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The Bobby-Pins

Posted on by dion1

The Bobby-Pins  

The Bobby-Pins (Syosset, New York)

 

Personnel :

Jeanette Lendemer

Caren Pilzer

Judy Gould

 

Discography :

1959 - I Want You / Darling, Don't Leave Me (Okeh 4 7110)

 

Biography :

Vocal group from Syosset, New York composed by Jeanette Lendemer, Caren Pilzer and Judy Gould. The girls recorded in New York City studio  "I Want You" b/w "Darling, Don't Leave Me" while attending Syosset High School. Both songs are written by singer Caren Pilzer and Pianist, composer and record producer Steve Schlaks.

The Bobby-Pins

The single was released nationally early in 1959 by Okeh Records. OKeh, as a division of record giant Columbia, was independently distributed and used for rhythm and blues and country and western releases. Unfortunately the single failed & the group disbanded….

 

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 


  
       I Want You                                 Darling, Don't Leave Me


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Ruben Siggers & His Fabulous Kool Kats

Posted on by dion1

Ruben Siggers & His Fabulous Kool Kats
Rueben Siggers (Piano), Ephraim Siggers (Far right)

Ruben Siggers & His Fabulous Kool Kats (Beckley, West Virginia)
 

Personnel :

Rueben Siggers (Piano & Vocals)

Ephraim Siggers (Vocals & Trumpet)

Billy Jo Mimms (Sax & Vocals)

Bernard Byars (Vocals)


Discography :

1958 - Those Love Me Blues / Please Pretty Baby (Spinks 600)


Biography :

Vocal group from Beckley, West Virginia composed by Rueben Siggers (Piano & Vocals), Ephraim Siggers (Vocals & Trumpet), Billy Jo Mimms (Sax & Vocals), Bernard Byars (Vocals) (in the photo). The musician members of the group were Robert Mosley (Drums), William Tyler (Guiatrist) & Bill Scott (Sax).

Ruben Siggers & His Fabulous Kool Kats    Ruben Siggers & His Fabulous Kool Kats

The Group recorded "Those Love Me Blues" b/w "Please Pretty Baby" for the local Spinks records in Ronceverte, West Virginia owned by Garland Spinks

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

  
Those Love Me Blues                   Please Pretty Baby


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The Cleo-Patrettes

Posted on by dion1

The Cleo-Patrettes
Erma Franklin

 

The Cleo-Patrettes (Detroit)

 



Personnel :

Erma Franklin (Lead)




Discography :

1953 - Say Would You Babe / No Other Love (JVB 23)

 



Biography :

R&B/Soul Musician. Born Erma Venice Franklin in Shelby, Mississippi, she was the sister of singers Carolyn and Aretha Franklin, and the daughter of Rev. C.L. Franklin. As a child she moved to Memphis, Detroit, and Buffalo, where at 5 she began singing in her father's church choir with sisters Aretha and Carolyn, and during high school performed with a vocal group called the Cleo-Patrettes, which won a state talent contest and recorded for the small Detroit label JVB. The Cleo-Patrettes broke up after high school, and Franklin toured with her father's gospel group for two years; she subsequently had chances to record for Chess and to join Motown's early roster, but wound up following her father's wishes that she attend college before trying a singing career.

The Cleo-Patrettes    The Cleo-Patrettes
                                                                                                    Erma Franklin

 In 1961 she auditioned for the Epic Record Label and moved to New York to record her debut album, "Her Name Is Erma" which came out in 1962 and featured jazz, pop, and R&B tunes. One of her songs on that album, 'Abracadabra' was written by Van McCoy who would later have a success with the hit, 'The Hustle.' She soon became tired of the hassles with Epic and waited out of her contract, and spent 1961 to 1966 touring with Lloyd Price's show. Next she joined the Atlantic Record Label and her career suddenly took off more then it had before, later signing with producer/songwriter Bert Berns of Shout Records in 1967




Songs :

  
No Other Love                        Say Would You Babe






...

