1963 - Got A Good Feeling / Ebbing On The Tide (Milestone 2018)
1964 - She'll Break Your Heart / Mary Had A Little Lamb (Whirlybird 2005)
Unreleased:
1963 - Wedding Song (If You Say I Do) (Audio)
1963 - Old Times (Audio)
1963 - Traveling Lady (Audio)
1963 - Come What May (Audio)
Leon Peels & The Hi Tensions
1964 - A Magic Island / Darlene (Whirlybird 2008)
The Angels (8)
1960 - I'm Saying Goodbye / A Real Sensation (Audio 203)
Biography :
A young man from Santa Cruz named Chuck Daniels brought in a teenage
group called the Hi Tensions to the Audio Arts Studio in 1960. Daniels
had met them in dj Art Laboe's studio, and Laboe suggested that they all
try their fortunes with Mrs Baker. During the next four years the Hi
Tensions became a kind of studio backup vocal group at Audio Arts; Mrs
Baker and her young proteges tried to find the winning formula for for
the talented group. The Hi Tensions were ( and are still) led by Bobby
Parker, a fine r&b singer who had been with the Chanticleers on
Lyric on "Daddy Must Be" "and "To keep Your Love) in 1958-59. Bobby who
admired Jerry Butler, Jesse Belvin and The Coasters, met the other Hi
Tensions through Roy Haggins, who became the baritone for the group, in
1960. The rest of the group included David Cook (Tenor), Jack Johnson
(Bass) and Jonathan "Sonny" Allen (Baritone/Tenor) .
Leon Peels
The boys were from South-Central L.A. area around Jefferson High
School that also Spawned Belvin, Richard Berry and Arthur Lee Maye.
Their first effort for the new Audio label was "The Clock"/ "So Far
Away" (Audio 201), recorded on October 20, 1960. Out of the same session
came "I'm Saying Goodbye" and "A Real Sensation," buy, for some unknown
reason, the Hi Tensions were called the Angels on this release (Audio
203). Roy Haggins sang the lead on "A Real Sensation," while Bobby
Parker handles "I'm Saying Goodbye". This 45 came out shortly after "The
Clock" and it's probable that name change was made for just this one
record to gain additional airplay.
Jackson & Madelon Baker (Audio Arts recording Studio's Owner)
Mrs Baker continued to work with the Hi Tensions and "Wedding
Song","Old Times", "Traveling Lady" and "Come What May" - all unreleased
- were recorded at Audio Arts in the spring of 1961, all unreleased,
but "Got A Good Feeling" backed with "Ebbing On The Tide" were tried for
a later release on Milestone, but this nice ballad didn't get far. The
Hi Tensions then backed up Leon Peels, the former lead of the Blue Jays,
and finally recorded "She'll Break Your Heart" B/W "Mary Had A Little
Lamb" for the new Whirlybird label. Although they stopped actively
recording in the mid-sixties, the Hi Tensions remained close friends.
