Doo Wop - Rhythm & Blues

The Innocents aka The Echoes (5)

Posted on January 31 2010 by dion1

The Innocents aka The Echoes (5) (Los Angeles)

Personnel :

Al Candelaria

Darron Stankey

Jim West

Discography :

Singles :

The Echoes (5)
1962 - Time / Dee Dee Di Oh (Andex 22102)

The Innocents
1960 - Tick Tock / The Rat (instrumental) (Trans World 7001)
1960 - Honest I Do / My Baby Hully Gullys (Indigo 105) 
1960 - Gee Whiz / Please Mr. Sun (Indigo 111) 
1961 - Kathy / In the Beginning (Indigo 116)
1961 - Beware / Because I Love You So (Indigo 124) 
1961 - Donna / You Got Me Goin' (Indigo 128) 
1961 - Pains in My Heart / When I Become a Man (Indigo 132)
1962 - Time / Dee Dee Di Oh (Indigo 141)
1962 - Oh How I Miss My Baby / Be Mine (Reprise 20112) 
1963 - Oh How I Miss My Baby / You're Never Satisfied (Reprise 201125)
1963 - Come On Lover / Don't Cry (Decca 31519)

EP:
1961 - Honest I Do / I Believe in You / Chiquita / Gee Whiz (Indigo EP 1000)

Album :
1961 - Honest I Do / Chiquita / Walking Along / Once In A While / Please Mr. Sun / Girl Of My Dreams / Gee Whiz / Hog For You / It Was A Tear / Donna / My Baby Hully Gullys / I Believe In You (LP Indigo 503)

Unreleased :
N/A - Little Blue Star (Indigo) (Unreleased)
N/A - Sleeping Beauty (Indigo) (Unreleased)
N/A - Time Makes You Change (Indigo) (Unreleased)
N/A - Two Young Hearts (Indigo) (Unreleased)
N/A - I Know A Valley (Indigo) (Unreleased)

Biography :

The Innocents -- James West (lead), Al Candelaria (bass), and Darron Stankey (tenor/guitarist) -- were a smooth harmonizing West Coast pop group from San Fernando Valley CA, whose most successful record was accompanying Kathy Young as Kathy Young & the Innocents on "A Thousand Smiles" (1960 Indigo Records, number three pop/number six R&B).

Kathy Young was the ripe old age of 15 at the time. The trio were friends and members of a local car club name "The Innocents." The artists met at Wink Martindale's local television dance show, where the Innocents were lip-syncing their current single; Indigo producer Jim Lee suggested they record together after talking to Young and her mom at the taping.

The Revileers, a black New York doo wop group, recorded the original "A Thousand Eyes" six years earlier. That connection caused many to mislabel the Innocents as a doo wop group; nothing could be further from the truth.

Solo, the Innocents cut their first single in 1959 as the Echos (West and Stankey) on Andrex Records;

West was brought along to sing he high harmony parts. With the addition of West, the Echos became the Innocents (after the car club) after first rejecting "the Hubcaps". They then inked a deal with Indigo for their first hit "Honest I Do" (number 28 pop) in 1960. That same year, Trans World Records dumped a previously cut track by them, "Tick Tock," on the streets.

Indigo answered with their smash hit with Kathy Young. They rose up the charts again in 1961 with "Gee Whiz" (number 28 pop/ number 11 R&B), and had an LP release Innocently Yours in 1961; its cover, depicting them peering through prison bars, was voted one the 1000 best album covers of all time.

Indigo followed with "Kathy" after Kathy Young but it floundered, and seven singles later they hit an impenetrable wall. The non-sellers include two Reprise singles, a Decca 45, and one Warner Brothers' single. While three other singles charted, they trolled the bottom rungs of the charts.

With Kathy Young they scored two more modest hits: "Happy Birthday Blues" and "Magic Is the Night" (both released in 1961) but six subsequent singles stiffed.

