The latter, which peaked at # 10, is actually one of their best records, where the big band setting works well. Other succesful cover hits were "Don't Be Angry" (originally by Nappy Brown), "A Story Untold" (the Nutmegs) and "Gum Drop" (Otis Williams and his Charms). "Earth Angel"/"Ko Ko Mo" was their second biggest hit, with both sides making the Top 10, though nobody plays (or even remembers) the Crew-Cuts' versions nowadays. "Sh-Boom" was followed by a cover of Shirley Gunter's "Oop Shoop", which went to # 13 pop, while the original peaked at # 8 R&B. Though they had shown with "Crazy 'Bout Ya Baby" that they had the potential to write their own material, Mercury fed them on a diet of cover songs, to which they could add their clean-cut, white harmony glee-club approach. Inevitably, "Sh-Boom" set a pattern for the Crew-Cuts. The Chords' version was a big hit (# 2 R&B, # 5 pop), but it was easily outsold by the Crew-Cuts version, which topped the Billboard charts for no less than nine weeks, making it the second biggest hit of 1954 (after Kitty Kallen's "Little Things Mean A Lot"). It was "Sh-Boom", originally recorded by the Chords on the Cat label, an Atlantic subsidiary. For their second session, in May 1954, they were asked to cover an R&B tune that had not yet entered the R&B charts, but showed every sign of doing so soon. Their first record, "Crazy 'Bout Ya Baby" (Mercury 70341) was written by group members Barrett and Maugeri and went to # 8 on the pop charts. After the show they were introduced to Bill Randle, an influential disc jockey, who suggested a name change to the Crew-Cuts (after their identical haircuts) and arranged an audition with Mercury Records. Singing in a barbershop group style, the Crew-Cuts got their break in the USA after performing on Gene Carroll's TV show in Cleveland, Ohio. All were born in 1931, except Ray Perkins who was born in 1932. By early 1954 the quartet consisted of John Perkins (lead vocals), his brother Ray Perkins (bass), Pat Barrett (first tenor) and Rudi Maugeri (baritone), who also did the vocal arrangements for the group. The group was formed in Toronto in 1952 as the Canadaires. The Crew-Cuts were one of the first (perhaps even THE first) white vocal groups to reap the benefits of covering recordings of black performers and exposing those songs to a wider audience.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |