The String-A-Longs
The String-A-Longs is the name of an American guitar band that released pop music in the 1960s . With the Instrumental Wheels , the group had an international million dollar hit.
history
In the mid-1950s Keith McCormack, Aubrey de Cordova and Richard Stephens founded the school band The Patio Kids in Plainview, Texas . With McCormack as a singer, they mostly played rock 'n' roll at school events . In 1957 the group was called The Rock 'n' Rollers, with Charles Edmiston a drummer and another guitarist with Jimmy Torres. At a radio station in Amarillo (Texas) they recorded their first record in 1958, which was released by the Ven record company and sold well in the local area of the band. Before the group changed its name again in 1959, now in The Leen Teen, the first contacts were made with Norman Petty , who was already the producer of Buddy Holly at the time. With the help of Norman Petty, The Leen Teens managed to record a single again in 1959 with the large Californian record company Imperial .
In the fall of 1960, Petty planned a new record production with the Leen Teens. The title Tell The World, written by band members Jimmy Torres and Richard Stephens, should be recorded . In addition to these two, the band still consisted of Keith McCormack, Aubrey de Cordova and Don Allen at that time. Since McCormack dropped out shortly before production started due to difficulties with his voice, Petty decided to produce Tell The World as an instrumental with the rest of the band . For the planned single he recorded his composition Wheels as the second track with the band, which he renamed The String-A-Longs due to the failure of McCormack . A mix-up at the Warwick record company led to a mix-up of the author's information. This bug could not be fixed even with the release of two new singles. The title Wheels prevailed, which first became a super hit in the USA under the incorrect author's statement Torres / Stephens. In the Hot 100 of the leading US music magazine Billboard , the title was listed for 16 weeks in early 1961 and reached number three. The record industry awarded Wheels the Golden Lion . The piece also became a record success worldwide and was sold millions of times.
Even after their success with Wheels , the String-A-Longs continued to produce instrumentals. The next records were also released by Warwick, and immediately after their mega hit, Brass Buttons (35th) and Should I (42nd) saw further Hot 100 hits. The good record echo was not enough to market the String-A-Longs at public appearances. It stayed with a few concert appearances in the USA, besides Norman Petty tried in vain for high-profile appearances on television or abroad.
In 1962, the Warwick record company went bankrupt, and the band had to switch to the Nashville label Dot Records . Six singles were produced there by 1965, but all of them remained unsuccessful. In February 1965, the last single of the String-A-Longs was released by Dot, which also heralded the end of the group. Richard Stephens left shortly after moving to Dot, in 1968 Keith McCormack moved to the Fireballs , which were also supervised by Petty , and Aubrey de Cordova retired to finish his college degree. Another 1969 String-A-Longs single was released by the New York record company Atco . It had been produced by Norman Petty again, but rumors lingered that the record was recorded by the Fireballs.
Members
- Richard Stephens (born September 20, 1940): lead guitar
- Keith McCormack (born October 19, 1940): rhythm guitar
- Jimmy Torres (born October 2, 1939): rhythm guitar
- Aubrey de Cordova (born November 20, 1941): bass guitar
- Don Allen (born July 18, 1938): drums
Discography
Albums
| title | Catalog no. | released |
|---|---|---|
| Pick a hit | Warwick 2036 | 1961 |
| Matilda | Dot 25463 | 1962 |
| Wide world hits | Atco 241 | 1968 |
Singles
| From page | Catalog no. | published |
|---|---|---|
| The Rock 'n' Rollers | ||
| Ven | ||
| For you / boy! I think it's really love | 100 | 1/1958 |
| The Teen Leens | ||
| Imperial | ||
| Dream Around You / So Shy | 5593 | 7/1959 |
| The String-A-Longs | ||
| Warwick | ||
| Wheels / Tell the World | 603 | 12/1960 |
| Wheels / Am I Asking Too Much? | 603 | 12/1960 |
| Tell the World / For an Angel | 606 | 1/1961 |
| Brass buttons / panic button | 625 | 3/1961 |
| Should I / Take a minute | 654 | 5/1961 |
| Mina Bird / Scottie | 668 | 9/1961 |
| Theme for Twisters / Nearly Sunrise | 675 | 1/1962 |
| Dot | ||
| Twistwatch / Sunday | 16331 | 2/1962 |
| My Blue Heaven / Spinnin 'My Wheels | 16379 | 6/1962 |
| Matilda / Replica | 16393 | 9/1962 |
| Happy Melody / Heartaches | 16448 | 1/1963 |
| My Babe / Myna Bird | 16575 | 1/1964 |
| Caravan / Mathilda | 16708 | 2/1965 |
| Atco | ||
| Popi / Places I Remember | 6694 | 7/1969 |
Chart placements
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1961 | Wheels |
DE1 (20 weeks) DE |
UK8 (16 weeks) UK |
US3 (16 weeks) US |
R&B19 (5 weeks) R&B |
|
| Brass buttons | - | - |
US35 (7 weeks) US |
- | ||
| Should I | - | - |
US42 (9 weeks) US |
- | ||
| 1962 | Sunday |
DE28 (16 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | |
literature
- Frank Laufenberg: Rock & Pop Lexicon . Econ Taschenbuch Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-612-26207-6 , Volume 2, p. 1462.
- Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet German chart singles 1956–1980. Taurus Press 1987, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 .
- Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit Guide US Chart Singles 1950–1963 , Taurus Press 1992, ISBN 3-922542-47-6 .
- Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit Records British Chart Singles 1950-1965 Taurus Press 1995, ISBN 3-922542-32-8 .