2001 Inductee – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame https://vocalgroup.org Sun, 20 Sep 2020 23:48:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://vocalgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cropped-g-clef-musical-note-32x32.png 2001 Inductee – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame https://vocalgroup.org 32 32 206219898 The Weavers https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-weavers/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 09:42:43 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1195 The Weavers

 

The Weavers had the most extraordinary musical pedigree and pre-history of any performing group in the history of folk or popular music. More than 50 years after their heyday, however, their origins, the level of their success, the forces that cut the group’s future off in its prime, and the allure that keeps their music selling are all difficult to explain — as, indeed, none of this was all that easy to explain at the time. How could a song as pleasant and tuneful as “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” be subversive?

The quartet went from being embraced by the public, and selling four million records, to being reviled and rejected over the political backgrounds of its members, and disbanding after only four years together. Yet, despite the controversy that surrounded them, and the fact that their work was interrupted at its peak, the Weavers managed to alter popular culture in about as profound a manner as any artist this side of Bob Dylan — indeed, in setting the stage for the 1950s folk revival, and indirectly fostering the careers of the Kingston Trio, among others, and bridging the gap between folk and popular music, and the topical song, they helped set the stage for Dylan’s eventual emergence. And the songs that they wrote or popularized, including “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” “Wimoweh,” “Goodnight Irene,” “Wreck of the John B,” “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” and “On Top of Old Smoky,” continued to get recorded (and occasionally to chart) 50 years after the group’s own time.

The Weavers bear a striking resemblance to an earlier group called the Almanac Singers. Pete Seeger (born May 3, 1919) and Lee Hays (born 1914) had worked together for the first time in 1940 as part of the Almanac Singers, who had enjoyed brief but notable success on radio, and as a recording outfit doing topical songs in a folk idiom, until their leftist political views became an issue; the group members had been caught in the uncomfortable position, as dedicated Communists, of having pushed pacifism and American neutrality during 1940 and early 1941, and then reversing themselves after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. In the intervening years, during and after World War II, Seeger and Hays had both been involved in various causes involving international peace, civil rights, and workers’ rights, and late in 1948, Hays had suggested trying to form an ensemble similar to, but better organized than the Almanac Singers.

The notion went through some evolution, including the idea — later abandoned — of a multi-racial sextet, before it settled on Seeger, Hays, Fred Hellerman (born May 13, 1927), and Ronnie Gilbert (born September 7, 1926). The Brooklyn-born Hellerman and New York-born Gilbert had first met Seeger and Hays through People’s Songs, a loosely knit assembly of songwriters and musicians formed in the basement of Seeger’s house in Greenwich Village in 1946, which was intended to bolster the postwar union and social activism. People’s Songs started with a great deal of promise but faltered two-and-a-half years later, along with the left in general, after the election of 1948, in which the leftist presidential ticket of Henry Wallace and Glen Taylor ran last in a four-way race. It was just after the election that Hayes had suggested a new singing group, and he, Seeger, Hellerman, and Gilbert, along with a fifth member named Jackie Gibson, who dropped out soon after, had initially performed that Thanksgiving.

The surviving group, known informally as the No-Name Quartet, performed at various venues around New York and once on radio, courtesy of folksinger Oscar Brand, before settling on the name the Weavers, derived from a play of the same title by Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann.

The Weavers’ first year was spent avoiding starvation. Their intention had been to help support union-sponsored events and other progressive causes, but the members discovered that, in the wake of the collapse of the Wallace campaign, there were hardly any events at which they were welcome, or which could pay them anything. If 1948 had been a disastrous year for the left, 1949 was nothing short of catastrophic, as the forces of reaction, emboldened by Wallace’s defeat and with an angry, obstructionist Republican minority in Congress to give them a national platform, went on the attack. In some instances, the attacks were literal — during the late summer of 1949, rioting broke out at a concert in Peekskill, NY, in which hundreds were injured by members of veterans groups infuriated by the presence of singer and leftist political activist Paul Robeson, who was also the target of an aborted assassination attempt.

Challenges became commonplace, to the loyalties of any visible folksingers with a topical edge to their music, or to that of the people who would hire or record them Pete Seeger, the most well-known member of the Weavers, was able to eke out fees of as much as $15 at some venues — there were still schools that would book him to sing for children — but that was as good as the money got, and it couldn’t be increased for the quartet. The Weavers did make a handful of recordings in the late summer and early fall of 1949 for Charter Records, a tiny label run by former People’s Songs supporter Mario Casetta, but most of them were never released, and the undercapitalized label closed in 1950.

Fate took a hand when the group, as a last-ditch effort to keep going, auditioned for a spot performing for the Christmas week of 1949 at the Village Vanguard, a New York club owned by Max Gordon, which was most closely associated with jazz. They went over so well that the gig was extended through the winter and then the entire spring, for 250 dollars a week split four ways. Their six months at the Vanguard changed the group’s fate. Though the club was virtually empty on the four weeknights, on weekends it filled up, and audiences loved the simple, unaffected enthusiasm that the quartet brought to their music. Folk-singing by then had become something of an “art,” an elitist, academic activity attuned to scholars, but the Weavers came off completely the opposite of this — guileless and honest, literally four hayseeds without any experience of playing in clubs. Their presentation and popularity, coupled with the visibility of the Vanguard, soon led to reviews in newspapers and trade journals, and these were almost all positive.

It was from the Village Vanguard shows that the group first hooked up with Harold Leventhal, a young music publishing executive. He loved their work but was also honest enough to admit that, at that point in his career, he didn’t know enough about business to represent them adequately, so he recommended someone who did, a manager name Pete Kameron. In the meantime, they’d also attracted the attention of Gordon Jenkins, who was then one of the top arrangers and bandleaders in the music business. Jenkins brought them to Decca Records, where he was under contract, and had the group perform for label chief Dave Kapp — by the time the audition was over, the entire production staff was listening and singing along, but at first no one knew what to do with four white singers whose repertory ranged from traditional gospel and work songs and children’s songs, so Decca passed. It was only when Mitch Miller at Columbia Records offered the quartet a contract that Jenkins got adamant, he had a contract written and a session booked, and the group was signed to Decca.

The first result of their Decca contract was a collection of Christmas songs issued on a 10″ LP, which didn’t attract much attention. But their second session yielded a pair of songs, “Tzena Tzena Tzena,” which got to number two, and “Goodnight Irene,” which hit number one and stayed there for 13 weeks, and ended up selling two million copies as a double-sided hit single. Cut just before the group left the Vanguard in June of 1950, the two songs caught everyone by surprise with their sudden success. Ronnie Gilbert had just gotten married and was planning on an extended honeymoon out west. As the newly married couple drove across country, however, they were astonished to find “Tzena Tzena Tzena” being played on jukeboxes at the eateries where they stopped, and also turning up on the radio.

Gilbert received a telegram urging her to cut short her honeymoon and return to the group to help fulfill the bookings that were pouring in, and for the next year the world seemed to be at their feet. There were as many bookings as Kameron could accept, all for top dollar, and offers of television appearances as well, and Decca Records was eager to record anything by the group in order to keep the success of the first single going. In later years, purists would criticize Jenkins’ use of string arrangements and a big band brass sound to accompany the group on the original recordings of “Goodnight Irene,” “Midnight Special,” and “Wimoweh,” but the public never objected and the members themselves all felt that Jenkins had done his best to keep their sound intact while putting them into the commercial context of the time. Certainly, they had no objection to the idea of selling several million copies of a song like “Goodnight Irene,” written and taught to them by their friend Leadbelly, who had struggled for decades for success and recognition and, alas, had died the year before. The label tried their sound in different formats and combinations, even teaming the Weavers with Terry Gilkyson, a beautiful baritone-voiced folksinger, on “On Top of Old Smoky.”

It was all too good to last, they knew, and it didn’t. Ever since the breakout of the first single as a hit, the members had expected that somewhere down the line their past political affiliations would be thrown back in their faces. Their manager did his best to downplay any political associations by the group — they were never booked into potentially controversial events, such as union meetings or political rallies, and avoided doing songs that were overly controversial. From the very start, the group’s repertory had been put together on the fly; at the Vanguard, when they realized that the handful of songs that they’d prepared weren’t enough to cover the lengths of the sets that the audience wanted from them, they would propose and spontaneously do songs right there on stage, all material that they knew well from their own respective pasts and all of it considered “safe” and appropriate for a club audience, rather than a political meeting — Hays’ background as the son of a Methodist minister gave him a rich trove of religious songs to draw on, and the others, with Seeger as the dominant figure after Hays, chose what they thought were the best and safest songs they knew.

The irony was that their concerts — usually at clubs, or in hotel venues where big bands were the norm — were so innocuous politically, that the Weavers were derided by the leftist press, even by their former colleague Irwin Silber in the pages of Sing Out!, a journal then known for its strong editorial positions. They were sneered at as sellouts. And then, in the summer of 1950, just as they were being offered a 15-minute weekly television show of their own, the anti-Communist journal Red Channels denounced the Weavers. The offer of the program disappeared — though the group did do a series of spots for Snader Television, an early syndicator in the new medium — and soon bookings began drying up, though not immediately and not completely. The records kept selling, with another two million copies of their music purchased in America in 1951, spearheaded by “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” their adaptation of an old Irish folksong that they’d learned from Leadbelly. By that time, however, they were under FBI surveillance and the pressure was on — it’s impossible for someone born after the 1950s to appreciate the stigma, coupled with the threat, that attached in those days to the very notion of being seen doing business with someone under FBI surveillance, or being called to testify before a Congressional committee; it could end, or at least severely compromise careers, and split up friends and families; in those days, teachers were being fired from their jobs and students were being threatened with expulsion from colleges for refusing to sign loyalty oaths.

For two years, from the middle of 1950, when the first accusations of the group’s alleged disloyalty surfaced, until the summer of 1952, Kameron had been able to keep securing the group some work, in smaller, more out of the way venues and from promoters, especially in the northeast, who were willing to risk the protests, hate mail, and threats that inevitably followed the announcement of a Weavers concert. Part of the problem was the group’s sheer visibility — with “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” as innocuous a song politically as one could imagine, getting a huge amount of airplay, they were a constant source of offense, like a red flag (literally) being waved in the face of rabid anti-Communists. The fact that the Republicans had retaken control of Congress in the 1950 elections, transforming the most rabid anti-Communists from an angry minority into a nasty majority, caused the behavior of their allies around the country to become only more virulent as the military stalemate in the Korean War dragged on through 1951 and 1952. On some subconscious level, it was as though, helpless to defeat the North Koreans (or the Soviets backing them) on the battlefield, the political right transformed any alleged domestic Communists into valid targets, and the Weavers were out there singing, selling lots of records, and making lots of noise.

The fact that the group was making money by getting Americans to buy their records, and that a company like Decca Records was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits from their work, only meant that the Weavers were a corrupting force. The very fact that they’d sneaked into their success so suddenly, virtually “under the radar” of the political right, was an offense. And the fact that no member of the group had ever uttered a word in public (or, for all anyone knew, in private) about the Korean War was, curiously, irrelevant amid all of the controversy.

