Hey, everyone knows Washington County's Canonsburg produced Perry Como, Bobby Vinton, and the Four Coins. But there was another pretty strong quartet that came from that town in the late fifties, the Donnybrooks.
Classmates, The Donnybrooks began their career when they performed at an 8th grade graduation ceremony at the old Third Ward School, and continued on during their high school years.
Originally known as The Phaetons and later The Four Pals, they sang at dance halls and clubs around the Tri-State, from Pittsburgh to Wheeling, and from Steubenville to New Ken.
After some initial personnel shuffling, the core members consisted of John Alterio (bass), Ken Paige (tenor), Bob Kobert (stage name Bobby Shawn, lead vocals) and Frank Trebel (baritone). Their style took after other fifties groups like The Four Lads, The Four Aces, and The Mills Brothers.
They appeared a couple of times on the Wilkins Amateur Hour and Art Pallan's Talent Search, popular talent contests with call-in voting that were shown on KDKA TV. They never won a show (the band lost twice to tap dancers!), but the experience paid off; in early 1958 The Four Pals won a talent search contest that was sponsored by KDKA Radio and Westinghouse Broadcasting.
The station flew the group to New York for the final competition, and on the return flight, they got a glimpse of fame up close and personal when they met Cab Calloway and Roger Miller on the plane, introduced to them by KD jock Art Pallan.
More importantly for their future, the KDKA award led to a recording contract with the Pittsburgh's Calico Records. Bill Lawrence, a Calico owner and record distributor, became their manager and gave them a new name: The Donnybrooks. He thought it was catchy and would help them stand out from the pack.
They cut their first release, the ballad "Everytime We Kiss" b/w "Break The Glass," a hand-clappin' Calypso-type tune (Calico 108) in the spring of 1958. The songs were crafted by Canonsburg song writer and school music teacher, Lou Popiolkowski. The tune took off, and it nudged into Billboard Magazine's Top 100 in the summer.
Calico Records then launched the group on a promotional tour of the East Coast, where they appeared on TV dance programs in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC.
The Donnybrooks appeared locally on KDKA's Dance Party with Clark Race, WIIC's competing Dance Party with Bill Cardille, and Del Taylor's Bandstand on WTAE. They also performed for the first of the Dick Clark Cavalcade of Stars tours, and were booked in the night clubs along the Route 51 corridor as well as appearing at West View Park's Danceland and Kennywood Park's amphitheater.
The second 45, "Coming Home From School" (Calico 112), also written by Popiolkowski, was released later in 1958. The flip side, "Mandolins of Love," was inked by another Canonsburg song writer, Tony Ambrose. They kept their homeys in royalties.
As the doowop era wound down, Calico Records went through a reorganization and the band lost their label. They continued their live act until in 1960, when the group broke up to pursue college and other careers.
Bobby Shawn stuck with music, though, and started a solo career a few years later. His repertoire covered big band and jazz standards to pop and rock classics, with a healthy dose of some Italian melodies tossed in.
He appeared at Seven Springs Ski Resort regularly, the Meadows, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and in Atlantic City, along with gigs for the Hilton and Holiday House chains. Shawn has performed at the Miss USA Pageant, Miss Teen USA Pageant, and hosted and sang at the Great American Modeling Search.
He also has four CD's out - "Bobby Shawn Through The Years," "Bobby Shawn Sings," "Playing the Jukebox" and "Christmas With Bobby Shawn." Now he performs locally in various venues, and his current act, The Senior Show, is popular around the Tri-State region; he even has a long-time fan club called "The Shawnettes." Oh, he also takes the lead again for the Donnybrooks every so often, too.
They have reunited for occasional shows over the past decade or so, performing at reunions, special events, private gigs and clubs, and they've made several appearances at the Canonsburg 4th of July celebration. In fact, they're playing at St. Thomas More tonight. You can take the boy out of Canonsburg, but...
And they did C-Burg proud. In 2007 the group became part of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, recognized with the other prominent local acts honored by the Hall.
The Orlandos formed in 1954 on the hard streets of the Whitaker Projects, across the Mon from Rankin and Braddock. At the time, they consisted of lead tenor Gary Jenkins, tenor Joe Murphy, tenor Roger Randolph, baritone Charles Raeford, and bass John Crowder.
The guys were all 14 years old and attending Homeville Junior High School. A few months later Jenkins, Murphy, and Raeford all exited the Orlandos; they were in high school and had better things to do, we suppose.
Lead tenor Ronnie Williams (who joined the El Venos in the late 1990s), tenor Nate Thomas (who later joined Detroit's Four Palms), and bass Wallace Berry replaced the exiting voices, with Crowder shifting to baritone.
By 1955, the Orlandos were regulars at the local hops, and caught the ear of WCAE DJ Jay Michael. Through Michael, they were eventually introduced to Roulette Records owner George Goldner, who in 1957 signed the group to his fledgling Cindy label. Cindy was owned by Goldner and Michael, and named after Jay's daughter. The label was where groups with local appeal were shuffled to cut wax.
First sent to Detroit to cut a demo, they ended up without any studio time. A few weeks later, they made it to the Big Apple, where they cut what would be their only recording, "Cloudburst," written by Williams, b/w "Old McDonald." It was issued in September 1957 on Cindy 3006.
Well, Michael pushed the song, and it got some local love. But Roulette didn't, assuring that the song would never break out of Pittsburgh. The band did its part, touring the Midwest, but they remained a Western Pennsylvania phenomena.
Thomas left the group, and tenor Lee Smalls took his place, but there were no more record offers and they were relegated to club gigs. After a couple of years of that existence, the Orlandos called it a day.
But they would live on, in the emergence of their backing band. It consisted of Sonny Gilmer (guitar), Bobby Gilmer (sax), Thomas Gilmer (drums), George Cooper (bass), Alex Murray (piano), Irving Williams (sax), and Donald Early (bongos). Dr. Nelson Harrison even played for the group between 1963–67.
The instrumentalists added singer Leroy Gilliard, and they became a popular Pittsburgh area club band throughout the late fifties and sixties, performing as Sonny and the Premiers. Their tune, "Run Along Baby" b/w "Hey Miss Fancy" (RCA 20-6958) was released by RCA Victor in 1957.
OK, Old Mon has to admit he can't find squat about these guys, except that they had one dynamite song that McKeesport's WMCK jock Terry Lee played the heck out of, "I Remember When," on his "Music For Young Lovers" segments, and it made Travis Klein's "Pittsburgh Greatest Hits" series, too.
What we do know is that the Cameos were from Coraopolis, and were put together by songwriter/arranger Bob Vogelsberger. He assembled the Cameos after auditioning groups to sing his material and penned both "I Remember When" and the follow-up, "Never Before," which was also a pretty sweet tune.
The band was made up of Donald Carter (Lead), Dorland Nelson (First Tenor), Fred Wynn (Second Tenor), Bernard Spencer (Baritone), and Alex Spencer (Bass).
The discography is kinda sparse, too:
1960 - "I Remember When" b/w "We'll Still Be Together" (Matador 1808)
1960 - "Never Before" b/w "Canadian Sunset" (Matador 1813)
"Wondering," "We Were Young," and "Broken Hearted Limbo Guy" were also completed demo's for their label, New York's Matador, but never released.
Oh, one other thing - watch what Cameos you're listening to. These guys were black, and in 1963, a local white Cameos popped up and released "Can You Remember?" b/w "He" on the Gigi label; the two groups are often lumped together.
And that's it. In 1960, the Cameos had their fifteen minutes of fame, but are still remembered today, if somewhat mistily, because of it.
Hey, North Side is famous for its singers. In the fifties, a group of guys from the Shadeland Avenue neighborhood discovered they made a pretty good sound together and became the Dynamics.
They were George Winesburgh (lead), Jimmy Shoup (first tenor), Earl Viney (second tenor), Dick Johns (baritone), and Donny Fuchs (bass).
They released their first wax on the George Goldner/Jay Michael's Cindy label in 1957, "When The Saints Come Marching In" b/w "Gone Is My Love." The flip got a lot of air time locally.
Looking to break out of the Pittsburgh market, they approached Brighton Height's George Bodnar, who organized area hops, managed West View Park's Danceland (in fact, he would manage West View and White Swan parks after Danceland burned down), and was the founder of a then-new local label, Impala Records.
Bodnar was impressed with the act, and took them to Nashville to tape two songs at the Bradley Film and Recording Studios. On May 4, 1958, the Dynamics had a tape of "Someone" penned by Dick Johns and "Moonlight," written by Donnie Fuchs. The backing group of studio session players included Harold Bradley on guitar, Bob Moore on bass, and Floyd Cramer Jr. on piano, all to become famous as founders of the "Nashville Sound."
The 45 was released as Impala 501, and "Moonlight"/"Someone" rose to the top of the charts in the City.
Bodnar sold the distributing rights to New York based Seeco Records in November 1958, hoping to turn the local big fish into a national seller. The deal was for the Dynamics and Bodnar to receive 5% of the sales.
It was reissued as Seeco 6008; they even sold European rights to the song. But we all know how the industry worked then - Seeco didn't push the record, and the Pittsburgh connection didn't receive a red penny for the work.
To add insult to injury, the record had a revival a few years later, but as a pirate on the Steel City label, again cutting out the artists from the take.
Winesburgh and Viney split, and Ron Barnett and Dick Spracier replaced them. But the new Dynamics didn't have much more luck than the originals.
They released a couple of more singles - "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams" b/w "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" on Laverve Records in 1961, and "Christmas Plea' b/w "Dream Girl" for Jules Kruspar's Dynamic Sound Records in 1962.
Neither took off, and the group faded into the mists of musical history. One problem was that no one took proper care of the business end for them. Another drawback was the group's name itself - it was estimated that up to a dozen groups went under the Dynamics tag during the fifties and sixties, and it's hard to break from the pack without a strong brand.