Not only did the Innocents back Kathy Young, they reportedly performed on half the recordings Indigo released. They disbanded in 1964 but their short run was exciting and fulfilling. They appeared on all the top teen shows, and shared stages with hot pop acts like Jan & Dean, Chubby Checker, and others.

Starfire Records released Our Best to You in 1981; the album features the Innocents on one side and Kathy Young on the other. That same year James West had a solo album on Atlantic Records, which preceded their reuniting in 1984 to cut four spanking new tracks; but the timing was bad and they went nowhere. West continued in the music, doing everything from surf music to harmonies to ock & roll on many sessions.

Al Candelaria worked as a session guitarist. All the members are all alive and doing well and like many acts from the '60s, they re-grouped in the '90s for oldie shows, appearing at venues with Kathy Young, the Penguins, Rosie & the Originals, and many others. Ace released the Innocents Complete Indigo Recordings in 1992

~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide

http://www.electricearl.com/dws/innocents.html
http://www.destinationdoowop.com/innocents.htm
http://www.theinnocentsmusic.com/
http://www.colorradio.com/innocents.htm

Songs :


Because I Love you               Pain In My Heart


Beware                               I Know A Valley


Chiquita                              Sleeping Beauty

Cd :

MP3 :

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Rickey & Jennell

Posted on January 28 2010 by dion1

Rickey & Jennell (Los Angeles, California)
(By Hans-Joachim)

Personnel :

Richard Berry

Jennell Hawkins

Discography:

1954 - Each Step / This Time Is Real (Flair 1033)

Biography:

Rickey & Jennell were the male-female duo of Richard Berry and his friend Jennell Hawkins, who put out one single on Flair in 1954, "Each Step"/"This Time It's Real." Both sides were routine doo wop duets - "Each Step" a ballad, "This Time It's Real" in the more uptempo R&B vein - and have been reissued on the Richard Berry compilation Yama Yama! The Modern Recordings 1954-1956.

Berry, of course, was just at the start of a career that would find him issuing many R&B and rock & roll records as a solo artist, most famously on the original version of "Louie, Louie" in 1957.
Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

http://www.louielouie.net/03-richardberry.htm
http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/JennellHawkins.htm

Songs:

Each Step This Time Is Real

...

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The Three Chuckles aka the Chuckles (2)

Posted on January 24 2010 by dion1

The Three Chuckles aka the Chuckles (2) (Brooklyn, NewYork)

Personnel :

Tommy Romano (Vocal,Guitar)

Tommy "Russ" Gilberto (Vocal,Bass)

Teddy Randazzo (Vocal, Accordion)

Discography :

The Three Chuckles
1953 - Runaround / At Last You Understand (Boulevard 100 /"X"0066/Jubilee 5490)
1955 - Foolishly / If You Should Love Again ("X"0095)
1955 - So Long / You Should Have Told Me ("X"0134)
1955 - Blue Lover / Realize ("X"0150)
1955 - Still Thinking Of You / Times Two, I Love You ("X"0162)
1955 - The Funny Little Things We Used To Do / Anyway ("X"0186/Vik 0186)
1956 - Tell Me / And The Angels Sing ("X"0194/Vik 0194)
1956 - Gypsy In My Soul / We're Still Holding Hands ("X"0216/Vik 0216)
1956 - Midnight Till Dawn / Fall Out Of Love (Vik 0232)
1956 - We're Gonna Rock Tonight / Won't You Give Me A Chance (Vik 0244)
1956 - To Each His Own (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - Solitude (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - In The Still Of The Night (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - It's Been A Long, Long Time (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - How Deep Is The Ocean (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - Red Sails In The Sunset (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - Maybe You'll Be There (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - Where Or when (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - These Foolish Things (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - Marta (LP Vik LX-1067)
1956 - I Only Have Eyes For You (LP Vik LX-1067)

The Chuckles (2)
1961 - Runaround / Lonely traveler (ABC 10276)

Biography :

