The Robins
| The Robins | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Doo Wop , Rhythm and Blues |
| founding | 1947 as A Sharpe Trio 1948 as The Four Bluebirds |
| resolution | 1961 |
| Founding members | |
tenor |
Terrell "Ty Terrell" Leonard |
baritone |
Billy Richards |
baritone |
Roy Richards |
bass |
Bobby Nunn from 1948 |
| Last occupation | |
singing |
Ty Terrell |
singing |
Billy Richards |
singing |
Roy Richards |
singing |
Bobby Nunn |
singing |
Carl Gardner (1954–1955) |
singing |
Grady Chapman (1954–1955) |
The Robins were a black doo-wop band that had two major hits in the first half of the 1950s.
history
The band formed in 1947 under the name A Sharp Trio and received an engagement at Johnny Otis ' Barrelhouse Club in Los Angeles . Terrell "Ty Terrell" Leonard (tenor), Billy and Roy Richards (baritone) were the founding members. At Otis' request, the group was joined by Bobby Nunn (bass), and they now appeared under the name The Four Bluebirds. In 1949 it was renamed The Robins. A first single, which was unsuccessful, was released in September 1949 on Aladdin Records with the title Don't Like The Way You're Doing . Shortly thereafter, the group switched to Savoy Records . This resulted in the recording of the song If It's So Baby at the end of 1949 . The single reached number 10 on the R&B juke box chart and number 14 on the R&B bestseller charts at the end of January 1950. At the beginning of February 1950, the Johnny Otis Quintet's Double Crossing Blues track made it onto the R&B charts, and the quintet was accompanied by the Robins and Little Esther . The single peaked at number 1 on the R&B bestseller chart for nine weeks and stayed in the R&B Top 10 for 22 weeks. In 1950 the Robins recorded two more singles as an accompanying choir with Little Esther for Savoy. After four more singles as Robins, all of which were unsuccessful, the group switched to RIH (Recorded In Hollywood) -Records, where three more singles appeared in 1951, as well as two singles as an accompanying group of Maggie Hathaway. In the same year, the Robins released a single on RPM Records, with the Nic Nacs on the cover. Also in 1951 they recorded the track That's What The Good Book Says for Modern Records , it was the first track by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to be released on record. In December 1951, Aladdin published an old Robins recording on his sub-label Score, entitled Round About Midnight . After the group was without a record deal in 1952, they got a one-year contract with RCA Records in 1953 ; after six singles, all of which were unsuccessful, the contract with the Robins was not renewed.
In 1954, Carl Gardner and Graham Chapman joined the band, which had been under contract with the Spark label newly founded by Leiber and Stoller since June 1954. In the six years of its existence, the Robins had recorded records for nine different labels. Her first recording on Sparks Records was Riot In Cell Block # 9 , a local hit on the US West Coast. In the early summer of 1955, the Robins recorded a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and released on Spark Records: Smokey Joe's Cafe . In 1955 Leiber and Stoller sold their record company Spark Records and joined Atco as a team of composers and producers . In August of that year the single was released again, this time under catalog number Atco 6059 and with the B-side: Just Like A Fool . The single reached number 10 on the R&B juke box charts and number 13 on the R&B bestseller charts. The single also briefly made it to 79 on the Billboard Pop Charts.
In the same year Gardner and Nunn decided to leave the Robins to form a new band, the Coasters , which got a recording deal with Atco. The rest of the Robins, now reinforced by HB Barnum of the Dootones, decided to stay on the west coast. They were signed to Whippett Records, a newly formed Los Angeles label owned by Gene Norman . Seven singles appeared on the label from 1956 to mid-1958, but they were unsuccessful. After the Robins were still under contract with Knight Records, Arvee Records and Gone Records, they broke up in 1961.
Remarks
- ↑ US catalog number: Aladdin 3031; B-side: Come back baby
- ^ US catalog number: Savoy 726
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits. 1942-2004. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 492
- ^ US catalog number: Savoy 731; The title was number one on the R&B juke box charts for five weeks
- ↑ Almost complete singles discography see Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990. New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, p. 286; for additions see discography in Gribin, Anthony J. / Schiff, Matthew M.: Doo-Wop. The Forgotten Third Of Rock 'n' Roll . Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1992, pp. 494f
- ^ US catalog number: Spark 122; B-side: Cherry Lips
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 504
literature
- Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 285f