The Four Dots : Marvin Brown, Fletcher Williams, Melvin Peters and Kenneth Miller
The Four Dots (1) (Pittsburgh, PA)
aka The Four Troys
Personnel :
Kenny Jackson (First Tenor)
Melvin Peters (Second Tenor)
Manning Rosemont (Baritone)
Marvin Brown (Bass)
Discography :
The Four Dots (1)
1956 - Rita / He Man Looking For A She Girl (Bullseye 103)
Fletcher Williams & The Four Dots (1)
1956 - Peace Of Mind / Kiss Me Sugar Plum (Bullseye 104)
The Four Troys
Singles :
1959 - In The Moonlight / Suddenly You Want To Dance (Freedom 44013)
Unreleased
1959 - Weeping Willow (Freedom)
Fletcher Williams
1957 - Mary Lou / Stop Look And Love Me (Bullseye 1001)
Biography :
They Started as the Mellows around 1950, in the Hill and Homewood
sections of Pittsburgh, PA. The original group did not have Marvin Brown
included in it......because they hadn't found him yet. When they did,
it was Fletcher Williams, Edgar Lee, Melvin Peters, Kenneth Miller and
Marvin Brown . They changed their name to the five Mellows, and sang
much of the standard fare of the R+B groups in the early and mid 50's.
The Five Mellows : Edgar Lee, Melvin Peters, Fletcher Williams, Kenneth Miller and Marvin Brown
They changed their name again,this time to the Four Dots, Edgar Lee
left (and some additional swapping of members), and had one recording
session in early 1956 with Bullseye records. They recorded four
songs,"Rita","He Man Looking For A She Girl","Peace Of Mind","Kiss Me
Sugar Plum." The first two were released as Bullseye 103. It was played
locally in the Pittsburgh area, but didn't get play nationally. The
second release pair the last two, Peace Of Mind", and "Kiss Me Sugar
Plum." Same result. The story has some twists.
A different group from California, called the Four Dots, was signed
to a Liberty records subsidiary, Freedom, in 1959. This group had Jewel
Akens, Jerry Stone and Eddie Cochran as members, and released two 45's.
That label also signed the Marvin Brown based Four Dots. You can't have
two of the same named artists on a label, so the "Original Four Dots"
became the Four Troys. They issued "In The Moonlight" and "Suddenly You
Want To Dance" on Freedom 44013 in 1959. Melvin Peters 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.
