Die Musikbar mit der Plattenküche

Beschreibung

(El Dorado) 19 tracks  – The Willows are mostly remembered as one of the countless ‚one-hit-wonders‘ for their only hit CHURCH BELLS MAY RING.which was also covered by the DIAMONDS. Very few people have recognized that lead singer TONY MIDDLETON released many solo recordings in the years fol…

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(El Dorado) 19 tracks  – The Willows are mostly remembered as one of the countless ‚one-hit-wonders‘ for their only hit CHURCH BELLS MAY RING.which was also covered by the DIAMONDS. Very few people have recognized that lead singer TONY MIDDLETON released many solo recordings in the years fol-lowing his stay with the group before he decided to become an actor-and so he appeared in the 1971 Broadway production of ‚PURLIE‘ (toge-ther with Ray Pollard of The Wanderers and Milton Grayson of The Dominoes). The Story of The WILLOWS goes back to 114th Street in Harlem,where Tony (born June 26,1934) in Richmond.Virgin) lived in 1952. He received an invitation to Mrs. Clarisse Martin’s house on 115th Street while he was training his boxing at a local gym. Mrs.Martin’s twin sons, Joe and Ralph,were rehearshing under her guidance with John Thomas ‚Scooter‘ Steele (bass),Richie Davis (1. tenor) and Bobby Robinson to be kept off the streets. Being very impressed by Tony’s fancy footwork and choreography in the ring she knew for sure that the chance to archive some success with this guy in the group would be great – if she could teach them assiduity and discipline. Having been the main impulse behind the recording career of THE WILLOWS from 1952 to 1965. she let them practise every day. So you could find the group singing at the corner of 115th and Lenox Ave. in hospitals.at church benefits and at dances at the Chelsea Vocational High School. While still known as ‚The Dovers‘, they sometimes used Doc Green as additional singer. One of Green’s favourite songs was ‚The Whiffenpoof Song‘ by the Cabineers, and so the group decided to try their luck with the same company the Cabineers had recorded for. Abbey Records under the management of Pete & Goldie Durain had meanwhile moved and changed its name to Allen Records. The first release for Allen under the name of THE FIVE WILLOWS was the streetsong MY DEAR,DEAREST DARLING, introducing for the first time the famous bass intro by ‚SCOOTER‘ Steele to the public. This gimmick was carefully planned to be their trademark, later reviewed in LITTLE DARLIN‘ and DO YOU LOVE ME. Billboard magazine called this release in June ‚kinda weird and somewhat hypnotic‘, and so you can hear the group sometimes out of key, while the flipside ROCK LITTLE FRANCIS (the obligary jump) sounds amateurish, but nevertheless interesting. The 1953 formation had recorded without Doc Green (who later joined The Five Crowns.transforming into a Drifters group) and Bobby Robinson (who had already started his Red Robin Label and later owned various companies). Tony was also featured as lead on THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER. while he shared the vocals with Richie on DOLORES – the latter coupled with ALL NIGHT LONG on their second Allen release in September. At the end of 1953, their third Allen record was out, but again no chart entries were noted for WITH THESE HANDS (lead by Richie). When Pete Durain decided to part business with Mr. Allen, The WILLOWS went with him and recorded their next release for Pee Dee Records in early 1954. entitled LOVE BELLS c/w PLEASE BABY. Pete Durain himself went out of business in 1954. but the group was able to record four sides for Herald (found on the Relic albums 5015 & 5047) – in the same style, but again without success. When Tony met Morty Craft in 1955, who had just left his partners at London Records to form his own Melba label. a chance to record again was in sight. The WILLOWS (as they were known now, just dropping the ‚Five‘) offered him a ballad entitled CHURCH BELLS MAY RING, which was written by Tony from an idea of his wife Betty. When first released as CHURCH BELLS ARE RINGING (mislabeled on early copies),it had transfor-med into a wonderful rocking tune with a now famous bass bridge (‚Hello hello again.my friend. I’m hopin’that we’ll meet again‘), close harmony-and as a gimmick chimes (played by the still unknown Neil Sedaka from a suggestion by Morty Craft) plus a shuffle rhythm. Hitting the r & b charts on April 18,1956. the song reached no. 11 and stayed for 2 weeks,but it had more success before on the pop charts,first appearing at no. 74 on March 28, then climbing to the middle of the Top 100 listing. Soon cover versions by The Cadets, Sunny Gale and The Diamonds fol-lowed, and The Diamonds’version nearly outsold The WILLOWS’original on all main markets. The same story happened again, and so the guys didn’t get paid more then S 200 for their million seller, even after they took Morty Craft to court, where he declared bankruptcy then. Ironically, the bass bridge at the hitsong was sung by Richard ‚Rico‘ Simon, a neighborhood friend just substituted fo…

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