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The Four Imperials (1) aka The Pharaohs (3)

Posted on by dion1

The Four Imperials (1)  aka The Pharaohs (3) aka The Four Temps

The Four Imperials (1)  (Higland Park, Michigan)
aka The Pharaohs (3) 

 

Personnel :

Lynn Best (Lead)

Frank Amodeo (Bass)

Bob Manzagol (Baritone)

Jim Hartrick (Tenor)

 

Discography :

The Pharaohs (3)
1957 - Walking Sad / Come On Baby (Fascination 101/Skylor 101)

The Four Imperials (1)
1958 - Lazy Bonnie / Let's Make A Scene (Lorelei 4444/Dot 15737)
1958 - My Girl / Teen Age Fool (Chant 10067)
1959 - Valley Of Tears / Time Out (Dial 101)
1959 - Santa's Got A Coupe DeVille / Seven Lonely Days (Twirl 2005)

Pee Wee Crayton with Esther & The Four Imperials (1)
1958 - Give Me One More Chance / Look Up & Live (not them) (Fox 102)


Biography :

Four guys from Higland Park in Detroit started harmonizing on the street corners in the mid 50's they were Lynn Best (Lead), Frank Amodeo (Bass), Bob Manzagol (Baritone) and Leroy Casey (Tenor), they were all graduates of Highland Park High School in Michigan.  They called themselves The Pharaohs and recorded for Fascination Records in 1957 : "Walking Sad" b/w "Come On Baby."


The Pharaohs (3) around 1958

In 1958 Leroy left the group and the rest adde Jim Hartrick and changed their name to The Four Imperials and recorded in the Detroit label Lorelei "Lazy Bonnie" b/w "Let's Make A Scene." The record became popular and the group make many appearances throughout the midwest including one with Ricky Nelson at the Michigan State Fair.


The Pharaohs (3)

They Make a personal appearance at the Mount Clemens Bandstand teen-agers dance at the VFW Hall.The group soon snapped up by Fox Records manager George Braxton and the Four Imperials backed Pee Wee Crayton on  "Give Me One More"

The Four Imperials (1)  aka The Pharaohs (3) aka The Four Temps

After Fox records, Braxton started several subsidiaries : Brax, Dial, Chant, and Teen Life. The Four Imperials recorded for Braxton's Chant Records "My Girl" b/w "Teenage Fool" and "Valley Of Tears" b/w "Time Out" on Dial. The last recording of the group were for Twirl Records in 1959 "Seven lonely Nights" b/w "Santa's Got A Coupe DeVille" .  
 

      Lynn Best (left)  Bob Manzagol (top center) , Frank Amodeo (right)  Jim Hartrick(bottom center)

After that they broke up. Ed Wingate took Lynn Best into the studio to do a single for Golden World that was never issued. This was probably around '64 because one of the tunes, "I Want Your Love to Be Mine" is one of the best Beatles knock-offs. Frank Amodeo joined up with Byron Taylor and recorded as The Two-Tones.


Songs :

The Pharaohs (3)

  
Walking Sad                           Come On Baby


The Four Imperials (1)

     
Lazy Bonnie               Let's Make A Scene                   My Girl

     
Teen Age Fool              Valley Of Tears                     Time Out

  
Santa's Got A Coupe DeVille             Seven Lonely Days


Pee Wee Crayton with Esther & The Four Imperials (1)


Give Me One More Chance


...

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The Soldier Boys

Posted on by dion1

The Soldier Boys
Don Covay

The Soldier Boys (Washington D.C)

 

Personnel :

Don Covay (Lead)

John Hammond

Joe Richardson

 

Discography :

1962 - I'm Your Soldier Boy / You Picked Me (Scepter 1230)

 

Biography :

Born Donald James Randolph, March 24, 1936, Orangeburg, South Carolina , The youngster Don Covay moved north to Washington D.C. shortly after his Baptist Minister father passed away in the mid-forties. His family kept close to their religious roots, and soon formed a Gospel group called The Cherry Keys that performed locally. While still in High School, he was invited to join The Rainbows, a hot DC doo-wop group that had recorded for Bobby Robinson. After cutting a few sides on Pilgrim that went nowhere, the group broke-up.

