1959 - Oh! Tony / Chica Chee Cha Cha (Brunswick Records-1959.
Biography :
The Marie Sisters were a singing sister act from the greater Hartford area who played local venues (Crystal Lake Ballroom, etc.) and wound up on programs with the likes of Billy Bryan (Gene Pitney) and Rocky Hart (Pierre Mahieu).
The Marie Sisters & Billy Bryan (Gene Pitney)
In 1959, The Marie Sisters recorded two up-tempo songs with the backing of Johnny Mastrio group. Their single was released on Brunswick Records & was played often in Jamaica as well as Connecticut.
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 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….
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).
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
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.
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
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"
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)
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
1954 - The Five Turbans (L to R) H.Hudson, H.Lewis, B.Bernard, C.Dorsey and T.Goodrich
The Five Turbans(Indianapolis, IN.) aka The Monograms (1)
Personnel :
Hilton Hudson (Baritone/Tenor)
Bobby Bernard (Baritone/Tenor)
Clarence Dorsey (Baritone/Tenor)
Tony Goodrich (Baritone/Bass)
Herman Lewis (Bass)
Discography :
The Five Turbans 1954 - Christmas Prayer / Yuletide Story (Deb 802)
The Monograms (1) 1957 - Please Baby Please / My Baby Dearest Darling (Saga 100)
Biography :
Indianapolis R&B outfit the Monograms formed in 1953 -- vocalists Bobby Bernard, Clarence Dorsey, Tony Goodrich, Hilton Hudson, and Herman Lewis formed the group while attending Arsenal Technical High School, originally dubbing themselves the Five Turbans (and wearing said headgear during their performances at local nightspots). The 5 Turbans played most of the clubs around Indianapolis, including George's Bar and Orchid Room, the Missile Club, the Cotton Club, the Pink Poodle, the Barrington Lounge, the Trianon Ballroom, and the B&B Supper Club.
1954 - The Five Turbans on WFBM-TV.
Their repertoire consisted mostly of the big hits of the day and their own interpretations of standards. In October, Leo Lesser (owner of George's Bar and Orchid Room) announced his new label, Deb Records. The 5 Turbans recorded "Christmas Prayer" and "Yuletide Story" in November 1954. After rejecting a contract offer from Sun Records on the advice of their attorney, the quintet members renamed themselves the Monograms in 1954.
According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the April 2005 issue of Blues & Rhythm, fledgling jazz great Wes Montgomery occasionally sat in on guitar, and as their local fame grew they auditioned unsuccessfully for Chess Records. The Monograms signing to the local Saga imprint to release "Please Baby Please" b/w "My Baby Dearest Darling" in 1957.
1957 - The Monograms (L to R) H.Lewis, T.Goodrich, C.Dorsey, H.Hudson and B.Bernard
Indianapolis radio played "Please Baby Please" regularly but it did not earn notice outside the area, eventually prompting the group to dissolve in early 1959. Later that year Bernard revived the Monograms name, assembling a new lineup featuring lead tenor Charles Anderson, first tenor Robert "Chico" Penick, and second tenor Johnny Hardiman. Although it never recorded, this incarnation of the group continued until 1964, when Anderson resigned due to health issues and was replaced by George Black.
1964 - The Monograms
When Bernard exited the following year, the Monograms' days appeared officially numbered, but despite regular personnel changes the group continued performing until the mid-'70s. http://www.uncamarvy.com/Monograms/monograms.html
1963 - My Jelly Bean / Nita, I Need You So (Diamond 141)
Biography :
Robert John (Robert John Pedrick, Jr) was born in Brooklyn, New York. Bobby Pedrick's recordings dented the Top 100 sporadically over four decades. Armed with a distinctively high tenor voice, he already scored his first hit at the ripe old age of twelve. His debut single, "White Bucks and Saddle Shoes", on the Bigtop label from New York City, entered the Billboard charts in November 1958 and peaked at # 74. In the UK it was released on London HLX 8740 and covered by the Vernons Girls on the Parlophone label (R 4497). The follow-up, "Pajama Party"/"Betty Blue Eyes" (Bigtop 3008), also sold reasonably well, but not enough to make the Hot 100. Bobby recorded without success on Shell in 1960 and Duel in 1962.
Bobby Pedrick Jr
In 1963, during his teen years Pedrick fronted a local New York group called Bobby & The Consoles . The group notched up a hit on the U.S. East Coast in the early 60s with ‘My Jelly Bean’, but the hit failed to bounce into the national charts. By 1965, he had changed his name as Robert John and signed with MGM records for two ill fated singles. In 1967, he signed a contract with Columbia records and released a string of singles with help from writing partner Mike Gately.
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