But they didn't entirely disappear. In 1991 Impala Records was sold by Bodnar. Along with the masters of "Moonlight" and "Someone" were 56 outtakes of a song called "Wedding Bells", which was never released in any format. The new Impala went into the Audible Images Studios, and made an EP of the three songs, now sold on eBay as a sort of Dynamics Greatest Hits collection.
The beginnings of the Memories date back to 1971 when vocalists Wayne Zollinger, Bill "Sweet Willam" Shaffer, Rich "Bingo" Renaldi and Wayne "Big Al" Rossi got together to form an acapella doo-wop group. They played the local bar circuit for a couple of years before deciding that they needed a band if they wanted to break out.
Zollinger and Renaldi left on friendly terms, and were followed by Marcel Ron "Bingo" Mundy (and how often does one "Bingo" replace another, outside of a church hall?) and Rick LaCoca in 1973, now with a four-piece band to back them.
LaCoca and Mundy lasted a year, and the Memories were joined by Jules Hopson and "Little Richard" Galioto. The group decided to add a fifth member to the vocal cast, adding Charles "Charlie" Brown to the lineup. But they were still running in the hamster wheel of the bar circuit, and decided to take the act a notch higher.
In 1974, they developed a floor show, based on the Temptations performance, and scored a two-year gig as the house band at Market Square's Quo Vadis, playing every Saturday night. The Memories got to polish their act, and picked up a steady following of fans.
While there, they added saxman "Southside Jerry" Mellix to the band. Charlie Brown passed away, and Rossi took a day job, limiting his appearances. When he was out, Fred Johnson of the Marcels would fill in.
The group left QV, and became the house band at Bogie's Lounge on the Route 51 strip, a musical hot spot for the town during the seventies. By the early eighties, they had left the bar scene behind and joined the club circuit, playing venues like The Royal Too, The Harmar House, The Holiday House, Cahoots Lounge in the Greentree Marriott, and the VIP Lounges.
They opened for a number of soul and Motown acts playing the area like the Temptations (who were duly impressed by the Memories' high steppin' - they thought the show was "tight"), The Coasters, The Jive Five, Lee Dorsey, The Drifters, Manhattans, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and the O'Jays.
But hey, you just knew there would be more roster changes, right? Right. Rossi and Shaffer departed, while Richie Merritt and Joe "Sonny" Maggio signed on. They moved the band away from its doo-wop roots and towards more Vegas-type material. Then Galioto got sick and was replaced by Chuck Timbers.
The band kept that configuration for a few years before losing Chambers to the stage (he played in the "The Jacksons: An American Story," and still appears in local productions). Dick Muse took his place for a few months, but formed his own band, the DeVilles, and later returned to the Laurels. Ed Cassidy stepped in, and in his turn, left the band in 1995, as Keith Dix took his spot.
Still, with all the changes, the band landed its dream gig at the Resorts International Casino in Atlantic City. Could the Vegas Strip be far behind? Just when it appeared that the Memories were ready to play the national show circuit, a series of personnel raids cut short those ever-so-close plans.
That year, Richie Merritt joined Johnny Mason's Clovers. The group had former members fill in to complete their 1997 schedule, but in 1998 Walt Maddox's Marcels signed the band's leader, Jules Hopson. Chuck Blasco's Vogues swooped in and added Keith Dix and guitarist/music director Dave Wingo.
The Memories tried to regroup in 1999, but even for a band used to turnover, it was too much. The Memories became a memory, except for a pair of reunion shows.
How could a group with so much talent and that played all the hot spots in the region for three decades get lost in the Pittsburgh mist by local fans? Simple - they were in the main a revue-style cover band and never had a breakout record. But it wasn't from lack of trying.
The Memories did an album worth of recordings in the mid 70’s for WIXZ's Terry Lee, but the DJ never released the cuts, which included the Dominoes "Sixty Minute Man" and Gladys Knight & the Pips "I Heard It Through The Grapevine."
The Memories did record again, this time forming their own MEMCO Label. They released their first wax, the Manhattan's "Can I" b/w the Clover's “Lovey Dovey” in 1976, followed in 1978 by the Chord's "Sh-Boom" b/w the Chime's "Once In Awhile," and the Video's "Trickle Trickle." They later recorded and released a 4-song mini LP on cassette, a hot medium in 1981, featuring the Spaniel's "Peace of Mind."
The songs were all hits for other people, and all well-performed by the Memories. But the stars never lined up quite right for any of the disks to take off.
Here's a roster of the known (to Old Mon) band members:
-- Charles "Charlie" Brown (vocalist, Fidels, deceased)
-- Ed Cassidy (vocalist, The Retro Band)
-- Keith Dix (vocalist, Vogues)
-- Rich "Little Richard" Galioto (vocalist, The Magic Moments)
-- Jules Hopson (vocalist, Fidels, Laurels, Marcels)
-- Fred Johnson (vocalist, Marcels)
-- Rick Lacoca (vocalist, retired)
-- Joe "Sonny" Maggio (vocalist, retired)
-- "South Side Jerry" Mellix (sax, Laurels, Elmonics, New Holidays, Four Townsmen)
-- Richie Merritt (vocalist, Electrons, Vibrators, Clovers, Marcels)
-- Ron "Bingo" Mundy (vocalist, Marcels, retired)
-- Dick Muse (vocalist, Condors, Laurels, DeVilles, Skyliners)
-- Rich "Bingo" Renaldi (vocalist, retired)
-- Wayne "Big Al" Rossi (vocalist, retired)
-- Bill "Sweet William" Shaffer (vocalist, retired)
-- Chuck Timbers (vocalist, now an actor)
-- Dave Wingo (guitar, Vogues)
-- Wayne Zollinger (vocalist, Leon Daniels & the El Venos)
"Can I?" by The Memories (1976)
The Memories Show
(Many thanks to Southside Jerry Mellix, who proved to be quite a band historian and contributed a ton of time in helping Old Mon get the story right. Oh, and put together the Memories vid above. Grazie!)
The Wee Jams, founded by Barry Haughin and the late Jim “Doc” Halliday with some other Avonworth High class mates in 1964, started out as “The In Crowd," and became the Wee Jams in 1966.
They quickly made a name for themselves, churning out local hits like “You’ll Lose a Precious Love,” “You Are Everything,” “Zu Zu,” and "Patti Ann," featured on “Pittsburgh’s Greatest Hits”, Volume XII.
In the fall of 1967, the group was courted by ABC Records, the label headed by Ray Charles, The Impressions, Jim Croce, Dusty Springfield and Three Dog Night at the time, but never reached a deal; their manager was a little too pushy for the ABC suits.
The Wee Jams didn't answer when that opportunity knocked, and predictably, they all drifted off to college or careers, closing the curtain on their first act.
A few stabs at reuniting the group failed with the short-lived Wee Jams II and Father Maple. The band disappeared again until 1996, when two singles, "Patti Ann" and "Something Old, Something New," written by Haughin, were picked up by Mad Mike, who started spinning the records at dances and on the air. The group has been playing steadily since as William Dell and the Wee Jams.
Today the Wee Jams are heavily requested on Pittsburgh oldies radio, including KFB (770AM), WEDO (810AM and 103.9FM weekends) and 3WS (94.5FM), along with scoring steady gigs at clubs and festivals.
The current Wee Jams roster includes original members William Dell and Barry Haughin, with vocalists Hal Weiss, Louis Cioppa, and Dan Fera. The rhythm section is made up of Duane Weber on bass, Gordie Herbst on guitar, and Bob Fetherlin on drums.
And hey, the Wee Jams aren't all about oldies. They produced a hit single in 2007, "Most of Those Pretty Young Girls," that's getting airplay on Pittsburgh oldies stations. It was also picked up by radio stations in the Carolinas, which play beach "shag" music, and it was an East Coast monster.
“Most of Those Pretty Young Girls” reached the top spot in many Carolina playlists, and hit #9 worldwide on the Beach Music Charts of Cashbox Magazine. It was recently introduced into the Beach Music Hall of Fame.
In addition, they had two other beach-genre songs that charted, “Nothing Can Stop Me” and “I Love Only You”. Their CD, "Peepin' Through The Window," (SGW019CD) moved pretty well, too. They also get regular love from internet station www.949thesurf.com.
The group today:
Bill Dell was in the original Wee Jams in 1967 and co-founded Wee Jams II in 1971. He's a perfect fit, being retro all the way, from the antiques in his home to his rotary dial telephones; one of his band mates says he never moved on from the 60s.
Dell released several singles under his own name, the biggest being "You Are Everything" in 1979, a duet with Milly Tamburro, credited to William Dell with Amelia.
Barry Haughin, vocalist and keyboardist, is the group's songwriter, composing many Wee Jams' tunes including "Patti Ann," and co-founder of the original band. Not only does he make records; he's also an avid collector. Haughin lives in Boardman, Ohio.
Louie Chioppa's is the Wee Jam tenor, and learned his craft "...on the corner. We used to sing on the corner, and the police used to chase us off. My idol was Frankie Lymon." He was also a member of the DeVilles and the Magic Moments.
Guitarist Gordie Herbst joined the group during the Wee Jams II phase in 1971. His day job is financial administration at Edinboro University.
Hal Weiss plays both the horns and adds a falsetto to the band. His trumpet has backed acts like Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners and Five Guys Named Moe. As for his voice, well, he once filled in for Philadelphia soul legend Brenda Coates of Brenda and the Tabulations.
Originally a saxophonist, Duane Weber switched to bass in high school years. He also played for Wee Jams II and Father Maple. Weber wears the engineer cap on many of the group's sessions.
