sing. "Wherever we could get together," remembers Phil. Backstage behind the Lowe's theatre was a favorite because the echo was so good. Among the group of guys were: Tony Armato, Vinnie Acierno, Albie Galione, Nicki Lombardi, John Pungi, Joe Strobel, Allie Contrera, Bob Ferrante, Albie Cracolici, Phil Cracolici, and George Galfo.
Some time around 1957, Contrera, Ferrante, the Cracolicis, Galfo, Armato (who went onto the Passions), and Joe Strobel formed the Overons. They performed a bit and even recorded some unreleased material (see below). But that group split up. The Cracolicis, Contrera, Ferrante and Galfo would continue on under the Overons name.
They tried out for many agents and labels but kept getting rejected. "A lot of people made a lot of promises and took a lot of money from us," recalls George Galfo. Later they would try out at Broadway Studios in the Brill Building and catch the eye of Jim Gribble. "He loved the way we sounded," says Galfo. Phil recalls that Gribble said "I will get you a record contract." Gribble would take the group over to the now famous Laurie Records (Dion and the Belmonts' home) in early 1959 for an audition. "They gave us a contract right there and then," says Phil. Instead of the Overons, they would have to change their name. George Galfo recalls that the group threw possible names into a canister or hat and out came "Mystics" - Contrera's choice. Laurie wheeler-dealers Gene and Bob Schwartz called in the immortal songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman to write the group's first song. And what a great song they wrote. None other than Teenager in Love. The song was so good that Dion heard it and claimed it for his own. And so it was that Teenager in Love was recorded by Dion and the Belmonts and not the Mystics.
The Mystics weren't all that unhappy. "We were just kids, we didn't care. We knew we were going to record," says Phil. The Schwartz's sent Pomus and Shuman (who the guys knew from their neighborhood) back to work and wrote the lovely "Hushabye" in one day! In the vein of the Elegants' Little Star, Hushabye was the classic lullaby transformed into the standard white doo-wop arrangement. Sugar sweet lyrics and harmonies, soft beautiful lead, charming musical score. "We took the subway down to the studios and they started playing it for us on the piano," says Phil. "The Schwartz brothers said 'wow - that's a hit.'" It was released on Laurie in April 1959 and hit number 20. It established the Mystics as one of the premier white doo-wop groups of the time. The bad part for the Mystics was that, at the time the group's song was hitting in New York, they were in the midwest on tour. They couldn't get back in time to promote their subsequent songs. [A side note - there is no truth to the legendary story that Hushabye was also to be a Belmonts tune but that the Belmonts got stuck in a snowstorm and couldn't record it. This song was to be the Mystics from the start]. Following its success, Galfo recalls that "we were in la-la- land." "You just don't know how to appreciate it. It just came so fast and furious. If I could do it over again I would appreciate how it happened." The success of Hushabye generated some memorable shows for the group. Alan Freed's show at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre was incredible - these guys were kids watching the show just a few months earlier and now they are the star. "That was a dream come true," remembers Phil. "You got all your friends in the neighborhood calling out your name." And the group got close to some of the other entertainers at the time like Jackie Wilson and some of the other white doo-wop groups of the time like the Skyliners and Crests. Phil recalls going the first tour after The Day the Music Died when we lost Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. "We went to the same locations, we saw the airport where they took off." Phil also remembers a show where the kids rushed the stage and some girl cut a piece of his hair off. "Good thing it was in the back 'cause I had the big pompadour." The group followed up with the a nice rockin ballad entitled Don't Take the Stars which barely cracked the Top 100.
In 1960, the famous Paul Simon (aka Jerry Landis) would join the group on backup on All Through the Night which didn't make it into the Top 100 but received some nice reviews especially on the East coast. The group followed with three more recordings - Blue Star (keeping in the heavenly doo-wop vein with Jay Traynor on lead), Goodbye Mr. Blues and a remake of the Harptones' Sunday Kind of Love. After their brief six record career, the group disbanded. Throughout the years, there have been many contemporary versions of the group that have kept the Mystics sound and memories alive. In 1982, a version featuring the Cracolicis, Contrera, and Ferrante did a great record for Ambient Sound that included a new version of Hushabye called Hushabye My Darling. A nice tribute to this great Brooklyn group.
