1958 - Never Let You Go / I'll Make A Bet (Ebb 142)
Biography
The Ambers were a group from San Francisco's George Washington High School: Ralph Mathis (lead and brother of Pop singing sensation Johnny Mathis), Barry Tompkins (second tenor), Stan Voetz (baritone), and Manny Haber (bass).
Ralph Mathis
December 1957, the Ambers did a single session for Ebb Records. Ebb Records, run by Lee Rupe (the ex-wife of Specialty Records' owner Art Rupe), was a minor Los Angeles rock and R&B label of the late 1950s.
Ralph Mathis at The Apollo Theater (1958)
Session producer Jesse Johnson decided to throw in more voices, and rounded up everyone he could find to do additional vocals and clapping .Present in the studio , the Jaguars became part of the backup on the Ralph Mathis and the Ambers session. "Never Let You Go" b/w "I'll Make A Bet" were released in March 1958.
Rick & The Legends (4) 1963 - The Diary Of A Teenage Bride / All Of Your Love (JD 155) 1965 - I Wonder Why / Leave Me Alone (JD 162) 1966 - I Wonder Why / Love Me Like I Know You Can (UA 5093)
Biography :
Originally from East Liverpool, Ohio, the group begin in 1958 as The Teen-Kings, a musical group comprised of Rick Palmer, Bill Pipes, Don Hay and Jerry Nolan. In November 1958, Rick Palmer recorded "You Threw a Dart" b/w "My Greatest Wish" released On Carlton records.In 1959 Rick Palmer on lead vocal and lead guitar teamed up Jerry Nolan on rhythm guitar and vocal and Jay Stewart on bass and vocal. Their current manager sold their contract to Buck Ram. As Their new manager, Buck provided the group with "Mr. Rainbow Man" and "Leave Me Alone" released on on the new Ensign label (Antler’s subsid) as the The Kampus Kids.
The Kampus Kids - From top : Jay Stewart, Jerry Nolan & Rick Palmer
The single made it all the way into the top five on radio station WNOR in Norfolk, Virginia. Even though the song was extremely popular regionally it failed to achieve success nationally. After several ups and downs they moved to Cleveland Ohio where their manager had a "You Write 'Em and I'll Record 'Em" business for songwriters who wanted to hear their songs recorded. They were his house band and some of the recordings they made for him were released on his Manhattan label as Riki & The Rikatones, two Rockabilly "Whiphash" and "T.N.T.". In the very early 60s (1961/1962) the band relocated to the Norfolk, Virginia area & played Virginia Beach regularly as well as the naval base officers club. It was here that the band got to open up for and back-up the late, great Roy Orbison. Rick Palmer also did lots of session work and played with Ray Peterson on "Tell Laura I love her".
clockwise from top left: Jean Palmer, Buzzy Rose, Jerry Nolan and Rick Palmer
He backed up Nashville artist, Minnie Pearl also. In 1968 the band relocated to Massachusetts where they recorded "Love me like I know you can" in their basement for the United Artists label. In 1962 Buzzy Rose joined Rick Palmer and Jerry Nolan as their drummer and added Rick's wife Jean (keyboards & vocals). They call themselves The Coachmen and changed to Rick & The Legends. Soon they cut their first record on the JD label "The Diary Of A Teenage Bride" b/w "All Of Your Love". The next record was "I Wonder Why" b/w "Leave Me Alone". Then United artists cut "I Wonder Why" and a new song Rick wrote, "Love Me Like I Know You Can".
