The Coasters Web Site
Member´s  Mini Bio´s

  
Carl Gardner, lead | Bobby Nunn, bass | Leon Hughes, tenor
Billy Guy, baritone | Adolph Jacobs, guitar
Will "Dub" Jones, bass | Cornell Gunter, tenor
Sonny Forriest, guitar | Earl "Speedo" Carroll, tenor
Thomas Palmer, guitar | Ronnie Bright, bass | Jimmy Norman, baritone
Alvin Morse, baritone | Carl Gardner Jr, new lead | J.W. Lance, tenor
  

 
06

CGj

    

Carl Gardner
 

 

The Coasters of today -
we haven´t heard the last from them yet!

Thomas Palmer
 

Ronnie Bright
 

Jimmy Norman
 

Carl Gardner Jr
 

Carl Gardner is the undisputed leader of the Coasters - by now for more than 50 years. Born Carl Edward Gardner April 29, 1928 in Tyler, Texas (not 1927 as stated in some biographical notes). His father was black, his mother a Comanche Indian. Carl trained singing from his early teacher (a German classical pianist, who also trained his sister Carol) and later studied at Emmett Scott High School, where he linked up with Lasalle Gunter´s "territorial" band, singing and playing drums. Carl signed to the Army at 16, but moved to Los Angeles (Watts), California in late 1952 or early 1953, and was influenced by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Nat "King" Cole and especially T-Bone Walker. Sister Carol became an opera singer (and his elder brother Richard a chicken farmer - Carl also had a younger brother, Howard, and yet another sister, Iris). Carl hung around the 5-4 Ballroom and at other small clubs on Western Avenue, and soon joined up with jazz pianist Carl Perkins (who later recorded for a.o. Dootone). His career changed direction from his love for jazz and soft standards when he was introduced to R&B by Johnny Otis at Johnny´s new club, "the Oasis". Around late 1953 Carl met the legendary Lester Sill, who introduced him to the R&B pioneer vocal group The Robins. At first he substituted for their lead singer Grady Chapman, who always did seem to get into trouble, and later the quintet became a sextet. Carl recorded with The Robins during 1954-1955 for Spark Records. Spark was owned by Alvin Stoller (father of Mike), Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and Lester Sill, and Carl sang lead on among others "If Teardrops Were Kisses" (his very first recording), "I Must Be Dreamin´", "Loop De Loop Mambo" and the R&B charting "Smokey Joe´s Cafe" (of which he did a funky great swinger in later years).

Gardner became the first original Coaster in late September or early October 1955 and has stayed with the group and been the Coasters´ spokesman ever since. He was a favorite of Leiber-Stoller´s and has led such Coasters classics as "Down In Mexico", "One Kiss Led To Another", "Young Blood", "Idol With The Golden Head", "Dance!", "Three Cool Cats", "Sexy", "That Is Rock & Roll", "Bad Blood", "Love Potion Number Nine" and "Cool Jerk" among others.

Carl´s happy clear tenor also played the most important role in the Coasters´ famous unison sung hits "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown", "Along Came Jones", "Poison Ivy", "I´m A Hog For You", and "What About Us". Carl moved with the Coasters to New York in 1958. Finally settled in Port St. Lucie, Florida in 1990. His wife, Veta Gardner, now his manager.

The Coasters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987 as the first vocal group receiving that honor (Gardner, Guy, Jones, and Gunter received individual awards and reunited for some special performances). Carl Gardner's Coasters (as Carl´s group of today often bill themselves) are still highly active, with around a hundred shows per year in New York, Florida and Texas a.o., and performing in Canada in August of 1993 (that same autumn Carl was treated for cancer, but returned to business in 1994). The group today consists of Gardner (coach), two veteran Coasters - bass Ronnie Bright and guitarist Thomas Palmer (who both are residents in New York and have acted with Gardner for more than the last 40 odd years) - plus newcomers Alvin Morse, baritone; J.W. Lance, tenor; and Carl´s son Carl Gardner, Jr. In April, 1996 Gardner full-filled a life-long dream, recording new interpretations of material originally done by his old idols (a.o. Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, Roy Brown and the Ink Spots). A CD was issued later that same year titled "One Cool Cat".

Carl participates with three numbers, "Young Blood", "Stormy Monday" and "Merry Christmas Baby", on the 5-set video "Rock & Roll Graffiti" distributed by Prairie Dog Productions, Texas.

Carl has six Golden Records (for million sellers) on the wall in his home (for "Searchin´", "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown", "Poison Ivy", "Along Came Jones", and "Young Blood"). Despite competition from several fake, false and phony bogus Coasters (some comprising singers from remnants of former members of original Coasters, a.o. the late Bobby Nunn´s Coasters Mark II, and the late Cornell Gunter´s Las Vegas Coasters) - at times even his old friends Jones, Guy, and Hughes have acted with their own groups - Carl Gardner's Coasters are the only ones who truly and legally can call themselves THE COASTERS, and they are also the best - Better Than Ever!

Vocal groups often emerge when youngsters meet in school or at street corners. As amateurs they are trying to copy one or several of their fore-runners, and sometimes they manage to find their own new sound, adding new gimmicks to the rich tradition of harmonizing. In the case of the Coasters a complete different background is on hand. Each of the members were hand-picked professionals when the group originated and that formula has stuck throughout the whole of their career.

During more than 50 years of existence, ten other singers and three guitarists have made records with Carl Gardner as The Coasters. Throughout the career of the group each member has been carefully hand-chosen, and for rather long periods the line-ups were more or less unaltered.

Carl Gardner at Wikipedia

Here is what they say about Carl (from the "One Cool Cat CD" insert) Carl Gardner´s beautifully rich and sonorous voice (first heard on the late recordings of The Robins) was featured on every hit of The Coasters, either as a soloist or as a part of a comedic duet with former Coaster Billy Guy. With his incredibly stylistic range, he takes command of every song he sings - from the most soulful of ballads and blues, to the most hilarious comedy numbers and funkiest R&B. (Mike Stoller, Leiber and Stoller Productions) Carl Gardner´s ability to sing has never been questioned by any of his peers... The success of The Robins and The Coasters was largely due to the fact that all of the members were exquisite singers. (Tom Dowd, recording engineer) Carl Gardner is a living embodiment of our Rock´n Roll heritage. His uniquely identifiable sound is one of rock´s musical treasures. (Jay Warner, aouthor of The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups)

Carl Gardner and Veta Gardner in May, 2001 visiting Bob Walker in New Orleans.

www.thecoasters.com The Coasters at SoulSounds with great photos!   Carl Gardner´s Rombox Page | the Rockin Robin band | The Coasters instrumental backing for the last 30 odd years Coasters page |  with a nice Coasters page linked

enlarge image!
Bobby Nunn´s Coasters
(or Billy Richards Jr´s  - if you want to)
of 1982 - touring Germany.
(photo ctsy Stefan Pingel-Wriedt)
 