By the end of 1952, the group had called it quits. Decca no longer wanted to record them because it was difficult, if not impossible, to get their records into the stores, and it was no longer possible to get their music played on the radio. The label kept paying them for the duration of their contract until it ended in 1953, and by then each of the members had moved on to other activities. Another key factor, even if the political and business climate had been more favorable, was Pete Seeger, who was never wholly comfortable working in a group context due to the limitations it placed on his repertory, and who liked even less the compromises that the Weavers had made in pursuing their work. The group was seemingly forgotten by the public over the next three years, their music banished from the airwaves and their records withdrawn — Ronnie Gilbert and her husband moved to California, Fred Hellerman became a music teacher, Seeger performed as a solo act before whatever schools would book him, and Lee Hays wrote radio commercials.

In 1955, however, Harold Leventhal proposed a reunion concert for the four. They tried to book Town Hall in New York but weren’t allowed to rent it, so controversial were they still. Instead, in a move that anticipated Brian Epstein’s boldness in booking the hall for the Beatles nine years later, Leventhal rented Carnegie Hall — the irony was that Carnegie Hall’s management, involved in the relatively rarified world of classical music, was totally unaware of any controversy surrounding the Weavers and had no objections. (Similarly, when Brian Epstein called to book the Beatles years later, on the eve of their breakthrough in America, the Carnegie Hall management had no inkling of who they were and assumed that a “quartet” meant four string players and not a rock & roll group, who would not have been allowed to book the hall.) The event proved to be a sellout and then some, with hundreds turned away; equally important, it was captured on tape, and the tape was then sold to Vanguard Records.

Vanguard at that time was a small but enterprising label specializing in classical music, run by two brothers, Maynard Solomon and Seymour Solomon, a pair of music lovers and scholars. They had no shareholders to answer to and no corporate structure, and even in the world of classical record distribution were fiercely independent. Vanguard released the reunion concert and did very well with it, they followed it up with a second volume, and suddenly Leventhal and the Weavers had a new recording contract. It was through the Vanguard releases, the reunion concerts and the recordings that followed, that most of the Weavers’ baby-boom audience, and virtually any enthusiasts acquired during the folk revival of the late ’50s and early ’60s, and at any time after, discovered the group and its music.

Their Vanguard recordings were stripped down, very basic productions, just the group members playing with no dubbed on accompaniment; they’re usually regarded more highly than the Decca material which, in any case, wasn’t available for many years in any comprehensive form. Seeger left the reformed group in 1958, preferring to pursue a solo career on his own. By that time, ironically enough, the stage had been set for just such an opportunity by the Weavers themselves. They may not have survived the blacklist intact, but the interest in folksongs that they’d fostered, along with the proof, in the form of millions of copies of “Goodnight Irene” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” that had been sold, wasn’t lost on the public or the music business — by 1956, groups like the Easy Riders (led by Terry Gilkyson and featuring a pair of lesser-known People’s Songs alumni, Frank Miller and Richard Dehr), had charted a few huge national hits in a distinctly folk-like idiom with “Marianne”; big record labels were looking at folk music and smaller ones were recording it, and when the Kingston Trio broke out with the two-million selling “Tom Dooley” in 1958, the dam burst. Collegiate folk groups were in, and even controversial “old” Pete Seeger was able to get a contract with Columbia Records. By the end of the ’50s, the anti-Communists were also in retreat, having been discredited by their woefully flawed national icon, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and his fall from power — nobody especially wanted to take them on if they could help it, but they weren’t winning any new battles or new friends, either. Even the Tokens’ 1962 hit single, another version of the Weavers’ hit “Wimoweh,” entitled “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” only helped sustain the Weavers’ reputation.

Seeger’s first replacement in the Weavers was Erik Darling (born September 25, 1933), a former member of the Tarriers who lasted with the group until 1961 when he left to pursue a solo career and, eventually, to form the Rooftop Singers; he was succeeded by Frank Hamilton (born August 3, 1934), who stayed until 1963 and was succeeded by an acquaintance of Lee Hays’, Bernie Krause, who worked with the group during their final year together, including the 1964 Carnegie Hall concert which featured a composite of all the group members working together. The group members went their separate ways, each of them remaining in music to varying degrees, although Ronnie Gilbert also pursued a degree in psychology; Pete Seeger helped introduce Bob Dylan to the established folk audience, and later showed that he had lost none of his flair for controversy, challenging the popular media with new songs such as “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” dealing with Vietnam; Lee Hays saw a song that he had co-written with Carl Sandburg as “Wreck of the John B,” retitled “Sloop John B,” turned into a huge rock & roll hit by the Beach Boys, and he later became a mentor to Don McLean (who also performed with Pete Seeger).

In November of 1980, a pair of reunion concerts at Carnegie Hall became the final appearance of the original quartet and the focal point of the film Wasn’t That a Time, a documentary chronicle of the Weavers’ history. Hays passed away the following summer, thus ending the active history of the group. Since then, two box set collections of the group’s work — Wasn’t That a Time on Vanguard, covering their history from 1950 through 1964 and Goodnight Irene: The Weavers 1949-1953 on Bear Family, devoted exclusively to their first four years together — have appeared on CD; and Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, a double CD of previously unreleased live performances from the years 1950-1953 on Omega Records, the successor label to the Solomon brothers’ Vanguard Records.

Additionally, most of their Vanguard albums have reappeared on compact disc, and a pair of compilations of their Decca work have been issued in England and America. Listening to their material today, the great irony is the sense of timelessness in the performances. The avoidance of controversy, which made the group such pariahs to their compatriots on the left and utterly infuriating to their opponents on the right, gave the Weavers’ music a universality that topical songs of the era would have sorely lacked ten or 20 years later. At the same time, the group’s unaffected style, partly a result of their sheer inexperience, gave the recordings an honesty and directness that was lacking in the more scholarly approach to folk music that was more typical of the era. The result is a body of songs several hundred strong that have stood the test of time for a half-century or more.

— Bruce Eder

]]> 1195 The Vogues https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-vogues/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 09:40:18 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1192 The Vogues

Originally known as the Val-Aires, this quartet from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, turned out some tasty early ‘60s pop rock and some late sixties M.O.R. Bill Burkette (lead), Charles “Chuck” Blasko (tenor), Hugh Geyer (tenor), and Don Miller (baritone) were the four friends who became the Val-Aires in the late ‘50s.

They were transformed into the Vogues, a name change by Nick Cenci, the producer of their hits on Co & Ce records.

In 1965 (when all were 22) Elmer Willet brought a tape of songs by the Val-Aires to Nick Cenci. Liking their sound, Nick gave Elmer a song recorded by Petula Clark titled “You’re the One” The group then was brought into Gate way Studio’s to record it and was released on Nick’s Blue Star Label because of an infringement with another label “Blue Star”, the record label was changed to Co and Ce Records of Pittsburgh (Herb Cohen and Nick Cenci). After Nick got John Rook, P.D. of KQV to Pick the record..”You’re the One” (the first station to play the reoord) the song climbed to number four in the nation. It was the Vogues’ first chart record.

The group followed it with an English unison styled rocker “Five O’Clock World” (#4), and soon the Pennsylvania pop rockers were a hot commodity on the rock and roll stock exchange.

The Barry Mann / Cynthia Weil-penned “Magic Town” followed, charting in February 1966 to number 21. Next to chart was “The Land of Milk and Honey” (#29), and up-tempo rocker that fell somewhere between Gary Lewis and the Playboys and the Outsiders. Its flip, a Critters-styled cut called “Don’t Blame the Rain.”

Three more Co and Ce singles were issued but by 1967 interest in the group sound was waning. Their last Co and Ce release, “Lovers of the World Unite,” was licensed to MGM but failed. The group then leased by Co & Ce to Reprise Records (distributed by Warner Bros.).

The Reprise single “Turn Around, Look at Me” (#7), originally a charter in 1961 for Glen Campbell, signalled a change to an M.O.R. LETTERMEN styled direction.

The Bobby Helms 1957 number seven hit “My Special Angel” followed and reached number seven for the Vogues on October 12, 1968.

The group continued to chart through 1969 with remakes like “Till” (THE ANGELS, #14, 1962), which reached number 27, and “Earth Angel” (THE PENGUINS, #8, 1955) at number 42.

A Dick Glasser-produced, fully orchestrated single of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” might have been a hit had it not been on the flip side of the Vogues’ best Reprise A side of “Over the Rainbow,” a stunning single that was overlooked by radio programmers preoccupied with Blood, Sweat and Tears, Steppenwolf, and Led Zeppelin.

The group’s last Reprise single was THE SKYLINERS’ 1959 hit (#12) “Since I Don’t Have You.” They continued to perform through the ‘70s as a self-contained vocal/instrumental band.

— Jay Warner & Nick Cenci

Harmony-pop vocal group the Vogues were formed in 1960 by lead baritone Bill Burkette, baritone Don Miller, first tenor Hugh Geyer, and second tenor Chuck Blasko, who were all high school friends from Turtle Creek, PA.

Originally dubbed the Val-Aires, the foursome eventually signed to the tiny Co & Ce label, reaching the number four spot in the autumn of 1965 with “You’re the One”; the Vogues’ most memorable hit, the classic “Five O’Clock World,” cracked the Top Five before the year ended as well. Two more Top 40 entries, “Magic Town” and “The Land of Milk and Honey,” followed in 1966, and when the group resurfaced in 1968 when Nick Cenci leased them to Reprise Records where they had a Top Ten smash “Turn Around, Look at Me,”
The single, the Vogues’ lone million-seller, anticipated the lighter, more sophisticated approach of subsequent hits like “My Special Angel,” “Till,” and “No, Not Much.” Despite no further chart action from 1970 onward, various Vogues lineups continued touring oldies circuits for years to come.

— Jason Ankeny

]]> 1192 Smokey Robinson and The Miracles https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/smokey-robinson-and-the-miracles/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 09:09:34 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1170 Smokey Robinson and The Miracles

Of all the R&B vocal groups formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA, in the mid-50s, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles proved to be the most successful. They were founded at the city’s Northern High School in 1955 by Smokey Robinson (b. William Robinson, 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, USA), Emerson Rogers, Bobby Rogers (b. 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, USA), Ronnie White (b. 5 April 1939, Detroit, Michigan, USA, d. 26 August 1995) and Warren ‘Pete’ Moore (b. 19 November 1939, Detroit, Michigan, USA). Emerson Rogers left the following year, and was replaced by his sister Claudette, who married Smokey Robinson in 1959. Known initially as the Matadors, the group became the Miracles in 1958, when they made their initial recordings with producer Berry Gordy. He leased their debut, ‘Got A Job’ (an answer record to the Silhouettes’ major hit ‘Get A Job’), to End Records, produced a duet by Ron (White) And Bill (Robinson) for Argo, and licensed the classic doo-wop novelty ‘Bad Girl’ to Chess Records in 1959.