The Soldier Boys
Don Covay (Bottom right) with the Rainbows

While still a member of the group, Covay found work as a chauffeur to LITTLE RICHARD, and through this association, Atlantic Records delivered Don’s debut single (`Bip Bop Bip’) in summer ’57, under the pseudonym of Pretty Boy.  At some point, he put together a group called the Satisfiers (personnel unknown) and recorded at least four masters: "You Broke My Heart," "Hold My Hand," "Shake That Thing," and "The Telephone Is Ringing." These were all lumped into the bootleg "Rainbows" LP that came out on "Pilgrim" in the 80s. In 1962, with John Hammond and Joe Richardson, he cut "I'm Your Soldier Boy" b/w "You Picked Me"  becoming one of Florence Greenberg's Soldier Boys on Scepter. A one-off single for Epic would follow, without much luck.

The Soldier Boys     The Soldier Boys
                                                                            Don Covay

He then signed to Cameo, scoring another minor chart hit with "The Popeye Waddle," a novelty record inspired by New Orleans' "popeye" dance craze.  Of course, Don Covay went on to have a string of Soul hits in the 60s and 70s, with his group, the Goodtimers.  In 1969, Covay would start up another project, The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band. Along with John Hammond and Joe Richardson (whom Covay had worked with in The Soldier Boys), he created a very cool concept album called The House Of Blue Lights.
http://redkelly.blogspot.fr/2015/02/don-covay-goodtimers-its-in-wind.html





Songs:



I'm Your Soldier Boy / You Picked Me

 

 



...



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The Fabulous Dino's aka The Fabulous Denos

Posted on by dion1

 

The Fabulous Denos aka The Fabulous Dinos
The Fabulous Dino's in 1963

 

The Fabulous Denos (Atlanta, Georgia)
aka The Fabulous Dinos




Personnel :

Bobby Dixon (aka Bobby Lee Fears & Bobby Brown)

Rickey Andrews

Alan Pace

James Henry Walker

Hezekiah Sheffield




Discography :

The Fabulous Dino’s
1962 - Instant Love / Retreat (Saber 105/109)

The Fabulous Dinos
Singles:
1963 - That Same Old Song / Where Have You Been (Musicor 1025)
Unreleased :
1963 - Diamond Ring (Musicor)

The Fabulous Denos
1964 - Once I Had A Love / Bad Girl (King 5908)
1964 - I've Enjoyed Being Loved By You / Hard To Hold Back Tears (King 5971)




Biography :

Their story begins at Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School in 1959. James Henry Walker, Bobby Dixon, Allan Pace, Hezekiah Sheffield and Rickey Andrews were all into the sounds of Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, The "5" Royales and James Brown & His Famous Flames. Like many teenagers at the time, they decided to form a vocal group themselves, which they called The Fabulous Dinos. After performing at parties , the group moved into the local club circuit and started to gain a local following.


The Fabulous Denos in 1965

By 1961 the members had graduated from Washington High, began taking their craft more seriously and found their way into Bill Lowery's Master Sound Studios to record their first single for the NRC custom label Saber which was "Instant Love" b/w "Retreat" (Saber 105). In 1963, the group cut one single for Musicor "That Same Old Song" b/w "Where Have You Been". After an unsuccessful release on New York's Musicor Records in 1962, the group was drawn to Macon, Georgia were more opportunities for an R&B group at the time. After a number of shows around Macon, the Fabulous Denos were noticed in 1964 by Oscar Mack, who was already running with Otis Redding. Mack introduced the young men to Phil Walden who recommended they try King Records, which had an office on Mulberry Street.

   
                                                                                      Bobby Dixon

Over at King they met Bobby Smith who signed the group and quickly got them into the recording studio. The first King 45 was "Bad Girl" b/w "Once I Had A Love" (King 5908), and was followed by "I Enjoy Being Loved By You" b/w "Hard To Hold Back Tears" (King 5971). "Bad Girl" became a hit, which led to the group touring the United States and Canada for the next four years. By 1969, the Fabulous Denos had disbanded, but Rickey Andrews was back out in the Atlanta night clubs performing with various bands, and in time was ready to give recording another shot. The Denos had received no money from the sales of their King 45s, and been living off of what they made on the road.


 

 

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 


The Fabulous Dino’s

  
Retreat                                      Instant Love


The Fabulous Dinos

  
Where Have You Been           Where Have You Been



The Fabulous Denos

  
Once I Had A Love                            Bad Girl

  
I've Enjoyed Being Loved By You                    Hard To Hold Back Tears

 

 




...