Teddy & The Twilights (1962) Top: Fred Cohen. Bottom (L to R): Larry Williams, John Odoms, Ben Hart
The Buddies (7) (Philadelphia)
aka The Deckers
aka The Tiffanys (1)
aka Teddy & The Twilights (4)
Personnel :
Fred Cohen (Lead)
John "Odoms" Williams (First Tenor)
Larry Williams (Baritone)
Ben Hart (Bass)
Discography :
Lynn Christie & The Decker's
1957 - Oh, Where Did You Go / What Did I Do (Nar 225)
The Deckers
Singles :
1958 - Sincerely With All My Heart / Come Back Baby (Yeadon 101)
1958 - Sincerely With All My Heart / The Thing (Yeadon 1041)
Unreleased :
1958 - Love What Have You Done (Yeadon)
Freddie Cannon bb The Buddies (7)
1961 - Buzz Buzz A Diddle-It (Swan 4071)
The Buddies (7)
1961 - Spooky Spider / Lebone Delada (Swan 4073)
The Tiffanys (1)
1962 - The Pleasure Of Love / Atlanta (Swan 4104)
Teddy & The Twilights (4)
Single :
1962 - Woman Is A Man’s Best Friend / Goodbye To Love (Swan 4102)
1962 - Running Around Town / You Gotta Be Alone To Cry (Swan 4115)
1962 - Bimini Bimbo / I’m Just Your Clown (Swan 4126)
Unreleased :
1962 - Whispers In The Dark (Swan)
Brenda Johnson bb Teddy & The Twilights (4)
1962 - Ben Casey/ If I Give My Love To You (Swan 4108)
Esau Isaac bb Teddy & The Twilights (4)
1962 - Poison Pen / Every Woman’s Just Alike (Swan 4110)
Mark Valentino bb Teddy & The Twilights (4)
1962 - The Push And Kick / Walking Alone (Swan 4121)
Rochelle Johnson bb Teddy & The Twilights (4)
1962 - Playing The Field / Gypsy Ways (Swan 4124)
Biography :
The Deckers began in Philadelphia in 1954. In 1957, the Deckers
consisted of Sam Connors, John Odoms, Larry Williams, Curtis Barnes and
Ben Hart. The Deckers appeared on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour TV Show, in
1957. The Deckers' first recording came about in 1957 when the group was
asked to back up a young white singer, Lynn Christie, on the NAR
label. "Oh Where Did You Go" b/w "What Did I Do" (NAR 225) came out in
the summer of 1957 . Shortly after the NAR recording, Curtis Barnes left
The Deckers to join a spiritual group. Through Sam Connors, the group met Jack Green. Jack formed the Yeadon
label and "Sincerely With All My Heart" became its first release. Four
sides were recorded, including "Sincerely With All My Heart," "Come Back
Baby," "The Thing" and "Love What Have You Done". "Sincerely With All
My Heart" and "Come Back Baby" were released on Yeadon 101. "Sincerely
With All My Heart" was re-released a short time later with a novelty
flip "The Thing".
In
the early 1960's, The Deckers changed their name to the Buddies and
signed with Doc Bagby (Red Top and Value labels). The first thing the
Buddies did on Swan was back up Freddy Cannon on "Buzz Buzz A Diddle It"
(Swan 4071). The record debuted on the Pop Charts in May 1961, reaching
#51. During this time, Swan was looking for material for The Buddies to
record. The first recordings the Buddies did on their own were "The
Spooky Spider" backed with "Lebone Delada". After this single, Sam
Connors left the group. Fred Cohen, a friend of the group who formerly
sang with Larry and John’s brother’s group, The Mohawks, joining the Buddies as lead. The group now consisted of Fred Cohen, John Williams, Larry Williams and Ben Hart.
In March of 1962, The Buddies went into the studio and cut four
songs. Bernard Bennick and Tony Mammarella, the owners of Swan, decided
The Buddies should have a new name to go along with their new lead and
style. They gave the group two different names and issued a record under
each at approximately the same time. "Woman Is A Man’s Best Friend"
backed with "Goodbye To Love" was released as Teddy and The Twilights.
Swan issued "Atlanta" backed with "Pleasure Of Love" as The Tiffanies.
The group became known as Teddy and The Twilights. In the spring of
1962, Teddy and The Twilights appeared on American Bandstand. Swan often
utilized Teddy & The Twilights to vocally back their soloists. In
addition, Fred Cohen often wrote or co- wrote songs for other Swan
artists (Brenda Johnson, Esau Isaac, Mark Valentino & Rochelle
Johnson) .
Teddy & The Twilights (1962) Top (L to R) : Larry Williams & Fred Cohen. Bottom (L to R): Ben Hart & John Odoms,
The next release under their own name was "Running Around Town"
backed with "You Gotta Be Alone To Cry". Swan gave this release no
promotion and it went nowhere. Teddy & The Twilights' third release
under their own name was "Bimini Bimbo" backed with "I’m Just Your
Clown". The record did not catch on elsewhere. The Twilights were
disappointed that their records didn't go bigger than they did and
blamed Swan for lack of promotion. Swan was busy promoting their big
artists like Freddy Cannon and had little time for The Twilights. After
14 years of harmonizing together, the group called it quits. Their last
show was at Towne Hall on May 25, 1963.
