WEST COAST (Page 1)

THE WEST COAST GROUPS

This page contains biographical information on the Robins, Hollywood Flames, Jacks, Cadets, Penguins, Flairs, Meadowlarks, Jaguars, Medallions, Calvanes amd Jayhawks. A link at the bottom of the page will take you to the Southern Groups.

The Robins

0ne of the earliest of West Coast R&B groups, the Robins were the forerunners (and roots) of THE COASTERS. They formed in 1947 in San Francisco and featured smooth harmony often con-trasted with a bass lead.

The original trio was Ty Terrell (tenor), Billy and Roy Richards (bass and baritone). They moved to Los Angeles in 1949 under the name the A Sharp Trio and began playing at Johnny Otis's Barrelhouse Club. He helped them develop by adding bass Bobby Nunn to their lineup.

Otis first called them the Four Bluebirds. By the time they first recorded for the Aladdin label in 1949 they had changed their name to the Robins.

Their first single, "Don't Like the Way You're Doin'," was reviewed by Billboard in September with the comment, "The Robins aren't the Ravens though they give it a try." By the end of the year they were on Savoy and clicking with "If It's So, Baby" (#10 R&B). That recording made them one of the first West Coast R&B acts to make the top ten.

In April 1950 Billboard said of their new single, "There Ain't No Use Beggin," "Ballad with catchy figure is handled in Ink Spots style." Though the Robins were strongly influenced by the Ravens, they at one point influenced their idols, if only instrumentally, as the Robins used vibes on a couple of sides and soon after so did the Ravens.

In 1951 they moved to Recorded In Hollywood and moonlighted on RPM as the Nic Nacs. Also in 1951, during a short stint with Modern Records, they recorded "That's What the Good Book Says," the first recorded Leiber and Stoller song. In December 1951 one of their older Aladdin sides, "Round About Midnight" surfaced on its Score subsidiary. 1958 In 1953 they moved again, this time to RCA, 1958 and their style became a more polished R&B sound athough they still laid into those blues tales of trou-ble like "Ten Days in Jail" and "Empty Bottles."

In 1954 they recorded for their ninth label in six years, the newly formed Spark Records owned by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. By now the Robins were a sextet with additional members Carl Gardner and Grady Chapman. Their first single on that label was a bass-led talk/singing story of prison life. Leiber and Stoller felt that Nunn's base wasn't threatening enough to handle their hardcore song so they substituted Richard Berry (later of "Louis Louis" fame).

A June 1956 review in Billboard commented about "Riot in Cellblock Number Nine," "A new group, a new label, a song with a bright set of lyrics and a good performance by the Robins make this a strong new release." Though not a national hit it sold over 90,000 copies, mostly in Los Angeles.

Berry then went over to Modern Records for his own rewritten version called "The Big Break"; then Bobby Nunn copied Berry's narrative nuances for the Robins' follow-up, "Framed." The classic tongue-in-cheek R&B number was the talesetter for all "legalese" tunes to follow, like Herb and Lon's "The Trial" and "Here Comes the Judge" (the Magistrates).

In August 1955 the Robins issued "Smokey Joe's Cafe," their last and most notorious record on Spark. Around this same time Leiber and Stoller sold Spark to Atlantic's Atco label; "Smokey Joe" wound up on this label, and Atco's added clout brought the record to number 79 Pop and number 10 R&B at the end of 1955.

The Robins' consensus, however, was to pass on joining the new East Coast label (Leiber and Stoller were moving to New York). Leonard, Chapman, the Richards brothers, and new member H. B. Barnum (THE DOOTONES) moved to the Whippet label owned by Los Angeles TV personality Gene Nor-man. Gardner and Nunn, meanwhile, joined with Billy Guy and Leon Hughes to work with Leiber and Stoller as the Coasters.

The Robins became more of a pop group, doing seven singles from 1956 through 1958 for Whippet, the most successful being "Out of the Picture." They recorded through 1961 for the Knight, Arvee, and Gone labels without any success and finally disbanded. Grady Chapman, who chose to stay with the Robins in 1957 rather than join the Coasters, wound up singing lead for a Coasters group in the 1980s.

"For more in-depth information on this and other great vocal groups see the "Da Capo book of: "American Singing Groups (A History 1940-1990)" by Jay Warner available at all major book stores or on-line at Amazon .com."

Web Authors Note

Grady Chapman still performs today fronting a Coasters group. Bill Richards and Ty Terrell are still alive on the West Coast. The Robins were inducted into the UGHA Hall of Fame.

The Hollywood Flames

During their career, the Hollywood Flames recorded under no fewer than seven names for 19 different record companies. Through it all they remained solid and versatile; they were one of the West Coases earliest rhythm and blues groups. They were first called the Flames and consisted of Robert Byrd (lead, tenor, baritone, and bass), David Ford (lead), Willie Ray Rockwell (second tenor), and a bit later, Curley Dinkins (baritone and bass). They formed at the Largo Theatre in Los Angeles at a talent show during 1949. Their first paying gig was at Johnny Otis's Barrelhouse Club, where THE ROBINS also came together around the same time.

In January 1950 the group recorded its first single, the jump blues tune "Young Girl" with Bobby on lead. They became the Hollywood Four Flames after the "Young Girls" release, doing three singles for Unique. One of those, "Tabarin," was issued on Fidelity as the Four Flames in late 1951. Billboard gave it this less than glowing response in a December review: "A new male quartet, specializing in the wobbly note bending style, gives out with a rather feeble ballad."

One single backing Patty Anne as Patty Anne and the Flames and one as the Four Flames for Specialty (tracks licensed from Unique) and the group was back as the Hollywood Four Flames on John Dolphirfs Recorded in Hollywood label for three singles in 1952, the best of which was a nice cover of THE FIVE KEYS' "Glory of Love." They also did a solid rerecording of "Young Girl" for that label.

By now, Willie Ray Rockwell had left and joined THE LAMPLIGHTERS (Federal). His replacement was second tenor Clyde "Thin Man" Tillis, who added a bit of zaniness to the group as a dancer and comedian. Then over the next few years the scorecard became unintelligible: the group recorded for Spin (as the Jets in 1952), 7-11 (as the Flames in 1953), Aladdin (as the Jets and as Patty Anne and the Flames in 1954), and Lucky, Hollywood, and Money (as the Hollywood Four Flames in 1954 and 1955). The membership was even more muddled as Gaynel Hodge (THE PLATTERS), Leon Hughes, and Curtis Williams (the Flamingos, but not the Chicago hit group) sang at different times.

During the Aladdin, Lucky, Hollywood, Money, and Decca periods, the group was usually Dave Ford (first tenor), Gaynel Hodge (second tenor), Curtis Williams or Curley Dinkins (baritone), and Bobby Byrd (bass). The group recorded some interesting rhythm and blues sides during this period, including "I'll Hide My Tears" (reportedly written by Murray Wilson, father of THE BEACH BOYS' Brian Wilson) and "Peggy" with Hodge on lead.

Curtis Williams, who was a member of the Flames before he joined THE PENGUINS, offered them "Earth Angel," but the Flames never got around to recording it. The group always received local airplay on their releases and by 1955 were considered a successful act in the L.A. area though they didn't have a hit.

Groups in those days had loose membership; Bobby Byrd recorded under the name the Voices (Cash, 1955), singing lead and bass with only the help of Earl Nelson on tenor about the same time he was with the Flames.

In 1957 the group became yet another entity when they signed with Leon Rene's Class label. Leon's son Googie Rene (Leon's A&R director and producer) renamed Bobby Byrd "Bobby Day" and also renamed the Flames et al "The Satellites."

Their first single in the fall of 1957 was a Bobby Day-penned rocker called "Little Bitty Pretty One," which looked like a smash until Thurston Harris and the Sharps outclassed it, reaching number six Pop and number two R&B on Aladdin; the Satel-lites' single crashed and burned on takeoff. The group didn't have time to sulk. Their November release on Ebb Records as the Hollywood Flames (keep those scorecards handy) of the Bobby. Byrd- penned "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" entered Billboards Hot 100 on November 25, 1957, reaching number 11 Pop and number five R&B.