Dan Fera dates back to Etna's Molly Maguires, one of the Burg's busiest bands during the sixties. He sings second tenor, and makes his home in Sharpsburg.
Bob Fetherlin lays down the drum tracks, and also is behind the kit for The Craig King Band.
They're also a bit of an oddity in that they control their discography. The vast majority of their tunes are on the Stacy's Golden Wax label, owned by Dell and named after his daughter. The Wee Jams are represented on a couple of compilation records, too, like PGH-XII and "Old School Shag" on Repete #2388.
That's quite a career span, from young doo-woppers to graying beach boys, and the Wee Jams pulled it off. After all, how many guys from Avonworth are resurrected as Carolina shag heroes? It's every silverback's dream.
Born on June 18th, 1933, to Georgianna Derico, Tommy Hunt started out life as Charles James Hunt. He become Tommy thanks to his school mates, who didn’t think he looked like a Charles, and started calling him Tommy. It's stuck to him to this day.
He grew up in the northern suburb of Perrysville, where he sang for the Peace and Heaven Baptist Church as the youngest member of the choir. Hunt began singing for his family and his mothers’ friends at the age of 7, and entered some talent shows.
Despite his choirboy experience, Hunt was no little angel. He was sent to reform school after spending his school hours practicing his singing instead of attending his classes (school was a little more strict back in the Depression era). He was released when he was 10.
He and his mom moved to the Hill when he was a teen, and Hunt tuned in to WHOD DJ Mary Dee's "Movin' Around" on the radio and the harmonies of his favorite singers, renowned gospel group The Dixie Hummingbirds. He never missed a live performance of theirs at the Roosevelt Theater on Centre Avenue, even though he had to listen from the back door because he couldn't afford a ticket.
His mother relocated to Chicago in the early 50s, and he went with her. Hunt wasted no time finding a group to sing with - and getting in more trouble.
He joined the Flames in 1952, and they morphed into the Five Echoes in 1953, with soul superstar Johnnie Taylor and doo-wop legend Earl Lewis as members of the group. Uncle Sam intervened; Hunt was drafted into the Air Force - and went AWOL.
Hunt rejoined The Five Echoes while on the lam, and they recorded for the Sabre and Vee-Jay labels in the Windy City. But eventually, the law found him, and it was off to the stockade, or wherever it is they ship airmen gone astray. The Five Echoes disbanded in 1954, after he was hauled away and their label folded.
As for hard time, it appears Hunt didn't spend much time breaking rocks in the hot sun. It's said that he sang his way out of the hoosegow and was shortly back to singing for his dinner instead.
While performing later in a Chicago club, he was approached by Zeke Carey of the Flamingos to temporarily take his place with the group while he served his time in the Army. (They were once label mates for Chicago's Chance Records.)
So in 1957, Hunt became a Flamingo, and stayed one even after Carey's return. They moved to New York after signing with End Records, and released their biggest hit, the million-selling "I Only Have Eyes For You" (#1046) in 1958. Other strong songs for End were “Lovers Never Say Goodbye” (#1035) and “Mio Amore” (#1065)
After he had a falling out with the Flamingos in 1960, supposedly over religion - The Flamingos formed in 1952 in Chicago, where they sang together in the choir of the black Jewish Church of God and Saints of Christ - he went solo.
A&R man Luther Dixon of Scepter Records promptly offered Hunt a contract (the same dude and label that signed Chuck Jackson). He went on to have his most successful solo 45 for Scepter, “Human” (Scepter 1219), which charted (#5 R&B, #48 pop) in 1961. It became his signature song.
The song's lore has a twist to it. The record was slow to be picked up by the radio stations until a New York DJ accidentally flipped the wax to the B side - "Human." The phones rang off the hook after it was spun, and a hit was launched.
And a follow up, the Burt Bacharach composition, “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself” (Scepter 1231), released the following year, did well on the charts, too. Hunt became a fixture on many of the R&B caravans of the era and was a regular on the Chitlin’ Circuit. He was a fixture at the Apollo, which sports photos of him in the lobby both as a solo act and as a member of the Flamingos.
Hunt sang his uptown soul on stage with R&B acts like Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Shirelles, Dionne Warwick, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley & Sam and Dave.
Later in the 60s, he recorded for the Capitol and Dynamo labels without any major success. In 1969, he went on a USO tour of Germany (funny place for an old AWOL flyboy to end up, hey?) and found a new home.
Hunt decided to stay in Europe to take advantage of the Northern Soul craze which was sweeping the continent, and is still going strong. It also gave him a chance to get away from the now well-established British Invasion and the Motown Sound, both of which were making uptown soul a losing battle in America.
After hitting the UK club circuit, Hunt recorded for Polydor in 1972 and Pye in 1974. He was then approached by Russ Winstanly and Mike Walker of Wigan Casino fame and released a string of hits on Spark. They led to Hunt becoming the Brit's 1982-83 Male Vocalist Of The Year, presented by the Club Mirror Award.
He moved to Amsterdam in 1986 and traveled the world with his cabaret shows, where he was famous for his dapper, old-school outfits and pre-song patter. Then, the rewards for him and the Flamingos began to roll in.
In 1996, he won The Rhythm and Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award with the Flamingos. Hunt joined the Flamingos in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000, followed by the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame in 2001. The Flamingos were then inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland that year, too.
Hunt now resides in England, and still performs with the Flamingos and as a solo artist while working on his autobiography. Not a bad little life for a reform school graduate from Perrysville, hey?
Ya know, every so often Old Mon acts his age and spins an old doo-wop tune on his Kenwood. And one of the best, bar none, was a sixties ballad by George Goodman and the Fabulous Headliners called "Let Me Love You."
And hey, Old Mon's not alone in his admiration of the song. Paul Mawhinney, of Record Rama fame and vinyl collector extraordinaire, said this when he was asked what one song from his stacks of wax he would play for company:
"I would put a record on called 'Let Me Love You' by George Goodman & His Headliners, a wonderful ballad and a Number 1 record in Pittburgh and Baltimore. It’s the most released non-hit record in history!"
As far as we can figure, it was issued five times, twice on national labels. The record was first released in 1964 on Sharpsburg's Val label (#1), credited to George Goodman & His Headliners, and reissued a couple of times. (Val Records was local label operated by florist Augie Bernardi.)
It was released again on Warner Brothers in 1965 (#5632), and pressed again by A&M (#1011) in 1968 under The Headliners. It became a huge regional hit but never charted nationally.
In fact, the group had a little cottage industry going on with the label for a brief spell and was Val's big act; we suspect that it was Goodman's home base - he was also heavily into the industry side, producing, distributing, and promoting records - but we can't verify the Val connection. Their 45's from the Middle Street label were:
RECORD Val #1-1964
SIDE A: Let Me Love You (2:57)
SIDE B: Let Me Love You (instrumental - 2:57)
The song was written by Genne Salo and produced by George Goodman.
RECORD Val #3-1964
SIDE A: Starlight And Moonbeams (2:35)
SIDE B: I'm So Tired (2:40)
The song was written by Rodney Williams and George Goodman. Goodman also produced the session.
RECORD Val #5-1964
SIDE A: I'll Cherish Your Love (2:18)
SIDE B: Secret Love (2:20)
RECORD Val #6-1965
SIDE A: Need You (2:14)
SIDE B: Starlight And Moonbeams (2:18)
And just who were these guys that had the doo-wop ballad down to an art form in a city that took its vocalists seriously? They were George Goodman (baritone), Rodney Williams (lead), and Melvin Peters (tenor).
The Hill's Goodman died young in the late 60s. Travis Klein, of Itzy label fame, filled us in on his bio: "George Goodman, from the Hill District, got his start in the mid 60'sworking for Herbie Cohen's Fenway Distributors on Fifth Avenue, Uptown. He was very involved in distributing and promoting R & B records for them and helped break Charlie and Inez Foxx's "Mockingbird" on Sue Records.
He later worked for Bell and a couple of other labels doing promotion but returned to Pittsburgh and went to work for Klein's Record Distributors.Drug and mental health issues caused his early demise."
Melvin Peters started his career with The Five Mellows, and also worked with the Del Vikings and Marcels. In the early 1960's, he joined Chuck Jackson and the Motown group The Originals. Then it was back home as a Headliner. He spent the seventies working with Solid Gold, Flashback, and the Katch. Now he's with a Cleveland group called Mellow Class.
After Goodman's death, we've been told, the Headliners played and toured regionally for awhile, before eventually heading to Texas to harmonize, allegedly as faux-Marcels (at least until the real Marcels found out).
And that's all we could find out about the short-lived Headliners, other than they're not to be mistaken with Motown's Headliners of the same era, and they're on several compilation albums, such as Itzy's Pittsburgh's Greatest Hits series. If you can add to their tale, give us a yell. Meanwhile, enjoy "Let Me Love You."
George Goodman and the Headliners - "Let Me Love You"
The Diadems got together as a gang of ten Homewood pre-teens in 1953, organized by Cleveland "Butch" Martin (who was blind, though it never hindered his ability to sing or write a song) and Earl Thompson. They called themselves the El Moroccos.
In 1956, the core of the act formed up. Martin was the lead, and was backed by Thompson (first tenor), Jerry Hill (baritone), Alvin Allsberry, Gerald Johnson and Arlene Gore. Allsberry and Johnson left in 1958, and Gore in 1959.
They were replaced in the lineup by bass Jerry Mitchell and Earl's brother Robert, a second tenor that was singing with the LaRells. The revamped group renamed themselves the Countdowns.
They didn't find any angel to back them in Pittsburgh as far as a recording deal went, so they motored to the Big Apple in 1960 and met up with Teacho Wiltshire, of the Tin Pan Alley label. They did a demo of a Top Notes song called "Shake It Up Baby," and Wiltshire wanted them to stay in NYC to record it.
