"F" Groups
The
Five Satins
Best
known for their classic doo-wop tune "In The Still Of The
Night" the Five Satins never again reached this enormity of
fame with any of their recordings. The foundation of the Five
Satins begins with a group founded by Fred Parris, titled the
Scarlets. While still in high school in 1953, the Scarlets had a
local hit in the New Haven, Connecticut area with "Dear
One". The following year 1954, Parris founded the Five
Satins consisting of; Parris, Al Denby, Ed Martin, and Jim
Freeman.
In 1955 the Five Satins recorded "In The Still Of
The Night" previously written by Parris.
By 1957 the group recorded "To The Aisle", lead vocals
being done by Bill Baker, since Fred Parris had been drafted
into the army. "To The Aisle" reached number 25 on the Pop
charts and in the top ten R & B. During the 1960's-1980’s Parris
lead several different groups of the Five Satins in the oldies
circuit.
The
Flamingos
The
Flamingos formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1951, acclaimed for the
best harmonizing vocals of the rock n’ roll era.
Zeke Carey, Jake Carey, Paul Wilson, Johnny Carter and
Sollie McElroy are the founding members of the Flamingos. Sollie
was not really there at the very beginning, but he was the first
recorded lead.
For the Chance label in 1954, McElroy doing vocals,
brought the Flamingos regional fame with “Golden Teardrops”.
"Golden Teardrops" was recorded and released in 1953. Nate Nelson replaced McElroy the same year, and by 1956 the
Flamingos were again of the charts with “I’ll Be Home” an
elegant ballad that reached number 5 R & B. In 1956, Zeke
Carey and Johnny Carter were drafted and they were replaced by
Tommy Hunt and guitarist/tenor/arranger Terry Johnson. This
aggregation recorded several sides for Decca, the most notable
of which was "Ladder of Love." Shortly after their discharges,
Johnny Carter joined The Dells and Zeke returned to The
Flamingos, creating the sextet that signed to End Records. In
1958 the Flamingos had their biggest US hits, “Lovers Never
Say Goodbye,” I Only Have Eyes For You,” and “Nobody Loves
Me Like You,” the latter of which was written by Sam Cooke.
Their first big hit was "Lovers Never Say Goodbye", written by
Terry Johnson, who also sang lead on the recording with Paul
Wilson. This lead combo worked so well that the group later
re-created the duet magic on "Love Walked In", "Time Was" and
"But Not For Me". The group's biggest hit came in 1959 with "I
Only Have For You." Three albums and a slew of singles followed,
including "Nobody Loves Me Like You", written for the group by
Sam Cooke and "Your Other Love". In 2001, the group was inducted
into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Sollie, Zeke, Jake, Paul and
Nate have all passed on and Tommy Hunt has been living in
England since 1970. Terry Johnson's Flamingos are still
performing all over the country and have been featured in two
PBS television specials.
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