Born Ulysses B. Nunn on September 20, 1925 in Birmingham, Alabama (not June 25). Raised in Detroit, Michigan. Toured with the Brownskin Models vaudeville show and settled in Watts, California after U.S.A.F. (where he hade become welterweight boxing champion) discharge in 1947. Was discovered by Johnny Otis´ drummer Leard Bell at "The Barrelhouse" club. Teamed up with the A-Sharp Trio from San Francisco, comprising brothers Billy and Roy Richard, and "Ty" Terrell Leonard; and recorded with them as the Four Bluebirds for Excelsior (featuring Otis´ band) in early 1949. He sang lead with this group as the Robins from 1949 for Aladdin, and especially for Savoy, waxing a.o. "If It´s So Baby", "The Turkey Hop", and "Our Romance Is Gone". For Savoy he also duetted with Little Esther (and the Robins) on "Double Crossing Blues", a #1 R&B hit. The Robins were closely associated with Johnny Otis during this period. In December, 1950 Bobby Nunn guested Modern Records (where "Bobby Nunn with the Robbins" waxed Leiber-Stoller´s first record composition, "That´s What The Good Book Says" on March 2, 1951). He worked as a solo artist both during and between his stints with the Robins (who did military services in 1952), recording for Hamptone, Blue (aka Blu), Dootone and Recorded in Hollywood; and duetted with girl singer Mickey Champion (featuring the Robins), with Little Esther again (now without the Robins); and also with the legendary Bobby Day (who in his early days recorded under his true name, Robert Byrd) in recordings for Sage & Sand also including Ty Terrell. In 1953 Nunn and the Robins (now enlarged with tenor Grady Chapman) recorded for RCA and Crown, and later moved to Spark Records, where Carl Gardner joined them. Nunn sang lead on a.o. "Framed" for Spark, and left the Robins together with Gardner to become original bass for the Coasters.

Several music "analysts" claim Bobby was more a baritone singer than a basso - which is totally wrong - Bobby was a bass singer not a baritone (Richard Berry though is a baritone - not a basso). There is still doubts if Richard Berry really was a guest lead on "Riot In Cell Block #9" or if (as the original album sleeve of Atco 33-101 says) Nunn actually sings the bass also on that recording.

Bobby Nunn stayed in California when the Coasters moved to New York (in order to avoid duodenal ulcer), recorded two singles with Leon Hughes as The Dukes on Flip in 1959, and and with Ginny Tyler for Titan in 1960,. Nunn also sang on some of Dorsey Burnette´s country recordings. Nunn also arranged “Whip It On Me Baby” (the Billy Guy Trip song) for The O´Jays on Imperial in 1965. He launched a West-Coast based new group, "The Coasters, Mark II" in 1963. Toured with this group, initially including Billy Richards´ nephew Billy Richards, Jr and Bobby Sheen from Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans and soon also former Robins member Grady Chapman (a busy artist, who substituted for Carl Gardner during Carl´s treatment for cancer in the autumn of 1993). Later members included Randy Jones and Billy Wilson. They acted all over the U.S., and even in Germany in the ´80s, up to Nunn´s death by heart-failure in Los Angeles on November 5, 1986. His group is now led by Billy Richards, Jr. (originally manages by Larry Marshak, who went to Billy Guy to re-capture "The Coasters" when Richards made an agreement with Carl Gardner). Nowadays Billy Richards´ group call themselves Billy Richards' Coasters".

Bobby Nunn at Wikipedia
Video on Bobby Nunn's Coasters
(doing "Yakety Yak" in the early 1980s - featuring Billy Richards Jr. and Bobby Nunn).

Find information on Bobby Nunn and other Coasters in
LA Times (since 1985)  or Search the LA Times Archives

The Robins

  Leon Hughes in 1988
(copyright M. del Costello)


Find Leon Hughes

Leon Hughes
latter day Coasters group

Check the
R&B Page   for:
Interview with
Leon Hughes
not available now!

   


Young Jessie
 

Born Thomas Leon Hughes, August 26, 1932 (not a day later) in Los Angeles County, CA. Started acting with his parents as a child and toured with early lineups of the Hollywood Flames (with which he also recently acted in a 1998 revival show). He was an original member of the Lamplighters during 1952-53 (together with Mathew Nelson and Willie Ray Rockwell). Hughes left the Lamplighters before they recorded with new lead Al Frazier. Leon was recommended by Bobby Nunn (who knew him from Watts, L.A.) for the Coasters´ original line-up. Around this time (or possibly in early 1957) Leon recorded with The Celibritys (which included his brother Elder O’Neal) on Caroline and also recorded  on his own label Leoneal Records with The Signeals (a group inlcuding both his brother and his sister Shirley Hughes). Leon stayed in California when the Coasters moved to New York (recorded the two Flip singles as The Dukes with Bobby Nunn in 1959) and later launched a non-original, occasionally acting, Coasters group (one record on Chelan was issued as The Coasters Two Plus Two featuring him and Nunn in 1975 – and two other singles were issued as The World Famous Coasters). Hughes’ group didn´t reach the same status as Nunn´s and other Coasters´ off-shoot groups and was later called "Leon Hughes Sr and the Fabulous Coasters" (often also named "Leon Hughes and his Original Coasters" or "Leon Hughes - the Original & His Coasters" and nowadays "Leon Hughes - one of the first original Coasters"). Hughes´ Coasters also recorded a video  (Hughes at YouTube).

Leon Hughes at Wikipedia

Lester Sill tried to persuade Young Jessie to replace Hughes in 1957 and give up his solo career. Jessie  did not make anya stage appearances with the Coasters though, but did record with the group in 1957.
Young Jessie was never a member of The Coasters - but here is his story
Born December 28, 1936 in Lincoln Manor, Texas as Obediah (Obie) Donmell Jessie, later nicknamed "Young" Jessie. Teamed up with Jefferson Hig School friends  Young "Guitar" Watson, Richard Berry and Cornell Gunter in Los Angeles. In 1953 that group, the Debonaires, signed to  the Flair label and changed their name to the Flairs. Jessie started his solo career in 1954-55 on Modern Records, hitting with "Mary Lou" and later made his classic "Hit, Git & Split". After his records with the Coasters he signed with Atco and Atlantic (1957), Capitol (1959), Mercury (1961), Vanessa (1962), and Bit (1964). Sang with the Seeds of Freedom in the ´70s and toured Europe in the ´80s singing both blues and jazz. Lives with his wife, singer Barbara Prince, near Venice Beach, California and has acted with a fake Coasters group lately.

