A Four Voices-athon

I first wrote about the Four Voices last year in this post. Signed by Mitch Miller in 1955, the Voices recorded three great rock and roll sides during their time with the Columbia label--Honest Darling, Angel of Love, and Lovely One, scoring a Top 20 hit with the latter. And they recorded several others in the same vein, though not as terrific, along with just as many that were sort of, maybe, rock and roll. Their out-and-out "pop" sides were just as brilliantly performed--these guys were one of the best close-harmony groups in any category, any era. I'd sort of gathered as much from my first find by the group, the astonishingly good Angel of Love, but subsequent finds (I have most of their discography at this point) show them to be not only top-flight in the harmony department, but versatile beyond all expectation. These are guys who could sound like pure "street-corner" R&B one moment (Honest Darling), a warm-up for the British Invasion the next (You're All There Is), then a smoother version of the ultra-smooth Ames Brothers sound (You Know I Do), and, finally, like jukebox art singers (Who Knows Why). I've always wanted to type "jukebox art singers."

And, by what is to me a miracle, they make Sealed with a Kiss (1960--first recorded version) sound like a lovely, serious song. I've always regarded it as a pleasant but contrived number, but now I realize Kiss is of a type with Let It Be Me--a potential gem easily brought down by ordinary handling. Actually, that's true of a lot of songs. (Paging Tea for Two.)

I think this stuff is incredible. According to conventional wisdom, polish was the the enemy of vintage rock and roll, but minus the group's superbly professional approach, Honest Darling, Lovely One, and Angel of Love wouldn't have worked so very well, if at all.

The Voices: Allan Chase (lead tenor); Sal Mayo (tenor); William McBride (baritione); Frank Fosta (bass). Info courtesy of doo-wop.blogg.org.

Click here to hear: Four Voices-athon

PLAYLIST

LOVELY ONE (Weismantel), 1956
HONEST DARLING (Weismantel), 1955
BON BON (Merrill), 1958
BIM BAM BABY, 1956
I LOVE YOU STILL (Endsley), 1957
TIGHT SPOT, 1958
THE BOX, 1959
EACH TIME YOU KISS ME, 1959
SEALED WITH A KISS, 1960
GOOD, GOOD THING, 1960
WHO KNOWS WHY, 1959
YOU KNOW I DO, 1958
YOU'RE ALL THERE IS, 1960
ANGEL OF LOVE (Weismantel-Schell), 1957
SUCH A SHAME, 1957

Lee

We're the Blues Boys

The Blues Boys (Lee Hartsfeld and David Sandberg) were one of many acts entertaining the audience at Alexandria (Ohio) United Methodist Church's Mother/Daughter Banquet on May 11 (Banquet theme: Mother Goose). They performed "Little Blues Boy" to the tune of "Soul Man," with Lee on keyboard and Dave on vocal duties. I've always wanted to type "...on vocal duties."

As you can see, we--I mean, they--meant business. That business, of course, being the blues.

(Funny--I don't remember things being so brightly-lit. Maybe it was the sunglasses....)

Amazing Grace--The Wisdom Sisters (1926)

From eBay, an amazingly clean copy of a 1926 78 by The Wisdom Sisters, a vocal trio. You'll be hearing Amazing Grace and its flip side, Sitting at the Feet of Jesus, both sung a cappella. I think my rips came out unusually well (he said humbly).

According to the Library of Congress' website, this was the second recording ever made of Grace.

Enjoy! (Wisdom Sisters link provided by Ravel.)

Amazing Grace--The Wisdom Sisters (Columbia 15093; 1926)

Sitting at the Feet of Jesus--The Wisdom Sisters (Columbia 15093; 1926)

Lee

Sunday morning gospel--The Gloryland Quartet: Reach Out to Jesus

Did I mention that I now have a scanner? True. The results speak for themselves. Or, rather, would, if they had vocal chords, a mouth, and a chamber to amplify the sounds. But that's not important at the moment.

Here's what is important, at least in the context of this post: we're about to hear The Gloryland Quartet of Ashland, Ohio. Though Ashland is NE Ohio, the group (at least to these ears) has an Appalachian sound, which I would attribute in part to 1) Leslie's tenor and 2) the a Capella harmonies. Not that a Capella is necessarily Appalachian, any more than two-part singing is necessarily the Everly Brothers. But you know what I mean. I hope so, because I'm not sure.

I love the harmonizing here, and I wish I had a year. The year of the album, I mean. The photo looks 1979-ish, but a guess is just a guess. And a wrong guess a wrong one. This was going to be next week's SMG, but when I realized I had an a Capella version of Echoes from the Burning Bush, I had to put this up right away. (I settled for this evening.)

The LP condition is fairly rough, but I carefully removed, hid, and otherwise neutralized the louder pops and clicks. There are, however, three little skips--nothing major. I edited out the sound of the needle jumping groove. (Is that a term?) So all you'll hear is a brief missing moment. Three of them. Or won't hear, I mean.

I've confused myself enough for one intro. To the excellent gospel sounds of the Gloryland Quartet:

Click here to hear: Gloryland Quartet--Reach Out to Jesus

PLAYLIST

REACH OUT TO JESUS
HAPPINESS (Gaither)
ALL BECAUSE OF GOD'S AMAZING GRACE
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
IT'S GONNA RAIN
HE TOUCHED ME (Gaither)
YES, I BELIEVE GOD IS REAL
LOOKING FOR A CITY
WALK WITH ME
A CAPELLA
DO YOU KNOW MY JESUS?
ECHOES FROM THE BURNING BUSH (Foust)
DEAR JESUS, ABIDE WITH ME


Lee