But the boys were grown up now, and headed back to Pittsburgh, where their girls were. Can't beat that home cookin'! They became the Diadems, and recorded "What More Is There To Say" b/w "Ala Vevo" in 1961 on LaVerve #187.
Wiltshire didn't forget about them. He called and asked them to come back to New York to cover "Shake It Up Baby," but they were under contract to LaVerve and passed. The Isley Brothers didn't; they recorded the tune as "Twist And Shout." They were that close.
The following year, they signed on with Joe Averbach's Fee Bee label, and released some wax for his affiliates. "Why Don't You Believe Me?" b/w "Yes I Love You Baby," (Star #514), written by the group, was released in 1963, and "Dancing On Moonbeams" b/w "My Little Darling," was issued on Goodie #207 in 1964, with Jerry Hilton on lead.
The Diadems quickly followed with the doo-wop Martin-Thompson song "I'll Do Anything" b/w "Goodnight Irene" (Goodie #715) the same year. Buddy Sharpe and the Shakers, local rockabilly legends, provided the musical track behind them.
That was the last hurrah for the Diadems. Mitchell took ill, and the group disbanded for a bit. They came back as the Torches in 1965, and became the Rhythm Rascals in 1966, cutting the ballad "Why Do You Have To Go" b/w "Girl By My Side" on Sonic #117 that still receives some love from oldie compilation albums. And like many soul groups from back in the day, their wax still spins for Northern Soul fans in England.
Their trail ends in the seventies, and so goes the tale of the Diadems. Their leader, Butch Martin, died in Wilkinsburg of cancer in 2002 at the age of 63.
(Old Mon thanks Mitch Rosalsky and his book "Encyclopedia of Rhythm and Blues and Doo Wop Vocal Groups" for filling in much of the story. Travis Klein's liner notes with "Pittsburgh's Greatest Hits" were quite helpful too.)
"Why Don't You Believe Me?" - Diadems 1963 (Don't let the label fool ya!)
The Four Townsmen, a four-part harmony, doo-wop quartet from Canonsburg (home of Perry Como, Bobby Vinton, and the Four Coins), formed in 1959. The charter members were Chuck Marshall (lead), Pete Kouklakis (tenor), Bob Kraushaar (baritone), and Lou Gadani (bass).
The Canon-McMillan High guys began like all the other hometown bands, performing locally for the talent shows, school dances and record hops.
They finally felt that they had enough material (albeit mainly covers) to expand their dates, and impressed Terry Lee enough (he was spinning at Canonsburg's WARO then) to land a date on his show. TFT eventually ran across Odell Bailey, a local bird dog with a pretty good track record, and handed him a demo tape.
Bailey liked what he heard, and arranged for The Four Townsmen to record their first original song "It Wasn't So Long Before (Graduation is Here)" co-written by Marshall and friend Alan Mark, b/w "Sometimes (When I'm All Alone)." They released the 45 in 1960, on the Artflow label, #145.
And hey, both tunes got some radio love. They were spun fairly heavily on KDKA, and the group grew a regional fan base. "Graduation" was even reissued in 1963, and got play in some out-of-town markets. A career, even if at first blush short-lived, had begun.
They opened for other smooth acts like Bobby Vee at the South Park Fairgrounds, Paul Anka, The Lettermen, and Brian Hyland. They got a week of two-show performances daily at Atlantic City's Steel Pier.
Though their live performances kept them in demand, there were to be no more recordings. In 1963, the times conspired to pull the curtain down on Act One of The Four Townsmen.
Gadani went off to college, and then joined the Peace Corps. Kouklakis enrolled at trade school and Kraushaar joined the Army. So the group called it quits (not that there was much of it left, unless Marshall decided to gig as The Townsman).
But maybe more tellingly, the British Invasion hit America's shores. Doo-wop and vocal groups were replaced by the Brits guitar-driven rock, ending an era in American music. Notably, the Vogues, the Beach Boys and Frankie Valli hung on; most didn't.
Then lead singer Chuck Marshall passed away in 1985. But The Four Townsmen weren't entirely forgotten. Travis Klein of Itzy Records included their tunes on his "Pittsburgh's Greatest Hits" series, and that parlayed into some local radio play. The best was yet to come.
In October of 1998, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum in Sharon opened and The Four Townsmen were represented with a permanent exhibit of their record and memorabilia from the day.
It showed the respect the group had garnered as a doo-wop band in the sixties, even though they will never make it as inductees. To get voted into the Hall, groups must have at least three-part harmony, have 20 years in the business and a gold-record hit song.
And The Four Townsmen only have one out of three. Though their record was a hot number in Pittsburgh, it didn't break out nationally and so never approached gold record status. They're still working on the twenty years; we're betting they reach it.
In 1998, performing at the Vocal Hall of Fame, the group signed up lead singer and keyboardist Hug "Freebird" McKinney of little Washington to join the remaining three founding members.
The reunion gig became a full-scale comeback, primed by a performance at the 50th Anniversary Show for Porky Chedwick at Three Rivers Stadium that year, remembered by local doo-wop fans forever as "Porkstock."
The Four Townsmen were off and running with a string of concert dates and special appearances.
The group had once again charted songs in the top 10 oldies countdowns in the Pittsburgh area, and on New Years Day of 2003 had the number two song on the Mon Valley Memories show with their remake of Frankie and the Fashions "What Do I Have To Do?"
Then out of the blue, original baritone Bob Kraushaar retired in 2003. But that didn't stop the band. They added Nevin Van Riper from Washington without missing a beat.
Another newcomer to the group was Tom Battaglia of Bethel Park, who does the arrangements and plays sax and keyboards during the act. To run the tech part of the show, they brought in Washington's WJPA 95.3 FM jock Pete "I Got The Beat" Povich of "Mon Valley Memories" fame to hook up the amps and check the mics.
Today, The Four Townsmen continue to perform their doo-wop act throughout the Tri-State area. They have independently released two CDs, 1999's "The Four Townsmen Reunited" and 2000's "Just Cruisin'."
The group has shared stages with Charlie Thomas and The Drifters, The Orlons, Johnny Angel and The Halos, The Orioles, The Memories, The Jaggerz, and the Vogues while on the oldies, festival, club, and community event circuits, proving again that a second bite out of the apple ain't a bad thing.
"Sometimes" by the Four Townsmen live at the Mellon Arena Doo-Wop Holiday Reunion Show December 30, 2005
The Smoothtone story begins, of all places, in the exotic climes of Tripoli, Libya. In this sweltering locale, Airman Alfred Gaitwood joined the Garden City (arid Tripoli's tongue-in-cheek nickname) Glee Club.
Why a glee club in Tripoli? Because that's where Alabaman Gaitwood and gang were stationed by the Air Force. Gaitwood had been in the club since 1949, and although he preferred to write and produce music, he took up singing, too. And hey, it sure beat washing and waxing airplanes or whatever Air Force guys do to pass their duty time.
But he caught on quickly, and the Garden City Glee Club toured bases across Europe, winning vocal contests galore as they rode the post-war barracks circuit.
In 1953, Gaitwood was transferred to a reserve AF unit in Pittsburgh, pre-saging the later escapades of the Del-Vikings. He connected with some Hill District vocalists and they began making some music together, quickly becoming the “Smoothtones,” a name selected by Gaitwood.
The members were: Enoch Hale (first tenor), Joe Martin (second tenor), Walter Lowry (baritone), and Kenny McMillan (bass), with Gaitwood on lead. When Hale was called by Uncle Sam in 1954, he was replaced at first tenor by Jud Hunter.
In early 1955, they recorded two sides (both written by Gaitwood) for Lennie Martin's local JEM label: “Bring Back Your Love” b/w “No Doubt About It” (JEM #412), backed by the Walt Harper Orchestra. The wax was released in June 1955.
As a historical marker, it's thought that disk was the first time that a song by a black vocal group, or as it was called back in the day, "race music," was issued by a Pittsburgh label.
Up until then, the Smoothtones' appearances were mostly limited to record hops hosted by DJs Bill Powell (who would later break “Guided Missile” in Pittsburgh over WILY), Leon Sykes (WMBS), Jay Michael (WCAE), Barry Kaye (WJAS), and, of course, "The Daddio of the Radio" Porky Chedwick (WHOD), who gave the song its first airplay.
After the record broke and did well locally, the band booked a busy schedule of one-nighters, all in the Pittsburgh area. The live regional circuit was their bread and butter; they didn't follow up "Bring Back Your Love" with any new recordings. Then, in early 1956, Gaitwood was again reassigned by the Air Force.
His place in the Smoothtones was taken by Sylvester Brooks. The group then cut “It's Too Late Now,” a Gaitwood tune, for JEM. The song was apparently never released by Martin, although Gaitwood's next group would later record it on Dootone.
Gaitwood ended up at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, and surprise, he started singing with some other airmen, who eventually became the Cuff Links. (Gaitwood had long before decided on that name for his next group; he had a yellow shirt with French cuffs and brown cuff links, and that was his inspiration. Hey, we can't make this stuff up.)
They cut "Guided Missile," which hit the #2 spot in Pittsburgh in 1956 though it never charted nationally. A year later, Gaitwood was off to McGuire AFB in Jersey, where he hooked up with yet another group.
As for the Smoothtones, it seems that the transfer of Gaitwood, who did all their writing, took away their raison d' etre, and they disbanded shortly afterwards, in September of 1956.
(Old Mon once again leaned heavily on the expertise of Uncle Marvy at Marvin Goldberg's R&B Notebook for background. The Smoothtones are also included in the book "Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups" by Mitch Rosalsky)
The El Venos began in the summer of 1955, in Penn Township, now Penn Hills. There, five 15-year olds hooked up to harmonize: Leon Daniels was lead tenor, backed up by first tenor Danny Jackson, second tenor Leon Taylor, baritone Joey Daniels (Leon's brother), and bass Bernard Palmer.