The following year, Gordy signed the Miracles directly to his fledgling Motown Records label. Recognizing the youthful composing talents of Smokey Robinson, he allowed the group virtual free rein in the studio, and was repaid when they issued ‘Way Over There’, a substantial local hit, and then ‘Shop Around’, which broke both the Miracles and Motown to a national audience. The song demonstrated the increasing sophistication of Robinson’s writing, which provided an unbroken series of hits for the group over the next few years. Their raw, doo-wop sound was further refined on the Top 10 hit ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’ in 1962, a soulful ballad that became a worldwide standard after the Beatles covered it in 1963. Robinson was now in demand by other Motown artists: Gordy used him as a one-man hit factory, to mastermind releases by the Temptations and Mary Wells, and the Miracles’ own career suffered slightly as a result.

They continued to enjoy success in a variety of different styles, mixing dancefloor hits such as ‘Mickey’s Monkey’ and ‘Going To A Go-Go’ with some of Robinson’s most durable ballads, such as ‘Ooh Baby Baby’ and ‘The Tracks Of My Tears’. Although Robinson sang lead on almost all the group’s recordings, the rest of the group provided a unique harmony blend behind him, while guitarist Marv Tarplin – who co-wrote several of their hits – was incorporated as an unofficial Miracle from the mid-60s onwards. Claudette Robinson stopped touring with the group after 1965, although she was still featured on many of their subsequent releases.

Exhausted by several years of constant work, Robinson scaled down his writing commitments for the group in the mid-60s, when they briefly worked with Holland/Dozier/Holland and other Motown producers. Robinson wrote their most ambitious and enduring songs, however, including ‘The Tears Of A Clown’ in 1966 (a belated hit in the UK and USA in 1970), ‘The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage’, and ‘I Second That Emotion’ in 1967. These tracks epitomized the strengths of Robinson’s compositions, with witty, metaphor-filled lyrics tied to aching melody lines and catchy guitar figures, the latter often provided by Tarplin.

Like many of the veteran Motown acts, the Miracles went into a sales slump after 1967 – the year when Robinson was given individual credit on the group’s records. Their slide was less noticeable in Britain, where Motown gained a Top 10 hit in 1969 with a reissue of ‘The Tracks Of My Tears’, which most listeners imagined was a contemporary record. The success of ‘The Tears Of A Clown’ prompted a revival in fortune after 1970. ‘I’m The One You Need’ became another reissue hit in Britain the following year, while ‘I Don’t Blame You At All’, one of their strongest releases to date, achieved chart success on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1971, Robinson announced his intention of leaving the Miracles to concentrate on his position as vice-president of Motown Records. His decision belied the title of his final hit with the group, ‘We’ve Come Too Far To End It Now’ in 1972, and left the Miracles in the unenviable position of having to replace one of the most distinctive voices in popular music. Their choice was William ‘Bill’ Griffin (b. 15 August 1950, Detroit, Michigan, USA), who was introduced by Robinson to the group’s audiences during a 1972 US tour. The new line-up took time to settle, while Smokey Robinson launched a solo career to great acclaim in 1973. The group responded with Renaissance, which saw them working with Motown luminaries such as Marvin Gaye and Willie Hutch. The following year, they re-established the Miracles as a hit-making force with ‘Do It Baby’ and ‘Don’tcha Love It’, dance-orientated singles that appealed strongly to the group’s black audience. In 1975, ‘Love Machine’ became the Miracles’ first US chart-topper, while the concept album City Of Angels was acclaimed as one of Motown’s most progressive releases.

Soundtrack/Filmography

  1. >Last Holiday (2006) (performer: “Tracks of My Tears”)
  2. Munich (2005) (writer: “My Girl”)
  3. “Everybody Hates Chris”
  4. “Wife Swap”
    • Episode #5.2 (2005) TV Episode (performer: “Tracks of my Tears”)
  5. Racing Stripes (2005) (writer: “My Girl”)
  6. Raise Your Voice (2004) (writer: “The Way You Do the Things You Do”)
  7. “The Wire”
    • Stray Rounds (2003) TV Episode (“You Beat Me To The Punch”)
  8. Hollywood Homicide (2003) (writer: “The Tracks of My Tears”, “My Girl”) (performer: “The Tracks of My Tears”)
  9. The Santa Clause 2 (2002) (performer: “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town”)
    • A.K.A. SC2 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
    • A.K.A. Santa Clause 2 (UK: poster title)
    • A.K.A. The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause (USA)
  11. “American Dreams” (2002) TV Series (writer: “My Girl”)
    • A.K.A. Our Generation (Australia) (USA: working title)
  13. Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) (“You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me”, “Shop Around”, “I’ll Be Doggone”, “The Way You Do The Things You Do”, “Don’t Mess With Bill”, “Ooo Baby, Baby”, “My Girl”, “Since I Lost My Baby”)
    • A.K.A. Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Story of the Funk Brothers (USA: promotional title)
  14. Bounce (2000) (performer: “I Second That Emotion”)
  15. Duets (2000) (writer: “Cruisin'”)
  16. Honest (2000) (performer: “Tracks of My Tears”)
  17. “Friends”
  18. Return to Me (2000) (writer: “I Second That Emotion”) (performer: “I Second That Emotion”)
  19. Any Given Sunday (1999) (performer: “Cruisin'”)
  20. Tuftsablanca (1999) (performer: “I Second That Emotion”)
  21. The ’60s (1999) (TV) (performer: “The Tracks of My Tears”)
  22. Simon Birch (1998) (performer: “Mickey’s Monkey”)
    • A.K.A. Angels and Armadillos
  23. Strike! (1998) (performer: “You’ve really got a hold on me”)
    • A.K.A. The Hairy Bird (Australia) (Canada: English title: working title)
    • A.K.A. All I Wanna Do (USA: new title)
    • A.K.A. College femminile (Italy)
    • A.K.A. Filles font la loi, Les (Canada: French title)
  25. Flipping (1997) (writer: “Get Ready “)
  26. Striptease (1996) (writer: “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me”)
  27. Batman Forever (1995) (writer: “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game”)
  28. The Walking Dead (1995) (performer: “Ooh Baby Baby”, “The Tracks Of My Tears”)
  29. My Girl (1991) (writer: “My Girl “)
  30. Moonwalker (1988) (writer: “Who’s Lovin’ You”)
    • A.K.A. Michael Jackson: Moonwalker
  32. Alien Nation (1988) (performer: “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me “)
  33. Coming to America (1988) (writer: “Ooo Baby Baby”) (performer: “Ooo Baby Baby”) (producer: “Ooo Baby Baby”)
    • A.K.A. Prince in New York (Europe: English title: video title)
  35. A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988) (performer: “Shop Around “)
  36. Shades of Love: The Emerald Tear (1988) (TV) (lyrics: “Cruisin”) (performer: “Cruisin”)
  37. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) (TV) (writer: “Going To A Go-Go “) (performer: “Going To A Go-Go “)
    • A.K.A. Dear America
  39. Platoon (1986) (performer: “Tracks Of My Tears “)
  40. Solarbabies (1986) (writer: “Love Will Set You Free”) (performer: “Love Will Set You Free”)
    • A.K.A. Solar Warriors
  42. Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) (performer: “Ooh Baby, Baby “)
  43. The Last Dragon (1985) (performer: “First Time On a Ferris Wheel”)
    • A.K.A. Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon
  45. The Big Chill (1983) (performer: “I Second That Emotion “)
  46. Four Friends (1981) (music: “Shop Around”)
    • A.K.A. Georgia’s Friends
  48. Hard Country (1981) (music: “Ooh Baby, Baby “) (lyrics: “Ooh Baby, Baby “)
  49. The Wanderers (1979) (performer: “You’ve really got a hold on me”)
]]> 1170 The Pied Pipers https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-pied-pipers/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:53:52 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1163 The Pied Pipers

Notable for distinctive modern harmony and phrasing, the Pied Pipers began in Hollywood in 1938 as a merging of eight members of three different groups. While waiting on the 20th Century-Fox lot to get a shot at working in the musical Alexander’s Ragtime Band, hopefuls the Four Esquires,The Stafford Sisters, and the Three Rhythm Kings whiled away the waiting time by harmonizing together. Jo Stafford of the sisters began singing with The Esquires and Kings seven male members, and soon after, when sister Pauline’s marriage ended the Stafford Sisters’ career, the Pied Pipers were born.

Besides Stafford, the original members were John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody Newbury, and dick Whittinghill.

Through two of the King sisters, Alyce and Yvonne, the Pipers came to the attention of Paul Weston and
Axel Stordahl, who were arrangers for the Tommy Dorsey band. According to Joseph Laredo’s liner notes on the Pied Pipers’ 1991 CD, Paul Weston stated, “The Pipers were ahead of their time. Their vocal arrangements were like those for a sax section and a brass section, and they would interweave, singing unison or sometimes sing against each other’s parts. It was revolutionary and we’d never heard anything like it.” Weston made that assessment at a jam session he was having at his house, and one guest, a visiting ad executive, was so impressed he hired the group to sing with Tommy Dorsey’s band on the Raleigh Kool cigarettes program.

The group drove to New York and lasted about six weeks before being canned by a pompous British sponsor who came to the studio and was aghast at their overly (to him) off-color repertoire, which included “Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama).” But before leaving New York to return to Hollywood they managed to record two 78s for RCA Victor, “Polly Wolly Doodle” and “What Is This Thing Called Love.”

Back in Los Angeles, the octet was now a quartet of Jo Stafford, her husband John Huddleston, Billy Wilson, and Chuck Lowry. Things were going so poorly they unofficially rechristened the group Poverty Inc. At the bleakest of moments Stafford received a call from Dorsey in Chicago saying he couldn’t afford eight Pipers but he’d like it if she would pare them down to a quartet and join him. With only four members and one unemployment check left, this was an easy request to accommodate.

The group moved to Chicago in 1939; Billy Wilson left to be replaced by Clark Yocum, a Dorsey guitarist and vocalist. Paul Weston left Dorsey to work as Dinah Shore’s musical director, but he would have an important involvement with the group at a later date.

In early 1940 Dorsey hired another vocalist who had sung with Harry James’s band in 1939 and with a vocal group, the Hoboken Four, in 1935. The vocalist whose influences were Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, and Dorsey himself had a hit right off the bat with “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” (#18, April 1940) backed by Dorsey’s orchestra. Two months later the Pipers put a notch in the musical holster by hitting with “My My” from the film Buck Benny Rides Again (#13, June 1940).

On June 29, 1940, an historic pairing of that vocalist, Frank Sinatra, and the Pied Pipers resulted in one of the biggest hits of the pre-rock era, “I’ll Never Smile Again,” which was number one for 12 weeks, spending 20 weeks on the charts.

In August the five hit again with “The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else” (#11).

