EQUALOS - EQUALLOS - PLAIDS (3)

 

 Willie Logan & The Plaids (3)

aka The Equa(l)los

Personnel :

Willie Logan (Lead)

O. C. Logan

Arthur Ford

Dave Hoskins

Discography :

The Equalos

1959 - Yodeling / Patty-Patty (Mad 1296)

The Equallos

1962 - In Between Tears / Beneath The Sun (Mad 23)

Willie Logan & The Plaids (3)

1963 - Say That You Care / You Conquered Me (Jerry-O 103)

Biography :

The Equalos were brothers O. C. Logan and Willie Logan, Arthur Ford, and Dave Hoskin. Their first release was on Mad in 1960. They recorded "Yodelin" and "Patty-Patty." The Equalos' single on Mad 1296 failed to generate any response. Their next single arrives three years later, as The Equallos with an additional "l" in the name.  "Beneath The Sun" b/w "In Between Tears," was released in 1962. Going baroque did not generate any sales, and in 1962 the group signed with George Leaner's One-derful label. Much to the Equallos' dismay, however, he never put anything out on them. In 1963 the Equallos recorded as Willie Logan and the Plaids, making a two-sided neo-doowop single called "You Conquered Me" b/w "Say that You Care," which appeared on Jerry Murray's Jerry O label. The two thinly-produced sides with their exotic warbling (a bit off-key besides) sounded dated next to the soul sounds that were emerging.

Songs :

The Equalos

  

  Yodeling                                            Patty-Patty

The Equallos

  

In Between Tears                         Beneath The Sun

Willie Logan & The Plaids (3)

  

Say That You Care                        You Conquered Me

BILLY DAWN QUARTET - FOUR DUKES (1) - HERALDS

 

The Billy Dawn Quartet (Brooklyn, New-York)

aka The Four Dukes (1) aka The Heralds

 

Personnel :

Billy Dawn Smith (Lead)

Donnie Sehested (Tenor)

Tommy Smith (Baritone)

Edward "Sonny" Benton (Bass)

 

Discography :

The Billy Dawn Quartet

Singles :

1953 - This Is The Real Thing Now / Crying For My Baby (Decatur 3001)

1973 - Miracle Of Love / Proud Of You (Vintage 1010)

1974 - Tonight Must Live On /Crying For My Baby (Firefly 330)

1974 - You Will Always Find Me True / This Is The Real Thing Now (Firefly 332)

Unreleased :

1953 - Tonight Must Live On (Decatur)

1953 - You Will Always Find Me True (Decatur)

The Four Dukes (1)

Singles :

1953 - Crying In The Chapel / I Done Done It (Duke 116)

Unreleased :

1953 - Can't I Have You (Duke)

1953 - No Other Love (Duke)

1953 - I Gotta Holler (Duke)

1953 - Only A Hag Could Be Such A Drag (Duke)

1953 - I Wonder Can This Be Love (Duke)

1953 - Confusion Juice (Duke)

1953 - Come On Back To Daddy (Duke)

 The Heralds

Singles :

1954 - Eternal Love / Gonna Love You Every Day (Herald 435)

Unreleased :

1954- You'll Always Find Me True (Herald)

1954 - Till My Baby Falls In Love (Herald)

1954 - Freeze (Herald)

1954 - Why Can't I Have You (Herald)

1954 - Confucius (Herald)

1954 - Confucius (Old Town)

1954 - Why Can't I Have You (Old Town)

 

Biography :

Billy Dawn Smith was an aspiring singer and composer who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn in a section known as Fort Green. In the early nineteen fifties Smith put together a vocal group that consisted of himself, his brother Tom, and two friends Donny Myles and Sonny Benton . Billy dropped his last name in naming the foursome and was now known as The Billy Dawn Quartette. One of the sometime members of the group was pianist and vocalist Al Browne who in later years become famous for his work for many record labels in New York, especially Hull Records.  While the vocal group worked on their harmony and presence, they also worked hard on coming up with original material. In the spring of 1952, they made their way to Harlem to see Lexy "Flap" Hanford, a well known entertainment entrepreneur in the neighborhood. He thought enough of their talent to send them to an acquaintance of his named David Levitt who owned a small independent record label called Decatur Records. After meeting with Levitt and some more work on their songs, they went into a small recording studio and the result was two songs "This Is The Real Thing Now" and "Crying For My Baby" which was released by the label on #3001. The first copies were listed as by The Dawn Quartette, but that was soon changed to The Billy Dawn Quartette.They release Three discs all under three names : Billy Dawn Quartet, Four Dukes and Heralds.

http://www.uncamarvy.com/BillyDawn/billydawn.html

FOUR KINGS (3) - CANES

  

The Four Kings (3) (Menphis, Tenesee)

aka The Canes

Personnel :

Don Bryant (Lead)

James "Jamie" Bryant (Tenor)

Elvin Lee Jones (Second Tenor)

Lionel Byrd (Baritone)

 

Discography :