The Stompers (2) (Los Angeles) aka The Cordials (3)
Personnel :
Bobby (Boris) Pickett
Leonard "Lenny" Capizzi
Bill Capizzi
Ron Deltorto
Lou Toscano
Discography :
The Stompers (2) 1962 - Quarter To Four Stomp / Foolish One (Landa 684)
The Cordials (3) 1962 - Eternal Love / The International Twist (Reveille 106)
Biography :
Bobby (Boris) Pickett was born in Somerville, Massachusetts. After high school, he spent three years in Korea in the US army signal corps. Upon demobilisation, Pickett headed for Hollywood, where he wanted to break into movies and stand-up comedy - his first nightclub act included a horror film routine. His initial success was modest, and in 1961 he joined a vocal group called the Cordials. The Cordials were Leonard "Lenny" Capizzi, Bill Capizzi, Ron Deltorto, Lou Toscano and Bobby Boris Pickett. It specialised in the doo-wop close-harmony style and occasionally Pickett would enliven shows by intoning the spoken section of Little Darlin', a hit by the Diamonds, in his Karloff voice.
The Cordials soon came to the attention of the record producer and songwriter Gary Paxton. Under his guidance, the Cordials, a white group in a mainly black genre, recorded "Eternal Love" and "The International Twist" both written By the Capizzi brothers . Gary Paxton produced the Next single "Quarter To Four Stomp", a surf-orientated adaptation of Garу US Bonds’ “Quarter To Three” . The single was released under the name of the Stompers.
Shortly after this release Bobby Boris Pickett left for a solo career and co-wrote "Monster Mash" with Cordials/Stompers member Leonard Capizzi to take advantage of the Mashed Potato dance craze. Pickett's half-spoken, half-sung narration includes a brief snatch of a heavily accented Bela Lugosi impersonation as well as the Karloff voice. The refrain ran, "He did the mash/ He did the monster mash/ The monster mash/ It was a graveyard smash".
1960 - Let's Have A Good Time / Fool, Fool, Fool (King 5414)
Biography :
Co-written with the “5” Royales’ Lowman Pauling, ‘"Let's Have A Good Time" was also credited as being composed by Jay Thompson, David Eason, Charles Baskerville and William White on the label. The likelihood is that these were the group members brought to King by Lowman Pauling for this one-off 45. Eason and White had been members of the Glendells from Waycross, Georgia in 1959 who had performed with Ruth Brown on a show. She encouraged the group to move up to New York. Charles Baskerville had been a member of the Videos vocal group, who recorded on Casino in 1958 and 1959 and went on to be a member of Shep & The Limelighters. Maybe Baskerville and Jay Thompson teamed up with Eason and White and came up with this rocking blues vocal group gem.
The Emotions (2) 1961 - I Ran To You / Been Lookin' Your Way (Flip 356)
Lena Calhoun & The Emotions (2) 1961 - First Love Baby / I Ran To You (Flip 357) 1961 - I Can Tell (I'm Losing Your Love) / Been Looking Your Way (Flip 358)
----- The LaVettes(With Lena Calhoun) 1960 – You'll Be Mine / Teen Age Idol (Emjay 1920=45)
Biography :
LA'S Flip label is most famous for having been the imprint under which Richard Berry recorded ‘Louie Louie’. Other acts to feature on the label were the Dreamers, the Six Teens and Lena Calhoun & the Emotions. The latter outfit were a female quartet led by Lena (a younger girl from Compton) and backed by Louise Williams and Beverly Pecot of the Six Teens, and Diane Irvin (who had originally auditioned for the Six Teens in early 1956). The group had three consecutively numbered releases on Flip in 1961. "T Ran To You" / "Been Lookin' Your Way" (Flip 356) was the first, "I Can Tell (lm Losing Your Love)" (Flip 358) the last, with ‘Been Lookin" Your Way" reissued as its flip. "I Can Tell" was actually recorded as a trio (without Diane Irvin) and is a punchy R&B-based item just waiting for dance floor action once a few copies turn up. Lena Calhoun was the youngest member of the group and also had a release as one of the Lavettes on Emjay Records in the same year.
aka The Georgettes (1)(Ricki) aka The Page Sisters(Ricki & Sonya) aka The Austin Sisters(Ricki & Sonya) aka The Majorettes (1) (Sheila, Joanna, Susie and Rebecca) aka Joanne & The Triangles (3) (Sheila, Joanna,Rebecca) aka Beverly & The Motor Scooters (Ricki, Sheila, Joanna,Rebecca) aka Becky & The Lollipops (2) (Joanna,Rebecca) aka The Bermudas (Sheila, Joanna,Rebecca) aka The Cinders (3) (Ricki, Sheila, Joanna,Rebecca)
Personnel:
Ricki Page
Rebecca Page
Joanna Page
Sheilah Page
Discography :
The Georgettes (1) 1957 - Love Like A Fool / Oh Tonight (Ebb 125) 1959 - Dizzy Over You / Oh Oh Yes (Jackpot 48001) 1960 - Down By The River / Pair Of Eyes (Fleet 1111/UA 237) 1963 - The Story / Little Boy (Troy 1001)
The Page Sisters 1957 - Sweet Sweetheart / All My Love Belongs To You (Zephyr 70-012) 1958 - Dream Boy / If They Only Knew (Liberty 55133)
The Austin Sisters It Happened At The Hop / Love Can Do Most Anything (Edison International 401)
The Majorettes (1) 1962 - Stretch Sensation / Dance With Me (Regency 8000) 1962 - White Levi's / Please Come Back (Troy 1000) 1963 - Let's Do the Kangaroo / Dance With Me (Troy 1004)
Joanne & The Triangles (3) 1963 - After The Showers Come Flowers / Don't Be A Cry Baby (Vip 25003)
Beverly & The Motor Scooters 1964 - He's My Boy / I Had To Walk Home Myself (Epic 9654)
Becky & The Lollipops (2) 1964 - I Don't Care (What They Say) / Come On Home (Troy 6493) 1964 - I Don't Care (What They Say) / My Boyfriend (Epic 9736)
The Bermudas 1964 - Donnie / Chu Sen Ling (Era 3125) 1964 - Blue Dreamer / Seing is Believing (Era 3133)
The Cinders (3) 1964 - I'll Follow You / The Story (Original Sound 43)
Biography :
Rickie Page was born June Evelyn Kuykendall in tiny Lindsay, Oklahoma on 7 November 1929. June became a recording star with releases on Liberty, Dot, Zephyr, and Rendezvous. Sometimes recording with her sister Sonya (The Page Sisters and The Austin Sisters) and Sometimes with some combination of her three daughters Joanna, Sheila, and Becky (Rebecca) Page and their friend Susan Kuykendall.
The Georgettes
She also put records out on Con, Landa, Decca, Epic, Era, Fleet, Hit, Landa, Spar, United Artists, and VIP, using a huge variety of artist names, including The Georgettes. The Georgettes was fronted by Rickie Page in 1957 and were named after her husband/co-writer/producer George Motola. Rickie Page was the only vocalist for the group. The Georgettes appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in January, 1958.
The Majorettes : Sheila, Joanna, Susie and Rebecca
They hired a little Philipino girl, Rosalie, to be the other half and they did the Dick Clark show. The Bermudas, the Majorettes, the Georgettes, Becky & Lollipops, Joanne & the Triangles and Beverly & the Motorscooters – these are just some of the recording names used by Rickie Page and the female members of her musical family. The Majorettes first released "Stretch Sensation" b/w Dance With Me" which is very much inspired by the recordings of Little Eva and Dee Dee Sharp – in 1962 on the Regency International label.
The Bermudas : Joanna, Sheilah & Rebecca
They then released “White Levis” on George Motola’s Troy label later that year. “Let’s Do The Kangaroo” followed in 1963 with “Dance With Me” resurrected for the flipside. Rickie Page and George Motola were active in the music business in the late 50s and 60s. They wrote “Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie” for Eddie Cochran, “Donnie” for the Bermudas and “Borealis” for the Markets among other achievements. George wrote “Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams)” with John Marascalco.
