Simon Barbee, Bertha Barbee, Norma Barbee, Joyce Barbee
The Barbee’s (Flint, Michigan) Ref. The Velvelettes (By Hans-Joachim)
Personnel:
Simon Barbee (lead)
Bertha Barbee
Norma Barbee
Joyce Barbee
Discography:
1957 - The Wind / Que Pasa? (What’s Happening) (Stepp 236)
Biography :
Singer and songwriter Simon Barbee formed The Barbee's with his nieces Bertha, Norma and Joyce Barbee. Bertha and Norma were cousins and Joyce a cousin by marriage. The Girls were twelve, thirteen and fourteen at the time.
The Velvelettes
The group got some local gigs in Flint, Michigan and the surrounding towns, and was very well received. They recorded in 1957 The Wind b/w Que Pasa? for the small Stepp labe . Carolyn and Mildred Gill, Norma and Bertha Barbee, and Betty Kelley launched The Velvelettes in 1962.
1962 - A Love Only You Can Give / I'm In Love (Shepherd 2000)
Biography :
The Idea for a vocal group occurred to three members of the four Universals during their Army careers when, Henry Glover, John McVey and James Collie, Jr. were singing for troops in the service. Upon discharge, they felt the need for adding a female voice and singled out Lenora Davis, who had been studying singing for a year but who had not yet done any professional work. The four Youngsters worked together for some time, forgetting their own individual singing styles and trying to achieve a certain style and sound for the group as a wholes. When a demonstration record was submitted to RCA Victor's West Coast A&R Representative, lee Shapiro, he liked what he heard and signed the quartet to a recording contract. The masters were probably sold, in 1962 the two songs was released by Shepherd record in Hollywood.
By Gary E. Myers: The Galleons were a four-part male vocal group, consisting of college students Robert Cotterell, Merlyn “Mert” Nelson, Lew Parsons and Joe Sershan. They had met on Labor Day 1958 on Catalina Island and began singing together for fun. Ruth Stratchborneo heard them at a UCLA Spring Sing event. “She helped set up an appointment with Art Laboe of Original Sound,” recalled Cotterell. “He seemed somewhat strange so we did not pursue this contact – probably a mistake.”
They rehearsed their material at the good old West View St home and they were backed on the sessions by Jackie Kelso’s band. The label shows Cotterell, Nelson & Parsons as writers on one side, but today’s BMI listing includes Stratchborneo, showing that she added her name to the work of others even back in the early days. Cotterell later formed the Sonrise label for Christian music and built Creative Sounds, a CD duplication company. http://topshelfoldies.org/tide_edit_records.htm
The Young Lads : Aaron Broadnick, James Straite, Ronnie Watson, Carl Williams, Luther Morton
The Young Lads (1)(Brooklyn, New York) aka Pearl & The Deltars
Personnel :
Ronnie Watson (Lead)
Carl Williams (First Tenor)
James Straite (Second Tenor)
Luther Morton (Baritone)
Bootsie Aaron Broadnick (Bass)
Discography :
The Young Lads (1)
Singles : 1956 - Moonlight / I'm In Love (Neil 100)
Pearl & The Deltars
Singles : 1961 - Teenage Dream / Dance Dance Dance (Fury 1048) Unreleased: 1961 - Back To School Again (Fury) 1961 - Where Are You? (Fury)
Biography :
The Young Lads' only record was 'I'm In Love'/'Moonlight' (Neil 100), the Brooklyn group consisting of five boys: Ronnie Watson, Carl Williams, James Straite, Luther Morton and Aaron Broadnick. They needed to replace Ronnie Watson, who had been missing rehearsals, and heard that Pearl and the Kodaks had split up. Nate Rogers, of the Chesters, hooked up Pearl and the Young Lads and, with Pearl replacing Ronnie Watson, they started rehearsing.
This was difficult, since they all lived in Brooklyn, except for Pearl, who lived in Newark. Obviously the name "Young Lads" had to go, and they named themselves after Delta Airlines, as the Deltars. Pearl & The Deltars cut one single for Robinson's Fury label released in the winter of 1961: "Teenage Dream" / "Dance Dance Dance". Dance, Dance, Dance received some local and proved that Pearl could modernize her sound in the early sixties. Unfortunaly, Bobby Robinson & his small Fury office staff soon became overwhelmed with gladys Knight & The Pips and their "Every Beat Of My Heart" smash. (Thanks to Marv Goldberg)
The Five Sharks (1) (Long Island, New York) aka The Gold Bugs
Personnel:
Eddie Schwartz
Johnny Mumford
Bruce Garland
...
