The mellomen

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The Mellomen , sometimes called the Mellowmen or The Mellow Men ( dt. The mature men ) referred, were a male singing quartet, which among other things, Bing Crosby , Doris Day and Elvis Presley worked. Occasionally they also appeared under other names such as Big John & the Buzzards , Crackerjacks , The Lee Brothers and The Ravenscroft Quartet .

history

In the late 1940s, the Sportsmen were the best-known and most sought-after male vocal quartet in the United States . They have appeared on numerous radio broadcasts and traveled around the country for live performances. This gave the former Sportsmen members Thurl Ravenscroft and Max Smith the idea of ​​founding a quartet that could be reached at any time in Hollywood . This idea led to the founding of the quartet The Mellomen in 1948 in collaboration with Bob Hamlin and Bill Lee , which covered the entire musical spectrum and due to its versatility soon received numerous commissions.

In addition to their collaboration with well-known performers, the Mellomen also recorded their own records and appeared in several films such as Alice in Wonderland , Lady and the Tramp and El Dorado .

They worked with Elvis Presley on the production of the film Ob blond, ob braun ( It Happened at the World's Fair ), in which they can be seen at the performance of the song One Broken Heart for Sale . They then worked on the theme song Roustabout for the film King of Hot Rhythms and on most of the songs in the film South Seas Paradise . Again to see they were in the Elvis Presley film The Trouble with Girls ( The Trouble With Girls ) in the performance of the song Swing Down Sweet Chariot .

occupation

While Thurl Ravenscroft (bass) and Bill Lee (baritone) accompanied the entire work of the group until the early 1970s, Bob Hamlin left in 1955 and was replaced by Bob Stevens. After his death in 1961, Bill Cole rose as the leading tenor. The second tenor Max Smith left the group in 1966 and was replaced by Gene Merlino.

Bill Lee died of a brain tumor in 1980 at the age of 64 , Max Smith in 1999 at the age of 86, and Thurl Ravenscroft in 2005 at the age of 91.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elvis' Backup Singers (accessed October 3, 2013)
  2. ↑ elvisnachrichten.de: Co-Stars Songs: The Trouble With Girls (English; accessed on October 3, 2013)