The Avalons, "Chains Around My Heart" c/w "Ooh! She Flew," Groove 4O-0141 (rel. 2/1956)
Every so often I come across a deal. The minute I spotted today's single in a seller's wares, and for a crazy-reasonable price, I didn't hesitate. I have a later single by The Avalons and love it. (I'm sure I've played it here in the past, but it's been a few years.)
Groove, RCA-Victor's attempt to segregate Black music from their main label, worked in the favor of Black music fans. Its avocado-colored label and zingy logo were easy to spot, and there was no threat of coming home with some bland white crooner or grating pop quartet. A Groove single guaranteed the real deal, and continues to fulfill that function three quarters of a century later.
The Avalons are one of the best vocal groups of their era. Like The Harptones, they sang with feeling in intense, layered harmony and thus favored ballad material; they could rock when needed, as this, their debut single from early 1956, demonstrates. The group emerged from Virginia-a fertile region for Black vocal groups. From the general area of Newport News also came The Five Keys, whose career fared far better than theirs.
Like many of these groups, their roots were in gospel, which translated with ease to secular r&b. They were four tenor voices and a bass-an unusual blend which made for rich sound. By the time they made today's single, the group, in some form, had been going for a decade.
Huge on their home turf, the group expanded their fanbase with tours of Canada, where their harmonies went over well. After years of performing with no recordings to their name, they turned to the manager of The Five Keys and asked her to take them into her roster. Fanny Green had done a fine job getting that bigger group into the public spotlight--with pop hits, even!--and, within months of their 1955 signing, got them a contract with RCA-Victor, the biggest label in the nation.
They were ideal candidates for Groove, which had some of the smartest vocal group material on the market--all who benefitted from the label's superior recording studios. Groove's recordings have a spacious sound that rivals George Goldner's productions for Rama and Gee Records.
"Chains Around My Heart" was co-written by a co-writer of "Twist and Shout," Phil Medley. This bluesy ballad sounds oh-so-mid-1950s but is performed with an intensity that anticipates the soul sounds of a decade later. Lead vocalist Rafael Ingram delivers a mesmerizing performance as he embodies Medley's lyric of a man obsessed by a broken love that has him locked up inside. Crawley's effortless falsetto is a pleasure to behold--as is the mass of five-voice harmony in the song's coda. Man, these guys can sing!
Groove, RCA-Victor's attempt to segregate Black music from their main label, worked in the favor of Black music fans. Its avocado-colored label and zingy logo were easy to spot, and there was no threat of coming home with some bland white crooner or grating pop quartet. A Groove single guaranteed the real deal, and continues to fulfill that function three quarters of a century later.
The Avalons are one of the best vocal groups of their era. Like The Harptones, they sang with feeling in intense, layered harmony and thus favored ballad material; they could rock when needed, as this, their debut single from early 1956, demonstrates. The group emerged from Virginia-a fertile region for Black vocal groups. From the general area of Newport News also came The Five Keys, whose career fared far better than theirs.
Like many of these groups, their roots were in gospel, which translated with ease to secular r&b. They were four tenor voices and a bass-an unusual blend which made for rich sound. By the time they made today's single, the group, in some form, had been going for a decade.
Huge on their home turf, the group expanded their fanbase with tours of Canada, where their harmonies went over well. After years of performing with no recordings to their name, they turned to the manager of The Five Keys and asked her to take them into her roster. Fanny Green had done a fine job getting that bigger group into the public spotlight--with pop hits, even!--and, within months of their 1955 signing, got them a contract with RCA-Victor, the biggest label in the nation.
They were ideal candidates for Groove, which had some of the smartest vocal group material on the market--all who benefitted from the label's superior recording studios. Groove's recordings have a spacious sound that rivals George Goldner's productions for Rama and Gee Records.
"Chains Around My Heart" was co-written by a co-writer of "Twist and Shout," Phil Medley. This bluesy ballad sounds oh-so-mid-1950s but is performed with an intensity that anticipates the soul sounds of a decade later. Lead vocalist Rafael Ingram delivers a mesmerizing performance as he embodies Medley's lyric of a man obsessed by a broken love that has him locked up inside. Crawley's effortless falsetto is a pleasure to behold--as is the mass of five-voice harmony in the song's coda. Man, these guys can sing!
Two reviews! From famine to feast! Cash Box has the ballad as their A-side pick and lavishes The Avalons with their trademark jargon-as-praise; Billboard goes for the jump blues as the A and gives its verdict in duller verbiage. Two thumbs up for a record that deserved to get on the charts--but didn't.
"Ooh! She Flew" is by Jesse Stone, AKA Charles Calhoun, a decades-long veteran of the Black music scene. He led a Black jazz band that recorded for Brunswick Records in the late 1920s. Stone/Calhoun is a major figure in the development of rhythm and blues. His songs set a high bar, early on, that others followed. His wordplay inspired Jerry Leiber's and other 1950s r&b composers. The Avalons are backed by his studio orchestra on this mid-tempo mover about a guy who just seems to scare off his potential amours.
The lower-voiced Bernard Purdie takes the lead on this boppin' showcase for a versatile group. This was in the style of The Clovers' big hit "One Mint Julep" and other vocal groups sides where the bass singer steps out. Stone's colorful story has an amusing be-careful-what-you-wish-for twist and the chonky sound of voices and instruments is just plain perfect!
The lower-voiced Bernard Purdie takes the lead on this boppin' showcase for a versatile group. This was in the style of The Clovers' big hit "One Mint Julep" and other vocal groups sides where the bass singer steps out. Stone's colorful story has an amusing be-careful-what-you-wish-for twist and the chonky sound of voices and instruments is just plain perfect!
The group made a second single for Groove, then sat out 1957. RCA shelved Groove for several years and The Avalons were without a label. Back to Canada they went, where they recorded a first version of a group original. "Heart's Desire" would be re-recorded in the States for United Artists, and is their masterpiece. I'll double-check; if I've not played this single for you, that needs to happen soon.
All their four singles are spendy, but their last effort, for Casino Records, 1958's "You Do Something to Me," is one of the rarest and most sought-after Black vocal group 45s. Veteran record seller Val Shively has a clean copy for $600.00 at present. Whew! I'll keep combing the dollar bins in the hope that someone goofed and didn't look it up. It still happens!
Tomorrow: Joe Clay delivers two rockabilly anthems on a holy grail single for another RCA-Victor subsidiary. I can't believe I own this record!
All their four singles are spendy, but their last effort, for Casino Records, 1958's "You Do Something to Me," is one of the rarest and most sought-after Black vocal group 45s. Veteran record seller Val Shively has a clean copy for $600.00 at present. Whew! I'll keep combing the dollar bins in the hope that someone goofed and didn't look it up. It still happens!
Tomorrow: Joe Clay delivers two rockabilly anthems on a holy grail single for another RCA-Victor subsidiary. I can't believe I own this record!
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