Willie Mitchell & The Four Kings (3)

1958 - Tell It To Me Baby / Walking At Your Will (Stomper Time 1160)

1958 - Walkin' Alone / Rag Mop (Stomper Time 1163)

The Four Kings (3)

1963 - Farmer John / Round And Round (Moc 651)

1963 - Early In The Morning / I Want To Be There (Moc 655)

The Canes

1962 - Why Should I Suffer With The Blues / I'll Never Give Her Up (My Friend) (Stax 123)

 

Biography :

1942, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. A significant songwriter for Joe Cuoghi"s (and then Willie Mitchell"s) Hi Records, especially for (and sometimes with) his wife, Ann Peebles, Bryant was also a superb soul stylist, although most of his own recordings for Hi were cut long before Al Green, in particular, gave the label the commercial soul base it needed for continued survival. One of 10 children, Bryant"s father (Donald Snr.) featured in the gospel quartet the Four Stars Of Harmony, and in 1955, Don Jnr. and four of his brothers formed their own gospel group, the Five Bryant Brothers, which soon became "secularized" as the doo-wopping Quails.

Four Stars Of Harmony

 At Booker T. Washington High School, Bryant joined a group variously called the Canes and the Four Canes, named after their "manager", local Radio WLOK DJ, D. Cane Cole. or their live gigs the Canes dressed in striped jackets and straw hats and carried walking canes. Don"s brother James was also in the group, along with Lee Jones and William Walker, reputed to be the later Goldwax, Checker and Pawn soulman, (Wee) Willie Walker. A group called the Canes were taken to Stax Records by D. Cane Cole in early 1962 where they cut "Why Should I Suffer With The Blues", but they have since been identified as probably being the Largoes, led by Lorece Thompson.

   

Willie Mitchell                                                                                                                                           

FEventually, Bryant split from Cole and changed the group"s name to the Four Kings. The new quartet became Willie Mitchell"s singing group at the band leader"s live gigs at Memphis clubs. Bryant himself was still underage, and, to enable him to work, Mitchell became his legal guardian. Mitchell was also producer for the Home of The Blues label, whose featured artists included the ex-King group the Five Royales. They recorded Bryant"s first commercial composition, "Is There Someone Else On Your Mind". Meanwhile, the Four Kings cut "Crawl Parts 1 & 2" with the Willie Mitchell Band for Hi, before the group dissolved. Bryant went solo in 1964, making his debut with a storming version of Chris Kenner"s "I Like It Like That".

http://www.uncamarvy.com/4Kings/4kings.html

Songs :

Willie Mitchell & The Four Kings (3)

   

Walking At Your Will / Tell It To Me Baby

   

Walkin' Alone                             Rag Mop

The Four Kings (3)

   

  Farmer John                    Round And Round

   

Early In The Morning                 I Want To Be There

The Canes

Why Should I Suffer With The Blues / I'll Never Give Her Up

VELTONES - VEL TONES (2)

  

The Veltones (Memphis, TN)

aka The Vel Tones (3)

(updated by Hans-Joachim)  

 

Personnel :

Samuel Jones

Alvin Standard

Kenneth Patterson

George Powell

Jimmy Ellis

 

Discography :

The Veltones

Singles :

1959 - Someday / Fool In Love (Satellite 100/Mercury 71526)

Unreleased :

1958 - Did You (Sun)

1958 - Good Gracious (Fire) (Sun)

Carla Thomas bb The Veltones (Uncredited)

1960 - Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) / For You (Satellite 102/Atlantic 2086)

The Vel Tones (3)

1966 - I Do / Darling (Goldwax 301)

 

Biography :

Before its glory days as Stax, the label was called Satellite — founded in 1957, by Jim Stewart in his wife’s uncle’s garage in Memphis. Stewart was a fiddle player and so his tastes naturally leaned toward country music, which is what he originally sought to record and release on Satellite, along with rockabilly and pop tunes. A year after starting out, Stewart got a much-needed financial boost from his sister Estelle Axton, who mortgaged her house to buy a console tape recorder, and in so doing, became a financial partner in Satellite. In 1959, she helped the burgeoning label out of the garage and into a better facility in Brunswick, Tenn. (about 20 miles northeast of Memphis).

It was during Satellite’s sabbatical in Brunswick that Stewart became interested in R&B music. Producer, songwriter and guitarist Lincoln Wayne “Chips” Moman helped turn him on to some of the local groups, one of which was a black vocal quintet that called themselves the Veltones (sometimes written Vel Tones). The group, composed of Samuel Jones, Alvin Standard, Kenneth Patterson, George Powell and Jimmy Ellis, had been singing in Memphis since 1952, taking their inspiration from doo-wop. Stewart enjoyed the Veltones’ smooth sound and offered to record and release a single for the group on Satellite.