All this name shuffling was rarely the doing of the group. When they recorded for a new record company they had little knowledge of or control over the name that eventually showed up on the label. For example, in the fall of 1957 the group stopped by Dolphin's of Hollywood record store where Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg, a well-known Los Angeles disc jockey, was broadcasting from the window. Dick asked if they had any new tunes, motivating Bobby to go home that night and knock out a 15-minute quickie called "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz." On October 21st the group recorded it for Dolphin with Earl Nelson singing lead and promptly forgot about it. At the time, they were with Class Records as the Satellites. Earl and Bobby had day jobs at the Revell Toy factory and were working away when the radio in the shop blared out a familiar sound. It was "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" by the Hollywood Flames, and a disc jockey gushed that it was the hottest record in Los Angeles. Dolphin had sold it to Lee Rope (wife of Specialty Records' Art Rupe) for her new Ebb label, and the Flames were rising again. (The group at that time, besides Earl and Bobby, was Dave Ford, Curtis Williams, and Clyde Tillis.)

Obviously doing better as the Hollywood Flames than as the Satellites, the group decided to record several singles for Ebb, but they went nowhere.

By now, with a dual lack of identity, the group recorded on Ebb with Bobby Day and behind him (sometimes without credit) on Class. One such recording was his summer of 1958 hit "Rockin Robin7 (#2 Pop, # 1 R&B). The group on "Rockin RobirT was Day, Davis Ford, Earl Nel-son, and Curtis Williams, who had left THE PENGUINS for a time. The MOONGLOWS/Moonlighters and VIBRATIONS/Marathons dual personalities had nothing on this bunch; they toured as Bobby Day and the Satellites, the Hollywood Flames, and Bob and Earl, all on one bill!

By late 1959 the Hollywood Flames consisted of Dave Ford, Curtis Williams, Donald Height, and Ray Brewster. The group did a few good sides for Atco, Chess, Coronet and Goldie, the best being a humorous take on Elizabeth Taylor called "Elizabeth," with Height on lead even though the label said Dave Ford and the Hollywood Flames.

When the 1960 Atco sides failed, the group went home to Los Angeles but Brewster stayed on and joined THE CADILLACS in New York. An early to mid '60s photo of the Flames shows the members as Nelson, Ford, Brewster, and Eddie Williams (of the Aladdins on Aladdin).

The group's last recording lineup was in 1965 for Symbol and included Dave Ford, John Berry, George Home, and a forgotten bass. Having gone many years without a hit, the group finally split up in 1967.

Earl Nelson joined Bobby Relf and had hits as Bob and Earl (Earl and Bobby Day had been the original Bob and Earl) on "Harlem Shuffle" (#44, 1963) and later as Jackie Lee (Jackie was Earl's wife's name and Lee his own middle name) on "The Duck" (#14 Pop, #4 R&B, 1965). Earl was later living in Los Angeles, as was Curley Dinkins. Bobby Day performed at oldies shows up until his death in the early '90s. Willie Rockwell, Clyde Tillis, Curtis Williams, and Dave Ford also passed away.

The Jacks

The Jacks started out as a spiritual group in Los Angeles under the guidance of former DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS baritone Lloyd McCraw. Lloyd came to Los Angeles from Chicago in 1947. By 1954 he had joined up with Willie Davis (lead and first tenor), Ted Taylor (first tenor), Aaron Collins (second tenor), and Will "Dub" Jones (bass). Lloyd sang baritone and became the group's manager, bringing them to Modern Records' Culver City studios. When Modern's president Joe Bihari heard the group's potential and adaptability, he conceived the idea of creating two groups out of one, giving the Jacks a new additional name. Henceforth they would do cover records of mostly up-tempo songs as THE CADETS; for the Jacks he envisioned using the writing talents of Aaron Collins and others to bring the group hit originals.

This was not as farfetched a Plan as it seemed; there was a big difference between the sound of the Jacks with Davis singing lead and the tougher sound of the Cadets when the harmony followed Collins or Jones. But this concept would have to wait for at least one record. Bihari and his sidekick arranger Maxwell Davis handed the Jacks a beautiful ballad titled "Why Don't You Write Me?" that was getting some attention on the Showtime label as recorded by the Feathers. The Feathers' original came out in the fourth week of April 1955 and the Jacks' copy came out one week later (on the Modern affiliate RPM). But the Jacks' version wasn't merely a copy; it was a vast improvement. Though the arrangements were similar, the Jacks' harmonies were stronger and more appealing and Willie Davis sang it as if it had been written for him. The flip "Smack Dab in the Middle" was actually cut as the Cadets and wound up on their first LP. The Jacks' "Write Me" hit the R&B charts on August 6th, almost a year before the Cadets charted with "Stranded in the Jungle."

It took the record three months to build up enough national steam to make Billboards hit list (and when it did Joe Bihari immediately bumped the B side for another ballad, called "My Darling"). The Jacks jumped up to number three R&B by September and even managed to cross over to the Pop charts to reach number 82. Unfortunately, their first hit would be their last. "I'm Confessin"' followed in June while "Write Me" was still building momentum. Apparently RPM had little faith or little patience with records that took months to succeed and abandoned "I'm Confessin' " the minute "Write Me" hit the charts. If the group was flying high from their instant success, they were brought to earth rapidly; a fourth single didn't have either of their names on it.

They backed vocalist Donna Hightower on two ill-fated sides, "Bob- O-Link" and "Since You," just as they had on their second single "Love Me Again." Their next three releases were all original bal-lads, the best of which, "Why Did I Fall in Love," had a nice PLATTERS-PENGUINS feel. A Billboard review gave it an 81 rating. (Most Billboard reviews were rated between 80 [high] and 60 [low], and a rating above 80 was rare.) Their last single, in July 1956, was "Let's Make Up," a catchy mid-tempo rock and roll ditty that followed the path of every single since "Write Me"; the group was now officially relegated to fulltime Cadets status.

In March 1957, eight months after their last release and 22 months after the release of their only hit, RPM put out the "Jumpin'with the Jacks" LP containing ten sides of which three ("You Belong to Me," "Do You Wanna Rock," and "Wiggie Waggie Woo') were released on singles by the Cadets! (At least they weren't cut by Milli Vanilli.) Though their recordings were for the most part fine examples of original rhythm and blues ballads, it's ironic that their only hit came from what they weren't supposed to be doing as the Jacks cover records.

Web Authors Note

The Jacks/Cadets were inducted into the UGHA Hall of Fame in 1999. Willie Davis, Randy Jones and Pete Fox (Flairs) performed at the show and were simply outstanding. Aaron Collins passed away in 1998. Will "Dub" Jones passed away in 2000.

The Cadets

The Cadets had the most intriguing dual careers in rock and roll history. From 1955 to 1957 they recorded and performed as both the Cadets and THE JACKS, each group with its own hits and each with a distinctly different sound and musical direction.

Formed in 1954 in Los Angeles, the group had Aaron Collins (lead and second tenor), Will "Dub" Jones (lead and bass), Willie Davis (first tenor), Lloyd McCraw (baritone and group manager), and Ted Taylor (first tenor).

A tremendously versatile bunch that could sing jump tunes, rhythm and blues, ballads, calypso songs, and rock and roll, they signed with Modern Records in 1955 under the name the Jacks. Modern's Joe Bihari renamed them the Cadets and made them Modern's house group for the sole purpose of covering other R&B artists' songs. With Moderns strong national distribution, Bihari knew he could record a song that was starting to move in a version by another act on a smaller label and still beat it to most of the marketplace. Possessing a keen ear for local hits that could go national, Bihari had his machine primed and ready.

In April 1955 a cover of Nappy Browns "Don't Be Angry" became the Cadets' first single and it did well, out selling Nappy's Savoy recording released three weeks earlier. A calypso flavored cover of the Marigolds' "Rolling Stone" was next and it, too, outdid its Excello Records competition. At about the same time, the Cadets put out their third single, "I Cried," and they backed vocalist Dolly Cooper on her release of "My Man," but neither attracted much attention.

In the summer of 1955, the Cadets got their most unusual assignment while trying to take advantage of the "Annie" craze that had begun 16 months earlier with HANK BALLARD AND THE MIDNIGHTERS' release of "Work with Me Annie." Bihari must have believed there was still life in the old girl when he had the quintet record "Annie Met Henry." It was the twelfth Annie record in a year, joining some of the more outrageous ones like "Annie Had a Baby' and "Annie's Aunt Fannie" (both by the Midnighters on Federal) and the Nutones' "Annie Kicked the Bucket." Market saturation had apparently set in: the record's rhythm ballad flip "So Will I" got the higher profile.

