The Esquires

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The Esquires were an American rhythm and blues band from Milwaukee .

Band history

The R&B formation The Esquires was founded in Milwaukee in 1957 by Gilbert, Alvis and Betty Moorer, when the three siblings were still attending school. They first appeared on local shows. In the course of its existence, other members came into the band, such as Harvey Scales (who did not take part in recordings) and in 1961 Sam Pace. First they got the opportunity to work as a background singer on recordings of Lonnie Walker . Betty Moorer then recorded a few singles under her own name; she then left the band to try a career as a soloist. She was replaced by Shawn Taylor. From 1966 the group took on as The Esquires and now worked mainly in Chicago. After test recordings for Curtis Mayfield , with whom there was ultimately no contractual relationship, recordings for various small labels in Chicago followed; Bill "Bunky" Sheppard , owner of the Constellation label , used her in 1965 as a background singer on Mill Evans ' Things Won't Be the Same / I've Got to Have Your Love (Constellation 170).

After the financial end of the Constellation label, Bill Sheppard released more takes of the session on other labels, Why Why Why / Right was released in 1967 on King Records , Trying to Find a Home / When I'm Ready in 1967 on Tou-Sea. Further recordings were then made for Bunky Records ; Get On Up / Listen to Me (Bunky 7750), written by Gilbert Moorer, was released in early 1967 and became a local, then national hit. The song came to # 3 on the R&B charts and reached # 11 on the pop charts; This was followed by appearances at the Chiacogher Regal Theater and the Apollo Theater in New York.

The second single And Get Away / Everybody's Laughing (Bunky 7752), which was again written by Gilbert Moorer, appeared in October 1967 and was again successful nationally; it reached # 9 on the R&B and # 22 on the pop charts. The band's only album was then released, followed by further singles releases in 1968, which however could no longer build on the success of 1967. The group ended the contract with Bunky Records and signed a contract with Scepter Records . The only Scepter single appeared in the catalog (Scepter 12232), but You've Got the Power / No Doubt About It remained unreleased. It then appeared on the Scepter sub-label Wand . After three singles, the contract with Scepter ended in 1969. After changes to the line-up, more singles appeared on labels such as B&G and Lamarr in the early 1970s, but it wasn't until 1976 that The Esquires achieved another chart success with a newly recorded version of their first hit; Get On Up '76 / Dancing Disco (Ju-Par 104) was the ensemble's last successful title. They still performed regularly in the Milwaukee area, where Gilbert and Alvis Moorer formed the group again, and other recordings were made for local labels, which, however, could not build on the successes of the 1960s. Gilbert Moore's death in 2008 meant the end of the group.

occupation

  • 1957: Gilbert Moorer († 2008), Alvis Moorer († 2011) and Betty Moorer
  • 1960: Gilbert Moorer, Alvis Moorer, Betty Moorer and Harvey Scales
  • 1961: Gilbert Moorer, Shawn Taylor (from 1965), Alvis Moorer and Sam Pace (from 1961; † 2013)

Discography

In 1992, the group's two biggest hits, Get On Up and And Get Away, were released by Capricorn Records on the sampler The Scepter Records Story . In 1998 the CD Get On Up and Get Away was released on the English label Westside , which offers a comprehensive retrospective of the singles.

Albums

  • 1967: Get on Up and Get Away
  • 1982: The Esquires
  • 1984: Whatcha Got?
  • 1987: The Esquires

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1967 Get on Up,
Get on Up and Get Away 		US11 (15 weeks)
US 		R&B3 (15 weeks)
R&B
And get away,
get on up and get away 		US22 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B9 (9 weeks)
R&B
1968 You say
 - R&B41 (4 weeks)
R&B
Why Can't I Stop
 - R&B48 (2 weeks)
R&B
You've got the power
 US91 (5 weeks)
US 		R&B29 (11 weeks)
R&B
1969 I do not know
 - R&B37 (5 weeks)
R&B
1971 Girls in the City
 - R&B18 (10 weeks)
R&B
1976 Get on Up '76
 - R&B62 (9 weeks)
R&B

More singles

  • 1968: I Know I Can
  • 1969: Reach Out
  • 1970: Ain't No Reason
  • 1971: Dancin 'a Hole in the World
  • 1974: Let Me Build You a New World
  • 1980: The Show Ain't Over

swell

  1. ↑ a b c band history at Soulful Kinda Music
  2. ↑ Obituary (English)
  3. ↑ The Esquires on Allmusic (English)
  4. ↑ Chart sources: US

Web links