The Ames Brothers

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The Ames Brothers were an American vocal quartet from the 1950s.

The quartet with the birth name Urick consisted of Joe (born May 3, 1924 - 2007), Gene (born February 13, 1925 - 1997), Vic (May 20, 1926 - January 23, 1978) and Ed Ames, who grew up in poverty and entered show business in 1947.

history

After winning various local talent competitions, they came to New York and Los Angeles via appearances in Boston nightclubs . In 1948 they released their first record "A Tree In The Meadow" , on which they could be heard as the accompanying choir of the singer Monica Lewis, the single reached number 22 on the bestseller charts. In the same year her first solo records appeared on the Decca sub-label Coral Records , but her first singles were unsuccessful. Only their fifth single, "You, You, You Are The One" , reached number 23 in the charts in February 1949. They had the breakthrough of their harmony singing in 1950 with the double hit "Sentimental me" / "Rag Mop" , the titles reached number 3 and number 1 in the charts. The Ames Brothers had another 15 chart hits between June 1950 and March 1953. Their greatest successes with Coral Records during this time were "Can Anyone Explain" at number 7 and "Undecided" (1951) with Les Brown - composed by Sid Robin - at number 2. In early 1953, they signed a recording contract with RCA Records , and her first single on RCA "You You You" was a great success in the summer of 1953 and reached number 2 on the singles charts. The tracks "The Man With The Banjo" and "The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane" were top 10 hits. The Ames Brothers then received their own television show, which in turn turned several songs into hits. On all RCA recordings they were accompanied by the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra .

With the beginning of the rock 'n' roll era, the success subsided. In 1957 they landed a top 20 hit with “Melodie D'Amour” .

Towards the end of their career, the Ames Brothers had a hit in Germany in early 1958 with “Melodie d'amour” , which reached number 16 in the singles charts.

Until 1961 with RCA under contract, the group moved to Epic Records (sub-label of Columbia / CBS) for their last singles 1962-63. Ed Ames continued his career both as a soloist and as an actor in the mid-1960s.

Albums (selection)

  • 1950: The Ames Brothers sing a song of Christmas
  • 1951: In the evening by the moonlight
  • 1951: Hoop-de-doo
  • 1952: Home on the Range
  • 1954: It must be true
  • 1955: Four brothers
  • 1957: Love serenade
  • 1958: Destination moon
  • 1959: Words and music

Hits

Selection criterion: All titles in the top 20 of the US best-selling charts

  • 1950: Sentimental Me # 3, Rag Mop # 1, Can Anyone Explain # 7
  • 1951: Undecided with Les Brown # 6
  • 1953: You you you # 2
  • 1954: The Man With The Banjo # 7, The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane # 3
  • 1956: It Only Hurts For A Little While # 15
  • 1957: Melody D'Amour # 12
  • 1958: Pussy Cat # 17

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ US catalog number Decca 24411
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Records 1940-1955 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973, p. 33
  3. ↑ Single with the B-side: "More Beer" was released in November 1948; US catalog number Coral 60015
  4. ↑ US Catalog number Coral 60140; Compare chart positions: Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Records 1940-1955 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973, p. 9
  5. ^ Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, p. 4
  6. ↑ US catalog number RCA Victor 5325
  7. ↑ "The Man With The Banjo" = US catalog number RCA Victor 5644 reached number 7 in the spring of 1954, "The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane" = US catalog number RCA Victor 5897 reached number 3 around the turn of the year 1954/1955.
  8. ↑ The single reached number 12 on the bestseller charts and the same place in the Top 100. The sometimes readable number # 5 only refers to the disc jockey charts. Compare: Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 14. U.S. Catalog Number RCA 7046.
  9. ↑ Ehnert, Günter (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956-1980 . Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, p. 16
  10. ↑ The Ames Brothers - Knees Up! Mother Brown. Retrieved September 30, 2018 .

literature

  • Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, 4-6