The Skyliners

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Skyliners were an American doo-wop group best known for their hit Since I Don't Have You .

history

The Skyliners were founded in Pittsburgh in 1958 and were initially called Crescents . In mid-1958 the group consisted of the then 17-year-old Jimmy Beaumont (lead singer), Wally Lester (tenor, 16 years old), Jack Taylor (bass, 17 years old), Joe Versharen (baritone, 17 years old) and Janet Vogel (soprano, 16 years).

In the fall of 1958, the Crescents recorded a song written by Joe Rock and Jimmy Beaumont called Since I Don't Have You . They sent the tape recording to 13 established record companies, but all of them refused to publish the title. It was more by chance that they came across Calico Records, a small independent label owned by Lou Caposi and Bill Lawrence and whose A&R man was arranger Lenny Martin. After the group auditioned on November 3, 1958, Calico Records offered the group a recording deal. The title was recorded on December 3, 1958 in Capitol Studios in New York with an 18-musician orchestra under the direction of Lenny Martin. Before the single was released, the group changed their name to Skyliners . On December 27, 1958, Since I Don't Have You appeared with the B-side One Night, One Night with the catalog number Calico 103 and immediately became a regional hit in Pittsburg. Dick Clark introduced the group on February 13, 1959 on his American Bandstand show , and on February 16, 1959, the title first hit the Billboard charts. The single reached number 12 on the Billboard Pop chart and number 3 on the R&B charts.

The song was covered by Art Garfunkel , Guns N 'Roses and Don McLean , among others . The group was able to place other singles in the charts, but none reached the popularity of their greatest hit. Janet Vogel committed suicide on February 21, 1980 at the age of 37, Joe Verscharen died of cancer in 2007, and Wally Lester died of a pancreatic tumor on April 21, 2015 at the age of 73 . The Skyliners performed with lead singer Jimmy Beaumont as the only member of the original cast until September 2017. Jimmy Beaumont died on October 8, 2017 at the age of 76.

Discography

This is a selection discography that includes all records up to the dissolution of the original Skyliners in 1966.

Singles

Information in the overview includes: year of publication / month, A-side title / B-side title, US catalog number, US = placement on the Billboard Pop Charts, R&B = placement on the Billboard R&B charts

  • 1958/12: Since I Don't Have You / One Night, One Night - Calico 103/104 - US # 12 - R&B # 3
  • 1959/05: This I Swear / Tomorrow - Calico 106 - US # 26 - R&B # 20
  • 1959/10: It Happened Today / Lonely Way - Calico 109 - US # 59
  • 1960/01: How Much / Lorraine from Spain - Calico 114
  • 1960/05: Pennies from Heaven / I'll Be Seeing You - Calico 117 - US # 24
  • 1960/10: Believe Me / Happy Time - Calico 120
  • 1961/02: The Door Is Still Open / I'll Close My Eyes - Colpix 188
  • 1961/09: Close Your Eyes / Our Love Will Last - Colpix 613
  • 1962: Everyone But You / Three Coins in the Fountain - Cameo 215
  • 1962: Comes Love / Tell Me - Viscount 104
  • 1963: Since I Fell for You / I'd Die - Atco 6270
  • 1965: The Loser / Everything Is Fine - Jubilee 5506 - US # 72 - R&B # 34
  • 1965: Who Do You Love / Get Yourself a Baby - Jubilee 5512
  • 1966: Don't Hurt Me Baby / I Run to You - Jubilee 5520

Albums

  • 1959: The Skyliners - Calico 3000
  • 1963: Since I Don't Have You - Original Sound 5010/8873

literature

  • Jay Warner: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . Billboard Books, New York City / New York 1992, pp. 292-295 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Skyliners Singer Wally Lester Dies at 73 , accessed on June 21, 2015 (English)
  2. ^ Obituary for Jimmy Beaumont in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  3. ^ Obituary for Jimmy Beaumont in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  4. ↑ For a full singles discography, see Jay Warner: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . Billboard Books, New York City / New York 1992, pp. 294-295 . For further record releases see Anthony J. Gribin, Matthew M. Schiff: Doo-Wop. The Forgotten Third Of Rock 'n' Roll . Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin 1992, pp. 524-525 .
  5. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Record Research Ltd., Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 1994, pp. 550 .
  6. ↑ Joel Whitburn: Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits. 1942-2004 . Billboard Books, New York, NY 2006, pp. 527 .
  7. ↑ On the recordings published in 1959, the Skyliners were accompanied by the Lennie Martin Orchestra.

Web links