The Three Chuckles sounds like an improbable name for a rock 'n' roll act, and to hear their sound and see them in action in one of the handful of movies in which they appeared -- Rock, Rock, Rock (which was shot in the Bronx, New York) --

they seem an equally unlikely group to be designated a rock 'n' roll act at all. They were more of a harmony pop trio who happened to be young enough to "pass" for a rock 'n' roll act at a time when that designation was a little less well defined than it finally became. Tommy Romano (vocals, guitar) and Tommy Gilberto, aka Russ Gilberto (vocals, bass) hailed from Red Hook, Brooklyn in New York City, and linked up with accordionist Phil Bentl to form the Three Chuckles, the name derived from a popular candy bar of the early 1950's. This all pre-dated rock 'n' roll, and the group established themselves in clubs, lounges, and bowling alleys up and down the East Coast well before the new music was heard by a mass white audience.

They were contemporaries of the Four Lovers and other Italian pop-vocal ensembles of the period, and were obviously good, because they were so busy that it cost them their keyboard man, Bentl deciding he didn't want to spend so much time on the road. The group found a successor in then 15-year-old Teddy Randazzo, more than a decade younger than Romano and Gilberto but already a fine player on the accordion. It was this version of the group that, following a gig in New Jersey, were handed a song called "Run Around" by its author, a truck driver named Cinino Colacrais.

A couple of years later, when they got their first opportunity to make a record, they remembered the song, and it was cut as the B-side of "At Last You Understand". Issued on Boulevard -- the newly-christened pop imprint of the r&b-oriented Great Lakes label -- the record was good enough to be bought out (along with the trio contract) by RCA Victor; it then got flipped over and the B-side slightly revised as "Runaround", and made it to the number 20 spot on the national charts.

The Three Chuckles were suddenly an act with a following far beyond the East Coast, and Randazzo, who'd sung lead on the hit, had emerged as the group's featured vocalist at the age of 17. He would soon emerge as a songwriter as well, initially in collaboration with Colacrais on their second single A-side, "Foolishly", which didn't hit. Their single "Times Two, I Love You" became a minor chart entry, and after that they were moved over to the label's Vik imprint, which had started out as an r&b-oriented label in the early 1950's. And it was there that they topped the charts with "And The Angels Sing", a pop vocal piece with a beat and some emphatic electric guitar, which led to their recording an entire self-titled LP.

By this time, their sound was rock 'n' roll of a sophisticated sort, nicely harmonized and elegant but with Randazzo's lead singing and their choice of repertory achieving a kind of white soulfulness that qualified -- or if it didn't, it was a short jump to doing so, and kids did eat up their records; their original LP reportedly sold 400,000 copies, a figure that one could easily doubt (although if the figure was even an sixth of that, it would be a remarkable achievement for a rock 'n' roll act of the period). In any case, they were good enough to attract the attention of deejay/impresario Alan Freed, who put them into Rock, Rock, Rock in 1956 --

Freed made a point, however, to also give Randazzo a featured spot on his own in the movie. That move, which immortalized the group on film, also spelled their end. Soon after the release of the movie, Randazzo decided that it was time for him to leave the fold for a career on his own. He went on to fulfill all of the promise that those early sides showed, working for a time as a singer and then turning to songwriting and producing and enjoying decades of success. The Three Chuckles soldiered on for a time with Jackie Farrell as the third member, but it was soon apparent that their moment and time had passed.

They never recorded after Randazzo left, and had broken up by 1958, though Tommy Romano remained in the business into the 1970's, and eventually formed a duo with Karen Gayle, working as A Chuckle And A Chicklet. Their sound today seems like a lost trail in the history of rock 'n' roll, most of it not quite hot enough to fit in, but just passionate and soulful enough to qualify. In 1997, Collectables Records issued Golden Classics, an 18-song collection that showed off the group's range to great advantage.

Teddy Randazzo

Those late sides, including "And The Angels Sing", "Gypsy In My Soul" and "We're Gonna Rock Tonight" -- the latter as suggestive a piece as any white group ever did, rivaling "Rock Around The Clock" (its obvious model) and Chuck Berry's "Reelin' And Rockin'" -- show their harder sound and are worth the price of admission.

Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/TRobit.htm

Videos :

Won't You Give Me a Chance

Cinnamon Sinner

We're Gonna Rock Tonight

Thanks To You

Songs :

And The Angels Sing Gypsy In My Soul

At Last You Understand Times Two, I Love You

Runaround Foolishly

Cd :

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The Hi-Lites (10) aka The Joytones aka The Joy-Tones

Posted on January 21 2010 by dion1

The Joytones (New York)
aka The Hi-Lites (10) aka The Joy-Tones

Personnel :

Lucille "Vicki" Burgess (Lead)

Estelle Harper

Margaret Moore

Discography :

The Joytones
1956 - You Just Won't Treat Me Right / All My Love Belongs To You (Rama 191) 
1956 - Gee What A Boy / Is This Really The End (Rama 202)  
1956 - My Foolish Heart / Jimbo Jango (Rama 215)

The Joy-Tones
1965 - This Love (That I'm Giving You) / I Wanna Party Some More (Coed 600)

The Hi-Lites (10)
1958 - Please Believe I Love You / Sweet And Lovely (Reno 1030)

Biography :

In 1955, after some singles with the Charmers, Vikki Burgess joins with Myrna Hamilton and Renee Stewart and form a group called The Solirettes and are signed to top New York independent label Old Town Records. All of the efforts by the group remain unreleased and The Solirettes become a dim memory of the time. Burgess now forms another group with Margaret Moore and Estelle Harper and call themselves The Joytones. They are soon signed to record for George Goldner's Rama Records, and in March of 1956 "All My Love Belongs To You" (originally by The Hearts on Baton) and "You Just Won't Treat Me Right" on Rama #191 is released.

The Charmers

During that summer Barbara Brown replaces Estelle Harper, and The Joytones second record for Rama is released. The songs "Gee What A Boy" and "Is This Really The End?" are released on Rama#202. The record is pushed nationally by Rama hoping for "Boy" to click with the teenage listening public, but that does not happen. There is another personnel change within the group when Lynn Middleton replaces Barbara Brown before the group's third release for Rama.

In spring of 1957 Rama #215 features "My Foolish Heart" and "Jimbo Jango" which turns out to be the last record by The Joytones. Like the others it does not garner great airplay or sales.By 1958 Vikki Burgess, Lynn Middleton, and Margaret Moore determine that maybe a name change is in order and so The Joytones now become The Hi-Lites and have one record release for the small indie label Reno Records in 1958.

The songs are "Sweet And Lovely" and "Please Believe I Love You" on #1030. In short order The Hi-Lites were also part of the great memory bank of the 1950s.The Joytones would reappear on record in 1965 in the middle of Motown and the British Invasion with "This Love" and "I Wanna Party Some More" recorded for Coed Records and released on #600.

A few years later a group called Love Potion comprised of (surprise !) Vikki Burgess, Margaret Moore, and Lynn Middleton, release "This Love", the same take as by The Joytones in 1965. The song is released on TCB #1601 in 1968. One year later the same song is released as by Love Potion on Kapp #979.

Songs :

The Joytones


You Just Won't Treat Me Right All My Love Belongs To You      Gee What A Boy


Is This Really The End     My Foolish Heart    Jimbo Jango

The Joy-Tones

I Wanna Party Some More      This Love (That I'm Giving You)

The Hi-Lites (10)


Please Believe I Love You                 Sweet And Lovely

...

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The Mel-O-Dots

Posted on January 16 2010 by dion1

The Mel-O-Dots (New York)

Personnel :

Earl "Ricky" Wells (Lead)

Pat Ross (First tenor)

Robby Wells

Robert Adams

Discography :

Singles :
1952 - Just How Long / One More Time (Apollo 1192)

Unreleased :
1952 - Rock Me Baby (Apollo)
1952 - Baby Won't You Pease Come Home (Apollo)

Biography :

The Mel-O-Dots recorded four sides for apollo on March 17, 1952. Apparently this was their first and last visit to Apollo's facilities. Titles are “Just How Long” featuring Pat Ross, and “One More Time” featuring Ricky Wells.