More on Jessie from Bill Dahl, All Music Guide
The Los Angeles R&B vocal group scene of the 1950s was a fairly incestuous one - members flitted from one aggregation to the next, often sporting several connections at the time. Young Jessie was a member of the Flairs, Hunters, and Coasters, as well as scoring a solo West Coast hit with his 1955 rocker "Mary Lou." Obediah Jessie was a Los Angeles high-school classmate of Richard "Louie Louie" Berry. The two put together the Flairs and debuted on the Bihari brothers' Flair label in 1953 with "She Wants to Rock." The Flairs recorded steadily for the firm, but solo status awaited Jessie, who cut a cover of Big Mama Thornton's Leiber/Stoller-penned "I Smell a Rat" for Modern (the Biharis' flagship logo) in 1954. "Mary Lou," arranged by saxist Maxwell Davis, emerged the next year; its unusual minor-key arrangement must have appealed to rockabilly wildman Ronnie Hawkins, who hit the pop lists with it in 1959 for Roulette. Platters manager Buck Ram took over Jessie's career in time to pen his torrid 1956 rocker "Hit, Git & Split" under the sobriquet of Lynn Paul. Both that cut and its follow-up, "Oochie Coochie," stemmed from a New York date that backed Jessie with Mickey Baker on guitar and saxman Sam "The Man" Taylor. Jessie reverted to his vocal group roots in 1957, joining the Coasters to sing harmonies on their smashes "Searchin'" and "Young Blood" for Atco. The same firm issued a solo Jessie 45, "Shuffle in the Gravel," before moving him to Atlantic for "Margie." Later singles for Capitol and Mercury did little to rekindle Jessie's career, though the Mercury 45s sported some impressive credits. "Be-Bop Country Boy" was produced by ex-Little Richard/Sam Cooke cohort Bumps Blackwell, while a remade "Mary Lou" found Jessie collaborating with a trio of Phil Spector associates: Jack Nitzsche arranged, and Lester Sill and Steve Douglas co-produced.

 


Downtown Soulville
with
Mr. Fine Wine
Find a One Hour tribute show
with Billy Guy songs
on November 27, 2002.
A tribute with lesser known Guy
Coasters leads and Guy solos.
(MP3 and RealAudio)


 

Born Delmar Phillips on June 20, 1936 in Itasca, (Hill County), Texas. Mother: Sewillie Thompson, father: Frank Phillips. Moved to Hollywood at ten years of age;  started acting as a child and worked in Johnny Otis´ new club "The Oasis" in the mid ´50s. Became very popular in the south of California, probable member of the Emerlads, and also recorded with Mexican Emmanuel Perez as Bip & Bop (Guy was Bip) on Aladdin single 3287 in 1955 ("Ding Ding Dong" b/w "Du-Wada-Du"). Became an original Coaster by suggestion from Carl Gardner, who lived across the street in Watts. Guy became the great comedian of the Coasters (and posed with a guitar on an early Coasters publicity shot). He was a genius of musical adventures and of exploring new vocal hights (as Leiber & Stoller put it: "He could do anything we wanted him to do").

Guy stayed with the Coasters up to 1973 on recordings and acted lead on most of the Coasters´ later recordings - starting with "Searchin´" and later a.o "The Shadow Knows", "Wake Me, Shake Me", "Wild One" (the last two he also wrote), "Wait A Minute", "Little Egypt", and the notorious "Let´s Go Get Stoned" - although he started his first attempt as a solo artist back in 1962 - recording singles for Lloyd Price on ABC-Paramount and on Price's Double-L Records, a.o. "Women" (later issued as "The Prophet" on several fake Coasters albums); also a.o. "Whip It On Me, Baby" and "The Big Break". He was often substituted from the mid ´60s on stage, first by soul singer Vernon Harrell, and later by Jimmy Norman (Lou Rawls, by the way, once substituted for Carl Gardner on a tour). Guy continued his solo career for Chalco, Sew City, Verve ("Shake A Leg" 1967) and other companies and did singles as "Billy Guy & The Coasters" in 1975 (with H.B. Barnum co-producer). Billy is listed with 41 songs in the BMI songwriters´ database. Guy acted as vocal coach during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and worked as producer for J.R. Bailey (the former Cadillac, who was a writing partner to Vernon Harrell). Guy and J.R. had a record company, GuyJim. Billy also worked as a night-club story teller and producer for All Platinum – one single was “The Ugly” b/w “Hug One Another” in 1971. His most notorious album (of several) was "The Tramp Is Funky" on All Platinum / Snake Eyes in 1972. In 1977 he recorded with Will "Dub" Jones in Nashville and soon moved back to Los Angeles, where he worked as back-up studio singer with Grady Chapman and Jerome Evans (for Michelle Phillips in 1977) and with Billy Richards during the ´80s. He teamed up again with Will Jones in the West-Coast stationed group of "World Famous Coasters" - on and off - from the late ´70s up into the early ´90s. Billy, who lived near Las Vegas during his later years, turned bald. His wife June had died several years earlier and Billy lived with girlfriend Vanessa Van Klyde for 30 years until his death. He became victim of bad business advises during later years - mostly semi-retired - although he during the late ´90s acted as coach and cameo act with a young fake Coasters´ Las Vegas group - often billed as "The Billy Guy Coasters" (this was a Larry Marshak-promoted group, nowadays touring as “The Cornell Gunter Coasters”). During mid 1999 Guy sued Carl for a million dollar trying to get Carl to give up the "trade-mark" of THE COASTERS (without success).

Billy Guy died in his home at sleep (probable heart attack) in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 5, 2002 (not November 12, as one could assume by reading The New York Times obituary). Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were among those who payed for Billy’s funural.
 
Burial fund-raising and Guardian Unlimited obituary



Billy Guy at Wikipedia
 

  

A Verve single of 1967 by Billy Guy featuring "If You Want To Get Ahead, Shake A Leg"
and "I´m Sorry About That".- plus an ABC single of 1963.
  

 

The Will Jones-Billy Guy Coasters of the late ´80s
(with Jones first and Guy second left).
  

Billy Guy, an original member of the Coasters vocal quartet who stood out for the raw quality of his baritone voice and sense of comedy on 50's hits like "Searchin'," died on Tuesday (November 5, 2002; ed.note) in his apartment in Las Vegas. He was 66. The cause was cardiovascular disease, said Carl Gardner, the only surviving member of the original Coasters.  The Coasters were among the first black singing groups to be considered truly a rock 'n' roll act, not rhythm-and-blues. They are best known for their string of narrative comic songs like "Yakety Yak" and "Charlie Brown," written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. When the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first members, in 1987, the Coasters were included (the first inductees were solo artists in 1986; ed.note).

The group's doo-wop-inspired sound was characterized by the low tones of its bass, Bobby Nunn, and what MusicHound's Essential Album Guide for rock calls Mr. Gardner's "wolf-in-sheep's-clothing tenor." But it was Mr. Guy who was the exuberant lead singer on the 1957 song "Searchin'," which featured an "alley" piano style — essentially two bass notes played alternately on every second beat — and suitably rough vocal support from the rest of the group. Mr. Guy declares his determination to find his girl, even if it calls for the detective talents of Charlie Chan, Sam Spade and Bulldog Drummond — not to mention the Canadian Mounties. "This was one of the first songs to introduce specific figures from American culture into its lyrics," Charlie Gillett wrote in "The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll" (Pantheon, 1984). Mr. Guy said in an interview with The Milwaukee Journal-Standard in 1998, "We had more fun than any other group."

Mr. Guy was born in Itasca, Tex., on June 20, 1936. His birth certificate recorded that his parents were Frank Phillips and Sewille Thompson, but did not show his name, according to Veta Gardner, Carl Gardner's wife. By the time he found his way to Southern California, just as Mr. Gardner was looking for a baritone for a new group, his name was Billy Guy. Mr. Gardner and Mr. Nunn had been members of the rhythm-and-blues group the Robins, which recorded the Leiber and Stoller hits "Riot in Cell Block No. 9," "Framed" and "Smokey Joe's Cafe."

