Victorials, "Prettiest Girl in the World" c/w "I Get That Feeling," Imperial X5398 (rel. 7/1956)
NEW PODCAST EPISODE TODAY! Please see its dedicated post, right under this one!
Marv Goldberg's painstaking research, which he shares with the world, turned a "who the heck are these guys?" into an "oh; that makes sense!" This group hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio and first performed (and recorded) as The Emeralds. A few other notable Cincy vocal groups include The Isley Brothers, Otis Williams and His Charms and The Students, whose two singles have been played here in the past.
The Emeralds formed as its members went from junior high to high school in 1953. They were at the first flush of the Black vocal group era; most of the great groups formed before 1955 and continued to do great work for the rest of the decade and beyond. Soon-to-be lead singer Luther Bond was introduced to the group. Though a few years older than the others, he proved a good fit.
The group soon caught the ear of a local disc jockey, who invited them to make demos of their material; he sent it to Savoy Records in New York and they asked the group to do a session. Savoy released three singles on Luther Bond and His Emeralds in 1954 and '55; that they did so many means they sold just enough to make it worth the label's while.
Marv Goldberg's painstaking research, which he shares with the world, turned a "who the heck are these guys?" into an "oh; that makes sense!" This group hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio and first performed (and recorded) as The Emeralds. A few other notable Cincy vocal groups include The Isley Brothers, Otis Williams and His Charms and The Students, whose two singles have been played here in the past.
The Emeralds formed as its members went from junior high to high school in 1953. They were at the first flush of the Black vocal group era; most of the great groups formed before 1955 and continued to do great work for the rest of the decade and beyond. Soon-to-be lead singer Luther Bond was introduced to the group. Though a few years older than the others, he proved a good fit.
The group soon caught the ear of a local disc jockey, who invited them to make demos of their material; he sent it to Savoy Records in New York and they asked the group to do a session. Savoy released three singles on Luther Bond and His Emeralds in 1954 and '55; that they did so many means they sold just enough to make it worth the label's while.
The Emeralds split in two, with one faction now known as The Victorials. (The name was a corruption of the Ford Crown Victoria; where the L came from is anyone's guess.)
This new group was The Emeralds minus Luther Bond, whom the others might have felt was the reason for their lack of chart success. Our Victorials fell in with another DJ/influencer, Bugs Scruggs, who is mentioned in this gossip column from Cash Box, our go-to source for word-salad delight:
This new group was The Emeralds minus Luther Bond, whom the others might have felt was the reason for their lack of chart success. Our Victorials fell in with another DJ/influencer, Bugs Scruggs, who is mentioned in this gossip column from Cash Box, our go-to source for word-salad delight:
"Rank-a-Tank" was retitled "The Prettiest Girl in the World" for their lone Imperial release in the summer of 1956. It's one weird recording. An insistent Middle Eastern-style instrumental riff encourages a melody sometimes discordant, with the effect of a tribal chant in r&b song form.
With a dance band in support (including a prominent clarinet!) this made-in-Cincy wonder sounds like a record one might hear in a dream; upon waking, only slivers of it remain and those fragments soon fade. I can't say more about it than this. Let's see what Billboard thought about it:
With a dance band in support (including a prominent clarinet!) this made-in-Cincy wonder sounds like a record one might hear in a dream; upon waking, only slivers of it remain and those fragments soon fade. I can't say more about it than this. Let's see what Billboard thought about it:
Yup. Fair assessment. Cash Box took the fifth and remained mum. I'm sure Bugs Scruggs was peeved at their silence, but I imagine he played the single on his show at WCIN Radio.
"I Get The Feeling" is not a refined, romantic ballad. Sorry, Billboard. It's a more conventional and commercial song at a pleasant clip. Prominent piano and an unusually pretty saxophone solo noodge things along.
Here, the group shows their stuff with solid, dense vocal harmonies and percussive doo-wop syllables. A layer of odd remains, but it's in service of a bouncy li'l tune that evokes its era without sounding corny.
Here, the group shows their stuff with solid, dense vocal harmonies and percussive doo-wop syllables. A layer of odd remains, but it's in service of a bouncy li'l tune that evokes its era without sounding corny.
The single was not a success, and Imperial declined further releases. The group broke up as Luther Bond's revived Emeralds got a second wind. They made singles for local label Federal Records and for Showboat Records. Here Luther Bond gets into a passionate ballad bag on a series of atmospheric dramas-in-sound. The outlier efforts of the now-gone Victorials faded into the dusk of oblivion.
Tomorrow: The magnificence of The Harptones, with lead single Willie Winfield on a stellar pair of songs for the Andrea label, also from 1956--a fine year for vernacular music!
I'm thinking these BOTH are weird. The music seems to be slightly speeded up and the Victorials are trying to catch up to the beat. Thank goodness it wasn't released as "Rank-a Tank." I bet "I Get That Feeling" is the only doo-wop song with a clarinet at its instumental bridge. Both these songs should have been just a bit slower and I think the story in the lyrics of "I Get That Feeling" could have been a teener hit.
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