The Billy Dawn Quartet (Brooklyn, New-York)
aka The Four Dukes (1) aka The Heralds
Personnel :
Billy Dawn Smith (Lead)
Donnie Sehested (Tenor)
Tommy Smith (Baritone)
Edward "Sonny" Benton (Bass)
Discography :
The Billy Dawn Quartet
Singles :
1953 - This Is The Real Thing Now / Crying For My Baby (Decatur 3001)
1973 - Miracle Of Love / Proud Of You (Vintage 1010)
1974 - Tonight Must Live On /Crying For My Baby (Firefly 330)
1974 - You Will Always Find Me True / This Is The Real Thing Now (Firefly 332)
Unreleased :
1953 - Tonight Must Live On (Decatur)
1953 - You Will Always Find Me True (Decatur)
The Four Dukes (1)
Singles :
1953 - Crying In The Chapel / I Done Done It (Duke 116)
Unreleased :
1953 - Can't I Have You (Duke)
1953 - No Other Love (Duke)
1953 - I Gotta Holler (Duke)
1953 - Only A Hag Could Be Such A Drag (Duke)
1953 - I Wonder Can This Be Love (Duke)
1953 - Confusion Juice (Duke)
1953 - Come On Back To Daddy (Duke)
The Heralds
Singles :
1954 - Eternal Love / Gonna Love You Every Day (Herald 435)
Unreleased :
1954- You'll Always Find Me True (Herald)
1954 - Till My Baby Falls In Love (Herald)
1954 - Freeze (Herald)
1954 - Why Can't I Have You (Herald)
1954 - Confucius (Herald)
1954 - Confucius (Old Town)
1954 - Why Can't I Have You (Old Town)
Biography :
Billy
Dawn Smith was an aspiring singer and composer who grew up on the
streets of Brooklyn in a section known as Fort Green. In the early
nineteen fifties Smith put together a vocal group that consisted of
himself, his brother Tom, and two friends Donny Myles and Sonny Benton .
Billy dropped his last name in naming the foursome and was now known as
The Billy Dawn Quartette. One of the sometime members of the group was
pianist and vocalist Al Browne who in later years become famous for his
work for many record labels in New York, especially Hull Records. While
the vocal group worked on their harmony and presence, they also worked
hard on coming up with original material. In the spring of 1952, they
made their way to Harlem to see Lexy "Flap" Hanford, a well known
entertainment entrepreneur in the neighborhood. He thought enough of
their talent to send them to an acquaintance of his named David Levitt
who owned a small independent record label called Decatur Records. After
meeting with Levitt and some more work on their songs, they went into a
small recording studio and the result was two songs "This Is The Real
Thing Now" and "Crying For My Baby" which was released by the label on
#3001. The first copies were listed as by The Dawn Quartette, but that
was soon changed to The Billy Dawn Quartette.They release Three discs
all under three names : Billy Dawn Quartet, Four Dukes and Heralds.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/BillyDawn/billydawn.html