The group went on to have 11 more chart hits with Dorsey, nine of those singing with Sinatra, including “Stardust” (#7, January 1941), “Do I Worry” (#4, April 1941), and “Just As You Thought You Were Here” (#6, July 1942). Without Ol’ Blue Eyes, the Pipers hit with “You’ve Got Me This Way” (#14, January 1941) and “Let’s Get Away from It All” (#7, May 1941). Even Jo Stafford found some recognition, charting as a solo vocalist on “Yes Indeed” (#4, July 1941).

A burst of group loyalty around Thanksgiving 1942 changed the Pipers’ future when Dorsey, who was prone to fits of temper, fired one of the members at a Portland, Oregon, train station for inadvertently sending him in the wrong direction. In a display of one-for-all and all-for-one comradeship, the remaining Pipers picked up their pickled peppers and left the train, heading immediately for Hollywood. The number one record in the country around that time was “There Are Such Things” by Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers. It was their last Victor release with Dorsey.

In Los Angeles they signed with Capitol Records, while John Huddleston joined the war effort and was replaced by one of they original octet, Hal Hooper. Workin gat Capitol was none other than Paul Weston, and he became the arranger and orchestra leader for most of the Pipers’ recordings. Jo became a soloist, scoring a hit ahead of her group with “How Sweet You Are” (#14, February 1944).

The group charted in April with ‘Mairzy Doats” (#8) though THE MERRY MACS had scored the number one hit version two months earlier.

By June Jo’s Solo career was off and running, so June Hutton of the Stardusters took over the Pipers lead. Her first hit with the boys was their biggest hit, “Dream” (#1, March 1945), originally used as the closing theme on Johnny Mercer’s radio show.

Mercer, one of America’s most prolific lyricists, was the founder of Capitol Records and had the Pipers sign with him on such hits as “Candy” (#1, February 1945) and “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (#8, December 1946).

The Pied Pipers had 12 chart singles for Capitol, their last being “My Happiness” (#3, June 1948).

From 1945 through ’46 the quartet took part in a series of National Theatre tours with Frank Sinatra while still doing radio programs in Los Angeles.

They became the resident vocal group on Frank’s own weekly CBS radio show from September 1945 through mid-1947.

The Pipers were voted the Top Vocal Group in down beat magazine’s annual poll for six straight years from 1944 to 1949.

In 1950 June Hutton left and was replaced by Sue Allen and later Virginia Marcy. Jo Stafford (who was divorced from Huddleston in 1943) married Paul Weston in 1952 and went on to have one of the most successful solo careers of all time, charting 75 times between 1944 and 1954, including “You Belong to Me” (#1, 1954).

June, who married the other half of Dorsey’s early arranging team, Axel Stordahl, had several solo releases for Capitol in the early ‘50s, including “Say You’re Mine Again” (#21, 1953), in which Axel was the orchestra leader. She died on May 2, 1973, at the age of 53.

At the start of the 1990s, a touring Pied Pipers carried on the tradition of vocal expertise.

– Jay Warner

Soundtrack/Filmography

  1. Maria’s Lovers (1984) (performer: “MAIRZY DOATS”)
  2. Daddy Long Legs (1955) (performer: “Dream”)
  3. Hoedown (1950) (performer: “They All Go Native on a Saturday Night”)
  4. Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) (performer: “I Love an Esquire Girl” (1943), “Katie Went to Haiti” (1939))
  5. Ship Ahoy (1942) (performer: “The Last Call for Love” (1942), “Moonlight Bay” (1912))
  6. Honolulu (1939) (performer: “Honolulu”)
]]> 1163 The Oak Ridge Boys https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-oak-ridge-boys/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:48:27 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1161 The Oak Ridge Boys

 

THE OAK RIDGE BOYS HAVE ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCTIVE AND RECOGNIZABLE SOUNDS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. THEIR FOUR-PART HARMONIES AND UPBEAT SONGS HAVE SPAWNED DOZENS OF COUNTRY HITS AND A #1 POP SMASH, EARNED THEM GRAMMY, DOVE, CMA AND ACM AWARDS AND GARNERED A HOST OF OTHER INDUSTRY AND FAN ACCOLADES. EVERYTIME THEY STEP BEFORE AN AUDIENCE, THE OAKS BRING OVER 25 YEARS OF HITS AND 50 YEARS OF TRADITION TO A STAGE SHOW WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED AS AMONG THE MOST EXCITING ANYWHERE.

LEAD SINGER, DUANE ALLEN, BASS SINGER, RICHARD STERBAN,

TENOR JOE BONSALL AND BARITONE WILLIAM LEE GOLDEN

COMPRISE ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S TRULY LEGENDARY ACTS.

THEIR STRING OF HITS INCLUDE THE POP CHART-TOPPER, “ELVIRA” AS WELL AS “BOBBY SUE,” “DREAM ON,” “THANK GOD

FOR KIDS” “AMERICAN MADE,” “I GUESS IT NEVER HURTS TO HURT SOMETIMES,” “FANCY FREE,” “GONNA TAKE A LOT OF RIVER,” AND MANY OTHERS. THEY’VE SCORED TEN GOLD, THREE PLATINUM AND ONE DOUBLE PLATINUM ALBUM, ONE DOUBLE PLATINUM

SINGLE, AND HAD MORE THAN A DOZEN NATIONAL #1 SINGLES.

THE OAKS REPRESENT A TRADITION THAT EXTENDS BACK TO 1943, THE ORIGINAL GROUP, BASED IN KNOXVILLE, TN, BEGAN PERFORMING COUNTRY AND GOSPEL MUSIC IN NEARBY OAK RIDGE WHERE THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS BEING DEVELOPED. THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE OAK RIDGE QUARTET, AND THEY BEGAN REGULAR GRAND OLE OPRY PERFORMANCES IN THE FALL OF ’45.

IN THE MID-50’S, THEY WERE FEATURED IN TIME MAGAZINE AS ONE OF THE TOP DRAWING GOSPEL GROUPS IN THE NATION.

BY THE LATE ‘60S, WITH MORE THAN 30 MEMBERS HAVING COME AND GONE, THEY HAD A LINEUP THAT INCLUDED DUANE ALLEN, WILLIAM LEE GOLDEN, NOEL FOX AND WILLIE WYNN. AMONG THE OAKS’ MANY ACQUAINTENANCES IN THE GOSPEL FIELD WERE JOE BONSALL AND RICHARD STERBAN. BOTH ADMIRED THE DISTINCTIVE, HIGHLY-POPULAR OAKS. “THEY WERE THE MOST INNOVATIVE QUARTET IN GOSPEL MUSIC,” SAYS BONSALL. “THEY PERFORMED GOSPEL WITH A ROCK APPROACH, HAD A FULL BAND, WORE BELL-BOTTOM PANTS AND GREW THEIR HAIR LONG. . .

THINGS UNHEARD OF AT THE TIME.”THE FOUR BECAME FRIENDS, AND WHEN THE OAKS NEEDED A BASS AND TENOR, IN ’72 AND ’73 RESPECTIVELY, STERBAN AND BONSALL GOT THE CALLS. THE GROUP REMAINED HIGHLY POPULAR ON THE GOSPEL CIRCUIT, AND IT WAS THERE THEY REFINED THE STRENGTHS THAT WOULD SOON MAKE THEM SUCH AN ACROSS-THE BOARD ATTRACTION.

IN 1977, PAUL SIMON WOULD HAVE THEM SING BACKUP FOR HIS HIT, “SLIP SLIDIN’ AWAY,” AND THEY WOULD GO ON TO RECORD WITH GEORGE JONES, BRENDA LEE, JOHNNY CASH, ROY ROGERS, BILLY RAY CYRUS AND OTHERS. THEY WOULD APPEAR BEFORE THREE PRESIDENTS, PRODUCE ONE OF THE FIRST COUNTRY MUSIC VIDEOS, TAKE PART IN THE FIRST HEADLINE TOUR OF THE USSR, AND BECOME ONE OF THE MOST ENDURINGLY-SUCCESSFUL TOURING GROUPS ANYWHERE. THEY DID IT WITH A CONSISTENTLY UPBEAT MUSICAL APPROACH AND TERRIFIC BUSINESS SAVVY.

THE GROUP’S FIRST PERSONNEL CHANGE IN MANY YEARS OCCURRED IN 1987 WHEN STEVE SANDERS, WHO HAD BEEN PLAYING GUITAR IN THE OAKS BAND, REPLACED WILLIAM LEE

GOLDEN AS THE BARITONE SINCGER. LATE IN ’95, STEVE RESIGNED FROM THE OAKS AND EXACTLY ONE MINUTE AFDTER MIDNIGHTON NEW YEAR’S EVE, DUANE, JOE AND RICHARD SURPRISED THE PACKED HOUSE AT THE HOLIDAY STAR THEATRE IN MERRILLVILLE, IN, BY WELCOMING WILLIAM LEE ON STAGE AND

BACK IN THE GROUP. THE HITMAKERS WERE FINALLY TOGETHER AGAIN!

WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE THE OAK RIDGE BOYS VISIT THE VOCAL GROUP HALL OF FAME. AS 2001 INDUCTEES, THEY WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND LAST YEAR’S INDUCTION CEREMONIES DUE TO RESCHEDULING AFTER THE SEPTEMBER 11 TRAGEDY.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I PRESENT TO YOU WILLIAM LEE GOLDEN, DUANE ALLEN, RICHARD STERBAN, AND JOE BONSALL . . .

THE OAK RIDGE BOYS.

Over the course of their long career, the Oak Ridge Boys became a country music institution. The vocal group went through a number of personnel changes over the years, but their sound remained the same, as they never strayed from their gospel-inflected country-pop.

The Oak Ridge Boys began as a gospel group named the Oak Ridge Quartet in 1945. In 1949, Bob Weber purchased the rights to the group’s name from lead singer Wally Fowler and ascribed it to his group, the Cavalry Quartet. The Oak Ridge Quartet remained together through the mid-’50s, becoming one of the top gospel groups in America. Smitty Gatlin later created a new Oak Ridge Quartet after purchasing the name from Weber. Gatlin decided to steer the group towards secular success and changed their name to the Oak Ridge Boys in 1961. Although they were concentrating on commercial material, the group continued to sing gospel music. In the late ’60s, the Oak Ridge Boys underwent an image makeover, growing their hair long and singing almost nothing but pop-oriented material. In the early ’70s, they gradually incorporated more gospel back into their repertoire. By 1973, the group’s core lineup — Duane Allen (lead vocals), Joe Bonsall (tenor), William Lee Golden (baritone), and Richard Sterban (bass) — had fallen into place and they made their first entry in the country charts with a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Praise the Lord and Pass the Soup.” The following year they signed to Columbia, although they nearly disbanded due to financial difficulties. In 1977, the group decided to switch over completely to secular music, beginning with the hit singles “Y’All Come Back Saloon” and “You’re the One.” Almost immediately, the Oak Ridge Boys became a fixture in the country Top Ten; for the next eight years, they had a string of 25 Top Ten singles, including 13 number one hits. In 1978, they had their first number one single with “I’ll Be True to You.” In 1981 the Oaks had their biggest hit with the crossover smash “Elvira.”