The Cadets' next Modern release was an exciting uptempo revision of THE DRIFTERS' 1955 R&B hit (#2) "Whatcha Gonna Do" titled "Do You Wanna Rock," with Aaron Collins doing his best Clyde McPhatter impression spiced with a dash of Little Richard. (If you want to hear who else "borrowed" from the Drifters' "Whatcha Gonna Do," listen to Hank Ballard or Chubby Checker's "The Twist.") Though the Drifters were considered a sacred cow, the Cadets definitely out-rocked them on this recording. But out rocking didn't translate into outselling.

By February 1956 the Cadets had covered both Elvis Presley and THE WILLOWS on one single: "Heartbreak Hotel" b/w "Church Bells May Ring." The March 31st issue of Billboard commented: "The group covers the Willows' version of the tune with a free swinging happy job. The tune is strong and some of the loot should come this way." In reference to "Heartbreak" the reviewer wrote, "The Presley disc will grab most of the interest on the tune, but this Cadets' version stacks up okay in its league with an effective deep down solo." Needless to say, Elvis's record slaughtered the Cadets', but the only R&B version of "Heartbreak" on the market did garner some good sales for the group.

While all this cloning was going on, Aaron Collins brought his two sisters, Rosie and Betty, to Joe Bihari with an original song he and Willie Davis had written. Bihari liked the act and the song, christening the girls the Teen Queens; by the spring Aaron's little sisters had the number two R&B record in America and number 14 on the pop chart. The song was "Eddie My Love."

Now it was the Cadets' turn. Prentice Moreland replaced Ted Taylor (although he only recorded with the group) and Lloyd McCraw left to be re-placed by former Flairs baritone Thomas "Pete" Fox after their next single. Their June 1956 cover (what else?) of the Jayhawks7 novelty rocker "Stranded in the Jungle" made the trip up the charts that Bihari had envisioned since signing the group seven singles before. "Stranded" went to number four R&B and number 15 on the pop listing. But he couldn't have predicted that it would later be viewed as a rock and roll classic.

Though most cover groups and artists were looked upon with disdain by music lovers of the '50s and '60s (especially the white acts that covered the usually superior versions by black acts), the Cadets were so good that their covers were often equal to if not better than the original. In the case of "Stranded," their version was far supe-rior to the Jayhawks' rough and ragged original (as the Jacks, their interpretation of "Why Don't You Write Me" was also preferable to the Feathers' prototype).

In September, two oldies surfaced as the next Cadets single: "Dancin' Dan," which was actually "Sixty-Minute Man" by the Dominoes (Federal, 1951). and "I Got Loaded" by Peppermint Harris (Alladin, 1951). The Dub Jones led two-sider was a disappointment sales wise, and the follow up, "I'll Be Spinning" (originally number 10 in 1957 by Johnnie and Joe (Johnnie was Johnnie Richardson, member of the Jaynettes of "Sally Go Round the Rose;' fame in 1963) b/w "Fools Rush In" ( the number one recording by Glenn Miller in 1940), also failed to spur the buying public.

Their last record of 1956, "Love Bandit" elicited the same lackluster response even though it was a rollicking cut reminiscent of "Stranded in the Jun-gle." Its five note sax intro later showed up in the DUBS' intro to their classic "Could This Be Magic" a year later. Loaded with lots of rock and roll excite-ment, "Love Bandit" named half the outlaws and sheriffs of the Old West before the Cadets faded into the sunset and the record faded out of circulation, signalling a diminishing return for Moderns investment.

Still, Modern issued their first LP (and one of the first rhythm and blues group LPs) in February 1957 under the title "Rockin and Reelin", which included most of their previous A and B sides. A May 1957 release of "Pretty Evey" listed the Cadets as the artists when in fact it was Aaron singing lead with another obscure house group. Their last Modern single was "Ring Chimes ' in December 1957. Davis and Collins formed a new Cadets after Dub Jones left to become the bass of THE COASTERS in 1958, at that time at the peak of their success. The new Cadets were Thomas Miller, baritone, and George Hollis, bass, both of the Flairs (ABC). After two singles in 1960, the Cadets (actually half Cadets, half Flairs) were ready to call it a career, but in name only; with Randolph Jones subbing for Hollis on bass, the quartet became the Peppers in 1961 singing "One More Chance" on Ensign.

In 1961, with Hollis back on bass, the group became the Flares on Felsted and their third single for the label, the energetic dance record "Foot Stomping-Part I," went to number 25 (#20 R&B). The group then switched to Press Records for seven more singles that went nowhere.

In 1962 Davis and ex-cadet McCraw teamed to form the Thor-ables (Titanic), but their two singles were behind-the-times ballads with little chance for play. Ted Taylor, having gone solo in 1956 on a variety of labels, finally hit the R&B charts in November 1965 with "Stay Away from My Baby" on Okeh. On October 22, 1988, Ted and his wife died in a car accident while touring in Louisiana.

Web Authors Note

Cleve Duncan andThe Penguins

Fremont High Schooler Cleveland "Cleve" Duncan was doing a local talent show at the California Club on Santa Barbara Avenue (one of several he'd entered) in Los Angeles in late 1953. He was approached by aspiring songwriter Curtis Williams (bass) of Jefferson High School who liked his dis-tinctive and mellow tenor lead and asked him if he'd like to form a group. Curtis had previously been in an historic though unrecorded embryonic group called the Flamingos in 1951 (not Chicago's famed quintet). The Flamingos were Richard Berry (who founded the Flairs), Cornelius Gunter (who co-founded the Flairs, the Hollywood Blue Jays, and sang with ARTHUR LEE MAYE AND THE CROWNS), Gaynel Hodge (later of THE HOLLYWOOD FLAMES), and brother Alex Hodge who was a founding member of the Platters. Curtis brought baritone Bruce Tate of Jefferson, Cleve drafted tenor Dexter Tisby of Fremont, and another quartet was born.

While pondering a name that the teens thought would be cool, they noticed Dexter's pack of Kool cigarettes with Willie the Penguin on the front. The very cool Penguins now had their identity.

Curtis Williams had also brought a song to the group called "Earth Angel." The history of this song is clouded by conflicting opinion, although over the years a consensus has been reached that its roots can be traced, at least in part, to the pen of Los Angeles R&B writer Jesse Belvin. Curtis either wrote or co-wrote with Gaynel Hodge a revised "Earth Angel" which included the line "a vision of your loveliness" from a Patti Page song, "I Went to Your Wedding" (#I, summer 1952). Cleve Duncan's recollection was that by the time it reached him the melody sounded like Jesse and Marvin's "Dream Girl" (Jesse Belvin and Marvin Phillips, Specialty, 1953) and he didn't like it so he rewrote the melody; as far as he knew, only Curtis wrote the lyrics. But Cleve couldn't know the origin of the song prior to his involvement, so the mystery continued.

The Penguins practiced "Earth Angel" along with an uncontested Curtis Williams song called "Hey Senorita" (originally known as "Ese Chi-quita"). Through Cleve's uncle Ted Brinson, mail-man and former bass player for the Jimmie Lunceford Band, they met local Dootone label owner Dootsie Williams (no relation to Curtis).

Dootsie took them into Ted Brinsods backyard garage at 2190 West 30th Street and recorded them backing blues artist Willie Headon on "Ain't No News Today." He then signed them when he heard "Hey Senorita" (rhythm tunes were the rage) and recorded it on Brinsods Ampex one-track machine along with a demo of "Earth Angel." It had to be redone seven or eight times because the recording acoustics were so crude. Every time Brinson's neighbor's dog barked at passing cars his voice leaked onto the tape. Brinson would then turn on the tape, leap up, grab his bass, and with Curtis Williams on piano, Preston Epps on bongos (sup-posedly), and a long-since-forgotten drummer, begin recording.

Dootsie Williams then decided to take the demo disc to John Dolphin at Dolphin's of Hollywood All Night Record Shop for an opinion. Dolphin would broadcast a rhythm and blues radio show right from his store window. Sitting in at the time was white KGFJ disc jockey Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg. Doot-sie barely had time to tell Dolphin it was a demo before he handed it directly to Hugg and told him to play both sides over the air. Then Dootsie took his demo and went home. The next morning Huggy Boy called Williams to tell him that people were calling up and going crazy over the ballad. Dootsie sprang into action and pressed as many 78s and 45s as he could, but was still convinced "Hey Senorita" was the A side. When it came out in October of 1954 the record label read Dootone 348-A, and that's the side that got initial airplay. But Williams soon found that you can't hold back a tidal wave, and when jocks started flipping the "Senorita" for the "Angel," orders came in faster than Dootsie could keep up with them. He knew there were two kinds of records on the market, those that had to be promoted and the rare natural hit that everyone wanted. He now knew he and the Penguins had the latter.