Discography :
The Five Sharks (1) 1964 - Stormy Weather / If You Love Me (Time Sq. 35)
The Gold Bugs 1965 - Stop That Wedding / It's So Nice (Coral 62453)
Biography :
The Five Sharks were a young white group from Floral Park, Long Island who were known as the Florals when they recorded their version of "Stormy Weather" for Irving "Slim" Rose. The group consisted of Eddie Schwartz, Johnny Mumford, Bruce Garland and another guy. To capitalize on his self-created "Stormy Weather" promotion (he kept offering more cash each week for an original 45 of the Five Sharps' 952 Jubilee recording, "Stormy Weather;" Irving "Slim" Rose never had to pay up and, to this date, no 45 has ever turned up), Slim renamed the Florals the "Five Sharks" and pressed up his first 100 copies on a unique multicolor vinyl Times Square pressing with a longer intro creating an instant collector's item. Eddie Schwartz's friend of the family had a friend who had a barber shop in Atlantic City with a recording studio in the back, The Florals group cut "Stop That Wedding" and "It's So Nice" released by Coral Records as The Gold Bugs. The record was produced by Dave Rick, who had also produced Vito & the Salutations' "Unchained Melody."
Singles : 1958 – Lama Rama Ding Dong (aka Rama Lama Ding Dong) / Bells (Dub 2843) 1959 - Do You Love Me? / Rink-A-Dink-I-Do (Roulette 4151) 1960 - What Brought Us Together? / Don't Know What To Do (Tammy 1010) 1961 - Rama Lama Ding Dong / Bells (Twin 700) 1961 - Three Precious Words / Let's Go (Tammy 1014 / Ember 1078) 1961 - The girl i love / Got to find out about love (Tammy 1023) 1961 - Count the tears / Twenty four hours (Tammy 1027) 1961 - My Jealous One / Bone Shaker Joe (Capitol 4588) 1962 - Could It Be? / My Wisperling Heart (Dot 16311) 1962 - Shake, Shake, Sherry / If Your Pilow Could Talk (Capitol 4675) 1962 - Shaddy Daddy Dip Dip / Don't You Feel? (Capitol 4836) 1968 - Hide And Seek / Another Lonely Night (Tammy 1031)
Unreleased : N/A - Born In Mexico N/A - Love Makes The World Go Round N/A - Hide And Go Seek N/A - Hide And Seek N/A - Give Me Love
Biography :
A brief encounter with fame came for the Edsels when they recorded the doo wop masterpiece "Rama Lama Ding Dong." Originally released in 1959, the single became a hit some three years after its initial release, thanks to the efforts of diligent record collectors and disc jockeys.
Edsels with Dick Clark on Bandstand
Taking their name from Ford's legendary failed automobile, the Edsels formed in the tiny mill town of Campbell, OH, in the late '50s. The group consisted of lead vocalist George Jones, Jr., James Reynolds, Marshall Sewell, Harry Greene, and Larry Greene.
The group auditioned for a local Ohio music publisher in 1958. Through the publisher, the group landed a record deal with the small Dub Records. The first pressings on Dub Records were mislabeled "Lama Rama Ding Dong.""Rama Lama Ding Dong" became a local hit, but made no impact nationally. The Edsels' first single was a song Jones had written, "Rama Lama Ding Dong."
In 1961, disc jockeys began playing the song again because it sounded similar to the Marcels' current hit, "Blue Moon." Within a few months, the single was re-released on Twin Records -- this time with the correct song title -- and it quickly scaled the pop charts, peaking at number 21.
1960 - Dark, Dark Sunglasses /Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini (Alpine 64) 1960 - A Letter On His Sweater / Broken Dreams (Alpine 67)
Biography :
Trio named after Our Lady of St. Carmel Church composed by Angela LaPrete (Angela Murphy), Vickie Cevetello and Virginia Verga. The Carmelettes were a group of Italian-American teenage girls from Jersey City, NJ -- a working class city just across the Hudson River from Manhattan -- in the late 50's.
The Kittens
Beatrice Verdi was their songwriter, arranger, and mentor, and she is the songwriter credited on Aching for You and Ding Dong. The group was signed to Alpine, a subsidiary of Epic Records, in about 1958 and recorded their own songs as well as background vocals for Neil Sedaka's Oh Carol.
When Carole King, for whom the song was written, recorded the answer song, Oh Neil, the girls were hired again to recreate the sound of the original song. This began a long collaboration with Carole King, although the girls were no longer called the Carmelettes.
Virginia Verga left the group, and Angela and Vickie became the Kittens. They continued to record with Carole and for Alpine until they fazed themselves out of the business at age 18.
Songs :
Dark, Dark Sunglasses Broken Dreams
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini A Letter On His Sweater
1958 - Don't Try / School Days Will Be Over (Class 224)
Biography :
In March, the Hollywood Flames were used to back up Joe Jefferson (as the Tangiers) on his Class recordings of "Don't Try" and "School Days Will Be Over." This is not the Decca Group but an evolution of the Flames Satellites.