The Daniels were originally from Duquesne, and after the group formed, the family moved back. Leon and Joey ended up taking three trolley rides to get to the Penn Hills' practices, transferring at Squirrel Hill and East Liberty. Ah, the sacrifices one makes for one's art.
They decided, being teens, that they'd name themselves after something wine-related, and came up with the Grapevines. Tapping into the 50's rage to give groups an exotic Spanish-sounding moniker, they morphed the Grapevines into the El Vinos.
However, that was too close to “winos” for their taste; they wanted to be sophisticated, not Bowery Bums. So they changed the spelling to match the pronunciation and ended up with “El Venos.” It was a bit convoluted, but they liked it.
Covering tunes by the Heartbeats, Harptones, Cadillacs, Moonglows, Spaniels, Turbans, and Drifters, they started to become regulars on the local hop circuit. The DJ's hosted them, too: Porky Chedwick (WHOD), Bill Powell (WILY), and Jay Michael (WCAE) all had them on-air at some time or another.
They hit gold when they got the soprano Anna Mae Jackson, Danny's sister, to share leads with Daniels. It was all thanks to the Wilkens Amateur Hour.
In early 1956, the El Venos were selected to be on the weekly TV show, aired on WDTV, sponsored, of course, by the Wilkens Jewelry Store. The acts did their thing, and the winner was picked by tallying the votes of the TV audience, sent in by post card. The prize was $500, big money at the time (and not too shabby even today).
They wanted to sing the year's boffo hit, the Teenagers, “Why Do Fools Fall In Love.” But no one had a voice that could crack crystal like Frankie Lymon's could.
The answer to their conundrum? They got Danny's sister, Anna Mae Jackson, to sing the lead. It worked; Anna Mae was great - they added her to the group after the show - and those post cards rolled in for them. The El Venos took top honors that week.
DJ Bill Powell of WILY introduced them to Bob Rolontz, A&R man for RCA's Groove subsidiary. He had the El Venos send him a demo tape of some of their original material, mailed them a one year contract, and set up a taping session with Groove.
After surviving several family hassles, (they were all too young to sign a contract, and needed their parents' John Hancock to seal the deal, and none of them were too enthralled with the thought of their children singing for their supper) they sent the paperwork back.
The recording date was finally set for August 27, 1956, and the El Venos were off to RCA's New York City studios. Jackson borrowed his dad's 1953 Buick Roadmaster, stuffed the group in, and motored to the Big Apple. They were all of 16.
The El Venos sang the three songs from their demo tape: “Geraldine,” featuring Daniels, “Are You An Angel?,” with Daniels and Danny Jackson on lead, and “Now We're Together," fronted by Daniels and Anna Mae Jackson .
A month later, Groove issued “Geraldine,” b/w “Now We're Together” (#4G-0170). It never became a national hit, but it was big in Pittsburgh. Who can forget the "dooley-paddy-wah" line? The El Venos also got some eastern seaboard love, but not enough for it to break out.
After “Geraldine” was recorded, Leon Taylor's mother, Johnnie Mae, agreed to become the El Venos' house mom/manager. She drove them around, acted as a chaperone, and even let them rehearse at her house. Mrs. Taylor was a busy woman, running a beauty shop out of her home and studying to become a nurse.
As a result, most of their bookings came through Bill Powell. He was the group's contact guy, and would call Johnnie Mae when a gig popped up. They weren't exactly beating the bushes for appearances.
Not that booking shows was a problem. The El Venos never left the area, because their parents disapproved. Dick Clark wanted them on his Bandstand TV show, even booking a date through Powell, after he saw the Philly response to “Geraldine” .
But the gang's parents wouldn't let them go to Philadelphia, and the group couldn't raise the needed loot themselves. It's tough to make a name for yourself when you can't get out of your own backyard.
The El Venos' only big-time appearance took place when “Geraldine” hit #3 locally. They played a show at the Leona Theater in Homestead, with Johnnie & Joe, Chuck Willis, the Cadillacs, Bo Diddley, Johnny Burnette, the Del Vikings, Dakota Station, Otis Williams & the Charms, and the Heartbeats as the local rep on the national traveling bill.
RCA renewed the contract. Their second studio session was held on July 9, 1957. This time there was no problem getting to New York: Johnnie Mae Taylor piled them into her new 1957 Plymouth and drove them there herself.
All four songs they recorded that day were led by Anna Mae Jackson and Leon Daniels: “My Heart Beats Faster,” “You Must Be True” (a label misprint; it should have been “You Won't Be True”), “You're Gonna Be My Girl,” and “Oui, Monsieur.”
Groove Records was defunct by now, and they switched over to RCA's Vik subsidiary, along with the other label acts like Mickey and Sylvia. Vik released “My Heart Beats Faster” b/w “You Must Be True” (#4X-0305) in November.
That was it for the RCA years. After the second contract was fulfilled, Bill Powell got them a session with Bill Lasley's Amp-3 Records (distributed by Mercury) in the summer of 1958.
Joey Daniels got married and moved away to New York. He was replaced by baritone Jimmy Wright of the local Echoes. Amp-3 recorded “Pretty Knees," featuring Daniels, and “(I Am Just A) Lonely Girl” led by Anna Mae Jackson. It was never released.
The group lost another member when Bill Powell sweet-talked Anna Mae Jackson into going solo. He had her record another side called “Lover's Prayer,” backed by George Benson and the Altairs. In July 1959, “(I Am Just A) Lonely Girl” b/w “Lover's Prayer” was released on Memo (#M-3), another Bill Lasley label, under the name Anne Keith.
The five guys weren't done, though. They hooked up with Calico Records. Talent scout Ed Townsend had come to Pittsburgh to check out the scene, and the two groups he liked were the Skyliners and the El Venos. He opted to push the Skyliners, but kept the El Venos on his rolodex.
In 1960, they recorded “Stereophonic,” featuring Danny Jackson and “It's The Little Things,” lead by Leon Daniels, for Calico at Bell Sound in Queens, New York.
They even had a plan to combine the local talents. After the record was released, the El Venos would go on tour as the opening act for the Skyliners. But as Scot poet Robert Burns noted, "The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft astray."
And the El Veno's, this close to grabbing the golden ring, saw their plans go way astray.
Bill Powell told Calico that he wanted 10% of the record or he wouldn't play it on WILY. That was a minor setback, and pretty common back in the day. The label could work around Powell's open palm.
Calico wanted to push “Stereophonic,” but before the record could be released, Danny Jackson left the group to sing in his church, a complete bolt from the blue, and that became the deal-breaker.
The label decided not to issue the record, because they felt that no one else in the group could sing it like Jackson. That was the coffin nail, and sounded the last hurrah of the El Venos.
Leon Daniels became a manager in the meat department of the Giant Eagle supermarket chain, not singing again for over 35 years.
Leon Taylor has passed on, Danny Jackson eventually joined the service, Joey Daniels lives in NYC, and Anna Mae Jackson moved to New Jersey. We believe that Bernard Palmer still lives in the area.
Over the years, the El Venos have earned Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Society of Oldies Collectors and the Pittsburgh Oldies Record Collectors Club.
In January 1964, catering to a newly revived oldies market, RCA reissued “My Heart Beats Faster”/“You Won't Be True” (#47-8303). While the El Venos no longer existed, they'd finally scored some wax on the vaunted RCA label. But Leon Daniels took care of that, when in 1998, he put together a new El Venos group.
The members now are Ronnie Williams (baritone, bass; former lead of the Orlandos), Wayne Zollinger (baritone), Chuck Townsend (second tenor), and Gwen Davis (first tenor and alto). They have their own 5-piece band that appears with them: Jimmy Britton (keyboards), Jimmy Mendys (saxophone), Billy Smith (guitar), Jeff Ingersoll (bass), and Brandon Barnes (drums).
The new El Venos have released two CDs, “Vintage Veno” (Cestra Productions #155595) and “Vintage Collection” (Bonedog #327587). Their original stuff is carried on several compilation records, like the "Pittsburgh's Greatest Hits" series on the Itzy label.
They appear as Leon Daniels and the El Venos, and they've performed at nearly every venue in the area: the Giant Eagle Parking Lot, Keystone Commons, East Pittsburgh Community Center, the Latrobe Festival at Latrobe Legion Park, the Yukon Slovenian Hall, Etna Elks, the Holiday Inn, Italian Club, and at virtually every doo-wop concert held in the city.
(Old Mon again has to give thanks to that great ol' R&B historian, Marv Goldberg, and his R&B Notebook, the Who's Who of Doo Wop)
Eddie Johnson (now known as Bashir Ansari) had been singing since he was old enough to remember, and his voice was well known on the Hill from a young age.
One day in 1957, as he was walking along Whitehead Road in the Bedford Dwellings, he heard some sweet harmonies coming through a closed building door. He took a seat on the steps and listened.
“They need one more voice,” he thought. When the rehearsal broke up, one of the singers recognized Johnson and invited him to come back next week.
A week later, he returned, and this time the door was open. Johnson sang with the guys – Wayne Walker, Ronald Hill, Paul Brentley (Pittsburgh school board director Mark is his nephew), Daryl Gilmore, and Eddie Tyler – and soon was part of the group. The Fifth Avenue High classmates made a pretty soulful sound together.
They hit Pittsburgh’s music scene as the El Dupreys, a name thought up by Brentley when the Hill District group first formed in the mid-1950s.
Gilmore left, replaced by Johnson. Willie James was in and out, leaving to join Homewood's Capitols in 1958. Guitar man Leonard Goings, bongo player John Stubbs, and drummer Roosevelt “Donnell” Gloster joined Johnson (lead & keyboards), Walker (bass), Hill (lead & tenor), Brentley (baritone), and Tyler (tenor) to form the classic El Duprey lineup.