On December 18th it charted R&B nationally and on Christmas Day crossed over to pop. Even when the pop establishment jumped on the band-wagon in the form of THE CREW-CUTS' (Mercury) cover, they couldn't slow "Earth Angel" down (though the white version went to number three). The Penguins reached number eight Pop Best Seller in early 1955, becoming the first West Coast R&B group to dent the previously off-limits Pop top 10. "Earth Angel" also reached number one R&B for three weeks, finally being eased out by Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love."

By mid-January problems were already looming for the new stars. When the group reportedly couldn't get any advances from Dootone they acquired lawyer/arranger/songwriter Buck Ram (now there's a combination) to manage them. Ram had originally been an arranger for Duke Ellington and Count Basie, among others, and fronted his own combo on Savoy Records in 1944. Various industry trades wrote in January 1955 that Dootone denied reports the Penguins were moving to a major label and cited a three-year contract with the group backing them up.

At the same time Dootone released another Pen-guins ballad penned by Curtis called "Love Will Make Your Mind Go Wild," but "Love" was nowhere as strong as "Earth Angel" and never even charted. On February 21st the group was back in Los Angeles playing the Savoy Ballroom with label-mates THE MEDALLIONS and the Meadowlarks. The show was called "The Ookey Ook Dance Party," named after the Penguins' current flip side. The group was using it for a stage dance similar to a penguin walk.

They were across the country again on April 8th in Alan Freed's Rock & Roll Easter Show at the Brooklyn Paramount with THE MOONGLOWS, LaVern Baker, and THE THREE CHUCKLES, along with Red Prysock's Orchestra. The next day the Penguins, directed by Ram, signed with Mercury Records. But Ram was a sly businessman: it so happened he was using his power as representative of the Penguins to get a deal with Mercury for another of his L.A. groups, a yet unknown quintet (despite nine single releases on Federal) called the Platters. It was one of those "if you want this, you have to take that" deals, and Mercury took both.

Meanwhile the Penguins' "Earth Angel" had sold about two million copies (over the next 30 years it would go on to sell as many as 10 million, and as recently as 1983 was reportedly still selling a thousand singles a week around the world).

Mercury's confidence was bolstered by a court decision that Dootone's contract was invalid since three of the four Penguins had been minors at the time they signed to Dootsie's label. Before the last session for Dootone in early 1955 Bruce Tate accidentally hit a pedestrian with his car and was so shook up by the experience he dropped out of the group. He was replaced by Randolph Jones (baritone).

In April 1955, two Penguin ballad singles were released: Mercury's "Be Mine or Be a Fool" and Dootone's "Kiss a Fool Goodbye." Neither received much response. "Be Mine" was a particularly fine record and how Mercury lost it is a mystery.

Curtis Williams put another nail in the Penguins coffin in April when he sued Dootone for $100,000, claiming damages to his career because he signed a record contract when he was a minor. If he hadn't signed with Dootone he probably would not have had a career at all, but the suit was most likely instigated by Ram. Two weeks later (May 13, 1955) Dootone sued Mercury for inducing the Penguins to break their contract and for taking the publishing rights for its copyright and giving it to its own publishing affili-ate, Peer International. That same week Jesse Belvin and supposed co-writer Johnny Green sued Curtis Williams over "Earth Angel", and the court ordered Dootone to put all related writer/publisher monies in trust until the situation was dealt with. The upshot was that Dootone won the publishing rights, Mercury kept the Penguins, and depending on what label copy you read, several people were credited as the writer. In 1961 Art Laboe's historic first Oldies but Goodies LP listed the writers as "Williams-Hodge-Belvin." A mid-'80s collectibles album, the WCBS-FM 101 For Lovers Only oldies LP, has the writer as (are you ready?) Dootsie Williams.

Nothing that followed for the Penguins seemed to work. Good recordings like "Devil that I See," "A Christmas Prayer" and "My Troubles Are Not at an End" failed to generate activity, probably because Ram was now concentrating heavily on his new hit act, the Platters, who were busily singing Ram penned songs like "Only You."

The group even tried recutting "Earth Angel" with strings but all it did was serve to sell more of the Dootone original. (That August 1956 issue on Mercury became a collectible.) In August 1956 Dootone released one of the first R&B vocal group compilation LPs, Best Vocal Groups of Rhythm and Blues, featuring cuts by the Penguins, the Meadowlarks, the Medallions, and THE DOOTONES.

In early 1957 the Penguins moved over to Atlantic for one single, "Pledge of Love," which reached number 15 R&B and then disappeared quickly. The group returned to Los Angeles broke and disheartened. Cleve needed a throat operation for tonsillitis, Curtis had fled California to avoid being jailed for nonsupport and wound up singing with the Hollywood Flames (his is the first voice on Thurston Harris's "Little Bitty Pretty One" that the Flames backed without credit). Teddy Harper joined the group and when they reformed (Cleve Duncan, Dexter Tisby, Randy Jones, and Teddy Harper), the Penguins went to the only contact they had, Dootsie Williams, hoping that since they were older and wiser they'd cut a better deal. It didn't matter; three less than stirring singles and the Cool Cool Penguins LP drew little attention.

In late 1959 "Earth Angel" was issued again by Dootone and amassed enough play and sales to reach number 101 on the Pop 100 in early 1960. In 1959 Cleve tried one record on Dootone with a Dexter and two girls backup under the name Cleve and the Radiants (Gladys and Vesta White), but "To Keep Our Love," a good ballad, didn't move.

In 1963 a soon-to-be controversial character named Frank Zappa from Lancaster, California, talked them into cutting his song "Memories of El Monte" (actually co-written with Ray Collins, later of Zappa's the Mothers of Invention). The record received strong radio play and good sales in a variety of markets but failed to chart nationally. Zappa reportedly used the royalties he earned to bail his girlfriend out of jail; she had allegedly made a sex tape with him and had been caught by the San Bernardino Vice Squad.

After one more Penguins single in 1966 on Original Sound, "Heavenly Angel," their recording days were through. Tisby, Jones, and Harper went off to be Cornelius Gunter's COASTERS. In 1969 Cleve, who now owned the Penguins name, added Walter Saulsbury and Glenn Madison (formerly of the Delcos, Ebony, 1962). Dexter Tisby eventually moved to Hawaii. Curtis Williams and Bruce Tate passed away. Dootsie Williams, ever the entrepreneur, made a fortune selling Redd Foxx party albums.

Web Author's Note

Cleve Duncan is still performing. He appeared at UGHA in 1998 and his voice sounds the same that it did when "Earth Angel" was recorded some 45 years ago.

The Flairs

The Flairs were formed in Los Angeles' Jefferson High in 1953. Composed of Arthur Lee Maye (tenor), Thomas "Pete" Fox (2nd tenor), Obediah "Obie" Jessie (baritone), and A.V. Odum (bass). Maye and Odum left, to be replaced by tenor Cornell Gunter and bass Richard Berry. From Fremont High came a fifth member, Beverley Thompson (tenor).

This as yet unnamed group auditioned for Recorded In Hollywood, and label owner John Dolphin released "I Had A Love" under the name "Hollywood Blue Jays". (All confirm that the other Hollywood Blue Jays release "Cloudy And Raining", was by a different group.) Despite a raw, unrehearsed sound, "I Had A Love" started to sell. Unfortunately, though, the group was disenchanted with Dolphin and sought another label.

Playing hookey from school, they rode around in Beverley's car until they spied a sign for Modern Records. Here, they auditioned for some of the many Biharis who owned the label. Impressed by what they heard, the Biharis took down all the members' address's and phone numbers. Assuming that the group would call them, the Biharis set up a date for a recording session. Assuming that the Biharis would call them, the group went back to school.

Ultimately, the day of the session came and the Biharis found themselves at Jefferson and Fremont High Schools, rounding up personnel who were in class instead of their studios. At this point, the group got its name when they saw some labels for Modem's not yet released Flair subsidiary and decided that the monicker was different enough to click.

At their first session, The Flairs rerecorded "I Had A Love" this time turning in a very polished performance. The Flairs turned in such fine efforts as "You Should Care For Me", "Love Me Girl", "This Is The Night For Love"and "Lonsome Desert".