The Other two songs "Baby won't you please come home" and "Rock me Baby" were not issued until Relic's Apollo series of Lps released these Gems in the 1990s. Earl "Ricky" Wells & Robby Wells had both been in Deek Watson's second Brown Dots group on Manor and The Mystery Quartette.

Songs :


One More Time                                Rock Me Baby

             Just How Long                       Baby Won't You Pease Come Home

...

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The Plants (1)

Posted on January 15 2010 by dion1

The Plants (1) (Baltimore, Maryland)

Personnel :

George Jackson (Lead)

Steve McDowell (First Tenor)

James Lawson (Baritone)

Thurmon Thrower (Bass)

Discography :

The Plants (1)
1957 - Dear I Swear / It's You (J&S 1602)
1958 - From Me / My Girl (J&S 1617 / 1618)

George Jackson (backed by the Unisons)
1962 - Watching The Rainbow / Miss Frankenstein (Lescay 3006)

The Plants (2) (Different group)
1959 - I Searched The Seven Seas / I Took A Trip Way Over The Sea (J&S 248/249)

Biography :

Baltimore doo wop quartet the Plants formed in 1955. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the December 1976 issue of Yesterday's Memories, the group was founded by lead George Jackson, first tenor Steve McDowell, bass Thurman Thrower, and baritione James Lawson, longtime friends who grew up in the same neighborhood. Originally dubbed the Equadors, in early 1957 they auditioned for J&S Records owner Zell Sanders backstage during a Moonglows concert at Baltimore's Royal Theater. Sanders agreed on the spot to manage the group, changing their name to the Plants in the process. Their debut single, "Dear I Swear," followed on J&S that autumn.

The Plants with Dickie "Piano" Williams

The record proved a local hit but failed to catch on nationally, despite appearances throughout the East Coast as well as a guest shot on the famed Baltimore TV showcase The Buddy Dean Show. "From Me" followed in the spring of 1958, and when it too failed to make an impression at radio, the Plants dissolved. In 1959, Zell got another group, called them the Plants and had them record "I Searched The Seven Seas"/"I Took A Trip Way Over The Sea." A year later, Sanders assembled a new Plants lineup (personnel unknown) for "I Searched the Seven Seas." In 1962 George Jackson surfaced as a solo act with the Lescay label single "Watching the Rainbow."
Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Plants/plants.html

Songs :

The Plants (1)

My Girl From Me It's You

Dear I Swear

George Jackson (backed by the Unisons)


Watching The Rainbow           Miss Frankenstein

The Plants (2) (Different group)


I Searched The Seven Seas I Took A Trip Way Over The Sea

...

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Johnny & The Kings (4) aka Johnny & The Tokens (3) aka A Pair Of Kings aka The Grace Notes

Posted on January 14 2010 by dion1

1961 - Johnny & The Tokens At the Palisades Park

Johnny & The Tokens (3) (Brooklyn, New York)
aka Johnny & The Kings (4)
aka A Pair Of Kings
aka The Grace Notes

Personnel :

John Guiffre (Lead)

Jimmy "Sims" Smith

Jerry Vance

John Truscelli

Discography :

The Grace Notes
Unreleased :
1957 - Send Me An Angel / First Love

A Pair Of Kings
1959 - Once / The Monster (RCA 7659)
1960 - Just Two Guys / I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight (Warwick 608)
1961 - Ev'rytime / Just Two Guys (Warwick 647)

Johnny & The Tokens (3)
1961 - The Taste Of A Tear / Never Till Now (Warwick 658)

Johnny & The Kings (4)
1961 - The Taste Of A Tear / Never Till Now (Warwick 658)

Biography :

Jerry Vance attended James Madison H.S. with Barry Mann. Jerry played alto sax in the H.S. dance band. In 1956 his senior year, Jerry joined a group called the Grace Notes. Jimmy "Sims" Smith sang lead and two other members were John Guiffre and a girl. The group wrote, produced and arranged their session at Nola Studios. The demo was unmarketable and the group soon broke up. Jimmy and Jerry stayed together and met an independent producer who recorded them at Long Island studio, doing two songs which were unreleased; On both sides, singing background was a young girl named Ellie Greenwich.