By the late ’80s the group’s momentum began to slow down. They still had Top 40 hits, but they no longer dominated the Top Ten, as they did in the early ’80s. In 1987, Golden, who had been with the group since 1964, was fired by the rest of the group, who believed that his burly appearance and long beard no longer fit their image. The Oaks’ backup guitarist and singer Steve Sanders replaced him, and the group quickly returned to the Top Ten. Over the next three years, they had four number one hits, including “It Takes a Little Rain (To Make Love Grow),” “Gonna Take a Lot of River,” and “No Matter How High.” In 1990, their comeback slowed down. One more Top Ten hit, “Lucky Moon,” followed in 1991, but the group had all but disappeared from the country charts by the end of 1992. The Oak Ridge Boys continued to tour and record throughout the ’90s. Sanders left the group in 1995; he committed suicide on June 10, 1998.

— Sandra Brennan

Soundtrack/Filmography

  1. “The Wire” (2002) TV Series (performer: “Way Down in the Hole”)
  2. Around the Fire (1999) (performer: “Brother John”)
  3. Get on the Bus (1996) (performer: “Over A Million Strong”)
  4. Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995) (performer: “Born Under A Bad Sign”)
  5. Runaway Daughters (1994) (TV) (performer: “Let the good times roll”)
  6. Philadelphia (1993) (performer: “Sister Rosa”)
  7. Fire in the Sky (1993) (performer: “Sons And Daughters (Reprise)”)
  8. Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue (1992) (performer: “SONS AND DAUGHTERS (reprise)”) (producer: “SONS AND DAUGHTERS (reprise)”) (“SONS AND DAUGHTERS (reprise)”)
    • A.K.A. Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue
  9. Tune in Tomorrow… (1990) (performer: “New Orleans, My Home (Going Back To New Orleans)”)
    • A.K.A. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
  10. Bird on a Wire (1990) (performer: “Bird On A Wire”)
  11. The Mighty Quinn (1989) (performer: “YELLOW MOON”)
  12. The Big Easy (1987) (performer: “TELL IT LIKE IT IS”)
    • A.K.A. The Big Crackdown (Philippines: English title)
]]> 1161 The McGuire Sisters https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-mcguire-sisters/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:41:12 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1144 The McGuire Sisters

Any group that can perform for five presidents and a queen has got to be both nonpartisan and very good. And the McGuire Sisters were very good indeed.

The family trip from Middletown, Ohio, began singing together in 1935 when Phyllis was four, Dorothy was five, and Christine was six. Their early training came at the First Church of God in Miamisburg, Ohio, where their mother, an ordained minister, was the pastor. Throughout their high school years, the girls sang together at Sunday school picnics, church socials, weddings, and even funerals.

They found out at an early age that they had an uncanny ability to harmonize. Renowned musician Jerry Herman called it instant harmony, as Phyllis could star singing in any key while Dot and Chris would immediately pick up the appropriate part and chime in. Their voices blended so uniformly that even their own mother couldn’t tell them apart over a telephone.

As they were forbidden by their parents to listen to secular songs, they had to sneak a listen to their favorites like the Dinning Sisters and THE ANDREWS SISTERS over the radio. They graduated from hymns to pop songs in 1949 and in 1950 toured military bases and veterans hospitals around the country for the U.S.O. What thoroughly convinced them to make pop a career was an incident in 1950 when they were broadcasting hymns in their own three-part harmony style from the First Church of God on West 3rd Street. An agent and bandleader Karl Taylor and his wife Inez were driving in their car when they heard the girls’ performance. They turned that car around and headed straight for the church. During the service Karl waited in that back and when the girls came out (all dressed alike) he told them they were wonderful, gave them his card, and said if they’d like to sing pop music to call him. In a month the girls were singing with Taylor’s band at the Van Cleef Hotel in Dayton, Ohio.

They went on to appear at supper clubs and on local TV. From there they did eight weeks on Kate Smith’s radio show in 1952 and by December 1st were the winners on “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” having auditioned with “Mona Lisa” and “Pretty-Eyed Baby.” Invited to appear on his morning show for a week, they replaced THE CHORDETTES and remained for six years.

Before 1952 was over the McGuire Sisters were signed to Coral Records and had their first single release, “One, Two, Three, Four.”

Their fifth single became their first chart record as “Pine Tree, Pine, Over Me” with Johnny Desmond and Eileen Barton reached number 26 in April 1954. Their follow-up, “Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight,” became their first top 10 hit (#7) in the summer of 1954 and first by the group alone. “Muskrat Ramble” made number 10 next by the fall of 1954 and the whirlwind touring life began from New York’s Waldorf Astoria to Las Vegas’s top casinos.

Their lucky 11th single was a cover of THE MOONGLOWS’ classic “Sincerely,” and the group rode the Harvey Fuqua-penned ballad to number one in January 1955 where it resided for an incredible 10 weeks. Even the flip side, “No More,” reached number 17 indicating a developing case of McGuire mania among the general public. “Sincerely” went to number 14 in the U.K., and in a rare case of an American record’s B side also charting, “No More” reached number 20.

With Phyllis consistently on lead the group continued its hot hit pace with songs like “Something’s Gotta Give” (#5, 1955), “He” (#10, 1955), “Sugar Time” (#1, 1957, #14 U.K., 1958), “May You Always” (#11, 1958), and “Just for Old Time’s Sake” (#20, 1961).

The McGuire Sisters was so popular that as commercial representatives for Coca-Cola they received the highest fee in advertising history up to that time.

The trio’s last chart record was “Just Because” in 1961 (#99), and in mid-1963 they moved to Reprise for six singles and then to ABC for two more, with their last in September 1966 appropriately titled “Via Con Dios.”

In 1968 they performed for what they thought would be the last time on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” broadcast from Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

An excellent entertainer and skilled comedian, Phyllis went solo and performed with everyone from Johnny Carson to Sammy Davis, Jr. She also appeared in the film Come Blow Your Horn with Frank Sinatra.

In 1985 the sisters made a comeback and the fans were still enthusiastic. Their first appearance was at Harrah’s in Reno, Nevada. In 1989 they performed at the inauguration on President George Bush and they continued to do the Las Vegas/Reno circuit into the 1990s. They did a sparkling performance on Jerry Lewis’s Labor Day Telethon in 1991.

Om recognition of their popularity, MCA Records reissued their greatest hits album on CD. In the early ‘90s they were in the process of recording their first LP in over 20 years with their original producer, Bob Thiele.

When not entertaining Phyllis lives in Las Vegas and gives endless hours of time to humanitarian causes. Christine lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has business interests in movie theatres, pubs, and diet centers. Dorothy also lives in Scottsdale with her husband of 30 years, Lowell Williamson, and the two are extensively involved in community affairs and philanthropic work.

– Jay Warner

]]> 1144 The Lettermen https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-lettermen/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:30:47 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1134 The Lettermen

History

The letter sweaters may only make a brief appearance at each Lettermen performance, but The Lettermen harmony is non-stop. From their first hit in 1961 “The Way You Look Tonight” through current hits of today, the sound is undeniably Lettermen. 18 Gold Albums worldwide and scores of top singles attest to a popularity that has endured through several generations.

With over 10,000 sold out shows to their credit, The Lettermen are constantly sending valentines to their audiences with each note of every love song. Versatility of group members and personal tastes let each display a variety of musical styles – – adapting through years to include whatever the current trend may be.

International audiences attest to the universal appeal of The Lettermen. Successful tours abroad have included visits to Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. The music of these true entertainers transcends all language barriers as it romances the soul, and warms the hearts of millions.

Whether singing acapella or backed by an entire symphony orchestra, the Lettermen theme still remains the love song. Lending that well-known harmony to every arrangement, they have proven love ballads have an appeal that knows no boundaries and will continue to stand the test of time for many years to come…

The beautiful voices of the singing trio, The Lettermen, first hit the music charts in 1961 with “The Way You Look Tonight”. Their voices blended as oneand after following that first hit with another chart topper, “When I Fall In Love”, they were voted best vocal group of that year. The original singers: Tony Butala, Jim Pike, and Bob Engemann continued to stay on top with beautiful harmony and love songs, while becoming one of the top college concert attractions of the 1960’s. They brought words to the Percy Faith hit: “Theme From A Summer Place”, revived the classic Charlie Chaplin song: “Smile”, warmed us with “Our Winter Love”, they begged “Come Back Silly Girl”, made everyone’s “Graduation Day” memorable, and came out, in 1966, with one of the most love Holiday albums ever recorded: “For Christmas This Year”. Late 1967 brought about a “Live” album, and perhaps the group’s most loved and requested hit: “Goin’ Out Of My Head / Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

In 1967, Engemann left the group and was replaced by Jim’s younger brother, Gary Pike and the magic continued with hits like: “Up, Up and Away” – “Hurt So Bad” – “Shangri-La” – “Put Your Head On My Shoulder,” and the John Lennon penned “Love”. In 1973, when Jim left the group, the youngest Pike brother Donny took over, and more magic was made. With hits like: “Cherish / Precious And Few” – “World Without Love” – “If You Feel The Way I Do” – “Feelings” – “What I Did For Love” and Donny’s own “Thank You Girl”, the group proved once again and again that they could continue to be a force in the recording industry.

Through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, and now into the year 2008, THE LETTERMEN continued to release albums and travel the world, performing hundreds of concerts each year. Members who have contributed their wonderful vocal talents to THE LETTERMEN sound include: Don Campeau, Ralph “Chad” Nichols, Ernie Pontiere, Bobby Poynton, and Darren Dowler, among others. Their beautiful harmony is timeless.

The current Lettermen consist of Tony Butala (The group’s founding original member), Donovan Tea (an accomplished singer and songwriter who joined the group in 1984), and Bobby Poynton (who first joined the Lettermen in 1989 and recently returned to the group). Their recording career continues going strong with their latest albums: “Best Of Broadway”, and “Live in the Philippines”. Other releases include “All I Ask Of You” – “Everything I Do (I Do For You)” – “Unchained Melody” – “Wind Beneath My Wings” – “My Heart Will Go On” (from Titanic), and some of Donovan Tea’s own songs, “One More Summer Night” – “When I Look At Children”, and “She’s A Woman.”

Tony Butala

The one change Tony Butala, original and founding member of The Lettermen, would have made in the 50 plus year career of one of the most popular vocal groups in history is a surprising one. “We chose the wrong name!” he exclaims. “In the late 50’s, when you started a vocal group and wanted to stand out from the crowd, all you had to do was use a novel new name that would give your group a unique look and image.” “If you are a new group in today’s world and you want to get noticed, you have to dye your hair purple or pink, multi-pierce your face, ears and tongue, and even then you may not be different enough to get any notoriety.”