(paste-up picture) Left to right : Nelson, Ford, Williams, Byrd.
By Daryl DeJoy Vocal & Instrumental Group from Pittsburgh consisted from left, Eddie Greco (who is still alive and lives in Titusville, Florida), George DeJoy in the center sang lead and played bass guitar and on the right, Angelo Faccento.
They were the original "The Classmen" and the band recorded at Bob Schachner's Gateway Studio in Pittsburgh the songs "True Love" and "Silver Medal". George DeJoy is a multi-instrumentalist in the early '60s .
Unfortunately, He never had the opportunity to take his potential any further. In between gigs he worked at the BF Goodrich plant in Shelton, Connecticut, and one day returned home complaining of a headache. George DeJoy passed away suddenly in 1963 of a cerebral hemorrhage and the band broke up.
They were a rare three man doo wop group, which required one of the singers to sing two different parts during the song. Angie Faccento passed away about five years ago of cancer.
Singles: 1956 - Six Months, Three Weeks / Cha - Cho Hop (inst.) (Tag 2200/Chess 1690) 1957 - Come On / Sweet Sweetheart (Jamie 1040/Vik 0264) 1957 - Our Love Is Here To Stay / Lock My Heart (Lamp 2007) 1957 - What Will I Gain / Shugglin' (Aladdin 4301) 1958 - All My Love / Look What You've Done To Me (Combo 146/Dot 15806) 1958 - Look At Me / Have Love, Will Travel (Jamie 1108) 1958 - Here's A Heart / Gig - A - Lene (Jamie 1114)
Unreleased : 1958 - Honey Babe (aka Tapun, Tapun) (Combo) 1958 - Hold Me (Combo) 1958 - I’m Such A Lovin’ Man (Combo)
Thurston Harris & The Sharps (1) 1957 - Little Bitty Pretty One / I Hope You Won't Hold It Against Me (Aladdin 3398)
Thurston Harris bb The Sharps (1) 1958 - Do What You Did / I'm Asking Forgiveness (T.Harris) (Aladdin 3399)
Biography :
Thurston Harris recorded with the Lamplighters, one of the many groups on the early R&B scene in South Central Los Angeles, in the early '50s. This group later evolved into the Tenderfoots, then the Sharps, and it was under this last name they were credited to when they backed up Harris on his 1957 solo hit, "Little Bitty Pretty One" (# 2 R&B and # 6 pop) for Aladdin. Harris had one other hit the following year, the excellent "Do What You Did" (# 14 R&B, # 57 pop). But back to the early fifties. In addition to Harris, the Lamplighters' lineup included former Hollywood Flame second tenor Willie Ray Rockwell, Matt Nelson and Al Frazier. They formed in the spring of 1952, shortly after Harris had moved to California, and began recording for Federal in 1953, with Harris singing lead most of the time.
In spite of the high quality of many of their recordings, the Lamplighters/Tenderfoots never had a national hit. In 1957 - and now signed as a solo artist to Aladdin - Harris recorded a cover version of Bobby Day's "Little Bitty Pretty One," a classic novelty number, with a solid band featuring the ubiquitous Earl Palmer on drums, Plas Johnson on tenor sax and his friends the Sharps doing background vocals. The single propelled Harris immediately to the front-ranks of the R&B scene, touring with the top names from the era.
Meanwhile, after Harris moved on, the Sharps - now Carl White, Al Frazier, John "Sonny" Harris, and Turner "Rocky" Wilson Jr. and added Darryl White in 1960 - continued to perform into the early '60s. The name game continued; as the Sharps, they recorded the great "Lock My Heart" and for a spate of labels calling themselves the Rebels, the Four After Fives, and the Crenshaws (sometimes with Harris, but usually without).
Thurston Harris Duane Eddy
Back again as the Sharps they provided sound effects, handclaps, and vocal choral treatments on some of Duane Eddy's big hits. Unfortunately, they had more success with their live appearances in the greater Southern California area than they did with any of their releases. In 1962, the Sharps joined up with producers Kim Fowley and Gary Paxton, who helped reconfigure the group as a black surf novelty act, now calling themselves the Rivingtons. Under this moniker, they scored a big hit (# 48) with the immortal "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" for Liberty (1962).
Songs :
The Sharps (1)
Six Months, Three Weeks / Cha - Cho Hop Come On / Sweet Sweethear Our Love Is Here To Stay / Lock My Heart
What Will I Gain / Shugglin' All My Love / Look What You've Done To Me Look At Me / Have Love, Will Travel
Here's A Heart / Gig - A - Lene Honey Babe (aka Tapun, Tapun) Hold Me
I’m Such A Lovin’ Man Do What You Did
Thurston Harris & The Sharps (1)
Little Bitty Pretty One I Hope You Won't Hold It Against Me
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