The Camelots (2) (Coney Island, New-York)
aka The Harps (2)
Personnel :
David Nichols (Lead/First Tenor)
Joe Mercede (First Tenor)
Milton Pratt (Lead/Second Tenor/Baritone)
Elijah Summers (Baritone)
Julius Williams (Bass)
Discography:
The Camelots (2)
Singles:
1963 - Your Way / Don’t Leave Me Baby (AAnko 1001)
1963 - Sunday Kind Of Love / My Imagination (AAnko 1004)
1963 - Don’t Leave Me Baby / [The Letter]* (Crimson 1001)
1963 - Pocahontas / Searchin’ For My Baby (Ember 1108)
1964 - Don’t Leave Me Baby / Love call (The Ebonaires) (Cameo 334)
1964 - Dance girl / That's my baby (By the Suns) (Time Square 32/Relic 541)
1965 - Chain of Broken Hearts / Rat race (The Bootleggers) (Relic 530)
1967 - Your Way / I Wonder (Dream 1001)
*Credited to The Camelots, but the group is actually The Blue Notes (Lost Records)
Unreleased:
n/a - Music To My
n/a - Strange Love
n/a - Love Sickness
n/a - Moments Of Love
n/a - No One Can Take Your Place
n/a - Time
n/a - Farewell My Love
n/a - Peace Of Mind
n/a - Darling, How Long
The Harps (2)
1964 - Marie / Daddy's Going Away Again (Laurie 3239)
Biography :
The five teens began harmonizing at a local YMCA in the late ’50s and
by 1962 had attracted the attention of producers/managers Bill and
Steve Jerome, who arranged a deal with the local Aanko record label. The
boys’ role models included The Heartbeats and The Miracles. They were
looking for a name as they traveled to Manhattan for their first
recording session. The question was solved when they stepped out of the
subway station onto 42nd Street and saw a billboard right in their path
advertising the new hit musical Camelot. Presto! The Camelots sounded
just right to them.
Their first single (1963) was a reworking of the Heartbeats’ “Your
Way” and received a degree of airplay in the New York area but was
treated more like an instant oldie because of its 1950s type sound.The
first real success of The Camelots was “Pocahontas” on the Ember label
in 1964, telling the story of the Indian maiden in a doo wop/R&B
setting and taking it to several cities’ charts. The Camelots then
played Harlem’s Apollo Theatre with The Temptations and The Contours.
Curiously, “Pocahontas” became their only single for Ember, though that
same year they did record an excellent neo-gospel-flavored a cappella
rocker called “Don’t Leave Me Baby” for Cameo. In 1964, the group
recorded an original a cappella ballad, “Dance Girl,” for the Times
Square label, and when Relic Records bought that company out “Dance
Girl” and “Chain of Broken Hearts” were issued as singles. Both were
popular with oldies and a cappella lovers in the tri-state area. In
1964, they signed a contract with Laurie records and Recorded as the
Harps the two sides "Marie" and "Daddy's Going Away Again" . By the
mid-’60s the group had separated, giving in to the “British invasion.”
The Cupids (6)
The Cupids: Lenny Colton (Lead), Henry
Jensen, Nicky Hughes and Danny Hughes enjoyed a big Hit with "Brenda"
(First Issued on Aanko and leased to KC) but their career came to a
sudden halt with the death of Lenny Colton, their lead singer. This
caused hardly a bother to their record company. Typical of the times,
they simply took one of their other groups and gave them the name.
The Camelots, David Nicholas , Milton
Pratt , Joe Mercede , Elijah Summers and Julius Williams from Coney
Island got a free ride as the Cupids on the strength of "Brenda" but
they were already quite popular as the Camelots and later did well as
the Harps.