1956 - If Only You Were Mine / There Will Come A Time (Drummond 3000/Sugar Hill 3000) 1956 - Girl Friend / Willow Blues (Drummond 3001)
Biography :
Mack Rice was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In 1950, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan. He attended Detroit’s Northern High School, where he credited a music teacher with helping to hone his skills. Rice began his work in the R&B field, performing with the Five Scalders in 1956. The Five Scalders, a group from Northern High. Called the Scalders because "we were so hot," they consisted of Johnny Mayfield (tenor), Sol Tilman (tenor), Gerald Young (tenor), Mack Rice (baritone), and James Bryant (bass). They won first prize in the school's amateur show singing the Clovers' "Hey Miss Fannie". The Five Scalders recorded a couple of records for the local Sugar Hill and Drummond labels in 1956.
But after graduating, he was drafted into the Army and served several years in Germany. When he returned to Detroit in 1957, his mother mentioned an ad in the newspaper placed by a group looking for new members. The group Rice would join was the Falcons. From 1957–63, he performed with the Falcons, a group whose members included Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Joe Stubbs. He performed as a solo vocalist in the years to follow, but his biggest successes were as songwriter for other artists on labels like Stax and others in the 1960s and following decades. He began his solo vocalist career at Stax in 1967, recording on Atco Records beginning in 1968. Rice is one of the few musicians whose career touched both Motown and Stax Records. Rice continued to live in the Detroit area. He died at home in Detroit on June 27, 2016, aged 82, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
1958 - Sweet little Baby / Gee-Ver-Men-Nee-Vers (Dot 15752)
Biography :
J.R. Bailey, born James Bailey, is an R&B singer and songwriter. He was a member of the Cadillacs from 1956 to 1972 and scored five R&B singles hits under his own name between 1968 and 1975, the biggest of which was "After Hours" (number 29, 1973).
The Cadillacs in the 1959 Alan Freed movie “Go, Johnny, Go”: J.R. Bailey, Bobby Spencer, Earl Carroll and Bobby Phillips
In 1957, differences in opinion caused the Cadillacs to split. The new Cadillacs consisted of J. R. Bailey, Bobby Spencer (of the HARPTONES on Rama and the Crickets on Jay Dee), Bill Lindsey (of the Starlings on Josie and the Twilighters on MGM) and Champ Rollow.
From the Cadillacs, J. R. Bailey and Bobby Spencer cut "Sweet little Baby" b/w "Gee-Ver-Men-Nee-Vers" for Dot in 1958 as the Darts .
(Standing) Leon Taylor, Joey Daniels, Bernard Palmer & Daniel Jackson - (Seated) Anna Mae Jackson & Leon Daniels
The El Venos (Pittsburgh, PA)
Personnel :
Leon Daniels (Lead)
Daniel Jackson (First Tenor)
Anna Mae Jackson (Lead)
Leon Taylor (Second Tenor)
Joey Daniels (Baritone)
Bernard Palmer (Bass)
Discography :
The El Venos
Singles : 1956 - Geraldine / Now We're Together (Groove 4G-0170) 1957 - My Heart Beats Faster / You Must Be True (Vik 4X-0305/RCA 8303) Unreleased : 1956 - Are you An Angel? (Groove) 1957 - You're Gonna Be My Girl (Vik) 1957 - Oui, Monsieur (Vik) 1958 - Pretty Knees (AMP-3) 1960 - It's The Little Things (Calico) 1960 - Stereophonic (Calico)
Anne Keith (Anna Mae Jackson) 1959 - (I Am Just A) Lonely Girl (bb El Venos)/ Lover's Prayer (bb the Altairs) (Memo M3)
Biography :
Formed as a sextet, they stayed that way through the release of their two singles. The members were Leon Daniels (lead), Daniel Jackson (first tenor), Anna Mae Jackson (lead, Daniel's sister). Leon Taylor (second tenor), Joey Daniels (baritone, Leon's brother), and Bernard Palmer (bass). Raised in the Penn Hills and Duquesne area outside Pittsburgh, the six 16- year- olds started hitting street-corner harmonies during 1955.They came to the attention of WILY radio jock Bill Powell who arranged for a record deal with RCA. In 1956 the group was packed off to New York City to record five songs, issuing the Leon Taylor-penned "Geraldine" on RCA's Groove subsidiary by late fall.