Even that roster was fluid. Lonnie Kurt eventually replaced Tyler, who went off to find his fame and fortune in Detroit. Hill left, too, and his spot was taken by LeRoy Grammer.
They joined the city's R&B circuit, gigging at the local clubs. The group did hops for WILY/WAMO’s Bill Powell (even making an appearance on his radio show), Porky Chedwick, and Sir Walter, the reigning triumvirate of Pittsburgh soul jocks.
They played at local venues such as Westray’s Plaza, Diamond Skating Rink, Union Hall, Ammon Center, North Side Elks and New Savoy.
They were a popular act south of the City, too, often doing shows in little Washington and McDonald. The El Dupreys even went on a month-long regional tour of local super groups, the “Cavalcade of Stars," a takeoff on Dick Clark’s national barnstormers.
From 1957-1960, they were front and center in the local scene. The El Dupreys shared the stage with local heavyweights like George Benson and the Altairs, the El Capris, & the La Rells, along with national acts such as the Dells and the Clovers.
Their name drew so well that Johnson’s sister, Delores, a singer and guitarist, had a group that gigged with them, the El Duprettes. They were pretty good, too. Delores is still in the business, and has a CD, “Central Park,” that she cut with Glen Dorsey and the Twilighters.
They covered the hit tunes of the day and did their own compositions, like “Evie.” But they never got that recording that would have cemented their reputation, thanks to a youthful business indiscretion.
Deciding to bypass the local route, they hopped in a car and drove off to New York and the bright lights of the Big Apple. The first studio they stopped at gave them an audition, and they did some of their original material. It was show-stopping stuff and sold the suits.
The El Dupreys were signed on the spot, and went home to wait on the call to come back to the city that never sleeps and cut some wax.
That call never came. They were under contract to a label that wouldn’t record them, and for good reason. The El Dupreys found out that the studio (they’ve forgotten its name after the decades) was actually placed under the name of the owner’s 15-year old nephew in an effort to evade taxes.
But the Feds weren’t fooled by the ploy (they seldom are). They shut the shop down, and with it, the group’s shot at pressing their own vinyl.
“We learned a lesson,” explained Ansari. “Never sign the first offer. Shop yourself around and see what’s available. But we were young at the time, and so was our manager.” It was a hard lesson to learn, and there were a lot of tough ones yet to be absorbed.
Ansari remembers one gig when “we were promised $100 and 25% of the gate. After the show, the promoter said there must be some misunderstanding. There was no guarantee, and the gate share was to be split among all the groups, not just ours.”
It was quite common, unfortunately, for misunderstandings like that to happen to the era’s teen singers. Bring in the money and then hitch a ride home.
In 1960, the group was invited to perform in West Virginia for transportation, room and board – but no guarantee of a fee. Johnson thought that they were beyond playing for free, and when the group voted to take the date for the exposure (and the truth be told, the post-gig party), he left, along with Kurt.
But he picked up another job soon enough. A week later, hanging out on Centre Avenue, he ran across George Benson. It was just after he had left the Altairs. They put their talents together, added drummer Bob Story, a brass section, and began to perform as the Counts.
But in 1961, Johnson “got religion,” changed his name to Bashir Ansari, and left the industry for decades. He’s back, and has been for the past 15 years, singing and tickling the keys with people like Rodney McCoy and Johnny Smooth, doing jazz and R&B now.
The El Dupreys kept on truckin' for awhile, too. Ron Hill came back, and they added Leon Harvard to replace Johnson and Kurt.
But the wheels soon began to come off the El Dupreys ride. As with virtually every group of the time, the money ended up in every pocket but theirs. There were family and other responsibilities that began to claim their energies. The final blow landed when Brentley, the group's high-energy glue guy, was called to gig with Uncle Sam.
After the breakup, Grammer started LeRoy and the Excitements, later becoming the Enchantments. Walker, Hill, and Brentley threw in with him, and second tenor Leon Howard was added. They sang at all the hot spots in Pittsburgh and even scored some New York gigs.
From what we understand, LeRoy wasn't very excited when his label decided ElRoy was a better name to front the band than LeRoy and flipped his name. Who knows, maybe it was just a typo. Maybe not. That's show biz, although in Pittsburgh they still went by LeRoy and the Excitements.
Instead, they got Joe Rock of the Skyliners to manage them, and in 1961 released the doo wop “My Love Will Never Die,” b/w “No One Knows” on Alanna Reords #188 (reissued in 1963 as Alanna #565), a local outfit that still pushes platters from its' Uptown Fifth Avenue HQ. In fact, both songs are still out there on “Alanna Records Presents - Pittsburgh Rhythm and Blues/Rock 1959-1963” (ACD #5551).
The Alanna contract ran its term, and they reformed as LeRoy and the Enchantments. They approached Motown about a contract, and played a soulful Walker ballad, “Lonely Hearts," for the suits. They were told that the times, they were a'changin' in the music world, and to come back with an upbeat song to go with the slow jam before being shown the door. Rebuffed, they decided to stay local.
They cut “Lonely Hearts” b/w “Popeye, the Dance To Do,” (Ro-Mac #1001) and “Jelly Roll,” also recorded by Ro-Mac Records. That impress was run by Bob Mack, WZUM jock and Liberty Avenue's Tri-State Record Shop owner, whose chief clerk was none other than Mad Mike Metro. Eventually the Enchantments wound down, too.
Walker stayed in the business, though, and was an original member of These Gents when it formed in 1964, with Grammer and a couple of the old Altairs, William Herndon and Richard Harris. Herndon and Harris went on to sing with Fred Johnson's Marcels, whose group they often opened for.
These Gents recorded once, cutting "Yesterday Standing By, Parts 1 & 2" for Walt Maddox's Carnegie-based Western World Records in 1974 (#WW55101).
Now Walker performs for a dynamite gospel group, Voices For Christ. Don’t miss them if you ever get a chance to catch a performance. They're all that.
The group stays in touch, having forged bonds in their youth that didn't dissolve over the years. Ansari and Stubbs live in the City, Walker in Wilkinsburg, Brentley in Monroeville, Hill in Tempe Hill (MD), Tyler in Detroit, and Gloster near Atlantic City.
The gang, and a lot of the remaining Steel City soul men of the era, got together this summer at Kingsley to celebrate Tyler’s birthday. And you know what? They still make beautiful music together.
(Old Mon would like to thank Bashir Ansari for all his time and patience in cobbling the group's history together, Wayne Walker for adding his remembrances & edits, and David Parr for acting as a tireless middleman in getting the story written.)
"My Love Will Never Die" - ElRoy and the Excitements 1961
In 1954, while living in the Hill District, Rick Toliver began harmonizing with the street corner doo-woppers of the neighborhood. Even though he was a natural baritone, he was singing first tenor. He often hooked up with Larry Williams, Daryl Gilmore (El Dupreys) and Sylvester Brooks (Smoothtones) for his street serenades.
He came by his voice honestly. Both of his parents sang for a gospel group that toured the region.
One day, as the boys prepped for a talent show at the Addison Center, Toliver caught a cold and couldn't hit his trademark tenor notes. Rehearsing at his parent's home, they decided to draft his 10 year-old lil' brother, Michael, who everyone called Mickey, into the act. He was taught a crash course in vocal harmony.
Brooks slid Michael to second tenor, took over the top tenor himself, and dropped Rick to baritone. But young Mickey was just a fill-in at that point, and wasn't really into music. What he was into was basketball, although that would change.
In 1955, the Toliver clan moved to Homewood, and that was the spark that ignited the Capitols.
Frankie Lymon successfully introduced the soaring tenor lead to R&B recordings in 1956. It was a sound that was already popular on Tioga Street in Homewood.
Five teens, ranging in age from 14 to 17, would hang out on Tioga Street every night and harmonize like the groups on the radio. They were Mickey (lead) and Ricky Toliver (baritone), Fred McCray (second tenor), Arthur Dixon (first tenor), and Frankie Hill (bass).
It may have kept them on the streets, but it kept them out of trouble. (Actually, their dad was a mechanic and had a garage, Toliver's Auto Repair Shop, where they practiced, but who are we to mess with a good street-corner doo-wop story?)
When they got together, the neighbors would gather to check out the sounds. They must have liked what they heard; the group felt that they were ready to make their name by 1956. A visit by McCray to Washington, D. C. led to the name Capitols. Everyone was down with it, and the Capitols it is to this day.
That year the Capitols showcased themselves via talent and community gigs, and they drew the attention of WILY DJ Bill Powell.
Powell featured them live on his radio show several times. By 1956, the Capitols headlined his Rock n Roll shows. Their records would eventually spin on the turntables of local DJs Sir Walter (WILY), Porky Chedwick (WHOD), Barry Kaye (WJAS) and Al Noble (KQV).
Porky was so impressed with the Capitols that he had the group perform at his hops and they became prime draws on Sunday night at the White Elephant in White Oak.
In the midst of their sudden whirlwind schedule of shows, 18 year-old Frank Hill joined the army. Dora "Spike" Hall replaced McCray at second tenor, and he moved to bass to take Hill's spot. With this new lineup, the Capitols landed their first record contract.
Ike Weems became their manager (and part-time bass man), and hooked the Capitols up with DJ Jay Michael, airing out of WCAE. He became a fan. "Jay Bird" was tight with Gone-End Record president George Goldner, who recorded the Teenagers on his Gee label.
In May of 1957, Weems finangled an audition with Goldner, who was in town, by dropping Jay Michael's name liberally. It was held at George Heid's recording studio in the William Penn Hotel. The Capitols sang the Teenagers' "ABC's Of Love."