But Mr. Leiber and Mr. Stoller's small record company was having trouble distributing their successful records and sold the company, Spark Records, to Atlantic. As part of the deal, they acquired the rights to the Robins, but the Robins objected to the deal. Mr. Gardner and Mr. Nunn left the Robins to form a new group in 1955. Mr. Gardner said he needed to a new voice fast, and found Mr. Guy singing in a duo called Bip and Bop. Leon Hughes was also recruited to become a Coaster, a name chosen to refer to the West Coast. The Coasters' first song was "Down in Mexico," which was similar to "Smokey Joe's Cafe." Neither it nor their next song, "One Kiss Led to Another," was particularly successful. Then in 1957, they recorded "Searchin' " and "Young Blood" on the same record, and both were hits. Then came extensive tours and appearances on a wide range of network television shows, including "The Ed Sullivan Show" and Dick Clark's "American Bandstand."

Through the 1950's, they kept turning out hits, almost all written by Leiber and Stoller, including "Poison Ivy," "Framed," (actually a Robins recording of 1954; ed.note) "I'm a Hog for You" and "That is Rock and Roll."  Mr. Guy, who wrote several songs himself, including the group's hits "Wake Me Shake Me" and "Wild One," said the wackier songs like "Yakety Yak" could be done only by a special mix of voices like the Coasters.' "It was hard to find voices," he told the Milwaukee newspaper. "The songs were really based on country-western. Remember Homer and Jethro? Everyone had to be a specialist. It was black voices singing in the middle of rhythm-and-blues and country-western."

His survivors include his companion, Vanessa Van Klyde; a sister; a brother; a son; and a daughter.

Billy Guy, an original member of the Coasters, the Los Angeles-originated rhythm and blues-based comedy quartet that recorded "Charlie Brown," "Yakety Yak" and other hits of the 1950s and early '60s, has died. He was 66. Guy, a baritone who memorably sang the lead on the group's 1957 hit "Searchin' " and was one of the quartet's main comic voices, died of cardiovascular disease Tuesday (Nov 5; ed.note) in his Las Vegas apartment. Considered by some the preeminent vocal group of the early days of rock 'n' roll, the Coasters were formed in 1955 and produced by the legendary songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Debuting with "Down in Mexico" in 1956, the Coasters recorded a string of Leiber and Stoller hits that, in addition to "Charlie Brown" and "Yakety Yak," included "Along Came Jones," "Poison Ivy," "I'm a Hog for You," "Young Blood" and "Little Egypt." The Coasters, Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn wrote a few years ago, "made some of the most entertaining and imaginative records of the '50s -- marvelously funny and often satirical looks at the world, mostly framed through a restless teen perspective." In 1987, the Coasters were voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Billy was one of the main clowns in the group, a very bright guy, very talented," Stoller told The Times Thursday. Stoller said he and Leiber "looked upon the Coasters as our own voice. We wrote the songs for them, and we shared a sense of humor." Leiber would sometimes sing a line of a new song for Guy, "and Billy would take it from there with the same sense of humor, the same delivery, only better," Stoller said. The Coasters would perform in theaters, Stoller recalled, "then they'd come back and show us how they performed [the songs] on stage, and we'd fall on the floor. Then we'd start teaching them the new songs, and they'd fall on the floor. "It was the most fun of any of the artists we worked with." The feeling was mutual from Guy's standpoint. "We had more fun than any group," he told the Milwaukee Journal in 1998. Born in Itasca, Texas, in 1936, Guy was singing in a duo called Bip and Bop when he was recruited to become a member of the Coasters, whose name referred to the West Coast. The Coasters evolved out of the Los Angeles-based R&B group the Robins. The group signed with Leiber and Stoller's Spark record label in 1954 and scored West Coast hits with the songwriting team's "Riot in Cell Block 9," "Framed" and "Smokey Joe's Cafe." After Leiber and Stoller became independent producers for Atlantic Records, they tried to bring the Robins with them, but part of the group decided to stay with their manager. Two Robins -- lead singer Carl Gardner and bass singer Bobby Nunn -- stuck with Leiber and Stoller and, teaming with Guy and tenor Leon Hughes, formed the Coasters. The group, however, underwent various personnel changes over the next few years. Nunn was soon replaced by Will "Dub" Jones and Hughes was replaced by Young Jessie, who was replaced by Cornell Gunther, who in turn was replaced by Earl "Speedo" Carroll. Stoller recalled that one of the key sounds in the Coasters for quite a few records, including "Yakety Yak" and "Charlie Brown," was a harmony duet by Gardner and Guy. But on "Searchin'," Stoller said, "that was Billy all the way on the lead. And also on 'Along Came Jones,' the little part in the middle was Billy, who went, 'eh, eh, along came Jones....' And he also was the lead on 'Little Egypt.' "Stoller likened the Coasters to a vaudeville group or a commedia dell'arte troupe. "They each played a different role," he said. "Billy frequently played kind of the country bumpkin, like on 'Little Egypt,' where he's the rube who walks into the tent show, and on 'Searchin'' also. Carl was more like the straight man and, of course, the bass singers were always the father figure or the heavy. When Cornell was in the group, he'd do the female role if there was one. "They all played a role, but Billy was definitely a master of comic timing." In his later years, Guy led a group that billed itself as the Coasters -- as did Gardner and, at various times, many other former members -- thus provoking a series of legal disputes over who owned the rights to the group's name.Guy reunited with other former Coasters members about a dozen years ago to perform at a party hosted by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in honor of Leiber and Stoller's long collaboration. "That's the last time I think I saw him face to face," Stoller said, "and he was just as wonderful as ever." Guy is survived by his companion, Vanessa Van Klyde; a sister; a brother; a son; and a daughter.

 
Las Vegas Review-Journal Obituary

Friday, November 15, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Coasters baritone Billy Guy dies at age 66 in LV
Vocal quartet was inducted into Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1987
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Billy Guy, who sang baritone on the hits "Searchin' " and "Yakety Yak" as part of the 1950s vocal quartet the Coasters, has died. He was 66. The singer died on Tuesday (Nov 5; ed.note) from arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease at his home in Las Vegas, the Clark County Coroner's office said Thursday. The Coasters combined doo-wop rhythm-and-blues with an upbeat rock sound and were best known for comedic, narrative songs such as "Charlie Brown," nearly all of them penned by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Guy wrote some songs himself, including 1960's "Wake Me, Shake Me." The group was among  the first (no - the first; ed.note) inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Guy performed with one edition of the Coasters in a packaged revue that played the Sahara in April 1998 and returned in revised form that August. But he did not stay with the revue that continued at the hotel for more than a year. "We all go back together a long ways," Guy said of the Coasters, Platters and Drifters in 1998. "It was all about friendship. ... That's when you gave gas money to help somebody get to the gig. It was all about survival. "And it really wasn't about making any money," Guy added. "You were in it because you just loved to sing." The Coasters, formed in 1955 with members Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Leon Hughes and Bobby Nunn, evolved out of several other singing ensembles. One of their first songs was "Down in Mexico" in 1956, followed by "One Kiss Led to Another," then "Searchin' " and "Young Blood" on the same record the next year. Other hits included "Poison Ivy," "Framed," "I'm a Hog for You" and "That is Rock and Roll." Performers occasionally were replaced through the 1950s and some began their own Coasters touring groups. Guy and Will "Dub" Jones started their own Coasters tour in the late 1960s (actually recorded together already in the 1970s; ed.note), while fellow singers Cornell Gunter, who later was murdered in Las Vegas, Gardner, Hughes and Nunn began their own respective groups (Gardner actually continued to tour with the original group; ed. note). Legal wrangling surrounding the claim to such group names led to 1999 legislation pushing for change in federal trademark law. "There are some Coasters out there that ain't 19 years old," Guy told the Review-Journal in 1998. "At one point there were 10 phony Drifters and Platters running around like the fake Coasters," Guy noted. "But it wasn't worth going to court over it. Why sue somebody who doesn't have any money anyway? I've just learned to accept it as a problem that can't be solved."
Guy's survivors include his companion, Vanessa Van Klyde; a sister; a brother; a son; and a daughter, according to The New York Times.
Review-Journal writer Mike Weatherford contributed to this report.