Johnny & The Tokens (3) aka Johnny & The Kings (4) aka A Pair Of Kings aka The Grace Notes

A Pair Of Kings

The fellows were becoming disenchanted when they met Howie Epstein, John McCarthy and Terry Phillips. Howie got the group an audition with RCA. As "A Pair Of Kings", Jerry and Jimmy recorded "The Monster". A pair Of Kings moved to Morty Craft's Warwick label, keeping their RCA Name. After two releases, John Guiffre rejoined the group after getting out of the service. With a four member named John Truscelli, they released "The Taste Of A Tear" b/w "Never Till Now" as Johnny & The Kings.

Johnny & The Tokens (3) aka Johnny & The Kings (4) aka A Pair Of Kings aka The Grace Notes
1960 - Johnny & The Kings

In 1961, The Tokens were one of the hottest and most talented groups in early 60s. kicking things off with "Tonight i Fell In Love" on the Warwick Label. Big boy RCA-Victor came up with a big money offer, and the Tokens jumped over There, immediately hitting #1 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". their phenomenal career took all from there.

Johnny & The Tokens (3) aka Johnny & The Kings (4) aka A Pair Of Kings aka The Grace Notes
1961 - Johnny & The Tokens At the Palisades Park

Morty Craft of Warwick was not happy about losing these moneymakers and reacted by changing the Name of Johnny & The Kings into Johnny & The Tokens (his label had done extremely well with Johnny & The Hurricanes) . They were good enough to make a brief appearance on the national chart. This name was never used again.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

A Pair Of Kings


     The Monster                           Once

Ev'rytime

Johnny & The Tokens (3) / The Kings (4)


   Never Till Now    The Taste Of A Tear

...

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The Mystery Quartette

Posted on January 12 2010 by dion1

The Mystery Quartette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
(By Hans-Joachim)

Members :

Robby Wells

Earl "Ricky" Wells

Mickey "Whistler" Dissaro (aka Mickey Martin)

Frank "Skeets" Squillace

Discography :

1950 - Go Tell Your Troubles To Somebody Else / Pretty Baby (Essex 703/713)
1950 - Mommy's Boy / Don't Cry Darling (Essex 706)

Biography :

The Mystery Quartette on Essex has to be one of the first integrated R&B vocal groups. A photo of them shows two white and two black singers. Very unusual for 1950.
In the photo (top) the guy on the left is Robby Wells. His cousin (with the guitar) is Earl "Ricky" Wells.

The Mystery Quartette With the boxer Max Baer ( 1950 in New York City)

The white members were Mickey "Whistler" Dissaro (top right) and Frank "Skeets" Squillace (top middle). Ricky Wells and Robby Wells had both been in Deek Watson's second Brown Dots group on Manor, and Ricky Wells would go on to the Mel-O-Dots on Apollo. Billy Wells joined the Four Tunes in 1955 as a rotating replacement member.

Mickey Dissaro was also known as "Mickey Martin."

Their Songs :


Go Tell Your Troubles To Somebody Else      Pretty Baby


Mommy's Boy                       Don't Cry Darling

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The Four Pearls aka The Fabulous Pearls

Posted on January 9 2010 by dion1

The Four Pearls (Tacoma, Wa)
aka The Fabulous Pearls

Personnel :

Artis Johnson Jr

Elsie Hall

Lloyd Foster

William Watson

Discography :

The Fabulous Pearls
Single :
1959 - Jungle Bunny / My Heart's Desire (Dootone 448)

Unreleased :
1959 - She'll Understand (Dootone)
1959 - Baby Drop Top (Dootone)
1959 - I Laughed So Hard (Dootone)

The Four Pearls
1960 - Look At Me / It's Almost Tomorrow (Dolton 26)