In the late 50’s, most vocal groups had chosen school type names such as Danny & the Juniors, The Four Freshmen and The Four Preps. Because of this trend we chose the name The Lettermen and wore letter sweaters. By the time those names started to become passé in the early sixties, The Lettermen had already had a few hit single records and albums, and had become a phenomenal success in colleges and nightclubs. Capitol Records, The Lettermen’s record label, was reluctant to try to market a new name as The Lettermen wanted, due to the fact that it was already an established worldwide name.

The Lettermen did pack away the sweaters in mothballs, and fortunately, their fans and the general public had gotten past the sweaters, and the name and image of the group for the last five decades definitely has meant The Lettermen.

The Lettermen name first appeared in February 1958 on the marquee of the Desert Inn Hotel Resort Showroom in Las Vegas Nevada, where Butala, Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell performed in the record-shattering revue, “Newcomers of 1928,” which starred the most popular big band leader of the 1930s, Paul Whiteman, silent film comic Buster Keaton, singers Rudy Vallee and Harry Richmond, film star Fifi D’Orsay and the sneezing comedian Billy Gilbert.

Butala played the part of Bing Crosby, who sang lead in the “Rhythm Boys” the vocal group that had hits and toured in the 1920’s with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra.

The early vision of The Lettermen was of three very strong soloists who also had the ability and showmanship to perform and entertain an audience on their own but who also had the individual discipline needed to be group singers. The style they came up with was a sound between the big band vocal groups such as the Modernaires, Pied Pipers, Mills Brothers, Four Freshmen and the early Rhythm and Blues, soft rock groups such as the Ink Spots, Flamingos and the Platters.

Butala began singing professionally at age seven in Sharon, Pennsylvania and by the age of eight was singing on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, PA. Within a few years, he moved to Hollywood, California and became a member of the famous Mitchell Boys Choir, which since 1932 had appeared in over one hundred motion pictures, scores of television and radio shows, radio and television commercials, and world-wide concert tours. While in the boys choir, he appeared in such classic films as “White Christmas,” “War of the Worlds,” “On Moonlight Bay,” and was the voice of one of the Lost Boys in the classic Walt Disney animated film “Peter Pan.” He was the singing voice of child actor Tommy Rettig in the Doctor Seuss script, Stanley Kramer production, “5000 Fingers of Doctor T,” released by Columbia Pictures in 1953.

In the mid-fifties, while attending Hollywood Professional School, Butala formed The Fourmost, a vocal group of three ex-Mitchell Boy Choir friends and a female classmate, Concetta Ingolia. In a few years, after moderate local success, Concetta exited the group to be cast in a new TV series, “Hawaiian Eye,” and used her stage name Connie Stevens.

By 1960, The Lettermen – now Butala, Jim Pike and Bob Engemann – were signed to Warner Brothers Records and released their first singles: “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring” b/w “When” and “The Magic Sound” b/w “Two Hearts.” In 1961, Nic Venet, a new, young, creative A&R man with Capitol Records who years earlier had written a few songs with Butala, was played these first recordings. Nic Venet was impressed by their unique natural close harmonic blend and convinced that he could produce a hit record, signed them to what turned out to be an over twenty-five year contract with Capitol Records.

For The Lettermen debut single record in the summer of 1961, Capitol Records decided to put a romantic ballad on the B-side of “That’s My Desire,” which was an attempt at a doo-wop single, figuring disc jockeys would have to play the A- side because the B-side was so sweet, and slow, and did not necessarily encompass the commercial sound of the day.

That B-side was “The Way You Look Tonight”. Soft, melodic and romantic, it was a departure from the rock ‘n’ roll music of the day and eventually listener requests made it a must for disc jockey play lists nationwide. The song shot to No.13, on the Billboard chart. The group’s second single that year did even better. “When I Fall In Love,” another soft, slow ballad hit No.7, establishing The Lettermen as the most romantic singing group of the sixties.

The next year, their first original song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill “Come Back Silly Girl” reached No.17 and The Lettermen’s debut album, “A Song for Young Love,” hit the Top 10, their first of 32 straight Top 40 Albums.

Butala’s breathy vocals were the lead on most of The Lettermen’s many hit records, except “Theme From A Summer Place”. In almost every poll, The Lettermen were named Best New Group or Best Vocal Group as two more albums followed in 1962 – “Once Upon A Time” and” Jim, Tony and Bob”, the latter an effort to segue away from The Lettermen name.

The ’60’s and early ’70’s saw The Lettermen score over 25 chart hit singles, including “Theme From ‘A Summer Place” No.16, in 1965, from the Sandra Dee/Troy Donahue film, “Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” No.7, in 1968, the first hit record ever to completely integrate two songs as one and then “Hurt So Bad” No.12, in 1969.

The Lettermen signature sound made romantic hit standards of love songs such as “Smile,” “Put Your Head On My Shoulder,” “Shangri-La,” “Love,” “Traces/Memories” and on and on.

Among the 32 consecutive albums, which charted in the Top 100 in the United States, four were certified gold: “The Lettermen!!!…And “Live” (1967), “Goin’ Out of My Head” (1968), “Best of The Lettermen” (1969) and “Hurt So Bad”(1970).

During this same time, The Lettermen toured with George Burns, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and Bill Cosby; performed on bills with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Jimmy Durante, Debbie Reynolds, Sam Cooke, and Sammy Davis, Jr.; appeared on “the Johnny Carson television show,” several times on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” were regulars on “The Red Skelton Show” and “The Hollywood Palace.”

Butala estimates that the group made some 200 appearances on television shows such as Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” series, “Shindig”, and “Hullabaloo”, were interviewed and performed on talk shows and variety shows with Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, Jack Paar, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Dinah Shore, and many others throughout the 60’s and 70’s, cultivating new crops of fans.

The Lettermen have also enjoyed international success touring Japan, The Philippines, China, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, France, South America, Canada, Mexico and even Saudi Arabia.

They have sung and recorded in over fourteen languages and have received eighteen (18) gold records internationally.

Their All-American, clean-cut, no-drugs image may have been a drawback in the hard rock era of the sixties and seventies, but The Lettermen stood by it. Says Butala, “I never thought people who did drugs were hip.”

Even as the British Invasion diminished other American artist record sales in the 60’s, television and concert appearances sustained The Lettermen career. The group has been a rarity that can perform from small college campuses to the posh Empire Room at The Waldorf Astoria in New York City; from the Iowa State Fair to main showrooms in Las Vegas, Nevada; from U.S.O. shows in the jungles of Thailand and Cambodia to elegant concert halls with the world’s most renowned symphony orchestras.

“One of our rules,” says Butala,” is to never dress below the level of our audience.” The Lettermen stage wardrobe is comprised of denims and jeans for outdoor festivals and fairs, casual dress for colleges, tuxedos for hotel showrooms and glitzier garb for the main Las Vegas casino showrooms.

The Lettermen have also appeared in most of the major sports arenas in the United States by singing their touching a cappella rendition of the “National Anthem.” People Magazine honored their version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by voting the group “one of the best ‘anthem-singing’ groups in sports.”

The Lettermen have continually recorded, averaging at least one album a year. They formed their own Alpha Omega Records in 1979. Some of their newer CD albums, now numbering over 75, are: “The Lettermen – Favorites,” “The Lettermen – Best Of Broadway,” “The Lettermen – Live In The Philippines,” their

holiday CD “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and one of their latest releases “The Lettermen — New Direction.”

During its over fifty year career, the trio has gone through a few personnel changes. Engemann left in 1967, replaced by Gary Pike, Jim Pike’s younger brother. A few years later, due to vocal problems, Jim left the group and was replaced by his even younger brother, Donny Pike. The group stayed stable, with this combination all through the seventies and early eighties led by the constant lead singer Tony Butala. Since then, Donovan Tea, Bobby Poynton, Ernie Pontiere, Darren Dowler, Don Campeau, Chad Nichols and Mark Preston have each had stints as members of The Lettermen.

Donovan Tea

Donovan Tea was born in Houston, Texas and started singing professionally at 17 when he won an international vocal competition in Guilford, England. After touring Europe, he returned home to sing at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Master Chorale. At eighteen, he became a lead singer for The Young Americans, appearing in Las Vegas for the first time in 1973 opening for the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., Rich Little and Tony Bennett, and also performed for then President Gerald Ford in Washington, D.C.

While with The Young Americans, he guest-starred on NBC’s holiday special “Merry Christmas, Fred, From The Crosbys,” performing a tap dance number with Fred Astaire and singing backup for Bing Crosby on the song “White Christmas.” In 1977 Donovan began performing as a soloist at the prestigious nightclub “The Horn” in Los Angeles, opening his career to nightclubs around the country and to performing in the cruise ship industry.

In late 1978, Donovan eventually became a solo production singer at The Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada in the revue “Casino De Paris.” It was during his time there that he first met The Lettermen when they attended one of the shows at The Dunes. He then moved over to The Stardust Hotel as lead production singer in the revue “Lido De Paris” for about four years until 1984, when he heard of the vacancy he now fills as one of The Lettermen.

Donovan Tea has remained a continuous member of The Lettermen since he joined the group in September of 1984, making him the longest tenured Letterman next to Butala.

Donovan’s most favorite things in life are his wife Darla, his children Landry and Lawson, and working his cattle ranch in North Central Tennessee.

Bobby Poynton

Shortly after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1980, Bobby Poynton decided to leave the security of his suburban Chicago home and head to Hollywood, California to seek his fame and fortune as an actor. With five hundred dollars, a beat up sports car and his Dad’s gas credit card in hand, he began his journey to pursue his dream.

Over the years the acting roles were there for the taking but the “fame and fortune” Bobby had sought proved to be elusive. Acting parts on such shows as “Days of Our Lives,” “Jake and the Fatman,” “Life Goes On,” “Scarecrow and Mrs. King,” “The Sentinel,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Viper,” “Promised Land” and “Walker: Texas Ranger,” as well as numerous theatrical credits all served to keep Bobby’s dream alive, but were never ever enough to satisfy his inner-self.

In 1988, an opportunity came to him to audition for an “internationally known” recording group seeking an attractive male vocalist with a tenor voice, falsetto, and at least 6 feet tall. The tenor voice used to be there when he was in college, so he figured he would wear boots for the height and hope the room was dark enough for the rest. The result was an invitation to become the newest member of The Lettermen.

Bobby recorded six albums with The Lettermen and performed in excess of one thousand (1000) concerts, Television and Radio shows around the world.

In 1995 Bobby decided to leave the road for a while so he could put all his efforts into raising his young family. In 2001, he once again began touring the country, this time as a member of the legends of doo-wop, The Diamonds, the group who originated the hit “Little Darlin.”

In 2002, the soundtrack for “The Adventures Of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina,” an animated film, included Bobby’s duet with Jennifer Love Hewitt.

In 2010, Bobby was delighted to be invited to take the stage for a night with the legendary group, The Vogues.