Aside from The Flairs, Richard Berry also sang with The Dreamers, a female quartet from Fremont High that Beverley Thompson introduced him to. Later to become The Blossoms, The Dreamers consisted of Fanita Barrett (soprano), Gloria Jones (alto), and twins Nannette and Annette Williams (alto and second alto) and appeared on many Richard Berry sides. Friction developed because Berry was dividing his time between The Dreamers and The Flairs, and he finally left The Flairs (shortly after Beverley Thompson departed) to form another group called The "5" Hearts.

This group consisted of Berry, Arthur Lee Maye, Little Johnny Morris (tenor), Odell Cole (second tenor), and Johnny Coleman (baritone). After cutting "Please Please Baby", Odell Cole left. Now a quartet, the group recorded as The Rams and as Arthur Lee Maye and The Crowns. Occasionally, Maye's brother Eugene (2nd tenor) and Charles Holm (bass) would fill in at appearances.

In early 1956, Richard Berry broke with both groups, continuing to write material for The Dreamers. With Arthur Lee Maye, Jesse Belvin, and Mel Williams, Berry recorded remakes of earlier R&B classics for an album which appeared on the Johnny Otis "Dig" label.

Richard Berry's replacement for the Flairs had been bass Randolph Jones, and for recording purposes only, tenor Charles Jackson filled the gap left by Beverley Thompson. The Flairs appeared around the Los Angeles area, with scattered gigs in West Texas, Colorado, and Oregon. They were on the bill of "Cavalcade of Jazz," an annual show at Wrigley Field; also, the group had the distinction of being on the cover of the first TV Guide ever printed in the L.A. area. A somewhat more dubious moment occurred on Hunter Hancock's radio show, when they were made to declare that "She Wants To Rock" was about dancing and nothing more intriguing. At one point, the group needed cash fast, so they did a session for Tampa Records. Tampa protected the moonlighters by changing their name to the "Jac-O-Lacs," attempting to disguise their sound, and not immediately releasing the record.

Internal conflicts among the group's personnel arose when Cornell's sister, Shirley Gunter, joined as a sixth member. Soon, Obie Jessie left to start his solo career in earnest as "Young Jessie" (on "Mary Lou" , he was backed up by The Cadets). Pete Fox also left, and Randy Jones saw ample reason in these departures to leave himself, and join The Penguins. By the time Buck Ram had expressed an interest in managing The Flairs, the group had disintegrated. Cornell Gunter left to sing with The Platters for a couple of months.

1957 found Young Jessie on Atlantic, where Coasters' manager Lester Sill tried to persuade him to give up his solo career and join the group He refused to make appearances with the group, but did record with The Coasters on their second through fifth sessions (February-December 1957). He replaced Leon Hughes (of the Hollywood Flames) on these sessions, but Hughes did all the group's live appearances. Subsequent Young Jessie releases appear on Capitol, Vanessa, Mercury and Bit.

Richard Berry had been busy too, forming The Pharaohs. Codoy Colbert ( 1 st tenor), Robert Harris (2nd tenor), and Noel Collins (baritone) were behind him on many Flip releases, including the original "Louie Louie".

Pete Fox remained active in music, too. Following his departure from The Flairs, he replaced Lloyd McCraw in the Jacks/Cadets line-up. Fox appears on "How Soon" , "Church Bells May Ring" and was just in time to ride the crest of popularity accorded to "Stranded In The Jungle" (on which session-man Prentice Moreland offered the immortal exhortation, "Great Googa Mooga, LEMME OUTTA HERE!")

The last member of the original Flairs to have a subsequent career was Cornell Gunter. He organized an unknown Flairs group which recorded Flair 1067, Modern 965, Antler 4005, and Kent 304. (Neither Berry, Jessie or Fox was on any of these sides and Cornell did not mention them as being done by his next group.) Gunter had switched from Jefferson High to Manual Arts by this time and had begun singing with another group consisting of his cousin, Kenneth Byle ( 1 st tenor), Thomas Miller (baritone), and George Hollis (bass). They recorded as The Ermines for Zeke Manners' Loma label and then for ABC Paramount as The Flairs (under Buck Ram's management). On June 1, 1956, this group appeared at The Apollo with Shirley Gunter, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and The Cadillacs.

In 1958, Cornell Gunter left The Flairs to join The Coasters along with Dub Jones from The Cadets. Aaron Collins and Willie Davis then left The Cadets for The Flairs, who then recorded as The Peppers, Cadets, and Flares.

Don Julian and The Meadowlarks

Don Julian grew up in South Los Angeles. He attended John C Fremont High School, along with several members of the shifting personnel of the Meadowlarks. In an interview with Seamus McGarvey in 1992, Julian explained that no one in his family was musical and he had no musical involvement through church, unlike many fellow artists. He was a star in track and gymnastics at school, but Julian also learned to read music while there. Joe 'Honeydripper' Liggins taught him piano for "about three or four months." Then we started doin' TV shows so I didn't have time to make the lessons and was kinda self- taught. I went from piano to guitar."

The Meadowlarks formed around 1952 while the members were still in senior high school. "The group was originally called the Soulinaires, and it was kinda like having a church sounding name, so we changed it. During that time most of the hit groups had bird names, like the Orioles, the Robins, so we came out with the Meadowlarks. I looked it up in a dictionary: it was a little yellow bird that had harmonious tones so it kinda fitted in with what I thought a singing group should be about."

Don Julian and The Meadowlarks were introduced to the Bihari brothers' Modern label through Cornel Gunter of the Flairs (and later the Coasters), one of Modern's signings. The line-up at that time was Julian, Randolph Jones, Earl Jones, Ronald Barrett, Billy Pruett. Modern released two singles on their RPM subsidiary, "Love Only You" b/w "Real Pretty Mama" and "L. F.M.S.T. Blues" b/w "Pass The Gin". L.F.M.S.T. stood for "Lord find my sweet Theresa" and was written by Randolph Jones, later a Penguin and then also a Coaster. Maxwell Davis, Modern Records' legendary arranger and producer, lived nearby and so the Meadowlarks would "go over to his house and we'd sit around the piano. He'd write out the chord changes and did the whole arrangement. He was a fun guy to work with. "Pass The Gin" was written by Julian, who commented: "How I wrote it I'm not absolutely sure, because I've never taken a drink. So one of the guys that was singing with me, Glenn Reagan, he was the caucasian guy that was in my group at the time (by the way, we were the first integrated group) - and he drank sloe gin. One night we played out here in Hollywood at the Zebra Lounge and Glenn was drinkin', so by the time it was time for us to go on, he was feelin' fantastic, and by the time we finished he was wiped out! So it was kinda written on his experience."

Julian began to feel that Modern was doing little to nurture talent and then he had a failing out over publishing credits. When the group went to Dootone, the approach was completely different: "Dootone was a company that never would let an artist record a record until [he] was ready. They got in there and worked with our diction, made sure we pronounced the words of the songs correctly. Just like [the Penguins') 'Earth Angel', it was so well [enunciated] there is never any difficulty in understanding the words. The same is true of "Heaven And Paradise".

Julian was unaware that the label had signed the Medallions and Penguins when he first noticed the Dootone Records' sign when walking down 96th and Central. He went in, "talked to the lady inside" and they set up an audition. I came back with my group, extremely nervous, and we sang without any accompaniment: at the time we were singing a cappella. "Dootsie" Williams, the label owner, heard the group and a couple of songs Julian had written, including "Heaven And Paradise". The result was a recording session and the release of a single. Julian was still at school when this was happening. "I remember one night I was sitting by the radio doing my homework and they played my record. It almost killed me! I just kinda' froze in my tracks. Seemed like by the end of the week, everybody in school had heard the record and it was immediately a local hit."

Dootsie Williams used the recording facilities offered in Ted Brinson's garage. 'Ted would start the tape machine and run back out of the studio into the garage and play bass." With one track tape, if something went wrong with the take, it had to be re-done in its entirety. "I recorded with Ted Brinson for a period of about 25 years after that, never recording anywhere else. I recorded with Ted until he died, I think in the 80s.

The success of 'Heaven And Paradise' led to live appearances throughout the West Coast in the company of Johnny Otis and his band. Touring further afield only happened when they were recording for Art Laboe's Original Sound label, and foreign trips after they hit with 'The Jerk' on Money. After touring with Johnny Otis, Julian set up his own band in which he played guitar and piano, at least on one number in each set. In the early days, they learnt their live craft playing at local hops. "We were kids, and one thing about being a kid, you always know the latest dances. So it wasn't very hard to come up with a routine, because we would just do what we do out on the floor, only we'd do it together!"

