SWEET THINGS (CLYDIE KING & THE)

 

Clydie King & The Sweet Things (1) (Los Angeles)

Ref : Little Clydie & The Teens (1)

Personnel :

Clydie King

Sherlie Matthews 

Discography :

Clydie King & The Sweet Things (1)

1962 - Boys In My Life / Promises   (Philips 40001)

1962 - Turn Around / Don't Hang Up The Phone (Philips 40051)

1963 - Only The Guilty Cry / By Now (Philips 40107)

Little Clydie & The Teens (1)

1956 - A Casual Look / Oh Me (RPM 462) 

Biography :

Clydie King, a singer who started recording at the age of 13, and progressed to become one of the most in demand singers of the LA music scene.  Clydie Mae Crittendon was born in Dallas, Texas, on August 21, 1943. She is generally thought a backing singer, but in fact has made many records of her own, some of them a surprisingly long time ago. She made her first, ‘A Casual Look’ b/w ‘Oh Me’, in the mid-1950s in Memphis, for the Bihari Brothers’ label RPM, billed as by Little Clydie King & The Teens. Soon afterwards, credited as Clydie King, she made two singles on Speciality. She even did a stint with Don Julian's Meadowlarks.

       

                                                                                                                                         The Raelettes (1965)  with Clydie King,      

In early 1962, with Sherlie Matthews, she made three further singles for Philips as Clydie King & the Sweet Things. Later,  Clydie King & Sherlie Matthews was part of Bonnie & The Treasures, The Blackberries… Clydie was a member of Ray Charles' Raeletts for three years and contributed to early 1960s recordings by producer Phil Spector.  But it was a number of mid 60's singles on Imperial that were to be the highmark of her solo career.   Done at Gold Star with most of the 'Wrecking Crew', 'Missin' My Baby' is one of the best records to come out of LA during this time....with No apology to Phil Spector.Clydie went on to sing with a who who's of music superstars....Dylan, Rolling Stones, Streisand, but Pookie will always Think of Clydie with the sound of this one.

 

Songs :

(updated by Hans-Joachim)

Clydie King & The Sweet Things (1)

  

     Boys In My Life                          Only The Guilty Cry

  

 By Now                                       Promises

Little Clydie & The Teens (1)

   Oh Me / A Casual Look

RHYTHM STARS - NICARDI BROTHERS / BROS

 

The Rhythm Stars

The Rhythm Stars (Newark NJ)

Ref : The Nicardi Brothers / Bros.

Personnel:

Nick Puccio

Arthur Salicetti

Discography :

The Rhythm Stars

1958 - Lynn / Oh Moon (Clock 1007)

1959 - My Girl Babe / Bandstand March (Corsican 0057)

The Nicardi Brothers

1960 - That Pretty Girl / Lonely (ABC 10086)

The Nicardi Bros.

1960 - The Ring / How Come I'M Crying Now? (ABC 10144)

Biography :

Nick Puccio started singing at the very young age of 4 years old. He sang on stage with the great Louie Prima at the age of 6. During the Puccio family summers at the Jersey Shore in Long Branch, on any given night, you would find little Nick singing, dancing, and acting for crowds of people on the boardwalk.

In his teens, Nick formed a singing group called "The Rhythm Stars" with Arthur Salicetti & some friends from Newark High School. Nick and Artie wrote and recorded some songs for the Group and the Rhythm Stars recorded two singles for Clock & Corsican Records and sang Rock and Pop at many of the local night spots and concert halls.

  

                                                                                                                           Nick Puccio

When the group broke up, Nick Puccio a Arthur Salicetti decided to form a team named the Nicardi Brothers. In 1960 they wrote and recorded "That Pretty Girl" b/w "Lonely" and "The Ring" b/w "How Come I'M Cry Now?" for ABC. As he grew older, with the help of his friends Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent (who is like a brother to Nick), he was given a chance to live a dream by playing a small role in the film "Casino". That was the start of his film career. He then went on to do the all time TV hit "NYPD Blue", and films like "The Shadow Conspiracy", "Witness To The Mob"..........

Songs :

(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

The Rhythm Stars

   

Lynn / Oh Moon                                      My Girl Babe     

Bandstand March

The Nicardi Bros.

   

                  The Ring                   How Come I'M Crying Now?

DEL-RHYTHMETTS

 

Gladys Horton

The Del-Rhythmetts (Detroit, MI)

ref : The Marvelettes

 

Personnel :

Gladys Catherine Horton

Jeanette McClaflin

Juanita McClaflin

Rosemary Wells

 

Discography :

1959 - Chic-A-Boomer / I Need Your Love (J-V-B 5000)

 

Biography :

Gladys Catherine Horton was born on 30 May 1945 in Gainesville Florida, to parents originally from the West Indies. Given up for adoption at the tender age of nine months old, she spent much of her formative years in foster homes before settling with the Jones family on Harriet Street, Inskter. Church played a large role in her early musical experience and she became a regular with the Millenarian Specials, her local church choir. At fourteen years old she and three school friends’ Jeanette and Juanita McClaflin and Rosemary Wells, formed a singing quartet named The Del-Rhythmetts and even managed to get Joe Van Batte, a local record store owner to record them. (1) The release, The De-Rhythmetts — “I Need Your Love b/w Chic A Boomer” — JVB 500 which was recorded in 1959 and is a real old school attempt at a doo wop ballad, slid into obscurity without causing so much as a ripple in the market but did receive some local airplay which must have thrilled the young ladies. The single sparse guitar accompaniment on the A side is augmented by a pretty mean tenor sax player and the flip has an equally adept flautist involved, so maybe some-one showed a little faith in the youngsters.