Born Adolf Jacobs, April 15, 1939 in Pineland, Sabine County, East Texas (data confirmed). Moved to Oakland and played with the Medallions on Essex and wrote "I Know" for them in 1955. Was spotted by Gardner in late 1955 and regarded a regular Coasters member until his departure. Recorded his own "Walkin´ & Whistlin´" for Class Records in L.A. in 1959. Jacobs never settled in New York, but worked with Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Larry Williams, and Little Richard in Hollywood during the ´60s and made jazz records for Kent Harris in the ´70s (Harris was the originator of "Clothes Line", the song that stood model for the Coasters´ "Shoppin´ For Clothes"). Led his own band in California in later years (and is the only original Coaster who hasn´t tried his luck with new Coasters - although his orchestra backed the Jones-Guy Coasters a couple of times during the late '80s-early '90s).
Move around easy / Walkin' and Whistlin'

Adolph Jacobs at Wikipedia

Born Will J. Jones in Shreveport, Louisiana May 14, 1928 (not 1930 or 1936). Received his military discharge in Los Angeles, California. Was one of the early "pupils" of the West Coast "doo-wop father" Jesse Belvin and became a spiritual singer in partner-ship with the young Ted Taylor and Lloyd McCraw in 1954 (in the Santa Monica Soul Seekers), the precursors of the Cadets/Jacks. This group (a quintet with Aaron Collins and Willie Davies - Taylor left a bit later) recorded several famous cover hits for Modern Records during 1955-1957 as the Cadets (they also recorded as the Jacks for the Bihari brothers). Notable titles: "Heartbreak Hotel", the hit version of "Stranded In The Jungle", and as Will Jones & The Cadets the ballad "Hands Across The Table". Will also worked behind Jesse Belvin, Young Jessie and Richard Berry's girl group the Dreamers in studios and sang lead on the the Crescendos' "Sweet Dreams" (featuring Bobby Relf and Bobby Day) for Atlantic in L.A. 1956. Became the obvious replacement for Bobby Nunn, when Leiber-Stoller decided to bring the Coasters to New York. Jones was a member of the Coasters during the classic years. He recorded with Cora Washington as "Cora & Dub" during the 1960s (on MJC) and after his leave (on Cotillion) and is rumored to have guested the Trammps (on a revival of "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart"). He also did some recordings aropund 1976, issued on a "The World Famous Coasters" LP (including a.o. "If I A Hammer" for AIA) and teamed up with Billy Guy in Nashville in 1977 for some "Coasters" King/Starday recordings, but soon moved back to Los Angeles, where he teamed up with his old mentor, the creator of the Cadets, Lloyd McCraw, recording spirituals/gospels (a.o. "Joshua Fit The Battle" as the Melodians). He again launched "The World Famous Coasters" in Los Angeles around 1979, often featuring Billy Guy. This group (which acted sporadically and later mostly as just "The Coasters") also featured Jessie Floyd, Kendal Floyd and guitarist Lawrence McCue during the 1980s and was scheduled for England in 1992, but didn´t materialize. Jones sang on The Charades' "We Got It All" in 1987 - and with the legendary Amazing Zion Travelers during the early and mid 1990s (by then also featuring guitarist McCue and Willie Chambers Jr.). Will "Dub" Jones died in Long Beach, California on January 16, 2000 at the age of 71 after some years of semi-retirement and diabetes

"The Coasters" (Will Jones' group) in circa 1990 -
Will Jones, Jessie Floyd, Billy Guy, and Kendal Floyd.
(among the instrumentalists in the background are guitarists Adolph Jacobs and Lawrence McCue)
- at a party hosted by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
in honor of Leiber and Stoller's long collaboration. Photo ctsy Dr. Lawrence W. McCue
(and thanks Lawrence for the information).

Will "Dub" Jones at Wikipedia
Reading on the Cadets/Jacks:
Group Harmony - Echoes of the Rhythm and Blues Era by
Todd R. Baptista - new edition (Collectables,  www.oldies US 2007)

From the story of THE CADETS - by Jim Dawson, 1994
In early 1955 Joe Bihari of Modern Records in Los Angeles hired a local gospel quintet and turned them into a utility in-house R&B act. Over the next nearly three years this group would record a total of 20 singles under two separate identities - the Cadets (14 releases) and the Jacks (six releases) - on different labels and have a hit under each name. "I got started singing in church back in Arkansas, where I grow up," the Cadets' lead tenor and occasional songwriter, Aaron Collins, now 64, said recently. After spending three years with a gospel group in Michigan, Collins moved west to Southern California. "I joined a spiritual group out here called the Santa Monica Soul Seekers," he recalled. "There were six of us: besides myself, there were Willie Davis, Ted Taylor, Lloyd McGraw, Will Jones - who we called 'Dub' and a fellow named Glendon Kingsby. We mostly migrated from someplace else. Ted came from Oklahoma, Willie was from Texas and Glendon was from around Arkansas, like I was. [Baritone] Lloyd McGraw, who was sort of our manager, went and got us a deal to make a spiritual album at Modern Records in Culver City. Their A&R guy, Maxwell Davis, had us come to his house to go over our material and get ready to record. But when he heard us, heard how all of us could sing lead with strong voices, well, he kind of talked us into going in a different direction. He wanted us to sing rock'n'roll. We all agreed except for Glendon, and he quit the group to stay with spirituals. And that's when we became the Jacks and the Cadets."

| The Jacks/Cadets/Flares |
(The Doo Wop Nation - with discographies)
copy of above at this site

Maxwell Davis arranged and Joe Bihari supervised most of the group's sessions and, according to Collins, guided their eclectic recording career. As a rule, bass singer Dub Jones or Collins sang lead on the Cadets' recordings, while tenor Willie Davis fronted the Jacks. (Ted Taylor was also featured on several songs.) Modern was hoping that the Cadets and, to a lesser extent, the Jacks, would be what the Charms were to DeLuxe Records: a successful black cover group taking hits away from other black vocal artists on smaller labels. Collins recalled, "We'd go into the studio with Maxwell Davis and he'd play the [original] records for us. We'd see who was best suited to sing lead on them. We were so talented that we could listen to a song and almost repeat it. We'd just write down the words and read them off the page. We worked real fast. I can remember flying back into town one afternoon and going into the studio that night and recording stuff that we'd never seen before. And we did all of it live. The whole band, the group, everybody would be there in one big room, we'd do about four takes and move on to the next song.