Goldner thought they sounded like the Teenagers, and signed the Capitols to his subsidiary Cindy label and a five-year contract with a two-year option. He set up a session at the Bell Sound Studio in New York and told the group to get some material ready to record.
The Capitols already had a song, "Millie," which they sang at all their appearances, written by Mickey. According to him the song was about his first love "Lizzie," (Elizabeth Bennett), though they had to change the name to fit the lyrics.
Weems gave the group $90 and had a friend drive them to the Big Apple in his station wagon. Arriving in New York, the group stayed at Harlem's Cadillac Hotel, just down the street from the Apollo Theater. They spent the day at Coney island and reported to the studio to cut "Millie," and "Rose-Marie."
It took two hours and several takes, but they got the job done, and done well. The story they tell is that after a busy day, the youngsters' minds were everywhere but on the task at hand. After hearing the lifeless results of their first take on tape, the embarrassed group buckled down, focused a bit, and nailed it.
In June, the Capitols returned to New York to appear on a talent show at the Apollo Theater. They did "Rose-Marie," complete with some slick, newly developed choreography.
The record was released in July (Cindy #3002), under Mickey Toliver and the Capitols. On July 20, 1957, "Rose-Marie" was ranked # 1 by Jay Michael, and a week later, it debuted on Al Noble's KQV Top 10.
Then Porky started pushing the platter. The Capitols were often doing three record hops a week with Pork the Tork, and did shows with Bill Powell of WAMO and Leon Sykes of WMBS in Uniontown.
The record was also getting heavy air play in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. But even with strong regional record sales, there was no cash coming in, though the contract called for a 6-1/2 percent royalty fee. Imagine that - a label ripping off an artist.
So they played the halls to earn their daily bread. They appeared at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. for a week, doing 4 shows a day. The Capitols also did shows at the Paramount, the Regal, the Uptown and the famed Apollo in Harlem.
What they enjoyed most about their Apollo appearances was the final curtain call, when all the artists would come out on stage and sing one final encore number together.
The Capitols also gigged in New Jersey with DJ Jacko Henderson, and at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh, at a Jay Michael's Revue.
Rick Toliver remembers the Mosque show. "The Clovers burned our sweaters. We had hung the sweaters over some lights backstage and unknowingly, the Clovers clicked the switch on." They sang "Rose Marie" in tops with brown holes shot through them.
For some unknown (to the band, anyway) reason, Cindy wasn't releasing anymore of their archived material, and they completely stopped recording the group.
According to Marv Goldberg in his excellent R&B Notebook, Cindy was originally set up for Jay Michaels by Goldner, apparently to serve as a local label of sorts. So he probably never planned any national push for the area acts on Cindy's roster.
In 1958, the frustrated Capitols taped four demo tracks for Atlantic Records. All the tunes were written by Mickey Toliver and sang a cappella. They were jump tunes "Sitting In The Park" and "I Got A Girl," with the ballads "Give Me A Thought" and "There's A Reason Why." They also sent the tape to Vee Jay.
The Capitols wanted to bolt Cindy to sign with Atlantic Records, but Goldner warned them that they were under his contractual control, and the threat of lawyers ended their attempted jailbreak for the time being.
The Capitol's lineup took on a new look in the spring of 1958. Dora Hall left the group after she got married. Willie James, a second tenor who sang with the Hill's El Dupreys, replaced her.
McCray was already married, and Rick Toliver tied the knot in September. The Capitols were still together but not working very much. Family life was number one and there were no new records from the band in 1958. In 1959, a session was held at George Heid's studio that produced two demo's, the uptempo "I Got A Girl" b/w the ballad "Give Me A Thought."
Mickey's voice changed in 1960, and he lost his tenor range. Hey, it happens to us all eventually. When he graduated from Fifth Avenue High in 1960, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, joining up with the 508th Airborne. With his departure, the Capitols shut down, and they parted company with Weems.
From June 1960 until the summer of 1961, the Capitols were inactive. They did resurface with Dora (Hall) Goins (lead), Clarence Herd (first tenor), the El Veno's Eddie Hicks (second tenor/bass), George Taliaferro (second tenor /bass), and Rick Toliver.
A four-song demo tape, written by Hicks, was put together at United Studios. The tracks were the upbeat "Day By Day" and "Man Across the Hill", and the slow "Little Things" and "Just The Way You Axe."
The Capitols continued to perform throughout the Pittsburgh area into 1963. Howard and Sam Shapiro, owners of the National Record Mart and operators of Gateway Records, showed some interest in the group. Goins' husband, a trombonist for the Debonaires, is said to have bird-dogged the Capitols to the Shapiros.
They landed a contract, and in November, 1963, the group entered Gateway's studio above the NRM and recorded Hick's uptempo "Day By Day" and the ballad "Little Things" (Gateway 721). The Capitols were backed by the Debonaires. But the records went nowhere.
In May of 1964, Rick Toliver was promoted by his day job and left the group to focus on his 9-5 gig. The Capitols made appearances as a quartet after that, and became a trio when Herd departed, too. Goins, Hicks and Taliaferro stayed together until 1965, when they held a farewell show at the Paradise Club.
And no, they're not the Detroit trio that did "Cool Jerk" in 1966.
Hicks and Taliaferro did sing for the 1978 Walt Maddox Marcells that recorded a disco version of "Blue Moon" on the All Ears label (#1001). Disco "Blue Moon?"
But hey, everything old is new again, right? Original members Dora Hall and the Toliver brothers joined Eddie Hicks and Calvin Moore, and Mickey Toliver and the Capitols were reborn. You can visit them at Capitols - MySpace Music.
And if you'd like a listen, Dead Dog Records has an album of their material called "The Capitols - 50 Years of Music" with 28 of their tracks. "Rose Marie" is also on a couple of doo-wop anthologies.
In 1958, five teens from Clairton started harmonizing, and before long the Holidays were born.
The classic lineup consisted of Charlie "Corky" Hatfield (tenor), Frank Gori (bass/baritone), Barbara Jo Lippzer (alto), Francis "Franny" Grisnik (baritone/bass) and Ramon "Ray" Lancianese (tenor), the lead singer. They were soon gigging at hops and shows all over the Pittsburgh region.
Singing in a style reminiscent of Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, The Holidays scored some popular local tunes in the early 1960's.
They recorded and performed titles like 1960's "Then I’ll Be Tired of You" b/w "Lonely Summer" (Robbee 107), "One Little Kiss" b/w My Girl," (Nix 537), "A Love I Never Had" b/w "It's the Same Old Dream" (Robbee, unreleased) and their biggest hit, the first record they cut, 1960's "Miss You" b/w "Pretend," on Robbee 103.
Lennie Martin of Robbee gave their productions the same distinctive wall-of-sound string arrangements that he used to create his Calico label's Skyliner recordings.
(If you want to hear the original sounds, the group's Robbee discography can be found on "Best of Robbee Records," issued by Dead Dog Records.)
But their career was short-lived, as were many of the era. In 1962, the group disbanded after enjoying their run of local success and its members went their own ways, some off to raise families and some off to boot camp. The Holidays would lay dormant for much of the next four decades.
In 1995, Hatfield and Gori resurrected the Holidays, with new members Ralph Falk, George Price, Lisa Mineri-Kilmer and Sam Ferrella. They started by cutting a CD of the songs they had done 40 years ago, this time for Heid Productions, "The Holidays by Special Request."
It included the unreleased Robbee sides "It's The Same Old Dream," written by Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn, "A Love I Never Had," written by Joe Rock and Jimmy Beaumont, and the unrecorded "One Little Kiss," along with their other recorded tracks and songs from back in the day.
Ferrella, who sings tenor and lead, was the keystone of the retro act. Not only did he perform, but he also managed and promoted the group throughout the Pittsburgh area from 1999 to this day.
The Holidays performed at various venues and were part of the PBS/WQED TV “The Sound of Pittsburgh" showcase. In 2001, Lou Ann Shields joined The Holidays when Mineri-Kilmer left, and her first performance was at the old Allegheny County Fair opening up for Chubby Checker. Not a bad way to start, hey?
In 2002, the group recorded it’s first original CD, "For Your Love," at West Hills Productions, produced by Radioactive Gold DJ Dave Justice. In February, 2005, The New Holidays released their second CD called “Keepin’ the Sound Alive”. Their latest CD is entitled “Here and Now,” and was released in March 2007.
By 2004, Hatfield and Gori had hung it up, and the current group now goes by Pittsburgh's Own New Holidays. They've performed with acts such as Chubby Checker, Gary Puckett, Lou Cristie, The Marcels, The Skyliners, Bobby Rydell, The Vogues, and others while riding the local oldies circuit.
The group now consists of Ferrella, Shields, Mickey Carr, and Bryan McLain. (Holiday original Franny Grisnik passed away on July 21, 2008. He suffered from Multiple Sclerosis.)
Everything old is new again (and we wouldn't have it any other way!)
You can get a taste of history and catch up on the current Holidays at The New Holidays
The original Holidays, from left to right: Frank Gori, Barbara Jo Lippzer, Charlie Hatfield, Franny Grisnik, with Ray Lancianese at the piano from Doo Wop Jukebox
This story begins in 1956, in Homewood, where teens Frankie Flowers (first tenor), David Parr (second tenor and lead), Robert Thompson (second tenor and lead), and Wilton Anderson (baritone and bass) got together. They called themselves the La Rells.
They came up with the name to separate themselves from the then-current rage of "bird" groups, like the Flamingos, Penguins, etc., and they liked the sound of La Rells. First they tried to use the name Laurels, but couldn't get anyone to pronounce it the way they wanted. They solved that by performing as the La Rells. Nothing like spelling it out, hey?
They were inspired by songstress Dakota Staton, who had a string of hits for Capitol Records starting in the mid-1950’s, and like them, was a Westinghouse High grad. Parr was also a fan of Harlem’s Frankie Lymon, who started out with the Teenagers before going solo.