"I discovered that people like slow songs and they were seasonal, they were best in the wintertime, parties, things indoors. During the summertime people took to uptempo stuff much better, and dances caught on much quicker."

The Meadowlarks had six Dootone single releases. "We were doing local gigs, but that wasn't my source of income. I worked for Dootsie as a shipping clerk and we got kinda close after that. I later asked [him] why he didn't inform me more about the record business. I learned somewhere else that I had to file with BMI myself, which I felt Dootsie should have told me. Even though you may receive royalties for songs that you have written, they have an expiration date like everything else." However, Dootsie never put his name on songs that he hadn't paid for. "Whatever he got from me, he paid for" unlike his experience with Modern Records.

Julian left Dootone in 1957 and the next year went to Original Sound. "Dootsie wasn't recording me; MUSIC was changing and I was doing shows. Most of my audiences at that time were Hispanic. For a long time they thought I was Hispanic [as] Julian sounded Spanish. I asked to be released. We didn't have any problems, we still work and talk together today [this interview was conducted prior to Dootsie Williams' death in 1992] and I still have a good rapport with Original Sound. Before I went to Money Records, I went to Rudy Harvey's label, he was a local deejay, and I recorded a song called 'Slauson Shuffle'. I think his label was Dynamite. Rudy made a little money on that and he didn't pay me, so I left Rudy and three months later I had 'The Jerk' (as The Larks on Money), so I made him 'eat crow' on that one!"

'Please (Say You Love Me)' on Original Sound "did okay locally" but his major hit was 'The Jerk' on Money. Julian had known John Dolphin in the 50s. "He had a record store that ran until about four or five o'clock in the morning, and we used to go to play our dances and we'd come back and all the stars that were in town would come to John Dolphin's to be on the radio after the show. You could meet Bobby Bland, the Penguins, the Orioles, anybody in town to do a show. John Dolphin's was not only a great record store, it was also a great record company: they produced the Hollywood Flames, Bobby Day but also [through Dolphin's wife] Don Julian and then the Larks."

The story behind 'The Jerk' was that "I went over to my sister's house and her kids were actually doing the dance. So when I walked in and they were doing the jerk, I stood there for a moment and watched and said 'Hey girl, what's that you're doing?' She said 'The jerk! If you don't know how to do it, come on, I'll teach it to you! 'That's the exact words, and that's what I went home and wrote. I went in Ted Brinson's studio then I took it to one of Dolphin's of Hollywood's stores, they had one on Manchester and Broadway , played it for the guy workin' in the store, and he told me to take it to Mrs Dolphin. While the dub was playin' a little guy walked in the store, and he wanted to buy the record off the turntable. I just told him that one wasn't for sale and took it to Mrs Dolphin. She played the dub on her show at night and I went on back to work, so they were supposed to be thinkin' about a deal.

"She had been tryin' to reach me at my house, but I worked six nights a week at a nightclub, and I worked during the day five days a week at a club, so she called my mother. I always called my mom every day: she says, 'Mrs Dolphin's been tryin' to reach you, your record is a hit. Everybody wants it.' So I called her, went down, and about a month later we were on tour." They went from Vancouver to Toronto with Dick Clark's roadshow, "we worked all the way across Canada, came back to New York, and worked every place in the United States."

Touring was a hard grind. "While we were on tour we made money, didn't have no place to spend it. We were on the bus for 30 days, and when we got off we were so busy tryin' to get some sleep in a real bed, we just never had time to spend the money." Julian was able to save enough to buy "me a home when I came back, which I wouldn't have been able to do for a long time if I were just working on a regular job."

Money released an album by the Larks which "cost" $300, you can't record one for that now!" He stayed with the label through the 60s and into the early 70s. "I started doing things on my own label. Jerk Records, [but] it's a lot more difficult to get played on your own label than it would be on Money Records or whatever."

The Meadowlarks/Larks line-up changed over the years. "When guys get married, they leave the group, then they stay out for a while. Some come back, some go on and do other things. The group has changed several times. The line-up when we recorded 'The Jerk' was Ted Walters, Charlie Morris and myself. The group I have now, one of the original Larks, Ted Walters, he's been with me since 1960, right out of high-school."

After leaving Dootone Julian went on to produce other people's records as well as continuing his own recording career. He made LPs for Amazon and Magnum and for his own label Jerk.

Web Authors Note

Don Julian appeared at a UGHA concert in 1997 along with the Calvanes. He passed away in 1998.

The Jaguars

The Jaguars were another fabulous Los Angeles group that came out of Fremont High School and were one of the very first integrated Vocal groups of the 1950's. Fremont was one of the first High Schools in the United States to integrate in 1954 and that was evident in the racial make-up of the Jaguars. Lead singer Herman "Sonny" Chaney was black and was originally from Texas, second tenor Valerio "Val" Poliuto was white and was from Detroit, baritone Manuel "Manny" Chavez was a Chicano and only native Californian in the group, bass singer Charles Middleton was black and came from Louisiana.

The original name of the group was the Miracles and they signed with Dolphin records of Los Angeles. However, although they recorded a lot of material for Dolphin there were no songs released. They moved to Aardell records in 1955 and their first release was "I Wanted You" b/w "Rock It, Davey Rock It". The group was now known as the Jaguars.

They followed up with "Be My Sweetie" b/w "Why Don't You Believe" but it was their third try that put them on the map. "The Way You Look Tonight" was released in 1956 on R-Dell records and sold very well locally. There would be five more reissues of the song with some changes each time but it still couldn't score a national hit. However, the song would be redone by the Lettermen in 1961 and it did become a national hit.

By 1957 the group moved over to Ebb records and recorded a stirring ballad "Hold Me Tonight" (The title should have been "Hold Me Tight") b/w "Picadilly" (1958). Another label move in 1959 had them recording for Original Sound records which produced one of their best sellers "Thinking Of You" (1959). Richard Berry and Tony Allen were added as backup on the recording which accounts for the stunning falsetto heard in the background by Allen.

The group recorded into the 60's but finally disbanded. The Jaguars never received a lot of recognition but should be considered a very talented and professional aggregation that evolved and tried many different styles.

Web Authors Note

Val Poliuto is still alive and ocasionally performs at the Sothern California Doo Wop Society.

The Coasters

The Coasters were the clown princes of late '50s rock and roll. Formed by the ace songwriting/ producing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as an extension of the ROBINS, the Coasters were lead Carl Gardner and bass Bobby Nunn (both formerly of the Robins), along with second tenor Leon Hughes (founder of THE HOLLYWOOD FOUR FLAMES in 1950 and member of THE LAMPLIGHTERS in 1953), and Billy Guy (of Bip and Bob on Alladin in 1955).

The Coasters really came about because of the achievements of the L.A. based Robins. In 1956 Leiber and Stoller, buoyed by their songwriting success on such records as "Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton, started their own Spark label, taking the Robins with them from RCA. Their November 1955 release of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" grabbed the attention of Atlantic Records and a unique pact (for 1956) was arranged. Jerry and Mike would sell their Robins masters to Atlantic7s new Atco subsidiary and would act as outside pro-ducers on the Robins' new recordings. Since var-ious members of the Robins were opposed to going to the new East Coast label, the two who weredt (Gardner and Nunn) became half of the newly christened Coasters, so named because they were all from the West Coast.

Leiber and Stoller now had a tailor-made group to promulgate their unusual perceptions of real-life scenarios as expressed in semi-comic songs. In-stead of dealing with the out-of-the-ordinary, as in the Robins' "Riot in Cell Block #9," the Coasters sang about everyday events, like the trials and tribulations of youth in "Yakety Yak."

The first Coasters single, "Down in Mexico," was set in a dingy bar. Billboards February 25th review enthusiastically proclaimed, "Here's a new and definitely swinging crew and they deliver a couple of highly commendable sides. 'Down in Mexico' is a fetching ditty which is very close to 'Smokey Joe's Cafe.'This group carries the lead and bass singer from the Robins unit which recorded the 'Smokey' side." The March 17th issue of Bill-board listed it as a "best buy," stating, "This record is getting excellent R&B and pop reaction. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Durham and St. Louis are among the areas in which it has found broad acceptance."