The most distinctive voice of the group was Dub Jones, who was probably the greatest bass man in rock'n'roll. A native of Louisiana, Jones, now 65, recalled that he linked up with the others after he got out of the military service in Los Angeles. "I was always a big fan of the Ravens - you know, Jimmy Ricks," he said. "So I liked what we were doing at Modern." Signing a three year, 32 song contract with Modern on 10 April 1955, the quintet was rushed into the company studio to record a cover of Savoy Records artist Nappy Brown's' DON'T BE ANGRY', which had just begun to break nationally. Aaron Collins was picked to sing lead, and the group was dubbed the Cadets. "That was Joe Bihari that came up with the name", Collins said. Then, a couple of weeks later, when a local black-owned, store front label called Showtime had a breakout single, 'Why Don't You Write Me' by the Feathers, the group were rushed back into the studio to cover it as well this time with Willie Davis singing lead. At the same session they also covered a humorous Charles Calhoun recording on MGM Records called 'SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE' featuring Dub Jones. Charles Calhoun, incidentally, was Jesse Stone, the legendary songwriter-arranger for Atlantic Records. In order that this second single could be hurried onto the market at the same time as the Cadets' 'Don't Be Angry', the Biharis christened the group the Jacks and released this second single simultaneously on a subsidiary label, RPM. "They thought they had something real big, so they wanted to put out records real fast on us," Collins said. "They couldn't release the records fast enough under just one name, and that's why we also became the Jacks." Nappy Brown's 'Don't Be Angry' spent most of the summer on the national R&B charts (topping out at #2 for three weeks) and even reached #25 on the pop charts despite being edged out by a better-selling cover (#14) by the white Crew-Cuts on Mercury Records. But the Cadets' single Modern 956), backed on the flipside by Ted Taylor singing lead on 'I Cry', failed to catch much of the overflow. By then their first Jacks record, 'Why Don't You Write Me' was a hit, and when the group went out on tour and ended up spending a week at the Apollo Theater, they performed only as the Jacks. It wasn't until later that they also toured as the Cadets.

The Cadets finally hit the jackpot on their seventh outing, 'STRANDED IN THE JUNGLE'/'I Want You' (Modern 994). 'Stranded' had been co-written by a local teenage girl Ernestine Smith and singer James Johnson, and recorded by Johnson's local group, the Jayhawks, for a small, storefront operation on Vernon Ave (Flash Records). The record had an almost cartoon quality that immediately appealed to young people, and was broken into essentially two separate, alternating songs with different rhythms - one for the jungles of darkest Africa, the other for the streets of urban America. Despite the single's low fidelity sound and the Jayhawks' shaky harmony, 'Stranded In The Jungle' became a local R&B hit in the spring of 1956. Modern Records, recognising the song's potential, recorded a more polished version with the Cadets. Maxwell Davis sparked up the recording by giving it a subtle mambo flavour, and the Cadets delivered the song with considerably more power and finesse than the Jayhawks. "Dub Jones did the lead and Willie Davis and I did like a duet behind him," Collins said. "We didn't really want to do that record, We wanted to SING, and this was just a novelty thing. But we did it, tongue-in-cheek, we didn't care anything about the thing." Dub Jones gave the deadpan performance of his career, but the hook that differentiated the Cadets' recording of 'Stranded In The Jungle' from the Jayhawks' version was provided by a substitute tenor named Prentice Moreland, standing in for an absent Ted Taylor on that particular session. "Prentice was singing Ted's part, you know, that real high tenor, and at the end of a verse he just stepped right in there and shouted, 'Great googa mooga, let me outta here!' When he did that it surprised everybody, but we decided to leave it in." Moreland's "Great googamooga" squeal, along with Little Richard's opening syllables to 'Tutti Frutti', would become one of rock'n'roll's most memorable pieces of nonsense. "I think he picked that up from Rochester [black comedian Eddie Anderson]", Collins said. "Prentice know Rochester pretty well." The Cadets' 'Stranded' entered Billboard's R&B chart on 21 July 1956 and rose to #4; it also charted pop at #15, beating out the Jayhawks' original (#18). For once, Modern was also able to outsell the huge Chicagobased Mercury company, which specialised in knocking off smaller companies with white cover records of black songs. A single of 'Stranded' by Mercury's Gadabouts only made it to #39. The Cadets' recording was picked up by Phonodisc in Canada for distribution there, and released in Great Britain on London Records. Along with the familiar version of 'Stranded In The Jungle', we've included the original studio recording before the exotic jungle sounds and maracas were overdubbed onto it. You be the judge: did the overdubs enhance the record?

... Veteran songwriter named Bob Russell briefly got Collins onto Capitol Records, which released at least one single on its brief Crazy Horse subsidiary. Then Collins and Davis joined Buck Ram's Flares group (with George Hollis and Tommy Miller) in 1961 in time to enjoy a national Top 30 hit, 'Foot Stomping - Part One'. Aaron Collins, Willie Davis, Dub Jones and Joe Bihari still live in the Los Angeles area (1994). Ted Taylor, Lloyd McGraw, Prentice Moreland and Maxwell Davis are deceased.

Shirley Gunter
& The Flairs




















Cornell and the true Coasters
at Dick Clark TV-show in 1958.












 

Gunter´s grave





Cornell Gunter´s
"Fabulous Coasters".

Born Cornelius E. Gunter November 14, 1936 (his tombstone says 1936, some files say 1938) in Coffeyville, Kansas. Later nicknamed Cornel and Cornell. Came to Los Angeles around 1942 and studied at Jefferson High. Formed the original Platters (as the Flamingoes, not to be confused with the Chicago group the Flamingos) in 1952 with Alex and Gaynel Hodge and Joe "Jody" Jefferson.  He probably sang with this group as back-up on Big Jay McNeely’s  “Nervous Man Nervous” for King in 1953. Other teenage friends from those early years were Curtis Williams (of the early Penguins) and Jesse Belvin. Cornell was an original member of the Platters when Herb Reed joined that group and shared leads with him up into mid/late 1953. When Tony Williams entered the Platters Cornell and his new friend Richard Berry joined a group led by Young Jessie called the Debonaires (no records). This new line-up made its recording debut for John Dolphin with a Gunter-led song, titled "I Had A Love" as the Hollywood Bluejays. This song was soon re-recorded for Flair Records (one of the Bihari brothers´ many labels) as by the Flairs, where the group stayed up into 1955. Later Cornell formed the Ermines and a new line-up of Flairs for ABC-Paramount ("Aladdin´s Lamp" a.o.). Around 1956 the Flairs consisted of Cornell, Young Jessie, Randy Jones, and Pete Fox with Cornell’s sister Shirley Gunter as guest. Cornell also toured with Charlie Fuqua´s new Ink Spots; with Tony Williams´ Platters in 1956, and recorded as a solo act during 1957 for Dot, Eagle and Liberty (a.o. a cover of Sam Cooke´s "You Send Me" - Jesse Belvin also covered that song). He sang the title song on the 1957 Susan Oliver movie “The Green Eyed Blonde”. Before his engagement with the Coasters, Gunter also launched a group called the Cornells (which never did record at the time, but included Jesse Belvin and Joe Jefferson) and claimed he was the piano player on "Earth Angel". Gloria Gunter (another sister) recorded an “answer” single of “Yakety Yak” for Arch, titled “Move On Out” (which included back-up singing from Cornell).

