The Best Vocal Groups In Rock'n' Roll (Dooto DL 224)

Side A:
01) Crazy Over You - The Calvanes
02) Always And Always - The Meadowlarks
03) Let Me Give You Money - The Pipes
04) I Still Remember - The Romancers
05) I Ain't Gonna Cry No More - The Penguins
06) Edna - The Medallions

Side B:
01) Guided Missiles - The Cuff Links
02) Double Dealing Baby - The Souvenirs
03) Don't Take Your Love From Me - The Calvanes
04) Back Home Again - The Birds
05) Boogie Woogie Teenage - The Meadowlarks
06) Untrue - The Meadowlarks

The Best Vocal Groups In Rock'n' Roll (Mega)

The Best Vocal Groups In Rock'n' Roll (Zippy)

Thanks to our regular contributor Marv for this second instalment of reconstituted Dootone vocal group albums. This LP was originally issued in April 1957 on Dooto (the Dootone name having been altered in early 1957 due to a court case). It was also reissued on the Dooto subsidiary Authentic label.

Remember a couple of posts ago I said I would just get the music up and forego the investigations into the background details? Oops - looks like I got carried away when preparing this post, so you get the usual heap o' arcane info.

There's just something about this 1950's Los Angeles R&B into Rock 'n' Roll sound that goes straight to the gut. Perhaps someone more articulate than I can explain it in the comments. Maybe it's the slightly fly by night feel of the records on these small labels like Dootone, Combo, the John Dolphin stable of labels, and many even more obscure outfits. The vocal groups and the sax instros, I love it all. Now I'm gonna cruise on over to Dolphin's Of Hollywood to grab me some 45s and maybe Huggy Boy is broadcasting from the store window. Or am I too late?

 Release Details:

The Calvanes - Crazy Over You / Don't Take Your Love From Me - Dootone 371 - August 1955

Don Julian And The Meadowlarks - Always And Always / I Got Tore Up - Dootone 367 - June 1955

Don Julian And The Meadowlarks - I Am A Believer / Boogie Woogie Teenage - Dootone 405 - October 1956

Don Julian And The Meadowlarks - Untrue - first released on this LP.

The Pipes - Be Fair / Let Me Give You Money - Dootone 388 - March 1956

The Romancers - I Still Remember / House Cat - Dootone 381 - January 1956

The Penguins - I Ain't Gonna Cry No More on Dootone EP "Rhythm and Blues Vocal Group Series Album #1" - Dootone EP-101 - June 1955

The Medallions - Speedin' / Edna - Dootone 364 - June 1955

The Cuff Links - Guided Missiles / My Heart - Dootone 409 - December 1956

The Souvenirs - Double Dealing Baby - first released on this LP

Willie Headen And The Five Birds - Back Home Again / I Wanna Know - Authentic 703 - July 1956 (also released on Dooto 703) Reviewed in The Cash Box, 7th July, 1956

Info from 45cat.com, The Cash Box, and Marv Goldberg's site.

Marv Goldberg Articles:

The Calvanes

Don Julian And The Meadowlarks

The Pipes

The Penguins

The Medallions 

The Cuff Links

The Souvenirs 

Absolutely Vital Purchases:

Ace CDCHD 579

Ace CDCHD 588

Ace CDCHD 676

Elsewhere On The Blog:

The Best Vocal Groups In Rhythm And Blues

Thanks Marv!

The Best Vocal Groups In Rhythm And Blues (Dooto DL-204)

Side 1:
01) Earth Angel - The Penguins
02) Hey Senorita - The Penguins
03) Kiss A Fool Goodbye - The Penguins
04) Ookey Ook - The Penguins
05) Love Will Make Your Mind Go Wild - The Penguins
06) Baby Let's Make Some Love - The Penguins

Side 2:
01) The Letter - The Medallions
02) Buick 59 - The Medallions
03) Heaven And Paradise - The Meadowlarks
04) I Got Tore Up - The Meadowlarks
05) Teller Of Fortune - The Dootones
06) Ay Si Si Mambo - The Dootones

The Best Vocal Groups Of Rhythm And Blues (Mega)

The Best Vocal Groups Of Rhythm And Blues (Zippy)

Again it's thanks to Marv for this reconstruction of an LP originally issued on the LA indie label Dootone in July 1955. Founded in 1951 by Dootsie Williams, Dootone flirted with the big time in 1954 / 1955 when "Earth Angel" by The Penguins became not only a national R&B hit in late 1954 but also entered the pop chart, peaking at number 8 in early 1955.

"Buick 59" / "The Letter" by the Medallions was the first vocal group record released by Dootone, becoming something of a West Coast regional hit in 1954 Another regional vocal group success was "Heaven and Paradise" also released in 1954. This LP (and a concurrent series of EPs) can therefore be seen as an attempt to surf the early success of Dootone's R&B vocal group issues and it must have achieved reasonable sales as it was re-released several times throughout the '50s and into the early '60's latterly as "Dooto" issues when the Dootone label changed its name following a lawsuit by the Duo Tone company.

So thanks to Marv for this great selection of West Coast vocal group sounds, and thanks to the original uploader of the artwork.