Tony & The Technics 1963 - Ha ha He Told You / Workout With A Pretty Girl (Chex 1010)
The Technics 1963 - Because I Really Love You / A Man’s Confession (Chex 1012) 1963 - Hey Girl Don’t Leave Me / I Met Her On The First Of September (Chex 1013)
Tony Ewing 1963 - Every Dog Has His Day / Drum Drum Deeda (Chex 1016)
Biography :
Chex records would have been a distinctly minor footnote in R&b history had it not been for the Volumes catchy and memorable 1962 hit, "I love You". Chex was the Brainchild of Detroiter, Willie "Tony" Ewing, a sharp young producer who fashioned a handful of gritty pre-soul singles on a shoestring budget.
Willie "Tony" Ewing
Donald Richards, A former member of the legendary Twilighters on JVB and Spin, cut "I cried for you"/"Hello Operator" in the winter of 1962. Although Ewing Stated that the Volumes backed Richards on this session (released as Chex 1003), Richards and Ewing both sang with the Twilighters. They waxed "It's a possibility" for Mike Hanks in 1959, then recorded for Chex under the Name "Tony & the Technics" in the Winter of 1963.
"Ha ha He Told You" / "Workout With A Pretty Girl" by Tony & the Technics got good airplay in Detroit. Othea George was Tenor and main lead of the Technics; Willie "Tony" Ewing, first tenor; Gabriel Garrett, Baritone & Bass, and C.Washingtons was the Baritone. Their Next single was "A Man’s Confession" for Chex, then they called themselves the Four Voices on several neat soul 45s for Ewing (the best was "we live in the ghetto") in the mid-sixties.
The group toured Michigan and Canada and was featured on the local club circuit. Don Fileti
The Temptations were the end result of the merging of two groups in 1960. Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Willy Waller, and Kell Osborne, as the Cavaliers, sang in local talent shows with other up-and-coming Birmingham, AL, artists including Frederick Knight, Barbara Lomax (B.T. Express), and Richard Fisher (Jive Five). Kendricks and Williams came to Cleveland, OH, in the late '50s and performed around the area. Williams and Kendricks hooked up with Cleveland natives Paul Hayes and Fred Fluellen but never recorded. With no great haps in Cleveland, manager Milton Jenkins took over the reins and persuaded Williams and Kendricks to move to Detroit.
The Temptations
Kell Osborne joined them in Detroit; it's unclear whether Waller trekked from Birmingham too, but Detroiters don't recall him being on the scene. Jenkins christened the trio the Primes, and named a quartet of teenagers -- comprising Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Betty McGlown -- the Primettes.
T. B. & The Germs 1962 - Jump & Shout (Part I) / Jump & Shout (Part II) (Nite 1004)
Biography :
The group was formed by five young men from Coatesville when they were students at Scott High School – Tommy Bryant, Arnold Runner, Curtis Allen, Nathan Alston and James Toland. They formed the doo wop group because they used to practice music on the streets of Coatesville for fun. The band was originally going by the name, Little Tommy & the Germs, but then they ended up using the Elgins moniker, named after the watches that were manufactured in Elgin, Illinois. Alston and Allen were the guitarists for the band, while Toland, Bryant and Runner performed vocals.
Little Tommy and the Elgins played at many college campuses in Pennsylvania, such as Muhlenberg College and Shippensburg University. Many of the bandstands were at fire stations, so they would play there, and they also played at some venues in New Jersey. One the band’s biggest concerts was at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City in the summer of 1962, and many of their fans from Coatesville made the trip out to the shore to see them play. The concert was also broadcast in black and white on Grady and Hurst’s “Summertime on the Pier” television show.