After leaving the Coasters, Cornell embarked "D´s Gents" (with Chuck Barksdale and Johnny Carter from Chicago´s the Dells plus the nucleus from Pittsburg´s the Altairs), touring as back-up group to Dinah Washington. In 1962 he recorded for Warner Bros. In late 1963 he formed his own Coasters group in L.A., comprising singers of the declining Penguins, including Randy Jones, Teddy Harper and Dexter Tisby - for a short period around 1971 managed by H.B. Barnum. Cornell´s Coasters even recorded (but under the name of "Cornell Gunter & The Cornells" with sister Shirley as guest, a.o. "Wishful Thinking" on Challenge in 1964/65). They were heavily engaged in Las Vegas (with a fresh line-up comprising Nat Wilson, Bobby Stregar and McKinley Travis) and even toured Britain in the mid ´60s as "The Fabulous Coasters". Cornell´s group became stage favorites and performed with various line-ups into the ´80s. Cornell´s bass singer Nat "Buster" Wilson was killed in 1980 (by their at that time manager, Patrick Cavanaugh, - parts of Wilson's body were found near Hoover Dam shortly after the murder - then two years later, other parts of the body were found in a canyon near Modesto, CA). During the 1980s and 1990s Cornell's group was a trio with Charlie Duncan and Edwin Cook (who replaced Harper in 1983).

Gunter died on February 26, 1990 (some files say February 27). Cornell (who was gay and often saw his name spelt Gunther) was in the process of making a new comeback at the Lady Luck Hotel, when an unknown shot him in his car in Las Vegas. He was shot twice in his head, sitting behind the wheel of his car. Trying to escape he attempted to speed away, but due to his severe injuries he drove into a brick wall - the murderer ran away (a 19-year-old man was later acquitted for the slaying). Sammy Davis Jr and Bill Cosby paid for his funeral expenses (Cornell is buried in Inglewood, Calif.). Several survivors of his group continued to tour - Randy Jones had a group and soon also a "Cornell Gunter´s Coasters Inc." was formed - members were the trio Charlie Duncan (who played drums for Cornell already in the ´60s.), Edwin Cook (who came from the Buck Ram Platters) and Lionel "Z" Pope.  That trio has split up into two "Coasters" groups (when Cook and Duncan separated), but that is not enough: when Billy Guy surrendered to Carl in early 2000, Cornell´s sister Shirley handed over the right to use the name "Cornel Gunter´s Coasters" (later mostly "The Cornell Gunter Coasters") to Larry Marshak, who promotes several bogus Coasters, Platters and Drifters groups (sometimes three different Marshak Coasters groups can appear in America). So now Carl had to start all over again trying to maintain his group as the real Coasters, having his disputes with the Larry Marshak groups and with the Dick Clark-promoted fake Gunter Coasters.

  Cornell's Coasters circa 1984.

 
Edwin Cook's great web-site with lots of images of Cornell.           The Charlie Duncan /Gunter/ Coasters.

The Flairs   (by Marv Goldberg)
Reading on the Flairs:
Group Harmony - Echoes of the Rhythm and Blues Era by
Todd R. Baptista - new edition (Collectables, www.oldies US 2007)
 
Cornell Gunter at Wikipedia
The Flairs at Wikipedia
The Ultimate Flairs (on Ace, UK)

Born Elbert McKinley Forriest May 21, 1934 in Pendleton, North Carolina, also known as Albert Forrest and as Sonny Clarke (not to be confused with the pianist). A much talented artist, who worked with Sil Austin, Dee Clark and Big Jay McNeely, and Jackie Wilson before his studio and stage work with the Coasters. Later made own recordings for Atco, Verve and other labels and became touring stage guitarist with Ray Charles & his Orchestra from 1962. Forriest recorded with Hank Crawford for Atlantic and played vibes on a 1966 album. Turned to jazz and cut an album, "Tuff Pickin´", for Decca. Forriest - unlike Jacobs and Palmer, was never a member of the Coasters (worked as a contracted guitarist). Sonny died on January 10, 1999 in Capital Heights, Maryland.

Sonny Forriest at Wikipedia

 

 

 

Speedo & his
Cadillacs of 2000


The origins & today
The Cadillacs | The Cadillacs

Born November 2, 1937 in New York City (his first name is Earl - not Gregory, as mentioned in several files - although thre is one Gregory Carroll, who sang in several groups and became producer). Earl was well established in the Harlem "street corner" inner circuit and created the Carnations in Sugar Hill. This group became famous as the Cadillacs (on Josie), for which Earl sang lead on a.o. their debut "Gloria" in 1954. He also led the hit "Speedoo" (1955-56). Earl continued to lead the Cadillacs, who became very popular in teenage America, on and off through 1958, with come-backs in 1959 and 1960 (when he did some Drifters-inspired string-arranged titles with his group, still on Josie). Earl gladly took the offer from Lester Sill´s successor Pat "Lover" Patterson, who was closely associated with several early New York groups, to replace Gunter (since the Cadillacs had declined), but came too late to enjoy any real huge success, although he was a true and very useful Coaster for many years. He left the Coasters in late 1979 and joined Earl Wade (of the early Cadillacs) and later teamed up with half-brother Bobby Phillips (who had been original bass singer with the Cadillacs). Earl was also the model for the ´80s TV-character "Speedo". In 1982 he and his brother started a revival Cadillacs group, which received new popularity in New York and toured Britain and Europe. In 1997 the Cadillacs recorded a new CD titled "Have You Heard The News!", featuring Carroll, Phillips, John Brown, and Gary Lewis. Today they are a trio with Carroll, Phillips and Lewis (and have a great new web site). In October  2004 the group recorded a whole new album titled Mr. Lucky (featuring guitarist and composer John Michael Hersey).

The Cadillacs presented by
Claus Röhnisch with the Josie singles


Earl and Billy Guy in 1969 (with Ronnie Bright and Carl Gardner).

Speedo and the Cadillacs story
The Cadillacs at Wikipedia
Earl Carroll at Wikipedia

Born Thomas J. Palmer in El Paso, Texas on August 15, 1929. "Curley" (or "Curly" as Thomas himself prefers it) has been a New Yorker for most of his life - although he has worked in Detroit and Chicago too. Veteran guitarist and music stage arranger. Worked with jazz- and R&B-composer/pianist Sonny Thompson and with Lloyd Price during the ´50s and has been the Coasters´ regular guitarist ever since he joined them (the second only to Gardner, in being a consistent Coaster for more than 45 years). Responsible for the Coasters´ stage orchestral back-up as musical director and arranger.

