Sonny & The Dukes (5) (Baltimore, Maryland) aka The Unisons
Personnel :
George "Sonny" Hatchett (Lead)
Eddie Rich (First Tenor)
Richard Williams (Baritone)
Albert Smith (Bass)
Discography :
Sonny & The Dukes (5) 1962 - My Love / Make Up Your Mind (Reverb 611)
George Jackson bb The Unisons 1962 - Watching The Rainbow / Miss Frankenstein (Lescay 3006)
Biography :
In 1962, George "Sonny" Hatchett, Richard Williams (baritone), Eddie Rich (First Tenor) and Albert Smith (bass) Teamed in a group called Sonny & The Dukes. George "Sonny" Hatchett & Richard Williams were members of the Cardinals whose recordings would not be released until 1974 on "Bim Bam Boom" who except for their Lead Singer, Junius "Ernie Lee" Warren, had no connection to the Atlantic Cardinals. Eddie Rich had been a Lead Singer of the Swallows, and the group's Bass, Albert Smith, was also a member of The Swallows. Sonny & The Dukes recorded "My Love" and "Make Up Your Mind" for Reverb 611. The exact same lineup also backed up George Jackson, former lead of the Plants on "Watching The Rainbow" and "Miss Frankenstein" for Lescay records. On this single, they were dubed as the Unisons.
The Ding Dongs (1) 1958 - Early In The Morning / Now We're One (Brunswick 55073)
The Rinky Dinks 1958 - Early In The Morning / Now We're One (Atco 6121)
Bobby Darin & The Rinky Dinks 1958 - Mighty Mighty Man / You're Gone (Atco 6128)
Biography :
"Early in the Morning" is a song written by Bobby Darin and Woody Harris. Darin approached Brunswick Records with "Early in the Morning". Brunswick was impressed, but as Darin was still under contract to Atlantic Records' subsidiary, Atco, the song was released by The Ding Dongs. New York deejays liked the record and Atco soon discovered the deception.
Brunswick was forced to turn over the masters to Atco, which released the record in 1958 under the name, "The Rinky Dinks" . Buddy Holly was in the studio on that day and Bobby gave him permission to record both tracks on the Coral label. Both tracks were identical to Bobby's including the Helen Way Singers backup!
Billboard, june 30, 1958
In 1959, Darin recorded the self-penned "Dream Lover," a ballad that became a multi-million seller. With it came financial success and the ability to demand more creative control of his career. So he meant for his That's All album to show that he could sing more than rock and roll. His next single, "Mack the Knife," the standard from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, was given a vamping jazz-pop interpretation. Although Darin was initially opposed to releasing it as a single, the song went to No. 1 on the charts for nine weeks, sold two million copies, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960. Darin was also voted the Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year, and "Mack The Knife" has since been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. http://www.bobbydarin.net/sn_042458.html
1960 - Sing A Song Of Sixpence / Yeah Yeah (Cub 9065) 1961 - Love Her So / What 'Cha Gonna Do (Clock 1037)
Biography :
The independent Clock Records label issued some fine records, notably 'I'll Go On' by Bee Jay (and group), the lovely solo ballad 'Whispers' by Dave 'Baby' Cortez, and thie nice "Love Her So" . Another group also called The Corvairs recorded 'True True Love' for Comet, which Cortez arranged and conducted according to the label information. The two groups are, however, different. The other Corvairs on Crown are a white Group. Picture by Marv Goldberg
Millard Edwards, James Dennis Isaac, Jimmy Allen (photo from Sheppards)
The Bel Aires (2) (Chicago, Illinois)
Personnel :
Millard Edwards (Lead)
James Dennis Isaac (Bass)
Jimmy Allen (Baritone)
Ezell Williams (First Tenor)
Frank Taylor (Second Tenor)
Discography :
1958 - My Yearbook / Rockin' An' Strollin' (Decca 30631)
Biography :
The Sheppards were formed in 1959 out of two earlier groups managed by Bill Sheppard, the Ballads and the Bel Aires. Members were Millard Edwards (lead and bass), Jimmy Allen (baritone), and James Dennis Isaac (bass and fifth tenor) from the Bel Aires; and Murrie Eskridge (lead and top tenor), O. C. Perkins (second tenor), and Kermit Chandler (Guitar) from the Ballads. The Bel Aires first got together in 1957 calling themselves the Del Ricos and eventually joined producer Bill Shepard. He had been recording Chicago vocal groups since 1953 and found them two fine tunes and an excellent arrangement. He also secured the facilities of Decca, a major label, for the group whose name he had changed. The record initially did well but never really took off.
