1965 - Outside-Inside / Believe I Do** (Sure Shot 5010)
** 5010 released as by the "Mighty Mustangs"
Biography :
The
El Torros originally began in 1951, using several different names and
appearing at local clubs and events. After much practice, they continued
the local appearances. They next added tenor Fred Green, who had
previously been with the Mellards, another St. Louis group that had
recorded for Ballad. They soon auditioned for the Ted Mack Amateur Hour.
Interestingly, although they never appeared on the show, during the
audition, Mack accidentall introduced them as the El Torros. They liked
the name and kept it.
Duke Peacock Founder Don Robey on far left and Southwest Concerts Owner Art Squires on far right
They continued to do live performances and in 1957 were spotted by
Bobby Bland and Junior Parker. Bland and Parker were impressed enough to
recommend them to Don Robey, owner of the label both were with at the
time — Duke/Peacock. A session was scheduled for them in Chicago on
April 1957. Don Robey attended and Yellow Hand/Dance with Me were
recorded, along with two other tunes. The former two tunes were released
on Duke in June 1957 and met with little success. A second session took
place in St. Louis in April 1958. Duke 194 was released in June and did
not fare well.
Because
of its poor sales, it ultimately became the harder disc for collectors
to find when the collecting hobby began. In 1959, Fred Green departed.
He was replaced by Billy Davis, who later recorded with the Fifth
Dimension. They recorded
their final Duke release (353) in 1962 . Because of no sales of this
last Duke recording, Davis left soon, followed by Lockett. As a result
of the poor sales, in 1964 they changed their name to the Mustangs .At
this point, they were: Odis Hearon, Johnny Stimage, Rhonda
Washington, Billy Harper and Charles Calvin. They made two other
recording for Robey, who released it on one of his other labels — Sure-
Shot.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/ElTorros/eltorros.html
Songs :
The El Torros (1)
Dance With Me / Yellow Hand Doop Doop A Walla Walla / Mama's Cookin
What's The Matter / Dance With Me Two Lips / You May Say Yes
