Frank McWilliams Chester Mayfield Willie McWilliams
The Casanovas (1) (High Point, NC)
Personnel :
Chester Mayfield (Lead)
Willie McWilliams (First Tenor)
Melvin "Mike" Stowe (Second Tenor)
William Samuels (Baritone)
Frank McWilliams (Bass)
Discography :
Singles :
1955 - That's All / Are You For Real (Apollo 471)
1955 - Hush-A-Meca / It's Been A Long Time (Apollo 474)
1955 - I Don't Want You to Go / Please Be My Love (Apollo 477)
1955 - My Baby's Love / Sleepy Mead Mama (Apollo 483)
1957 - Please Be Mine / For You And You Alone (Apollo 519)
1958 - You Are My Queen / (I Got A) Good Lookin' Baby (Apollo 523)
Unreleased :
Rock A Bye Baby (audition tape)
My Love For You
Love Me Baby
Night Rider (Acapella)
Listen To Those Bells(Acapella)
Please Be Mine (Acapella)
Pleading from My Heart (Acapella)
You Are My Queen (Acapella)
Good Lookin’ Baby (Acapella)
Biography :
The
Casanovas were a spiritual quartet turned rhythm and blues group from
High Point, North Carolina. They started out as the Jubilee Kings a few
years after World War II, joining Frank and Willie McWilliams with
nephews Chester and L. D. Mayfield. The teens sang right up to, through,
and past the Korean War (they were all drafted and became paratroopers
during the campaign) until they were discovered by 5 ROYALES roadie Bob
Woodward in 1954. He introduced them to William Samuels, brother-in-law
of Lowman Pauling of the 5 Royales, and Melvin Stowe, both from nearby
Winston-Salem.
Bess Berman (Apollo) Chester Mayfield
By 1954 the spiritual quartet became an R&B quintet. Woodward had
contacts at Apollo Records and sent owner Bess Berman one of the
group's demo tapes. The result was a trip to New York for the vocalists
to record their first songs in November 1954. "That's All" (April 1955),
with Chester singing lead, was their first release on Apollo. (The
group sported three lead singers, and each had several chances to front
the group on subsequent recordings.) "That's All" was a straightforward
R&B ballad with no particular merit other than the appealing
harmony and a sincere reading from the lead. Their second single, out in
May, was a blues ballad with harmonic turns reminiscent of THE
MOONGLOWS' 1953 Chance masterpiece "Baby Please." Plodding ahead, the
group recorded and released a third single in July titled "I Don't Want
You to Go."
Willie McWilliams Frank McWilliams
Though no more distinguished than its predecessors, this song's
Chester-penned melody did serve as the nucleus for Lowman Pauling's
"Dedicated to the One I Love », which he and his 5 Royales released in
1957 and which later became a hit for THE SHIRELLES in 1961 (#3)and THE
MAMAS AND THE PAPAS in 1967 (#2). The week before Christmas brought in
the Casanovas' next ballad A side (come to think of it, all of their A
sides were ballads), a nice high-tenor recording by Melvin Stowe called
"My Baby's Love." The Carolina quintet didn't record or have a record
out in 1956 and worked mostly on a local club basis. In the summer of
1957 they returned to New York for another shot, recording the beautiful
ballad "Please Be Mine". Their last 45 came out in 1958 but by this
time it was apparent that Apollo was just going through the motions, and
the group gave up singing together by the end of the decade. No, they
didn't have any hits,
Frank McWilliams Chester Mayfield Willie McWilliams