The Five Stars (3) (Dallas, Texas) aka The Five Notes (2) akaThe Five Masks
Personnel :
Al Bragg (Lead)
Cal Valentine (Lead)
Robert Lee Valentine
Jesse Floyd
Billie Fred Thomas
Discography :
The Five Notes (2) 1955 - Show Me The Way / Park Your Love (Chess 1614)
The Five Stars (3) 1957 - Hey, Juanita / So Lonely Baby (Blues Boys Kingdom 106)
The Five Masks 1958 - Forever And A Day / Polly Molly (Jan 101)
Biography :
While at school, Cal met up with another youngster who shared his love of music, Al ’TNT’ Bragg who was also to make a name for himself on the R&B scene in the sixties and seventies. Together with several more of their friends they formed The Five Notes.
Al ’TNT’ Bragg The Five Stars
The group entered a local talent contest which they duly won, rapidly becoming one of the hottest groups in the Dallas area. The Five Notes were signed up by agent Mike Coggs and appeared on shows with groups like The Five Keys and The Spaniels, and in 1955 they made their recording debut on the Chess label with the release of the single Park Your Love/Show Me The Way (Chess 1614).
A change of name to The Five Masks and another single on the Jan label, Polly Molly/Forever And A Day (Jan 101) were to follow before the group, now called The Five Stars, signed for B.B. Kings short lived Blues Boy Kingdom label.
Although a single was released, Hey Juanita/So Lonely Baby (Blues Boy Kingdom 106), B.B.s discovery by the white blues market and the subsequent upsurge in his popularity led to the demise of the label and the groups eventual return to Dallas where their popularity guaranteed them regular work and even an outstanding performance in the 1957 movie, Rock Baby, Rock It, along with Roscoe Gordon.
Singles : 1956 - Back Home Again / I Wanna Know (Authentic 703) 1957 - Let Me Cry / The Skinny Woman Story (Authentic 410/Dootone 410)
Lps : 1958 - Rhythm 'N' Blues Hit Vocal Groups (Authentic LP 500/Dootone LP 501) Let Me Cry / I Love You Bobby Sox
1960 - Willie Hayden / Blame It on the Blues (Dooto DTL-293) I Love You Bobby Sox / Back Home Again / Let Me Cry / I Want To Know
Biography :
Willie Headen. He was the lead singer of The Kansas City Gospel Singers, who had two releases on Castle (1950) and one on SwingTime (1951). As a single artist, he had several releases on the DooTone label (1954-60), including "When I Am Gone" which is the flip side of The Penguins' first record.
Willie Headen
While on tour in Los Angeles, he decided to remain there and further his musical career. In 1956, the popularity of blues music had faded, and Headen and Dootone's Dootsie Williams formed an R&B vocal group that they called the Five Birds.
Walter "Dootsie" Williams
He cut Two singles for Authentic Records. Authentic Records was a budget subsidiary of Dootone/Dooto Records, owned by Walter "Dootsie" Williams. http://www.vocalgroupharmony.com/come.htm
1962 - Poor Humpty Dumpty / Would You Still Be Mine (Bayfront 107) 1962 - Too Young / Bang Bang, Shoot'em Up Daddy (Bayfront 108)
Biography :
Tom Stauch joined the United States Marine Corps in 1959 and while stationed in Okinawa formed a group called the "Emblems".
Upon returning to the states he secured a record contract with BayFront, a New York label owned by Leo Rogers and Sid Arky (BayFront, Tip Top, Lido, Bruce, Power, All Star and Lo Fi records) . "Too Young," "Bang Bang Shoot 'Em," "Poor Humpty Dumpty," and "Would You Still Be Mine" were recorded for Bayfront Records, and, while they are great recordings, they didn't chart anywhere.
Tom Stauch was also known as 'Tommy Vann' and in 1966 he formed a new group : "Tommy Vann & The Echoes". Shortly thereafter they were recording in New York and had the uptempo recording of "Too Young" which sold upwards of 650,000 copies.
Tommy Vann & The Echoes
Tommy left the "Echoes" in 1966 and formed the group, "Tommy Vann and The Professionals".