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The Mello-Harps aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps

Posted on by dion1

The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps
 

The Mello-Harps  (Brooklyn, New-York)

aka The Levee Songsters
aka The Teen-Tones (1)
aka The Melloharps
aka The Teentones

Ref The Leopards (1)






Personnel :

Arnold "Johnny" Malone (Lead)

Vernon Staley (First Tenor)

Joe Gowder (Second Tenor)

Daniel Elder (Baritone)

Ossie Davis (Bass)



    


Discography :

The Mello-Harps
1955 - Love Is A Vow / Valerie (Do-Re-Mi 203)
1956 - Searchin' / Love Is A Vow (Rego 1003)
1958 - Gumma Gumma  / No Good (Casino 104)

The Melloharps
1955 - I Love Only You / Ain't Got The Money (Tin Pan Alley 145/146)
1956 - What Good Are My Dreams / Gone (Tin Pan Alley 157/158)

Teacho Wiltshire & The Melloharps
1956 - My Bleeding Heart / I Couldn't Believe (Tin Pan Alley 159/160)

The Teen-Tones (1)
1956 - Love Is A Vow / Walkie Talkie Baby (Rego 1004)

Lee and Larry & The Teentones
1956 - Have A Happy (The Dedications Song)/ Oh Yes (Rego 1005)

The Levee Songsters
1959 - Our Love Is A Vow / Walkie Talkie Baby (Karen 1004)

The Leopards (1)
1963 - Valerie / Mah Mah Chicken Pot Pie (Leopards 5006)






Biography :

Brooklyn-based R&B vocal group the Mello-Harps formed in 1955. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the April 1990 issue of Record Collectors' Monthly, co-founders Arnold "Johnny" Malone (first tenor), second tenor Joe Gowder, baritone Daniel "Bunny" Elder, and bass Ossie Davis were longtime friends from the borough's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps     The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps

After adding a fifth member, high tenor Vernon Staley, the Mello-Harps began touring the local nightclub circuit, and while performing at Brooklyn's Club Baby Grand they negotiated a management deal with musician Larry Lucy, who quickly landed them a record deal with the Do-Re-Mi label.  The Mello-Harps beautiful debut, "Love Is a Vow," followed in the autumn of 1955. One of the scarcest singles of the doo wop era, it earned little attention upon its original release but later achieved cult classic status among R&B aficionados.

The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps     The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps
Teacho Wiltshire                                                                                                               

By year's end Davis resigned from the lineup, and upon adding bass Bobby Hawkins (the brother of NBA Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins), the Mello-Harps signed to Tin Pan Alley Records to issue their sophomore effort, "I Love Only You." "What Good Are My Dreams" followed in early 1956, and when the group's commercial fortunes failed to improve, Elder exited in the wake of their fourth single, "My Bleeding Heart." Tenor William Brown signed on prior to cutting a re-recorded "Love Is a Vow" for the Rego label. 

The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps     The Mello-Harps  aka The Levee Songsters aka The Teen-Tones (1) aka The Melloharps
                                                                                                              A configuration of the Mello-Harps (or The Leopards)

Credited to the Teen-Tones, the song fared no better the second time around, and Staley was the next to turn in his resignation. Tenor David "Sonny" Forte signed on for 1957's "Gumma Gumma," a novelty tune that restored the Mello-Harps moniker. Despite saxophone contributions from the great King Curtis, the single went nowhere and after an aborted session for Juggy Murray's Sue label, the group split in 1959. In the early 60s, Joe Gowder formed another group, which re-recorded "Valerie" (with Joe himself doing lead). Along with the flip, "Mah Mah Chicken Pot Pie" (also led by Joe), it was released on the Leopard label in 1963, as the "Leopards." David Forte was also in this group.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/MelloHarps/melloharps.html



 

 


Songs :

The Mello-Harps

  
Love Is A Vow                                             Valerie

     
 Searchin'                       Gumma Gumma                             No Good



The Melloharps

  
I Love Only You                       Ain't Got The Money

  
What Good Are My Dreams                            Gone            


Teacho Wiltshire & The Melloharps


My Bleeding Heart / I Couldn't Believe


The Teen-Tones (1) / The Levee Songsters


1959 - (Our) Love Is A Vow / Walkie Talkie Baby


The Leopards (1)

  
             Valerie                              Mah Mah Chicken Pot Pie







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