Biography :

The Pearls were an R&B vocal group that formed at Tacoma's McCord Air Force Base in March, 1957. Artis Johnson Jr. -- an alumni of Oakland, CA's Midnights -- recruited three other singers (Elsie Hall, Lloyd Foster, & William Watson) & they competed in the military's annual Tops-N-Blue talent contest. By the next year's show Johnson & Hall had added new members: Rueben Martin & Ronald Small, they took the prize, & ended up performing Hall's "My Love" on the Ed Sullivan Show which aired from New York City on August 31st. Back home, the Pearls began working weekends at Seattle's top R&B dancehall, the Birdland (2203 E. Madison Street), where they were backed by house-band, the Dave Lewis Combo. In February, 1959, the quartet left Seattle by car & drove to Los Angeles with hopes of getting discovered. Arriving at the offices of Walter "Dootsie" Williams' Dootone Records, they lucked into an immediate audition – & as the Los Angeles Sentinel noted on March 19th: "after hearing them sing just once he immediately signed them to a long term contract." Ensconced in a recording studio with Ernie "Raunchy" Freeman's ace band – Williams was ecstatic about his Fabulous Pearls, declaring that "Both sides of this record will explode."

Well, not quite: even though the newspaper figured that the single's A-side ("Jungle Bunny") was an innocent "Easter-timed" (!) single, its title was actually based on some racist graffiti that Hall had once seen as a little girl. Williams thought it had "a slight edge due to its unusual style," but its edginess caused it to flop – so he began promoting the B-side, "My Heart's Desire," without much more luck. Three additional tunes -- "She'll Understand," "Baby Drop Top" & "I Laughed So Hard" -- were also cut, the latter finally surfacing on compilation CDs in 1995. Back in Seattle -- & now recast as the Four Pearls -- they were signed in July, 1960, by Bob Reisdorff to his Dolton Records label which was scoring hits with Northwest acts like the Fleetwoods, Ventures & FranticsThe beautiful "Look At Me" (with Dave Lewis on piano) & "It's Almost Tomorrow" (with the Frantics) were cut by audio engineer, Kearney Barton, at his Northwest Recorders studio (622 Union Street). When issued by Dolton around August, KOL & various other Northwest radio stations gave "Look At Me" some support, but it failed to grow into a broader hit & the Four Pearls headed to Canada where they played their final gigs.
http://nw-music-archives.blogspot.com/2009/12/four-pearls-northwest-doo-wop-1957-1960.html

Songs :

The Fabulous Pearls


Baby Drop Top                     Jungle Bunny


My Heart's Desire                  I Laughed So Hard

The Four Pearls

Look At Me It's Almost Tomorrow

...

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The Danleers

Posted on January 7 2010 by dion1

The Danleers (Brooklyn, New York)

Personnel :

Jimmy Weston (Lead)

Johnny Lee (First Tenor)

Charles "Nat" McCune (Baritone)

Willie Ephriam (Second Tenor)

Roosevelt Mays (Bass)

Discography:

The Dandleers

1958 - One Summer Night / Wheelin' And A-dealin' (AMP 3 2115)

The Danleers

Singles :
1958 - One Summer Night / Wheelin' And A-dealin' (Mercury 71322)
1958 - I Really Love You / My Flaming Heart (Mercury 71356)
1958 - A Picture Of You / Prelude To Love (Mercury 71401)
1958 - I Can't Sleep / Your Love (Mercury 71441)
1960 - If You Don't Care / (I Live) Half A Block From An Angel (Epic 9367)
1960 - I'll Always Believe In You / Little Lover (Epic 9421)
1961 - Foolish / I'm Looking Around (Everest 19412)
1964 - If / Were You There (Smash-1872)
1964 - Where Is Love / The Angels Sent You (Smash-1895)
1964 - The Truth Hurts / Baby You've Got It (Le mans 005)
1965 - This Thing Called Love / I'm Sorry It Happened This Way (Le mans 008)