Born Ronald David Bright October 18, 1938 in New York and like Earl, an early member of the "street corner" circuit in Sugar Hill. He became the Valentines´ first bass singer as a youngster in 1954 (on Old Town) and sang and recorded with that group for Rama through 1957. Was a member of Earl Carroll´s new Cadillacs´ group in 1960. During the early ´60s Ronnie was heavily engaged as a studio bass vocalist, a.o. on Jackie Wilson´s "Baby Workout" and Barry Mann´s "Who Put The Bomp", and was "Mr. Bassman" on Johnny Cymbal´s pop hit. Ronald also recorded as "Ronnie & The Schoolmates" and toured the world with the Deep River Boys in the late ´60s, before replacing "Dub" Jones in the Coasters. Bright has been a true Coaster ever since. Ronnie was featured on Peter Gabriel´s "Sledgehammer" album "So" in 1986. Still a New Yorker, and leading the live-versions of "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" (in later years with Carl Gardner, Sr. or J.W. Lance doing the former Gunter/Carroll second lead).

The Valentines´ singles:
Tonight Kathleen / Summer Love - Old Town 1009 (1954)
Lilly Maebelle / Falling For You- Rama 171 (1955)
Christmas Prayer / K-I-S-S Me - Rama 186 (1955)
I Love You Darling / Hand Me Down Love - Rama 181 (1955)
The Woo Woo Train / Why - Rama 196  (1956)
I´ll Never Let You Go / Twenty Minues - Rama 201 (1956)
My Story Of Love / Nature´s Creation - Rama 208 (1956)
Don´t Say Goodnight / I Cried Oh, Oh - Rama 228 (1957)

The Valentines
Ronnie Bright at Wikipedia

 



    

Jimmy Norman in 1998.
More on Jimmy Norman

Read about his early years
 

Born James Scott Norman on August 12, 1937 in Nashville, Tennessee. As a young teenager, he moved to Detroit and later to St. Louis. In 1957 he ended up in Los Angeles. Los Angeles in the '50s was a true vocal harmony home. Bobby Day's house was a meeting place, as was Cornell Gunter's. But most well-known was Jesse Belvin's, where a couple of  friends got together to harmonize in early 1958. Belvin persuaded some guys to form a group, which was named the Chargers, where Jimmy sang tenor. Jimmy, who soon dropped his second surename (Scott), later probably recorded as Jimmy Norman & The Hollywood Teenagers and another early life experience was that he sang with the Dyna-Sores (who with H.B. Barnum and Ty Leonard of the Robins made a cover of "Alley Oop" for Leon René in 1960). Jimmy then turned solo and had a regional success with "Here Comes The Night" in 1961; and a hit, "I Don´t Love You No More", on H.B. "PeeWee" Barnum´s Little Star label in 1962 and he also wrote several songs for other R&B artists - one even with Young Jessie (for the Chargers). Jimmy later moved to New York and recorded "Love Is Wonderful" in 1963 and  "Can You Blame Me" for Samar in 1966. Cut around 20 singles for different labels during the ´60s and early ´70s. Jimmy is listed with 149 songs in the BMI songwriters´ database. Worked for Lloyd Price in Norman´s own "reggae" studio in New York during the ´60s, met Bob Marley in 1968, and replaced Vernon Harrell, who worked on stage with the Coasters, substituting for Billy Guy during the ´60s. Harrell, by the way, made many solo recordings for a.o. Lescay, Decca, and Score in the ´60s, and United Artists and Brunswick during the ´70s. He was never a member of Gunter´s Coasters but from 1973 Norman became a true touring and recording Coaster with Carl Gardner. He also was lead singer in Eddie Palmier´s group The Harlem River Drive and an important figure with the Coasters for several years. During a couple of times in the very late 1970s the Coasters performed without Norman, but when Carroll left Norman took care of the the two talented comic roles Billy Guy and Earl Carroll had played. Norman recorded an album of his own in 1987 titled "Home" on Badcat. In early 1998 Norman left the Coasters (who had recruited Alvin Morse as fourth singer in late 1997) to start as a solo act and producer again, recording a new album in 1998 - "Tobacco Road". Norman was replaced by Carl´s son Carl Gardner, Jr in time for Gardner´s 70th birthday. In 2004 Norman released his first national distributed CD, "Little Pieces" on WildFlower.

The Jimmy Norman Homepage
(terrific site with great audios)
Jimmy Norman Discography (printerfriendly)

Time Is Still On His Side (Norman in 2004)
Jimmy Norman interviewed in 2002 (The Jamaican Observer).
The Chargers on Japanese site
Jimmy Norman at Wikipedia

Alvin Morse is born in February, 1951. Al (as he prefers to call himself) was recruited as fourth singer to the group in November, 1997 and turned from tenor to baritone when Norman left in February, 1998. He has a wonderful and talented voice, adding an extra "dimension" to the group. He often sings the former Billy Guy-led songs on stage and has a great baritone (and also tenor) voice when he leads "Searchin´" and "Poison Ivy". Morse is a Florida resident.

Carl Gardner´s and Ladessa Richards´ (Gardner´s first wife) son - Carl Junior - (nicknamed "Mickey") was born in Texas on April 29, 1955. He entered the Coasters replacing Jimmy Norman just in time for Gardner Sr´s 70th birthday, approximately half a year after the Coasters again had become four singing members in late 1997, when Alvin Morse had joined the group as second tenor. "Mickey" toured with the group until July, 2001, when J.W. Lance replaced him. In 2002 Carl Jr formed a Coasters´ Review in Daly City, California (with Greg Griffin, Anthony Lee, and Michael Vincent). In late 2004 the Review members were Carl Gardner Jr., Donald Seastrunk, Kearney Seastrunk, Orlando Seastrunk, and Michael Vincent. In November 2004 Jr. returned to his father's group - sharing leads with his father and doing a great version of "Young Blood". On November 5, 2005 he officially took over from his father, who semi-retired (and acts special coach).   | Listen to Jr talking to the press. |
Carl Jr. sometimes still did some shows with a Coasters Review in California during 2006 and 2007 (featuring Artrix Thomas, Dartagnan Baxter, and John "Poncho" Jones). Nowadays he is a true Coaster!

Carl Gardner & The Coasters (with Jr center and the Rockin´  Robin band).

Carl Gardner's Coasters of 2008
(with Ronnie Bright, Carl Gardner Jr, Thomas Palmer, J.W. Lance, and Alvin Morse).
 

Born Joe Lance Williams in New Orleans on June 16, 1949 - nowadays living in Bronx, N.Y. Talented, versatile vocalist, musician and songwriter. A new face to both country and contemporary music. Lance has performed with such names as Ben E. King, Fantastic Violnaires of Detroit Michigan, the Original Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, and the Gospelaires of Dayton, Ohio. He has toured throughout the United States, Australia and Virgin Islands. J.W. Lance’s album entitled “Sounds of J.W. Lance”, has something for everyone. J.W. quit the Larry Marshak Drifters and Coasters to join the true Coasters, where he nowadays leads "Love Potion Number Nine" and also sometimes "Smokey Joe's Cafe".

next: Coastin´ with the Coasters
 

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