Clockwise from top : Dianne Christian, Shirley Crier, Gale Noble
The Rosettes (Bronx, New York) aka The Darlettes (1)
Personnel :
Diane Christian (Lead)
Gale Noble (Soprano
Shirley Crier (Alto)
Discography :
The Rosettes 1961 - You Broke My Heart / It Must Be Love (Herald 562)
Diane Christian & The Darlettes (1) 1962 - Just You / The Wobble (Dunes 2016)
The Darlettes (1) 1963 - Here She Comes / Just You (Dunes 2026)
Biography :
The Darlettes consisted of Diane Christian, Gale Noble and Shirley Crier. They all were from the the Morrisan section of the Bronx borough of New York City and grew up within a block of each other. Shirley Crier attended Morris High School in the Bronx while Diane Christian and Gale Noble attended Central Commercial In Manhattan. Like the other groups of that time they attended local talent contests. Shirley's older brother Arthur Crier was already a successful singer songwriter member of the Chimes and the Mallows. Arthur later achieved the most success as the bass in the Halos.
The Halos (Arthur Crier (Front right)
So it was only natural that he managed and wrote for the girls. Originally called the Rosettes their first single "You Broke My Heart" was released on the Herald label. Their second "Just You" was credited to Diane and the Darlettes as Diane was the primary lead singer. Arthur's group the Halo's recorded for Dunes so the girls' second single "Just You" released on that label. "Just You" featured dual leads by Dianne and Shirley.
Diane Christian 1967 - Dianne (Center) with the Liberty Belle
The third release "Here She Comes" was credited to the Darlettes and was written by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, When it was available the Darlettes did some demo work. Most of their promotion was at local clubs and on radio stations. After "Here She Comes" Shirley got married and moved to Texas.Diane continued to record demos and went on to have a solo career. Gale too had a solo career. From John Clemente's Girl Groups
1962 - Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah / Flip & Nitty (Philles 107) 1963 - Why Do Lovers Break Each Others' Hearts? / Dr. Kaplan's Office (Philles 110) 1963 - Not Too Young to Get Married / Annette (Philles 113)
Eps :
1963 - Christmas EP (Philles EP 4005) The Bells of St. Mary's
Lps :
1963 - Zip-A-De-Doo-Dah (Philles LP 4002) Zip-A-De-Doo-Dah / Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart / Let The Good Times Roll / My Heart Beat A Little Bit Faster / Jimmy Baby / Baby (I Love You) / The White Cliffs Of Dover / This Land Is Your Land / Dear (Here Comes My Baby) / I Shook The World / Everything's Gonna Be All Right / Dr. Kaplan's Office
1963 - A Christmas Gift for You from (Philles LP 4005) Here Comes Santa Claus / The Bells of St. Mary's
Biography :
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans was an early 1960s vocal group produced by Phil Spector, and was initially conceived as a vehicle for the lead vocals of Bobby Sheen, who took the stage name Bob B. Soxx. The Blue Jeans were backing vocalists, Darlene Love and Fanita James, both of whom were also members of the then girl group The Blossoms.
The Blossoms
Despite Sheen's status as group leader, by the time the trio entered the recording studio, Spector was often using Love as the group's primary vocalist. Sheen sang lead on the group's first hit, 1962's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (originally from the 1946 Disney movie, Song of the South).
Love, meanwhile, handled the lead vocals on Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans' two follow-up singles, 1963's "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts?" and "Not Too Young to Get Married". Sheen and Love shared vocal duties on the only album the group ever recorded, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (1963).
Sheen can be heard as lead vocalist on the group's final recordings, "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "Here Comes Santa Claus," two tracks on the Spector-produced album, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (1963), on which Love also appears as a solo artist. On the cover of this album, a group portrait shows Sheen with two Blue Jeans vocalists, who have been identified as James and yet another Blossoms member, Gloria Jones.
Bobby Sheen & Phil Spector Phil Spector & Darlene Love
After 1963 the group was dropped by Philles Records and effectively ceased to exist. Sheen went back to using his real name, recorded some tracks for Capitol Records in the mid 1960s, and later joined a later touring version of The Coasters. Sheen had previously been a member of The Robins, joining in 1957.
Carolyn Willis, Bobby Sheen, Lillian Washington
Love recorded a few solo hits, but, more memorably, was the lead vocalist on at least two hit records by The Crystals. It is also established that Sheen, Love and Wright were the voices on The Crystals' hit, "He's a Rebel".
1958 - My Rochelle (Music City) (Unreleased) 1958 - You're The Reason (Music City) (Unreleased)
Biography :
The Dischords were formed in the late 1950s at las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, California. They were one of many recorded but never rerased vocal group. Membership comprised of Chris Nakano, Mike Tompkins, Perry Conner, Greg Bertagnolli and Randal "Randy" Tamberg, guitar accompaniment. The Group took pianist Keith Howard along to the studio to support the beautiful "My Rochelle" (Conceved by Tamberg), sandwiched with a cover of the charts "You're The Reason", waxed for everest in 1957. Both songs are strong, ethereal-sounding ballads which should have surfaced on Music City.
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