Leon Daniels, Daniel Jackson, Anna Mae Jackson, Bernard Palmer, Leon Taylor (Joey Daniels not on the picture)
Geraldine" got immediate play on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand," but when Bill Powell (now their manager) arranged for a live appearance on that program the boys couldn't raise the money from their parents for the Pittsburgh to Philadelphia trek. With no finances to tour or do anything but local TV, the strong radio play of " Geraldine" (from New England to New Orleans) couldn't keep the record happening.
Bill Powell
Still, the El Venos performed locally with many hit acts that were passing through Pittsburgh on one-nighters, The Turbans and The Heartbeats among them. Their next single, "You Must Be True" (1957), was issued on another RCA affiliate , Vik Records, but saw even less activity. Two years passed while the group raised money to audition in New York for Calico Records. Auditioning the same day was another Pittsburgh group, The Skyliners. Doo wop folklore says the El Venos were actually favored by Calico on that fateful day, but the Skyliners' unique sound afforded them the first recording opportunity, subsequently yielding the now standard "Since I Don't Have You."
KQV deejay Al Nobel at tented the Skyliners recording Session for "Since I Don't Have You"
The El Venos did get to do two sides for Calico, but they never saw the light of day. On yet another New York trip, the group managed to cut two more songs for Mercury's Amp 3 division, but these also remained in the can. On her return to Pittsburgh, Anna Mae Jackson left the El Venos. Bill Powell, meanwhile, was busy putting the voices of his new group The Altairs on the El Venos Amp 3 tracks, leaving only Anna's lead vocal. He also dubbed in Altairs lead George Benson's guitar work. Though Powell pumped the record on his show, Amp 3 wasn't impressed enough to release it. Around this time, Ms. Jackson changed her name to Anne Keith and recorded " Lover's Prayer" backed by the Altairs and released on Memo Records in mid- 1959. They soon went their separate ways. https://www.uncamarvy.com/ElVenos/elvenos.html
Songs :
The El Venos
Geraldine Now We're Together My Heart Beats Faster
You Must Be True Are you An Angel? You're Gonna Be My Girl
Oui, Monsieur
Anne Keith (bb The El Venos) Anne Keith (bb the Altairs)
The Daps Single : 1956 - When You're Alone / Down and Out (Marterry 5249) Unreleased : 1956 - Love Your Lovin' Ways (Chess)
Charles Clark 1958 - Row Your Boat / Hidden Charms (Artistic 1500) 1959 - Another Chance / Hope For A Miracle (Argo 5332)
Biography :
The Marterry label will be Chess & Checker pop subsidiary to cover their R&B hits. The plan was to name the new brand after Leonard Chess's son Marshall and Phil's son Terry. So after just two Marterry singles from the original batch, the name was changed to Argo. The first release on Marterry was by a doo-wop group called The Daps. The Daps were formed at Kalamazoo Central High School and consisting of Charles Clark, Jim Pierson, Earl Jones, Willie Walker, Floyd Smith and Henry Dungey, signed with Chicago's Chess Records
In December 1955, The Daps recorded "When You're Alone", "Down and Out" released in January 1956. Marterry 5249 was released in February 1956. Leonard Chess was talking it up in Cash Box for February 26 and taking out a full-page ad for it in the same issue. Another ad ran on March 3. On March 17, Cash Box noted that the Daps had appeared on Howard Miller's TV show. In April 1956 the Daps appeared in a package show at the Madison Rink (2560 West Madison) put on by DJ Sam Evans; Ray Charles and the Diablos were the headliners.
Charles Clark
The group did not record again. A third track from the same session "Love Your Lovin' Ways," surfaced in 1994 on the Chess Rhythm & Roll box set. in 1958, Charles Clark made a single for Artistic Records with "Row Your Boat" and "Hidden Charms " and another single in 1959 with "Another Chance" and "Hope For A Miracle" For Argo.
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