Carla Thomas & Jim Stewart

On a handful of occasions in the spring of 1959, the Veltones trucked on out to Brunswick to record a pair of songs. Chips Moman would serve as the guitarist on the session, along with bassist Jimbo Hale and drummer Jerry “Satch” Arnold. Moman and Arnold also wrote the song selected for the A-side, ‘Fool in Love,’ which features Chips’ ghostly, twangy lead guitar — a peculiar sound on a ’50s R&B recording. The B-side was the more traditionally sounding ballad ‘Someday,’ with songwriting credit given to the group. Although it wasn’t the first record released on the label, ‘Fool in Love’/‘Someday’ was released in the summer of 1959 as Satellite 100 . As it turned out, the reboot was appropriate. Of course, the Veltones record would be the first by a black group on a label that would soon become world famous for R&B music. In addition, the single marked the first time Stewart and Axton made any money from their record label. Since Satellite could only manage to distribute copies regionally, Mercury Records contacted Stewart with an offer to take the record national. Mercury paid Satellite between $400-500 for the rights and re-released the record in September 1959. However, the record flopped and no one saw any more money from ‘Fool in Love.’ The Veltones are also the backing vocal group on 'Gee Whiz' by Carla Thomas  (some people say the Del-Rios) . That hit brought the fledgling record company  to preeminence as Stax Records. In 1966 The Veltones would cut two sides for Goldwax Records. although by the time of this single there had been some personnel changes.

http://theboombox.com/stax-records-first-r-and-b-song/?trackback=tsmclip

http://aln3.albumlinernotes.com/Stax_Volt_-_Volume_1.html

 

Songs :

The Veltones

        

      

  Fool In Love                                 Someday                          Good Gracious (Fire)

Did You

Carla Thomas bb The Veltones

For You / Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) 

The Vel Tones (3)

   

I Do                                        Darling

 

RAMBLERS (2) - FABULOUS PLAYBOYS - FALCONS (5)

The Ramblers  

 The Ramblers (2) (Detroit)

aka The Fabulous Playboys aka The Falcons (5)

Personnel :

Carlis "Sonny" Monroe (Lead)

James "Ooh Wee" Gibson (First Tenor)

Johnny Alvin (Second Tenor/ Baritone)

Alton "Bart" Hollowel (Bass)

Discography :

The Ramblers (2)

Singles :

1956 - The Heaven And Earth / Don't You Know (Federal 12286)

Unreleased :

 N/A - Shame On Me (Federal)

 N/A - Days A Week (Federal)

The Fabulous Playboys

1959 - I Fooled You / Sweet Pea And The Broncbuster (Contour 004)

1961 - Nervous / Forget The Past (Daco 1001/Apollo 758)

1961 - Honkey Tonk Woman  Tears, Tears, Tears (Apollo 760)

The Falcons (5)

Singles :
1963 - Oh Baby / Fine Fine Girl (Atlantic 2207)
1964 - Lonely Nights / Has It Happened To You Yet (Lu-Pine 124/Lu-Pine 1020)
1966 - (I'm A Fool) I Must Love You / Love, Love, Love (Big Wheel 321/322)
1966 - Standing On Guard / I Can't Help It (Big Wheel 1967)
1967 - Love Look In Her Eyes / In Time For The Blues ((Big Wheel 1971)
1967 - Good Good Feeling / Love You Like You Never Been Loved (Big Wheel 1972)

Unreleased :

1964 - Love The Way You Walk (Lu-Pine)

1964 - Stick By You  (Lu-Pine)

 

Biography :

The Falcons were during their history two groups with the first group having two eras. Coming together in the mid 50's, with a mixed race line-up of Bob Manardo, Eddie Floyd, Ton Shelter and Arnett Robinson, with Willie Schofield joining soon after. Eddie Floyds uncle Robert West became the groups manager.  Bob Manardo was soon drafted and Tom Shelter decided to enlist himself. West held auditions which in turn lead to Joe Stubbs joining the ranks along with guitarist Lance Finnie, Mack Rice following not too long after replacing Arnett Robinson.

   

Without going into too much detail this was essentially the first era of the group, the second, after changes to the line up lead to Wilson Pickett joining the group to provide vocals. Not long after signing for Atlantic and after just one session and one solitary release 1962, the group split, most of the group did have solo careers by this time as well as their time with the group.

This left West with just a name, a name he had no intention of seeing become history. Early 1963 West saw a group play in Cleveland, The Fabulous Playboys, coincidentally one he managed.

 After seeing their performances and eager to keeping the name the Falcons alive West asked the Fabulous Playboys to take over the name, something they eventually agreed to seeing a better financial future with the name The Falcons, the line-up of the second group being Sonny Monroe, James Gibson, Johnny Alvin & Alton "Bart" Hollowell.

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Falcons/falcons.html

Songs :

The Ramblers (2)

   

The Heaven And Earth / Don't You Know

   
Shame On Me                                 Days A Week 

The Fabulous Playboys

   

                     I Fool You                     Sweet Pea And The Broncbuster

   

     Nervous                                         Forget The Past

   

Honkey Tonk Woman               Tears, Tears, Tears