The Cadillacs

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The Cadillacs were an African-American rock 'n' roll and doo-wop singing group from Harlem , New York City . Her biggest hit was Speedoo from 1955.

Career

In the early 1950s, Earl "Speedoo" Carroll (1937-2012), Bobby Phillips, LaVerne Drake and Cub Gaining appeared as "The Carnations". In 1954 they made their first recordings - without gaining, but now with Johnny "Gus" Willingham and James "Poppa" Clark as a quintet under the name "The Cadillacs". Willingham and Clark left the group after the second single , with Earl Wade and Charles Brooks.

Speedoo was released in October 1955, and it became a huge hit after the Cadillacs performed with sophisticated choreography on Alan Freed's Christmas show . The title reached number 3 on the R&B charts and number 17 on the pop charts. During the turn of the year 1956/1957 the title Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer was able to place itself in the R&B charts for a short time. During their recordings until 1957, the Cadillacs were accompanied by the Jesse Powell Orchestra. The Cadillacs had their second pop hit in 1959 with the title Peek-A-Boo , which reached number 20 in the R&B charts and number 28 in the Billboard pop charts. They were accompanied by the Osie Johnson Orchestra during the recording.

1956 Drake was replaced by Jimmy Bailey (1932-1980). In 1957 the Cadillacs parted in a dispute, and there were intermittent offshoots with names such as "The Original Cadillacs", "The Four Cadillacs", "Earl Carroll and the Cadillacs" and "Jesse Powell and the Caddys". As a result, there was a smaller hit for the "Original Cadillacs" in 1961, which - after the change of record company - took the title What You Bet for a week in the R&B charts at number 30. The Cadillacs experienced a number of line-up changes, separations and new beginnings.

Awards

In 1996 the Cadillacs received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation . In 2004 they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame .

Remarks

  1. ↑ US catalog number: Josie 785; Whitburn, Joel: Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits. 1942-2004 . New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 81
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 83
  3. ↑ The title was the B-side of the single Shock-A-Doo , US catalog number: Josie 807, and reached number 11 on the R&B jockey charts in the 1956 Christmas business.
  4. ↑ What You Bet / You Are To Blame , US catalog number: Smash 1712
  5. ↑ For the discography of the Cadillacs and the offshoots, see Gribin, Anthony J. / Schiff, Matthew M .: Doo-Wop. The Forgotten Third Of Rock 'n' Roll . Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1992, pp. 188f

literature

  • Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 86-89.

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