Unreleased :
1958 - Love, You Better Leave Me Alone (Mercury)
1958 - Just Look Around (Mercury)
1958 - You're Everything (Mercury)
1958 - Whole Mess Of Trouble (Mercury)
1958 - I Really Love You (Mercury)
1960 - I'll Be Forever Yours (Epic)
1960 - The Light Of Love (Epic)

Biography :

The Danleers were formed in Brooklyn, New York in early 1958 and consisted of Jimmy Weston-lead, Nat McCune-baritone, Roosevelt Mays-bass, and tenors Johnny Lee and Will Ephraim. As with countless groups before them, the young Brooklynites honed their sound on the streetcorners, playgrounds, and tenement hallways in the surrounding neighborhoods. Looking for both original material and someone with insiders knowledge of the recording industry, they found both in the person of one Danny Webb. He also provided the name of the group and so they became The Danleers. Within a short time they were in contact with a small New York based label called Amp-3 Records owned by Bill Lasley.

They soon recorded two songs written by Webb called "Wheelin' And Dealin' " and "One Summer Night".Soon Amp-3 #2115 hit the streets in May and with it the first timers had an instant classic. The demand for the tune on the radio and in record stores was so intense that Mercury Records the major label that had the distribution rights to Amp-3 picked up the ball and re-released the record on the Mercury label as #71322 in June. Now with the powerful name and distribution behind them The Danleers hit the big time. Mercury put the group at the head of all of its advertising that summer ahead of such pop music stalwarts as The Platters, Diamonds, and Patti Page. By August the group was as hot as an attraction could be and were a natural to be part of Alan Freed's Labor Day extravaganza at the Brooklyn Fox to give the boys a festive homecoming. The show would headline Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and the Everly Brothers.

Closely following the Freed show The Danleers are signed for a big national touring show, and the headliners were a who's who of the rock 'n roll scene in late 1958 : Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Eddie Cochrane, Connie Francis, Dion & The Belmonts, Jimmy Clanton, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Clyde McPhatter, The Coasters, Elegants, and Imperials. "One Summer Night" had made it into the top five national pop music best sellers and went over the million mark in sales, quite a heady achievement for an R & B vocal group in 1958 ! About this time the second recording by The Danleers is released on Mercury #71356 - "I Really Love You" and "My Flaming Heart", again both written by Danny Webb.

Louis Williams, Frankie Clemons, Jimmie Weston, Terry Wilson

This time the spell was broken as the record failed to garner much support among record buyers or radio djs. By year's end another Mercury recording of "A Picture Of You" and "Prelude To Love" was a no show on the charts and was ignored by the public. One last try for Mercury came in mid March of 1959 with "Your Love" and "I Can't Sleep" on #71441 and the failure cycle remained. As expected Mercury dropped the group as the popularity of the vocal group sound started on its long descent in the face of the teen idols.

Louis Williams, Terry Wilson, Jimmie Weston, Gaen Ebron

After the Mercury group broke up, Webb put Jimmy Weston together with three members of his other group, the Webtones, to form a new Danleers group: first tenor Louis Williams, baritone Terry Wilson, and bass Frankie Clemons. The fifth member was second tenor Doug Ebron, Jimmy Weston's brother-in-law and brother of another of the Webtones, Duke Ebron. (The fifth member of the Webtones had been Bruce Cooke.) They recorded a couple of forgettable items for Epic records - "If You Don't Care" and "Half A Block From An Angel" on #9367 and "I'll Always Believe In You" / "Little Lover" on #9421. For all intents and purposes, that was the end of The Danleers. There were two releases for Smash in the mid 60s with a completely revamped lineup, but they really had no connection to the original group.

Louis Williams, Jimmie Weston, Terry Wilson, Frankie Clemons

Despite the short and mostly unsuccessful history of the group, they did manage to become the epitome of the "one hit wonders" with the eternally popular tune "One Summer Night". It remains a timeless classic standard of the music and will be played as long as there is an audience for the musical history of America. And that is one celebrated accomplishment-one that should be cherished for all time.

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