1963 - Memories Of El Monte / Be Mine (Original Sound 27)
Biography :
James/Jimmy Conwell had been doo-wopping since 1953, when with Oliver
Williams, Jack and Steve, he formed the Minor Tones at Carver Junior
High School in L.A. (Jesse Belvin was an early mentor). The group
debuted on the Cholly label with the street corner ballad “Burning
Desire,” then recut it in 1959 as the Classics for producer H.B. Barnum
and Ro-Ann Records.
The Group broke up some time later, but Jimmy Conwell and Oliver
Williams along with three friends, Andrew Jack White, Charles Jones and
Herbert White formed a new group, The Viceroys. They cut a
Coasters-influenced “Uncle Sam Needs You” for Barnum in ‘61. First out
on the Little Star logo, it was picked up by Mercury’s Smash imprint for
national consumption.
Cleve Duncan
The Exits with James Conwell
The
group also waxed “Dreamy Eyes” for local deejay Art Laboe’s Original
Sound logo the same year and subbed as the Penguins just long enough to
back Cleve Duncan on “Memories Of El Monte” in ’63 for Laboe’s logo.
Later, Jimmy Conwell went onto to record throughout the late 1960's as a
solo artist and with The Exits, The New Group, The Trips and The Light
Drivers.