   

                                                                                                         Gladys Horton

In 1960 Horton formed a group with her former high school glee club members Georgeanna Tillman, Katherine Anderson and Juanita Cowart. She also invited Georgia Dobbins to join her new group. Formerly calling themselves The Casinyets (can't sing yet), the group eventually auditioned for Motown after a talent contest, and while the audition was successful, the group was requested to return to Hitsville with an original song. After member Georgia Dobbins co-created the song "Please Mr. Postman", Dobbins suddenly left the group after her father forbade her to be in nightclubs. Dobbins, who was also the group's original lead singer, gave Horton the spotlight to be the lead vocalist, a spot Horton was not comfortable with in the beginning. The group changed their name to the Marvelettes shortly after Motown signed the act and released "Please Mr. Postman" in the summer of 1960 when Horton was reportedly just fifteen years old.

Songs :

  

 I Need Your Love                     Chic-A-Boomer      

BELVEDERES (3)

 

Eddie Sullivan & John Staples (Belvederes)

The Belvederes (3) (Chicago)

Ref: The Four Gents (1)

Ref: The Desidero’s

 

Personnel :

Eddie Sullivan (Lead)

John Staples

Willie Crowley

Jerry Brown

Kenneth Brown 

 

Discography : 

1958 - Let's Get Married / Wow Wow Mary Mary (Trend 30 009)

Biography :

Around 1954, in grade school, Eddie Sullivan meet the futures members of the Four Gents, Sullivan was with these individuals through high school. After being together all those years and practicing for so long, they finally recorded a disc. "On Bended Knee," the ballad side, was weighed down by a rudimentary musical accompaniment and amateurish production. Sullivan, however, could write a solid melody even if the lyrics were simplistic , so the vocal arrangement and tune were carrying the record. "Linda," also written by Sullivan, sported a Latin tempo, as did so many droops of the era.

   

                                                                                                                           The Dedidero's

Around 1958, the Four Gents split in half. Louis Pritchett and Waymon Bryant joined Matthew Perkins and Calvin Baron to form the Twi-lites and Eddie Sullivan and John Staples joined with Willie Crowley, and brothers Jerry and Kenneth Brown to form the Belvederes. Eddie Sullivan on lead and the Belvederes recorded "Let's Get Married" b/w "Wow Wow Mary Mary" on Trend Records, a subsidiary of Kapp Records owned by Fred Kaplan. The latter group lasted one year before breaking up. A few years later, in 1963, Eddie Sullivan recorded another record as a member of the Desideros.

Songs :

   

   Let's Get Married                             Wow Wow Mary Mary

CANJOES

 

Paste-up photo

The Canjoes (New York)

 

Personnel :

Joe Louis Johnson (Lou Johnson)

Theresa Cleveland

Ann Gissendanner

 

Discography :

1961 - Speaking Of Love / Dance The Boomerang (Featuring Joe Louis Johnson) (Dapt 208)

 

Biography :

Lou Johnson (born 1941 in Brooklyn, New York City) is an American soul singer and pianist who was active as a recording artist in the 1960s and early 1970s. Coming from a musical family, he started singing in gospel choirs in his teens, before studying music at Brooklyn College. He learned keyboards and percussion, forming a gospel group, the Zionettes, who recorded for Simpson Records and achieved some local success. Johnson then formed a secular vocal group, the Canjoes, with Tresia Cleveland and Ann Gissendammer. They signed to the New York, Amy/Bell/Mala affiliated DAPT label. The partnership saw the release of one single 'Dance the Boomerang' b/w 'Speaking of Love (Dapt 208) before Johnson struck out in pursuit of a solo career.  . The single was also released on Dapt D-208 with the spelling The Coanjos featuring Joe Louis Johnson b/w he Coanjos.

   

                                                                                     Lou Johnson

Cleveland and Giessendanner continued their partnership, reappearing as The Soul Sisters.  A one-shot single on Guyden was followed by a move to Sue Records. In 1962, Johnson signed as a solo singer with Bigtop Records, run by the Hill & Range music publishing company in the Brill Building. There, he met the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who wrote Johnson's first single, "If I Never Get to Love You". Neither that song nor his second record, "You Better Let Him Go", were hits, but his third single, "Reach Out for Me", also written by Bacharach and David and this time produced by Bacharach, reached # 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1963.

 

Songs :

    

  Dance The Boomerang                 Speaking Of Love