Little Tommy and the Elgins’ two most well-known hit songs are “I Walk On” and “Never Love Again.” The band had record deals with three companies for these songs: Elmar, ABC-Paramount and Sparton. Their first band manager under Elmar Records was a man named Billy Jackson, from Philadelphia, who was a founding member of another doo wop band called The Re-Vels. The Same years, Nate Alston composed “Jump & Shout“ (Part I & II) released as the Elgins on Nite and as T. B. & the Germs…
The Laurels (7) (McKeesport, Pa.) aka The Pennants
Personnel :
Bob Gaynor (Lead)
Fred Hulme (First Tenor)
Dick Muse (Second Tenor)
Noel Schwertfeger (Baritone)
Nick Ticich (Bass)
Discography:
The Pennants
Singles : 1961 - Don't Go / Workin' Man (World 102) Unreleased : 1961 - Darling How Long (Word)
The Laurels (7)
Singles : 1989 - Don't Go / Darling How Long (World 102) Unreleased : 1960 - Every Minute of the Day / Lips of Fire (Willett)
Discography :
Fred Hulme, Dick Muse, Nick Ticich, Noel Schwertfeger and Bob Gaymor from McKeesport, Pennsylvania dubbed themselves the Laurels, and by 1957 were doing campus gigs, and expanded to local clubs and hops. Their first trip to the Pittsburgh region was a performance at the White Elephant in 1958. During the show, DJ Tom Nee introduced the group to Harry Latanzio, the owner of Harry's Danceland in Latrobe.
The Laurels were signed to open there for national acts like The Coasters and Freddy Cannon. That led to bookings at the Veterans Club of McKeesport, where they got the audience pumped for the likes of Pookie Hudson and The Spaniels. Latanzio then hooked the guys up with Elmer Willett. Willett owned the Vogue Terrace club and ran a local label, Willett Records, out of Carnegie. The Laurels taped "Every Minute of the Day" and "Lips of Fire" for Willett, but he never released them.
But Lennie Martin and Lou Guarino at World Records liked their sound, and issued "Working Man" b/w "Don't Go" in 1960. They credited it to the Pennants for still unexplained reasons. Muse, an English major, received his B.A. in 1960. The Laurels disbanded after graduation to deal with the real world, and he went on to a teaching career.
The Primettes 1961 - Tears of Sorrows / Pretty baby (Lu pine 120)
Al Garner & the Primettes 1966 - All i need is you (Relic LP 8008)
Biography :
Founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1959, The Supremes began as a quartet called The Primettes. Founding members Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Betty McGlown, all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit, formed The Primettes as the sister act to The Primes (with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who would go on to form The Temptations).
Barbara Martin replaced McGlown in 1960, and the group signed with Motown the following year as The Supremes. Martin left the act in early 1962, and Ross, Ballard and Wilson carried on as a trio. http://www.answers.com/topic/the-primettes
1961 - To Love in Vain / The Beginning of Love (Fraternity 889 / Saxony 2003) N/A - Little Baby (Saxony) (Unreleased) N/A - That's the Way (Saxony) (Unreleased) N/A - The Prayer (Saxony) (Unreleased)
Biography :
The members of the Twi-Lighters met in the military with Fred Martin at lead, joined by Joe Indelicato, Lynn Holthaus and Ed Breamer. The Twi-Lighters favored close harmony and could "rumble" with any doo-wop group of the day.
Their first release, "To Love in Vain," was written by Paul Trefzger and released on the Fraternity label in October of 1961 (Fraternity 889). That track and its flip "The Beginning of Love," were recorded by Paul and Bud at a small Cincinnati studio in Mariemont, and received reasonable airplay, leading to The Twi-Lighters working a TV dance party and record hop appearances.
That success gave Paul and Bud the confidence to establish Saxony Records.