From the very beginning the La Rells were busy gigging at various shows and record hops throughout the area. But like most groups of the era, they had trouble keeping the players in one place.
Get the scorecard ready. First, Frankie Flowers moved to Boston, and then Robert Thompson left the group. (A year later, in 1958, he became a member of the El Moroccos, later famed as The Diadems.) Reuben Taylor became their lead singer and Carole Washington came aboard to sing soprano.
This version of the La Rells remained together for nearly a year. But Carole Washington died and Lafon McKellar, a second tenor, took her place. The La Rells also added Alex Richburg on guitar and Vann Harris, who played drums.
In late 1957, the La Rells appeared on a talent show at Holy Cross Church along with a group from Penn Hills, the Links. The Links featured a silky lead, Frank Avery, and the La Rells sweet talked him into throwing in with them.
He replaced Reuben Taylor, who left the group. Coming over with Avery was Bob Best, the first tenor of the Links.
The new edition of the La Rells featured Frank Avery on lead, Bob Best (first tenor), David Parr (second tenor), Lafon McKellar (second tenor), Wilton Anderson (baritone and bass), Alex Richburg (guitarist) and Vann Harris (drummer). This group formed the classic La Rells line up.
In 1960, KQV DJ Larry Aiken hooked them up with Lennie Martin of Robbee Records. He liked their demo tape, and cut the ballad "Everybody Knew" b/w the up-tempo "Please Be Fair," released as Robbee 109. The song was a big local hit.
Their career took off in the region. They did hops and shows for Clark Race, Larry Aiken, Porky Chadwick, Bill Powell, and Sir Walter at places like the Savoy Ballroom, Diamond Roller Rink, White Elephant and Twin Coaches. Parr joked that their car knew the way to the Twin Coaches without the help of the driver.
In 1960 they won Bill Powell's prestigious "Pittsburgher" Award. And if imitation is the greatest form of flattery, they were flattered to death when another group performed as the La Rell Juniors. No, they never shared a bill, and probably would have met in court in this era, but coexisted just fine back in the day.
In 1961, they cut another record, "Public Transportation" b/w "I Just Can't Understand," released as Robbee 114. The music tracks were laid by the Rock 'N' Bluesmen, the La Rell's choice over Martin's house band.
They were an R&B group originally out of Buffalo, NY, that performed throughout the Pittsburgh area. They recorded a couple of tunes as Rabbit and Geno, and the La Rells repaid the favor by backing them on "Deep In the Night" b/w "Never Before," set up by Pete Tambellini.
"Public Transportation" didn't move for the La Rells. It was the beginning of the Civil Rights era, and the intoned "please move to the rear of the bus" by Dave Parr smacked a bit too much of reality, and made the record too hot to handle for the DJ's of the early 1960's.
Still, it didn't hurt them locally. The La Rells were the first Pittsburgh group to appear on a rock 'n' roll show at the Civic Arena. On October 20, 1961, they were on the same bill with Fats Domino and Brenda Lee.
In fact, they met Lee and her mother at the airport and had lunch with them. Young Parr picked up a life-long habit from her when he noticed her cleaning her silverware with her napkin after each course. He had never seen anyone do that before, and before long, it became ingrained with him, too.
But they soon tired of the peanuts they made playing area shows for the DJ's, and decided to beef up the band with some brass and hit the college circuit. It was a good decision. They were a hit with the students, and actually got to keep a fair portion of the gate they drew.
In 1962, the La Rells signed with Liberty Records and cut "I Guess I'll Never Stop Loving You" b/w "Sneaky Alligator" in the Big Apple (Liberty 55430, reissued as Robbee 120 in 1991.) The Liberty session players backing the band were pretty solid. King Curtis was on the sax, and a young Roberta Flack sat in on piano.
But the disk received little airplay, and signs of dissension and career frustrations started to bubble up within the group.
It didn't help when Bob Best left the band to join the military shortly after the record's release. His place was filled by Ronald Bentley. Then David Parr received his "greetings from Uncle Sam" notice and traded in his microphone for an M-16 in March 1964. His departure was the death knell of the La Rells.
From the very start, the La Rells tried to wrest some artistic and financial control of their group from the suits, but in that era, it was next to impossible.
Their first run-in with the controlling nature of the industry was in 1959, when they cut “One and One Is Two” b/w “Sputnik – Part I.” Their first manager, whom they prefer not to name, wanted them to enter into a contract that was tantamount, in Parr’s words, “to signing our life away. He wanted to own us.”
They didn’t sign, and the record was never released. Even in the Larry Aiken days (whom they still recall warmly) their ability to shape their own future was minimal.
“The first record we released, ‘Everybody Knew,’” Parr recalled, “was arranged by Lennie Martin and Robbee to make us sound like Little Anthony and the Imperials.”
Their next release, the ill-fated “Public Transportation,” tried to cast them in the Coaster’s mold. Imagine how insulting it must have been to hone your craft in countless rehearsals and live shows over the years, and then have a suit try to make you over into the flavor of the month.
Parr ticked off several examples of careers gone astray because of mismanagement, including his first role model. “If Frankie Lymon would have been handled right instead of being abused,” Parr said. “He would have been bigger than Michael Jackson.”
He also pointed out the legal entanglements that left many singers lurching in the wake. “The artists don’t even have a right to their own name,” Parr explained. “How many different versions of the Platters and Drifters are out there performing?”
“Look at the Vogues. One of them has the rights to the group’s name within a 50 mile radius of Pittsburgh, and another group gets to tour the rest of the country as the Vogues.” In fact, until last year, the nationally touring Vogues didn't have a member that recorded any of the Vogue hits.
Chuck Blasco, an original member and leader of the local Vogues, lobbied Congress to make changes in trademark laws to prevent others from misrepresenting themselves as being original artists, and Parr agrees there oughta be a law to protect the groups. What a tangled web we weave...
We won’t even get into the Benjamins. The 66-year old Parr says “I’m at a point of my life where the royalties don’t make any difference.”
But he made it clear that the system back in the day was an inverted pyramid, with the venues, DJ’s and managers getting the gravy while the groups were the bottom feeders of the money machine they fueled.
David Parr's cause celebrite is to get some recognition for the fathers of R&B, the fifties and sixties vocal groups. "Oprah had the Osmonds on, " he said. "Why wouldn't she feature some of the artists of my era?"
As he pointed out, Betty Everett, Bo Diddly, Pookie Hudson, and a host of the old stalwarts are in rock 'n' roll heaven now. He thinks it's time to recognize the real roots of soul, while they're still here to enjoy a moment in the sun again and tell their tales before they're forever forgotten.
There aren't many of the old La Rells left anymore, either. Parr lives with his wife Charlie in Penn Hills, and was a recording engineer. He worked at Steel City Recording in East Liberty with TL back in the day, recording the "Midnight to Daylight" tapes.
He also met the late Phyllis Hyman while producing a tune at Walt Maddox's old Carnegie studio in 1974. She sang backup on the song “Dancing on a Daydream” by Flora Wilson.
The song has an interesting history. It was first penned as "Flower Child" and a demo tape was made by Stevie Sawyer, Billy Eckstine's niece. She shopped it around, even taking it to Nashville, but her voice and the notes didn't quite mesh.
But the Crawley, Greenley and Richburg song was a good tune, and Parr got the instrumental track recorded at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios when he piggybacked some time on Vann Harris' "Stop Your Cryin" session. It was laid down by the Sound of Philadelphia Orchestra.
When he got back to Pittsburgh, he brought in a very pregnant Wilson (she had her baby the next day) to do the song, backed by Hyman and some other girls, and then dubbed the SOP track, with George Green on sax and Gene Ludwig on organ added in.
The instrumental became the flip side, as was common in those days, and the credit was given to the "Soulvation Army Band," the name of the label (Soulvation Army #742).
The song was renamed "Dancing on a Daydream," and though Wilson did a great job on the A side, the instrumental version is what still gets played today.
Frankie Avery makes his home in California, and Vann Harris still lives in the area, and was the driving force behind the 60's group Bobby and the Vanguards. The rest are gone to their reward.
The group has popped up sporadically. Avery is still in the business, and had a minor hit with the NYC group Chocolate Syrup in 1971 with “Stop Your Crying.”
The La Rells had reunion gigs in 1994 at Henry DeLuca's “Roots of Rock and Roll, Vol. 20” concert, and in 1995 and 1997 at the Belle Vernon-based SOC (Society of Oldies Collectors) shows (SOC band bio). The La-Rells appeared in the 2001 PBS program “The Sound of Pittsburgh”.
Also in 2001, Avery and Parr got together to cut a Porky tribute b/w an updated “Tomorrow Will Only Bring Sorrow,” but Avery wouldn’t commit to staying in Pittsburgh – 40 years in the California sun will do that to a man – and that was that.
Now David Parr is the institutional memory of the La Rells, keeping their songs, stories, and good times alive.
They did receive one of Pittsburgh’s greatest honors, along with their earliest inspiration, Dakota Staton. They were selected to Westinghouse High’s renowned “Wall of Fame,” along with all the other storied Bulldog achievers to come from the hard streets of Homewood.
Their work is available on "The Best of Robbee Records," issued by the Dead Dog Records label, which features seven La Rell tracks from Lennie Martin's vaults, as well as on compilation albums like "Pittsburgh's Greatest Hits" from Itzy Records and "Doo Wop Collectors Classics," among others.
And, of course, the original vinyls are selling like hotcakes to collectors on sites like E-Bay, especially overseas.
(Old Mon Music would like to thank David Parr for taking the time to tell the story of the La Rells. It’s a great tale of the 1960’s music industry, and David was most gracious and forthcoming in sharing his memories and insights with us.)
