#the duprees

[thatssonanii]

Soooo.... who watches Beyond the Gates that wants to talk about it and read reviews on it???👀👀👀👀

[justmeprincess]

Bill wants to become what the Duprees already are. Which is well known and believed in the community. Money and stature. Be able to make things go away simply because of who he is. But he wants to pretend like he got to where he is alone and of his own merit. Good bye to you and your wife sir.

[vinylspinning]

The Turbans: “Let Me Show You (Around My Heart)” / “When You Dance” (1955)

While it may not be the first doo-wop song that comes to mind for either neophytes or dedicated followers of the genre, The Turbans’ 1955 single, “When You Dance,” was one of the first to actually use the syllables “doo-wop” as a background chant!

Formed two years earlier in Philadelphia by Al Banks (lead tenor), Matthew Platt (second tenor), Charlie Williams (baritone), and Andrew ‘Chet’ Jones (bass), The Turbans were soon taking first prize in local talent contests and set themselves apart by sporting their namesakes in publicity photos like the one overhead.

But what really distinguished the group was their amazing vocal prowess, led by Banks’ piercing, almost supernatural falsetto, capable of melting teenage hearts like banana splits in summer, and featured prominently on both of the songs selected for this, their debut 7-inch for New York’s Herald Records.

Cleverly titled A-side “Let Me Show You (Around My Heart)” dripped with naive sentimentality all the way to Banks’ climactic final squeal (you gotta hear it to believe it), and justly grew into a minor hit in major markets like Cleveland, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh.

But it was the B-side, “When You Dance,” that achieved enough momentum to become a national smash and an all-time doo-wop staple, peaking at No. 3 during a two-month stay in the R&B Chart, and climbing to No. 33 in the still segregated Pop Chart over a prodigious five-month run.

“When you dance be sure to hold her, hold her tight; When you dance you’ll squeeze her, yeah, with all your might. Such a thrill, oh, when she's close to you ... Well, hold her tight when you dance.”

When you dance you'll feel the warmth of her embrace; Then you'll know this feeling, yeah, is no disgrace. Such a thrill, oh, when she’s close to you ... Well, hold her tight when you dance.

You may do a rhumba or a tango; Mambo, calypso or a strand; Lights are turned down low ... You go hand and ...

When you dance be sure to hold her, hold her tight; When you dance you’ll squeeze her, yeah, with all your might. Such a thrill, oh, when she's close to you ,,, Well, hold her tight.”

Just listen to its swinging mambo rhythm, that tempo change behind the sax solo, and the quartet’s intricate, criss-crossing high/low vocal interplay behind Banks’ soaring melodies, and you’ll soon recognize the scale of the song’s influence upon countless hits that followed, doo-wop and otherwise.

In fact, I hear “Barbara Ann” and several other Beach Boys favorites in there somewhere, don’t you?

Unfortunately, The Turbans couldn’t conjure up another hit to save their lives, even though the quartet’s recording and performing career carried on until 1962, when their members were plucked by other, more successful groups like The Coasters and Drifters.

This blog is dedicated to my doo-wop-expert father-in-law on this, his 80th birthday.

More Doo-Wop: The Channels, The Crests, The Del-Vikings, The Drifters, The Duprees, The Edsels, The Flamingos, The Hollywood Flames, The Jive Five, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Ruben & The Jets, The Skyliners, The Penguins, The Teen Queens, The Willows, Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs.

[classicgirlgroups]

[soulsoothingsounds]

The Duprees  -  My Own True Love  (Single, 1962)

[vinylspinning]

The Willows: “Church Bells May Ring” / “Baby Tell Me” (1956)

Ready for another doo-wop one-hit-wonder?

I am, so let’s get on with it, via Harlem, New York’s The Willows and their joyful, irrepressible wedding reception staple, “Church Bells May Ring,” which made it to No. #11 on the U.S. R&B charts, No. 62 Pop.

And it might have risen even higher, if not for a competing cover recorded by a pasty-white quartet called The Diamonds, which climbed to No. 14, and reminds us that institutionalized racism isn’t just real, it’s the American Fucking Way.

Forgive me for seething ...

Anyway, The Willows’ far more essential version was issued 65 years ago through the short-lived Melba Records, owned by veteran arranger and talent scout, Morty Craft, who conveniently got a songwriting credit, as those who held the purse strings often did back in those pre-payola scandal days.

The fact of the matter is, Croft had nothing to do with writing the song (it had already been rejected by another label) and, until they sued him for damages, allegedly paid The Willows a meager $200 for a recording that has no doubt generated millions of dollars in all the years since.

But let’s backtrack real quick ...

Formed in 1952 from the ashes of another group called The Dovers, The Five Willows (as they were briefly known) bounced from one indie label to another (PeeDee, Allen, Herald, etc.) with little to show for it, until “Church Bells May Ring” changed everything (except their pocketbooks).

Trivia time: those distinctive chimes that mimic tolling church bells were performed by a young man named Neil Sedaka!