After more than thirty years in show business, Bobby has finally come to the realization that the “fame and fortune” he had so fervently sought was nowhere near as important or rewarding as the “fame” he had in his own family as a big brother or the “fortune of the heart” he receives daily from his wife Beth, son Robert V, and daughter Callie at their home in Illinois.

Bobby considers his return to The Lettermen in 2011, a true honor and looks forward to recreating the magic on stage and in the recording studio once again with Tony Butala and Donovan Tea.

Soundtrack/Filmography

  1. Final Destination 3 (2006) (performer: “Turn Around, Look At Me”)
  2. The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) (performer: “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”)
  3. Catch Me If You Can (2002) (performer: “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”, “The Way You Look Tonight”)
  4. “Bracken’s World” (1969) TV Series (performer: “Worlds”)
]]> 1134 The Lennon Sisters https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-lennon-sisters/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:18:48 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1112 The Lennon Sisters

 

The Lennon Sisters were a singing group consisting of four siblings: Dianne (born December 1, 1939), Peggy (born April 8, 1941), Kathy (born August 2, 1943), and Janet (born June 15, 1946). They were all born in Los Angeles, California.

These singers debuted on The Lawrence Welk Show in 1955 after their school classmate, Larry Welk, son of Lawrence Welk, brought them to the attention of his father. They were a mainstay on the show until they left to start a career of their own in 1968. The quartet was only three members from 1960 to 1964; oldest sister Dianne got married, left the group, and then rejoined them again.

Over the decades, they recorded many albums. Their first album was on Brunswick Records and later on Coral, Dot, Ranwood and Mercury. They have recently released 4 CD volumes of songs taken from their own ABC-TV show.

In 1969, the sisters starred in their own variety show, Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters Hour. Six weeks before the show premiered on August 12, the sisters were forced to deal with the shooting death of their father, William, by a deranged fan, Chet Young (a stalker who believed himself to be married to Peggy and that the father stood in the way and had to be eliminated.) Lying in wait, Young shot Mr. Lennon in the parking lot of the Marina Del Rey golf course and two months later used the same gun to commit suicide. The sisters discovered an unopened letter having a cutout of Bill, a picture of a gun pointed at his head, and the words “High Noon” (the time of the murder.) (Source, Dr. Doreen Orion, I Know You Really Love Me)

In the wake of the murder, The Lennon Sisters Hour lasted one season before it was ended by all four of the girls. In the 1970s, the sisters performed regularly on The Andy Williams Show, and toured with Williams across the country. From 1994 to 2004, the quartet performed as headliners at the Welk Champagne Theater in the Ozark community of Branson, Missouri. When Peggy retired from singing in 1999, younger sister Mimi took her place, and when Dianne left for a second time in 2001, the act became a trio again for the rest of its run in Branson.

They are not related to the former Beatle John Lennon, who died in 1980.

The four original Lennon Sisters wrote their autobiography “Same Song, Separate Voices” which was originally published in 1985 and updated a decade later.

In 2001, The Lennon Sisters were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

– Wikipedia

The sparkling vocal quartet which graced Lawrence Welk’s weekly television music show from 1955 to 1967, the Lennon Sisters (Dianne, Janet, Peggy and Kathy) grew up in Venice, California, and earned a contract with Coral Records, thanks in large part to Welk. Their first hit, “Tonight You Belong to Me,” reached number 15 in the 1956 charts, followed by the moderate success of “Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)” almost five years later. After leaving Welk, the Lennon Sisters performed infrequently.

– John Bush

]]> 1112 Gladys Knight and The Pips https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/gladys-knight-and-the-pips/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:15:28 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1087 Gladys Knight and The Pips

 

One of the earliest and finest of the family-based rhythm and blues groups, Gladys Knight and the Pips originally formed at an impromptu 10th birthday party of Gladys’s brother Merald in 1952. The bunch included two sisters, a brother, and two cousins. The members, all from Atlanta, Georgia, were sisters Gladys and Brenda Knights, brother Merald (“Bubba”) Knight, and cousins Eleanor and William Guest.

Gladys, only eight at the time, was already an experienced performer, having begun signing with the Mount Mariah Baptist Church choir at the age of four and having toured the church circuit with the Morris Brown Choir by five. She ran off with the $2,000 top prize by singing “Too Young” (Nat King Cole) at the ripe old age of seven on “The Ted Mack Amateur Hour,” and she subsequently did a number of other TV shows.

Another cousin (James “Pip” Woods) lent the quintet his nickname and the group was off and running. Gladys’s soulful, church-trained alto lead, accompanied by the Pips’ warn harmony, helped the Atlanta teens crack the tour circuit without a record, and by 1957 they’d been on the road with Sam Cooke, B.B. King, and Jackie Wilson. Wilson (godfather of singer Jody Watley) arranged an introduction to his label, Brunswick Records, and the group ended up releasing one single for them “Whistle My Love,” in early 1958.

By 1959 Eleanor and Brenda left to get married and the Pips drew on their reservoir of cousins to fill out the quintet, enlisting Edward Patten (22) and Langston George.

A local Atlanta club owner named Clifford Hunter (who had booked the group at his Builders Club) started his own label with a friend, Tommy Brown (Griffin Brothers), called it Huntom, and recorded the group on the 1952 Johnny Otis penned “Every Beat of My Heart” (the Royals). It was released in early 1961.

The song took off in Atlanta so quickly that Hunter didn’t have time to sing the group. Huntom then sold the rights to Vee-Jay Records. In the meantime an Atlanta disc jockey named James Patrick sent a copy to his friend Bobby Robinson at Fury Records in New York.

In an instant the group was in New York recording the song at Beltone Studios for Fury. They copied the Huntom Vee-Jay version, though that original was more soulful and had more pervasive harmonies than the new recording, a sultry, pseudo-supper-club interpretation. Both versions sounded like they were sung by a mature woman rather than a 16-year-old girl.

The Vee-Jay and Fury 45s raced up the charts, first hitting Pop (May 15, 1961) and then R&B (May 29, 1961) on both labels at the same time. By July 10th the group found itself in the unusual position of having the same song on two different labels and two different recordings on the charts Vee-Jay’s at number six Pop and number one R&B and Fury’s at number 45 Pop and number 15 R&B. Adding to the public’s confusion was the fact that Vee-Jay’s label listed the group as the Pips while the Fury single named them Glady’s Knight and the Pips.

When their second Fury single failed to chart (Jessie Belvin’s “Guess Who), Bobby Robinson came up with their best Fury release, the Don Covay classic “A Letter Full of Tears” (#19 Pop, #3 R&B).

Despite their initial success, Gladys and company did only one more single for Fury (“Operator”) which reached number 97 Pop in early 1962. “Letter Full of Tears,” however, prompted Robinson to issue a Gladys Knight and the Pips LP in 1962, a great tribute in the early ‘60s to an R&B group with only two hits. When Langston George left the group they became the quartet that would remain in place, with the same foursome, into the ‘90s.

Gladys soon married and had a child, and the Pips went on tot record two singles without her magical lead. In 1964 Gladys returned and the foursome signed with Larry Maxwell’s Maxx label. In April 1964 they issued one of the group’s more dramatic, beautifully sung Van McCoy-penned ballad reached number 38 Pop. Bobby Robinson then issued an answer record to “Letter Full of Tears” from the can on his Enjoy label, but “What Shall I Do” never charted. Three more Maxx singles surfaced through 1965 with only “Lovers Always Forgive” (#89 Pop) receiving any interest. Soon after, Maxx went under.

The group itself never lacked work and in 1966 were hired as special guests on a Motown package tour. That’s where they caught Berry Gordy’s attention.

By the summer of 1966 they were on Gordy’s subsidiary Soul label issuing the single “Just Walk in My Shoes.” Their second release on Soul, “Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me,” only rose to number 95 Pop, but it became the first of their 21 British charters, reaching number 13 in the summer of 1967.

The group’s first major American chart single was their third soul release, “Everybody Needs Love” (#39 Pip, #3 R&B), in 1967.

Perhaps more famous was “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” the original hit version that came out a year before Marvin Gaye went to number one with it. The Pips made it their second number once R&B hit and took it to number two Pop on December 16th (the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” was number one), selling over one million copies. Soul follow-ups included “The End of the Road” (#15 Pop, #3 R&B, 1968), “I Wish It Would Rain” (#41 Pop, #15 R&B, 1968, issued only a half a year after THE TEMPTATIONS’ hit version), the great Leon Ware/Pam Sawyer/Clay McMurray-penned “If I Were Your Woman” (#9 Pop, #1 R&B, 1970), and the Jimmy Wetherly country song “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” (#2 Pop, #1 R&B, 1973).

Despite their successes, the group had complaint that was common among Motown acts like MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS and THE MARVELETTES: they felt neglected while other acts were catered to and given priority. So Gladys and the Pips moved to Buddah Records when their Motown contract ran out at the end of 1972. Due to the brilliant maneuvering of Sidney Seidenberg (Gladys and the Pips’ accountant turned manager) and his able sidekick Floyd Lieberman, Gladys and company were brought to Buddah with a (then) incredible multimillion-dollar contract.

The group then issued a new string of winners, starting out with a formula that succeeded for them at Motown. They took a Jim Wetherly country tune, sang it soulfully, and then reaped the chart rewards on tunes like “Where Peaceful Waters Flow” (#28 Pop, #6 R&B, 1973) and the million seller “Midnight Train to Georgia” (#1 Pop and R&B, 1973). The latter was originally titled “Midnight Plane to Houston” before Atlanta producer Sonny Limbo changed it and recorded it with Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston).

Their next single was “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” produced by the dynamic musical talent Tony Camillo. It sold a million plus while reaching number four Pop and number one R&B in 1974.

In March 1974 the group earned two Grammy awards, one for “Neither One of Us” (Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group) and the other for “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group).

More hit songs followed, like “Best Thing that Ever Happened” (#3 Pop, #1 R&B, 1974), the Camillo-penned “I Feel a Song (In My Heart)” (#21 Pop, #1 R&B, 1975) and “The Way We Were”/ “Try to Remember” medley (#11 Pop, #6 R&B, 1975).

Also in 1974 they did the soundtrack LP for the film Claudine, which went gold, and by 1975 had their own four-week summer replacement variety TV show on NBC. Gladys then branched out to acting by starring in the film Pipe Dreams in 1976, while she and the group sang the songs featured in the film on a soundtrack LP that reached number 47.

In 1977 complex legal maneuvers began between Motown, Buddah, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Columbia Records, where the family foursome was attempting to move. The result was that Gladys was not able to record with the Pips.

Instead, the group recorded two LP’s (with no chart singles) for Casablanca and Gladys did one solo album for Buddah. In 1980 they reunited on Columbia and hit with “Landlord” (#46 Pop, #3 R&B), but through 1986 only “Save the Overtime (For Me)” (#66 Pop, #1 R&B) and its accompanying gold LP did well for them.