By April it was number eight on the R&B Juke Box listings and number nine on Billboards R&BBest Sellers and Disc Jockey chart. From "Down in Mexico," the quartet took its next musical journey to "Brazil," although it was the B side ("One Kiss Led to Another") that made the Coasters' first im-pression on the pop charts, reaching number 73 in September 1956 (#11 R&B).

The L.A. based group was now two-for-two on the charts but did not record again for a year due to an increased schedule of touring and resettling in New York. But the wait was worth it. When the Coasters emerged from the studio on February 12, 1957, they had completed two of the finest record-ings of their career. "Young Blood" shot to number eight (#2 R&B); the flip side, "Searchiu7'11 passed it at number three (#11 R&B). Their first of four million-sellers was the first two-sider to go top 10 Pop for a black group since THE MILLS BROTHERS did it in 1949 with "I Love You So Much It Hurts" (#8) b/w "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warrn" (#9). Around this same time the Coasters ghosted behind LaVern Baker on "Jim Dandy Got Married" (#7 R&B), giving them three records on the R&B top 10. Both "Jim Dandy Got Married" and "Searchin" hit the charts the same day (May 13, 1957).

The Coasters were unique in more ways than one. While most '50s groups sang love songs, the Coasters sang about the real lives of teenagers (thanks to Leiber and Stoller), often with a comic touch and a bit of sarcasm, as in "Charlie Brown." Additionally, while most of the other'50s acts were smoothing out their "oohs" and "ahs" behind the lead vocal, the Coasters were often singing in a raunchy unison or backing up the lead with more of a call-and-response than a doo wop or blow har-mony accompaniment. With the help of the lyrics, they got away with some pretty primitive blues and R&B under the guise of novelty rock and roll. One such recording was "Idol with the Golden Head," an August 1957 release that had a slowed-down Bo Diddley rhythm and only rose to number 64 Pop in the closing months of the year. The opposite side, "My Baby Comes to Me," should have done better; it was a lyrical forerunner of "example" songs like THE TEmPTATIONS'1964 hit "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and THE MIRACLES' "I'll Try Something New" from 1962.

A quick January 1958 failure, a draggy, funky, blues rendition of "Sweet Georgia Brown," and the group was set for its first changes. Nunn and Hughes quit for the domestic life, with Hughes replaced by tenor and lead Cornell Gunter of the early PLATTERS on Federal and the Flairs (Flair). Nunn's replacement was Will "Dub" Jones of THE CADETS (Modem). The new Coasters' first recording session, on March 17, 1958, brought forth two more immortal tracks. Today~s pop fans young and old know that when they hear that intro of "take out the papers and the trash, or you dorft get no spending cash," they're listening to a comical parody of '50s parenthood called "Yakety Yak." By the summer it was number one Pop and R&B and number twelve in England, their second charter in the British Isles ("Searchid " was the first). The flip of "Yakety" was A departure for the group, an infectious mid-tempo doo wop version of the old Judy Garland tune (#22, 1943) "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart." Though eclipsed by the success of "Yakety Yak" it has since become one of the favorites of Coasters fans.

While "Georgia Brown" bombed in 1957 her brother "Charlie" was an instant success in 1959. By March, "Charlie Brown,"with its "why is everybody always picking on me" hook, had reached number two Pop (kept from the top spot by Frankie Avalods "Venus" three weeks running) and number two R&B while becoming their biggest British blockbuster at number six. For teens it was practically the national anthem.

Now that the Coasters and company had successfully taken on parenthood and teen angst, they decided to tackle the current craze, TV westerns (seven out of 10 top-rated 1959 shows were shoot 'em ups). The result was the hilarious "Along Came Jones," with the same kind of infectious rhythm, honking sax solo, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and con-tagious Coasters chanting that made "Charlie" and "Yakety" immortal. In the spring the kids were singing about "Brown" and in the summer they were singing about "Jones" as he peaked at number nine (#14 R&B). It's a strong possibility that Leiber and Stoller's concept for "Jones" had been influenced by the OLYMPICS summer 1958 hit "Western Movies7' (#8), but since the Olympics were self-confessed admirers of the Coasters, any borrowing by Leiber and Stoller was from an extension of their own original creation.

The group's July 16, 1959, session yielded the memorable "Poison Ivy," which went to number seven (#I R&B) while escalating to number 15 in the U.K.

The Coasters' year-end release was "What About Us." a biting social statement that managed to slip by the programming arbiters. With lyrics like "he's got a house made of glass, got his own swimming pool (what a gas), we've got a one room shack, a pile of sticks by the railroad tracks, what about us, what about us, don't wanna cause no fuss but what about us," ifs a wonder 1959 white radio played it at all. Perhaps they were more distressed by its flip "Run Red Run," which depicted a beer-guzzling poker-playing monkey trying to shoot his owner for cheating at cards. Either way, the deci-sion was split: "What About Us" went to number 47 (#17 R&B) while "Run Red Run" reached number 36 (#29 R&B), denying "What About Us" the chance to be recognized as a Coasters classic and a telling commentary on the times.

A throw away recording of Jimmy Dorsey's "Be-same Mucho7'reached number 70 in May 1960, and the first Coasters-written charter (Billy Guy) followed in the form of "Wake Me Shake Me," a Leiber-Stoller-style romp through life from a garbageman's perspective (#51 Pop, #14 R&B).

The Coasters had increased their following not only with hit records but with a sizzling stage routine that invited comparison with THE CADILLACS. On one tour the Coasters added a temporary replacement for lead Carl Gardner by the name of Lou Rawls. The young former gospel vocalist (and member of THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS from 1957 to 1959) was still more than five years from his first solo hit, "Love Is a Hurtin! Thing" (#13, 1966).

The Coasters' next four singles ("Shoppin' for Clothes" [#83], "Wait a Minute" [#37], "Little Egypt" [#231, and "Girls, Girls, Girls Part 11" [#96] ) did more pop charting than R&B. Only "Little Egypt" broached the R&B lists and it's no coincidence that it was the most imaginative and zany of the crop of Coasters cuts spanning 1960 to 1961.

During 1961 Cornell Gunter left the Coasters, and the Cadillacs' Earl "Speedo" Carroll took his spot. Of the singles released between 1962 and 1966, only "Tain't Nothin' to Me" charted (#64, 1964). The A side was "Speedo's Back in Town," a belated tribute to Earl that was recorded live at the Apollo Theatre some two years after he joined the group.

In 1964 the Coasters issued "Wild One," which took a gentle jab at the Beatles with "oohs from "I Saw Her Standing There." The group resorted to cover songs late in their career, but versions of THE CLOVERS' "Lovey Dovey" and THE DRIFTERS' "Money Honey" fell on deaf mid-'60s ears. Will Jones left in 1965, leaving the group with Carroll of the Cad-illacs, Guy, Gardner, and Ronnie Bright as bass (formerly of THE VALENTINES). This foursome left Atco in 1966 and subsequently recorded for Lloyd Price's Turntable Records and cut three singles for Date through 1969 with no success. For the first time in 13 years the quartet was without a label, but they made the most of the touring opportunities six past top 10 hits can provide.

In 1971 several of their Date masters, produced once again by Leiber and Stoller, were acquired by King Records. One of them was a re-recording of the Clovers' biggest pop hit "Love Potion #9" (#23, 1959), though yodd barely recognize it. With a rhythm track that sounded like a merging of Santana and Jethro Tull, the Coasters rode the tune to number 76, their first chart outing in seven years. They continued with two more King singles and a few small label releases until their last record in 1976, a remake of the PETER, PAUL AND MARY 1962 hit, "If I Had a Hammer."

Cornell Gunter started his own Coasters group in 1963, although they were mostly former PENGUINS (Randolph Jones, Dexter Tisby, and Teddy Harper). Along with Cornell's sister Shirley (the Flairs) they recorded "Wishful Thinking" b/w "Key to Your Heart" in 1964 on Challenge under the name Cor-nell Gunter. His group shifted from a quartet to a trio over the next 25 years until February 26, 19819, when Cornell was tragically shot and killed in his car in north Las Vegas. He and his Coasters were scheduled to perform at the Lady Luck Hotel that night.

Since the Coasters' inal recording, the club and concert audience has seen almost as many Coasters groups as they've heard Coasters hits. Bobby Nunn had one until his death of a heart attack in 1986. "Dub" Jones and Billy Guy had one together and Leon Hughes had one.

In the early '80s, Earl Carroll went back to reform his Cadillacs. Carl Gardner, Ronnie Bright, Jimmy Norman, and Curley Palmer continued as yet another of the original-member Coasters acts.