Gene Bricker (Second Tenor) & after Walt Maddox (Second Tenor)
Richard Knauss (Baritone) & after Allen Johnson (Baritone)
Fred Johnson (Bass)
Discography : The Marcels (2) 1961 - Blue Moon / Goodbye To Love (Colpix 186) 1961 - Summertime / Teeter Totter Love (Colpix 196) 1961 - Blue Moon (LP CP-416) 1961 - Goodbye To Love (LP CP-416) 1961 - Sweet Was The Wine (LP CP-416) 1961 - Peace Of Mind (LP CP-416) 1961 - A Fallen Tear (LP CP-416) 1961 - Over The Rainbow (LP CP-416) 1961 - I'll Be Forever Loving You (LP CP-416) 1961 - Two People In The World (LP CP-416) 1961 - Most Of All (LP CP-416) 1961 - Teeter Totter Love (LP CP-416) 1961 - Sunday Kind Of Love (LP CP-416) 1961 - Crazy Bells (LP CP-416) 1961 - You Are My Sunshine / Find Another Fool (Colpix 606) 1961 - Heartaches / My Love For You (Colpix 606612) 1961 - Don't Cry For Me This Christmas / Merry Twist-mas (Colpix 606617) 1961 - My Melanchy Baby / Really Need Your Love (Colpix 606624) 1962 - Footprints In The Sand / Twistin' Fever (Colpix 606629) 1962 - Flowerpot / Hold Up (Colpix 606640) 1962 - Loved Her The Whole Week Through / Friendly Loans (Colpix 606651) 1962 - All Right, Okay, You Win / Lollipop Baby (Colpix 606665) 1963 - That Old Black Magic / Don't Turn Your Back On Me (Colpix 606683) 1963 - Give Me Back Your Love / I Wanna Be The Leader (Colpix 606687) 1963 - One Last Kiss / Teeter Totter Love (Colpix 606694) 1964 - How Deep Is The Ocean / Lonely Boy (888/101) 1967 - Letter Full Of Tears / Tell Me (Chartbound 009) 1973 - In The Still Of The Night / High On A Hill (Queen Bee 4) 1975 - That Lucky Old Sun / Peace Of Mind (St Clair 1371) 1978 - Blue Moon / Clap Your Hands (When I Clap My Hands) (All Ears 810085) 1986 - Blue Heartaches (Murray Hill 000229)) 1986 - Loved Her The Whole Week Through (Murray Hill 000229) 1986 - Friendly Loans (Murray Hill 000229)
Walt Maddox & The Marcels (2) 1982 - A Letter Full Of Tears /How Do You Speak To An Angel (Super 232) 1983 - Blue Moon / Send In The Clowns (Walt Maddox) (Super M 30427)
Biography :
The Marcels were a successful racially integrated doo-wop group known for turning beloved American classical pop songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss.
The group was named by Fred Johnson's younger sister Priscilla, after a popular hair style of the day (the Marcell wave). In 1961 many were shocked to hear a new version of the ballad, "Blue Moon" that began with the bass singer saying, "bomp-baba-bomp" and "dip-da-dip." Still, the record sold a million copies and is featured in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The disc climbed all the way to number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. In their U.S. homeland, additional revivals in the same vein as "Blue Moon" - "Heartaches" and "Melancholy Baby" - were less successful, although the former peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually sold over one million copies worldwide. The group had two other singles that hit No. 78 and No. 58 on the same chart.
In August 1961, due to problems encountered in the Deep South while touring because of the group being bi-racial, the white members, Knauss and Bricker left and were replaced by Allen Johnson (brother of Fred) and Walt Maddox. Mundy left soon after, leaving the group a quartet.
In 1962, Harp and Allen Johnson left, and were replaced by Richard Harris and William Herndon. There was a brief reunion of the original members in 1973. The group made several recordings in 1975 with Harp back on lead.
Original member Gene Bricker died in 1983. Allen Johnson died in 1995. By the early 1990s the group included Johnson, Maddox, Harris, Jules Hopson, and Richard Merritt.
The group split around 1995. Fred Johnson formed his own group with new members, while the other four members recruited new bass Ted Smith. Maddox won a lawsuit against Sunny James Svetnic, the manager of Johnson's group, for trademark infringement in 1996. Svetnic died in 2002. Johnson reunited with Harp, Mundy, and Knauss in 1999 for the PBS special Doo Wop 50 with a fifth member.
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Top Row (Left to right) Leamond Drumgo (Manager), James L.Uzzell, Georges Wooten, Jay Dee Uzell