In 1986 the group switched to MCA and came up with their biggest record since the 12-year-old “The Way We Were” medley with “Love Overboard” (#13 Pop, #1 R&B) showing they’d lost none of their class, polish, or hitmaking ability.

After 58 R&B charters and 41 trips up the Pop Top 100 ladder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, one of soul’s worthiest successes, continued to turn out quality music in performance and on record.

– Jay Warner

]]> 1087 The Four Freshmen https://vocalgroup.org/inductees/the-four-freshmen/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:11:58 +0000 http://vocalgroup.org/testwp/?post_type=js_albums&p=1076 The Four Freshmen

The Four Freshmen were the most innovative and imitated jazz vocal quartet ever to grace vinyl. Innovative because of their unique concept of singing “open” harmony, moving the third and fifth notes of a chord an octave higher or lower, or using ninths and elevenths while dropping root notes of a chord. Emulated because every type of artist heart something fresh and exciting in their sound not only jazz groups, but acts as diverse as THE HARPTONES in the 50’s, THE BEACH BOYS of the 60’s, and THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER in the 70’s heard a redefinition of harmony that stirred their own imaginations. That doesn’t count THE HI-LOS, THE HILLTOPPERS, THE LETTERMEN, SPANKY AND OUR GANG, and THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS.

The group started out as Hal’s Harmonizers, with brothers Don and Ross Barbour, Hal Kratzsch, and Marvin Pruitt. All four members were students in 1947 at the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music, a division of Butler University in Indianapolis. Hal convinced his music theory classmates that forming a barbershop quartet would be a great source of income.

Hal, from Warsaw, Indiana, sang and played bass as well as trumpet and mellophone. Don and Ross were raised in Columbus, Indiana; Don sang second tenor and played guitar while his younger brother Ross sang baritone and played trumpet. The top voice was Marvin’s. Decked out in Gay ‘90s apparel (armbands, exaggerated false moustaches, and waiters’ aprons) the quartet began singing “Sweet Adeline” at fairs and conventions until they became bored with the confinement of barbershop chords. Not wanting to give up the income base they became a second group, the Toppers.

As fans of Stan Kenton they began using diminished and augmented chords, creating a jazz vocal style, and sang at local malt shops near the school. They graduated to the LVL Club where an audition with a ribald army classic, They Stole My Wife While I Lay Sleeping,” earned them a three night a week job for the astounding sum of $5 a night each.

As their popularity grew so did the audiences and so did their first real problems: Marvin developed acute phobia of the masses in other words, stage fright.

By the spring of 1948 Marvin and his nervous condition had resigned from both groups. The Toppers then dropped the Harmonizers and with Nancy Sue Carson, Ross’s girlfriend (and future wife), pressed on. It became apparent that a fourth male voice was more appropriate for their sound, so Don and Ross contacted their cousin Bob Flanigan, who had sung with them as kids and lived 90 miles up the road from Columbus in Greencastle. Bob was in a high school quintet singing MODERNAIRES styled songs. He also played trombone and had a reverence for jazz greats Charlie Parker and big band trombonist Jack Teagarden. Bob’s phrasing, pitch, and musical ear sold the group on him as their new lead.

With combined influences ranging from Stan Kenton and Woody Herman to Mel Torme’s Meltones and the Pastels, the quartet developed a style of singing five-note chords with four voices; one voice would be shifting. None of the foursome were arrangers, so they worked out each song by ear, rehearsing in a parked car with the windows closed.

The group soon dropped out of school and drove to Chicago where they met agent Dick Shelton. The agent already had a group called the Cottontoppers, so he renamed the ex-first-year students the Freshmen Four. The guys reversed the words and debuted at the 113 Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on September 20, 1948. They nearly lost the job since the owner had never heard jazz chords, but his daughter had a crush on Hal and saved the day actually the week.

While playing the Midwest lounge circuit they shifted their instrumentation, with Hal and Bob alternating bass playing and brass solos and Ross moving from piano to drums while Don remained on guitar.

Their big break came on March 21, 1950, while playing the Esquire Lounge in Dayton, Ohio. Stan Kenton, who had been told at his own show earlier that night about a quartet in town that sounded like his 43-piece ensemble, was sitting in the audience. He was sufficiently impressed to send the Freshmen to New York to make a demo which he would take to Capitol Records president Glen Wallichs.

The demo was produced by Kenton’s former arranger, Pete Rugolo, and it contained “Laura,” “Basin Street Blues,” “Dry Bones,” and two other songs. In May, Kenton sent a letter telling the group to come west, and when they arrived their mentor arranged to have them perform at Jerry Wald’s Studio Club on Sunset Boulevard. The entertainment industry packed the club nightly to hear vocalizing as they’d never heard before; the one week job turned into eight weeks.

On October 13, 1950, the Freshmen recorded a rhythm and blues number called “Mr. B’s Blues,” which was released in November and became an instant collectors’ item. Next, Steve Allen took the quartet to New York for his new TV show, but after one week of grumbling from New York’s musicians union over the group’s nonmembership status, he sent them back to Los Angeles where they landed their first and only motion picture appearance in Rich, Young and Pretty with Jane Powell and Vic Damone.

Their second single, a soft ballad called “Now You Know” (January 1951), also failed to grab radio’s attention.

In their only session of 1951 the group recorded a Kenton-suggested “Tuxedo Junction,” but the vocal work was so intricate they had to lay down the instrumental track first and then do their complex scat vocals separately, reportedly the first time this kind of multitracking had been done. The second song, “It’s a Blue World,” had been a Tony Martin 1940 hit (#2), and upon completing the recording the group knew the song epitomized their style.

Capitol didn’t agree, canning the tape and dropping the Freshmen in December.

In May 1952 the group met up with Kenton in Chicago. Furious that Capitol gave up o his find, he demanded Capitol send demo copies of the songs to the group so they could promote it. That’s just what they did, breaking the record of “Blue World” in Detroit at WJBK and then at every other Detroit station.

By the time Capitol re-signed the quartet and issued the single in July it had lost some momentum but still became their first national chart record reaching number 30 in late August.

In the spring of 1953 after several years on the road, Hal Kratzsch decided he’d had enough of touring and asked the group to replace him.

In May they came up with Ken Errair of Redford Township, Michigan, and his first session in July was their next chart single, “It Happened Once Before” (#29, September 1953). The year ended with the group winning the coveted down beat poll as Best Jazz Vocal Group of 1953.

In August 1954 the Freshmen issued their first LP, titled Voices in Modern. It gave birth to their next chart single, the beautiful “Mood Indigo,” which reached number 24 on November 27, 1954.

In 1955 the group did a Jay Livingston-Ray Evans song called “How Can I Tell Her” for the film Lucy Gallant starring Charlton Heston and Jane Wyman. It came off so well they decided to try it as a single. The flip side, hastily chosen at the last minute, was Frank Sinatra’s 1946 hit “Day by Day” (#5). They gave the ballad an up-tempo Latin feel and waited to see what happened. Following a June release, radio gave cursory response to the film song and flipped the 45 chart single their fourth. The next Freshmen release, a Guy Lombardo 1927 smash (#1), gave them their first and only back-to-back top 100 number, reaching number 69 in December 1955.

The February 1956 Four Freshmen and Five Trombones LP set a standard for modern jazz vocal groups; it reached number six nationally and resided on the charts for over eight months.

Ken Errair, who had only a year before married actress Jane Withers, begged off of the road and was replaced by Ken Albers of Pitman, New Jersey, a member of the Stuarts jazz vocal group.

With Ken firmly in place, the Freshmen decided to break ground with new audiences and became one of the first groups to play college auditoriums and field houses. Now pursuing a younger audience, they came up with the relevant “Graduation Day,” their biggest chart hit at number 17 in the spring and summer of 1957. It might have been a top five hit had the song’s publisher not given it to Canada’s Rover Boys, who not only used it to get an ABC-Paramount record deal, but early on beat slow-moving Capitol to the marketplace with a version that finished at number 16.

In 1960 the group recorded the masterful “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring.” It so enchanted a young Brian Wilson that he lifted the vocal arrangement note for note, fist as “A Young Man Is Gone” (Little Deuce Coupe LP) and then under the original title for the Live Beach Boys ’69 LP. (Wilson even dropped by the Freshmen’s office in Hollywood during the Beach Boys’ formative years to secure copies of their vocal charts.) The Beach Boys ultimately found their niche playing Chuck Berry rhythms with Four Freshmen harmonies, but they did direct credit to the Freshmen.

In 1960 Don Barbour became the next to leave, replaced by Bill Comstock from Delaware, Ohio (also of the Stuarts). The group stayed with Capitol till 1965, then moved briefly to Decca and Liberty. In 1972 Bill Comstock left and in 1977 Ross Barbour followed. By 1982 Ken Albers had also retired from the group.

In 1986 they received a Grammy nomination for their 41st LP Fresh in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Performance Duo or Group.

Today, Bob Flanigan keeps the name and values of the Four Freshmen alive touring with three new and highly talented members, Autie Goodman, Mike Beisner, and Greg Stegeman. Hal Kratzsch went on to sing with THE SIGNATURES and died of cancer in November 1970. Don Barbour never finished the work he started on his solo LP for Capitol having died in a car accident on October 5, 1961. Capitol issued The Solo Voice of Don Barbour the following year. Ken Errair did one Capitol solo album in 1957 called Solo Session and then went into California real estate. He died in a small plane crash on June 14, 1968.

The Four Freshmen legacy is based not only on the music they created but also on their unswerving determination and courage in establishing a new sound that would make them a cornerstone of vocal group history.

– Jay Warner

A vocal group from the 1950s taking inspiration from barbershop quartets and Mel Tormé’s Mel-Tones, the Four Freshmen’s close-harmony vocals went on to become a major influence on pop groups like the Beach Boys as well as the jazz-oriented Manhattan Transfer. Originally formed as the barbershop group Hal’s Harmonizers by brothers Ross and Don Barbour, the duo became a small jazz band named the Toppers, but later that year, the duo added lead vocalist Bob Flanagan (their cousin) and Hal Kratzsch to become the Four Freshmen. Soon after coming together, the quartet gained the notice of both Woody Herman and Stan Kenton, the latter of whom connected the group with Capitol Records.

Early in the 1950s, the Four Freshmen gained their first hit with “It’s a Blue World,” previously recorded by Tony Martin and Glenn Miller (and later by both Tormé and Frank Sinatra). Kratzsch left in 1953, and his replacement Ken Errair was himself replaced two years later by Ken Albers. The Four Freshmen had several moderate hits during the years 1953-56, including “It Happened Once Before,” “Mood Indigo,” “Day by Day” and “Graduation Day.” The group entered the LP era in the late ’50s with several album hits, including their instrument series (Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones, 4 Freshmen and 5 Trumpets, etc.). Though Don Barbour left in 1960, the group kept on going with replacements, with Bob Flanagan becoming the only original member still left after Ross Barbour’s departure in 1977. In one form or another, the Four Freshmen continued to tour into the 1990s.

— John Bush

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