The Coasters were imitated and often covered. Elvis recorded "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Little Egypt." The Beatles did "Three Cool Cats" (the flip Of "Charlie Brown") and "Searchin " on their demonstration tape for Decca Records. And the Rolling Stones recorded "Poison Ivy" early in their career. Of course, much of the credit goes to Leiber and Stoller, but the Coasters were the best interpreters of Leiber and Stoller songs and were an important part of a talented team. 19 chart records in 38 tries shows just how talented. The Coasters were true rock and roll pioneers.

Web Authors Note

Cornel Gunter passed away several years ago but there are still multiple Coasters groups performing around the country today. One of them is fronted by former Robin's member Grady Chapman.

Vernon Green and The Medallions

The Medallions' image was far larger than their actual success thanks to the extensive play of their West Coast hits "The Letter" and "Buick '59" years after they were first released. The original Medallions formed in Los Angeles during 1954 as the result of a fortuitous walk taken by Vernon Green. He was strolling down an East Los Angeles street singing out loud when a pass-erby said he sounded pretty good and muttered something to the effect of "why dont you get a group together." Normally that kind of advice was merely flattering, but since the man was Dootsie Williams, owner of Dootone Records, it was also an instant contact for young Vernon. He wasted no time in getting to Will Rogers Park in Watts and putting together a quartet of Andrew Blue (tenor), Ran-dolph Bryant (baritone), and Ira Foley (bass). They became the Medallions because of Vernon's penchant for jewelry around his neck.

Vernon began writing and within a month the group was recording for Dootone. Their first single was "The Letter," a ballad in the style of THE DIABLOS' "The Wind." It had more talking than singing and was immortalized by Vernon's lines "let me whisper sweet words of pismatality" (don't look it up-Vernon invented the word "pismatality," but oldies listeners didn't know it for years to come).

"The Letter" and its flip "Buick '59" received extensive airplay in Los Angeles and started a Medallions trend: the group went on to create a series of car-oriented songs like "Coupe De Ville Baby" in January 1955 (with a follow-up to "The Letter" on the flip, "The Telegram"). By now Willy Graham had replaced Andrew Blue. In 1955 Donald Woods joined to make it a quintet. Then, with Randolph on lead, "Edna" b/w "Speedin " (another automobile rocker) was issued ("Edna" had already been recorded before Woods' arrival).

By the time "Edna" hit the airwaves the Medallions were no more; Woods and the others had left Vernon to form the Vel-aires (Flip). Undaunted, Green grabbed tenors Kenneth Williams and Frank Marshall, formed the Cameos, and quickly issued "Only for You' on Dootone the same month as "Edna' was released (June 1955). Dootsie then paired Vernon with THE DOOTONES, made them the new Medallions, and sent them on a Canadian tour. Their promo photo was actually a Dootones photo with a cutout of Vernon's head glued to the lower lefthand comer.

In the fall of 1955, the Medallions backed Johnny Morrisette on a 45 called "My Pretty Baby," but this Medallions now consisted of Vernon and brother Jimmy (tenor), Charles Gardner (tenor, of the Dootones), Albert Johnson (tenor), and Otis Scott (bass). Two more singles with Morrisette ("Dear Darling," "I Want a Love," the latter with Otis singing lead) and the group became Vernon Green and the Medallions, doing three singles for Dootsie's new Dooto label.

According to Vernon, those members were Vernon, Jimmy, Charles , and Jimmy Evans, but Don Julian has claimed it's his group, the Meadowlarks. (Imagine who'd claim to be on the records if they were hits.) Not making much money (and not making any recorded successes since "The Letter"), Vernon jumped to Art Rupe's Specialty Records in 1957 and formed the Phantoms. Their masquerade gimmick of wearing hoods was a bit transparent: Vernon was the only known lead singer at the time who walked with a cane (he had polio as a child in Denver, Colorado). Later in 1957 Vernon drifted back to Dooto with yet another Medallions, this time made up of Billy Foster (tenor), Jimmy Green (tenor), and Joe Williams (bass).

In February 1959 the Medallions finally came out with a car song, "Volvo '59", that was relevant to its year and model. ("Buick '59" hadn't been. There never was a Buick 1959 model, and the only explanation for Vernorn's singing about having a 1959 car in 1954 can be that he hoped the record would still be popular in 1959). The "Volvo" song was con-jured up at the request of a Los Angeles area disc jockey whose brother owned a Volvo dealership. The flip "Magic Mountain" was their best effort on a ballad and got some play back East.

Even without a modest chart record the Medal-lions toured from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. with shows in Illinois, Arizona, and Texas. They appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" doing "The Letter," but where most groups try to break their current release, the Medallions were doing it years later when it was an oldie.

In 1962 Vernon and Jimmy, along with Gardner, Johnson, and Scott, recorded for Pan World, and in 1964 Jerome Evans, Ed Carter, Jimmy, and Vernon did the group's next Medallions single for Minit. Vernon had a car accident in the mid-'60s and shunned singing for nine years, returning to (where else?) Dootsie Williams in 1973 with Evans, Max-ine Green (Vernoris sister-in-law), and Doris Green (both altos) for "Can You Talk" on Dooto.

Web Authors Note

Vernon Green is still alive and recently performed at both UGHA and the Sothern Califonia Doo Wop Society.

Herman Pruitt andThe Calvanes

The Calvanes formed while at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, California in 1954. The members included Herman Pruitt (Lead), Lorenzo Robert Adams (first tenor), Joe Hampton (second tenor), Stewart Crunk (baritone) and Jack Harris (bass). Stewart Crunk gave them the name Calvanes. Bobby Adams was asked recently what the name meant, "Nothing at all, Stewart thought it sounded nice and we agreed".

West Coast legends like Jesse Belvin and Cornel Gunter helped these young aspiring singers. The Calvanes were also influenced by the Four Fresmen and practiced to their songs. They could effect a white-sounding jazz group but when they auditioned for Dootsie Williams' Dootone Records they were singing Rhythm and Blues. He signed them to a contract and in 1955 their first release was "Don't Take Your Love From Me". It was a local hit and gave them the exposure to land a tour with the Johnny Otis Show.

Their second record "Florabelle" was issued in 1956 but did not do so well. Dootsie had lost interest with the group and they disbanded shortly thereafter. Herman Pruitt joined the Youngsters on "Shattered Dreams". Later Herman, Bobby Adams and Fred Willis recorded several sides for Deck Records with the most notable being "Dreamworld" released in 1958. Bobby Adams also recorded a beautiful ballad with the Hitmakers entitled "Chapel of Love"In 1961, Pruitt, Adams, Crunk recorded for RCA as the Nuggets.

Web Authors Note

The Calvanes with originals Herman Pruitt, Bobby Adams and later member Fred Willis are still performing today. They have appeared numerous times at UGHA and are one of the finest, if not the finest vocal groups on the scene today. They were elecyed into the UGHA Hall of Fame 2000.

The Jayhawks

Carver Bunkum (bass), Carl Fisher (tenor), Dave Govan (baritone), and Jimmy Johnson (lead) met while serving time in their local L.A. high school, and soon became the Jayhawks. With tunes in each head and the urge for bread, the guys drifted over one afternoon to the Flash Record Store on Vernon Avenue. The store's owner liked their vocal vibrations, in particular something called "Counting My Teardrops," and took the Jayhawks into a nearby garage/studio, where a half-dozen sides were recorded.

"Stranded In The Jungle," the group's second disk on the Flash label, was a big seller and burned its way into rock and roll history as one of the decades finest R & B novelty numbers. Unfortunately for the fellows, a quickly constructed but similar sounding cover version by another local group, THE CADETS, Surpassed the Jayhawks original in record sales. Follow ups like "Love Train" and the honkin' "Johnny's House Party" failed to catch much of a listen.

By 1960, Bunkum had left the group to be replaced by Don Bradley (bass) and Richard Owens (tenor), and the unit's name had changed. Feeling that they wanted to do more ballad material and that the "Jayhawks!' name was typecasting them as a novelty act, the fellows decided to call themselves the Vibrations. As such, they would hit the top 40 with two rock and roll notables, neither of them ballads "The Watusi" (#25, 1961) and "My Girl Sloopy" (#26, 1964), the original rendition of the McCoy's classic "Hang on Sloopy". In 1961, with an urge to go gimmicky again and an itch for some spending change, the same basic line-up did a one off recording of "Peanut Butter" as the Marthons.

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