And the B-side, “Baby Tell Me,” is pretty darn good, too, powered by a turbo-tinkling piano, honking sax, and the complex call-and-response of Tony Middleton (lead vocals), Richie Davis (tenor), John Steel (bass), and twin brothers Ralph (tenor) and Joe Martin (baritone).

Alas, after performing at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater in April of ‘56, alongside The Flamingos, The Platters, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and other doo-wop groups, The Willows slowly faded from the public conscience and they never sniffed the charts again.

They officially disbanded in 1965, reunited in ‘73, and have since re-reunited countless times, with countless line-ups, for countless oldies tours -- not bad for a one-hit-wonder, but then, such is life for a doo-wop group!

More Doo-Wop: The Channels, The Crests, The Del-Vikings, The Drifters, The Duprees, The Edsels, The Flamingos, The Hollywood Flames, The Jive Five, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Ruben & The Jets, The Skyliners, The Penguins, The Teen Queens, The Turbans, Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs.

[vinylspinning]

Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs: “Stay” / “Do You Believe” (1960)

“Stay” is one of those all-time doo-wop classics, so frequently plugged into TV shows and movies over the years that almost everyone on Earth can still recognize it, if not recall its performers: Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs.

Formed in 1956 as The Royal Charms, the group first dropped the “Royal,” then became The Gladiolas in ‘57, The Excellos in ‘58, and finally The Zodiacs in ‘59, after breaking down by the side of the road one day, and coming across a Ford Zodiac that impressed them.

By then, Maurice Williams (lead vocals), Henry Gaston (tenor), Wiley Bennett (second tenor), Charles Thomas (baritone), Albert Hill (double bass) and Willie Morrow (drums) were based in Nashville, and “Stay” (allegedly written by a 15-year-old Williams in 1953) was released in August of 1960.

That’s right, 60 years ago, and by that October, it had entered the Billboard Hot 100, soaring just like Williams’ incredible falsettos all the way to No. 1 by the end of November, after which it was knocked off its perch by Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

Now get this: at just one minute and 36 seconds in length, “Stay” is still the shortest single ever to top of the American charts!

And it would be The Zodiacs’ one and only hit, often covered (by The Hollies, The Four Seasons, Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper and many others) but never replicated by the group, which stalled just inside the Top 100 with follow-up singles “I Remember” and the shameless copycat “Come Along.”

As for this 7-inch’s B-side, “Do You Believe” is far from ordinary, thanks to an insistent piano and impressively complex vocal ensemble work by all involved, though it too would be forgotten before long.

But even after original Zodiacs’ break-up, Maurice Williams refused to quit, leading ensuing iterations of the group throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, when an inclusion in the despicable Dirty Dancing (and its soundtrack) sold millions more copies of “Stay.”

As far as I can tell, Mr. Williams is still alive and well, so those of you who want to hear the story in far greater detail, directly from him, I’ll point you to this interview from 2015.

More Doo-Wop: The Channels, The Crests, The Del-Vikings, The Drifters, The Duprees, The Edsels, The Flamingos, The Hollywood Flames, The Jive Five, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Ruben & The Jets, The Skyliners, The Penguins, The Teen Queens, The Willows.

[vinylspinning]

Nat ‘King’ Cole: Ramblin’ Rose (1962)

How can they call this “Easy Listening” if it’s so damn hard to listen to???

I don’t blame Nat ‘King’ Cole for kowtowing to white, post-war America and its pathetic palate for mainstream pop music, nor for putting his incredible Jazz pianist skills on the back-burner to provide more financial security for himself and his family, but that doesn’t ease the pain inflicted by these tunes.

Built around the titular “Ramblin’ Rose,” which reached No. 2 in 1962, sold over a million copies as a single, and was later nominated for a Grammy, this album makes similar period efforts by Sinatra and Dino sound positively edgy.

Of course, that’s because, as a black man, Cole had to work twice as hard for half as many returns, and that necessitated capturing the most innocuous, non-threatening renditions imaginable of “When You’re Smiling” and “Goodnight, Irene, Goodnight,” both backed by sappy choirs, lush orchestral arrangements, the works!

Elsewhere, a few country-flavored efforts like “Twilight On the Trail” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart” take listeners to the NOT-so-Wild West, though, if you listen real hard, you’ll catch a single, nifty Rock & Roll guitar lick sneaking into “I Don’t Want it that Way.”

But this only illustrates and underscores the reasons why that new teenage craze -- which at the time was enduring a brief setback, between the first generation ‘50s rockers (*) and The Beatles-led British Invasion -- was bound to wipe the popular music slate clean before too long.

Not before the Ramblin’ Rose album shifted tens of thousands of copies across the milquetoast suburbs, ensuring that vinyl-collecting gluttons for punishment like you and me will inevitably find one of these in every used record store today, “From Sea to Shining Sea.”

Well, here’s hoping that this blog saved you some precious time of “hard listening” and a used copy’s typical $0.99 price point.

* Most of those ‘50s rockers were “conveniently” sidelined in ‘62 by a variety of scandals (Chuck berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis), stints in the armed forces (Elvis was still rebuilding momentum after his discharge), or premature death (Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran). 

More Nat ‘King’ Cole: Penthouse Serenade.