Ames Brothers

Last updated

The Ames Brothers
Ames Brothers 1955.JPG
The Ames Brothers in 1955. Clockwise from top: Ed, Vic, Joe and Gene
Background information
Origin Malden, Massachusetts, United States
Genres Traditional pop
Years active1947–1963
Labels Decca, Coral, RCA Victor
Past members Ed Ames
Vic Ames
Joe Ames
Gene Ames

The Ames Brothers were an American singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop hits. [1]

Contents

Biography

The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachusetts. Joe (born Joseph Urick; May 3, 1921 – December 22, 2007), [1] Gene (February 13, 1924 – April 26, 1997), Vic (May 20, 1925 – January 23, 1978), and Ed Ames (born Edmund Dantes Urick; July 9, 1927 – May 21, 2023) [2] formed the singing group the Amory Brothers, which would become the Ames Brothers.

Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were raised to enjoy classical music and operatic music. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were Russian Jewish immigrants from Ukraine who read Shakespeare and semi-classics to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen.

Three of the brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring United States Army and Navy bases entertaining the troops when they were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds nightclub, one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. This one-week engagement turned into several months when positive word-of-mouth about their appearance got around. At the time, they were using Vic's middle name and calling themselves the Amory Brothers. They were becoming quite popular in the area and it was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. Taking their act to New York City, they got a job with bandleader Art Mooney. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler of Decca Records overheard them singing it and asked them to cut a few sides for Decca Records, just before the AFM recording ban which James Petrillo imposed in January 1948. The ban was lifted a year later. The brothers shortened Amory to Ames and became the first artists to record for the newly founded Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca.[ citation needed ]

The group sang on Robert Q. Lewis's radio program until it was cut from one hour to 15 minutes. In late February 1949 they began performing on Sing It Again, a musical quiz program on CBS radio. [3]

The brothers were swept into national top billing with their first hit record, "Rag Mop", in January 1950. [4] Doing radio shows for free at times, just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as Arthur Godfrey and His Friends . One of the first acts to appear on the original The Ed Sullivan Show when it was known as Toast of the Town, the foursome made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from Wanamaker's Department Store.

Soon, the Ames Brothers were the top paid group in nightclubs and supper clubs everywhere and their popularity on television was nationwide. In 1956, they starred in their own syndicated TV program, The Ames Brothers Show, sponsored by RC Cola and broadcast on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated TV show to be broadcast in foreign countries. The brothers also appeared on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.

Over their fifteen-year career, the Ames Brothers prolific work notched up 49 US chart entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with RCA Victor in 1953. The quartet disbanded in 1963, but Ed Ames continued with a successful singing and acting career, including playing Daniel Boone's sidekick, Mingo, on the popular Daniel Boone television series.

Legacy

They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.

After disbanding

Vic died in a car accident in 1978 at age 52, [5] Gene died of cancer in 1997 at age 73, [6] and Joe died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 86. [7] Ed was the last surviving member until his death in 2023, at the age of 95. [8]

Discography

Singles

NOTE: Repeat titles of Coral tracks shown below are standard singles and not under Coral's "Silver Star Series" reissue line

YearSingle (A-side, B-side)
Both sides from same album except where indicated
Chart positionsAlbum
Standard 12" records except where indicated
Billboard Singles Charts Cashbox Singles Charts UK [9]
1947"Caravan"
b/w "There Is No Breeze"
Non-album tracks
"Goodnight My Love"
b/w "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream"
Above two singles shown as "The Armory Brothers"
1948"Tell Me a Story"
b/w "If You Had All the World and Its Gold"
"A Tree in the Meadow" (with Monica Lewis)
b/w "On the Street of Regret"
21
"Where the Apple Blossoms Fall"
b/w "If I Live to Be a Hundred"
Both tracks with Monica Lewis
1949"You, You, You Are the One"
b/w "More Beer" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP)
23
"I'm Just Wild About Harry"
b/w "Good Fellow Medley"
"Far Away Places"
b/w "Lorelei" (from Sentimental Me 10" LP)
"Cruising Down the River"
b/w "Clancy Lowered the Boom" (Non-album track)
29Favorite Songs (10" LP)
"It Only Happens Once"
b/w "You Can't Buy Happiness"
Non-album tracks
"Barroom Polka"
b/w "We'll Still Be Honeymooning" (Non-album track)
Hoop-De-Doo (10" LP)
"St. Bernard Waltz"
b/w "Oh, You Sweet One" (from Favorite Songs 10" LP)
Non-album tracks
"Lingering Down the Lane"
b/w "Still Waters and Green Pastures" (Non-album track)
Sentimental Me (10" LP)
"Noah's Ark"
b/w "Tears of Happiness" (Non-album track)
Hoop-De-Doo (10" LP)
"Good Fellow Medley"—Part 1
b/w Part 2
Non-album tracks
"White Christmas"
b/w "Winter Wonderland"
Christmas Harmony
1950"Sentimental Me"
b/w "Blue Prelude" (from Favorite Songs 10" LP)
Sentimental Me (10" LP)
"Rag Mop" /1Hoop-Dee-Doo (10" LP)
"Sentimental Me"1Sentimental Me (10" LP)
"(Put Another Nickel In) Music! Music! Music!"
b/w "I Love Her Oh! Oh! Oh!"
14Non-album tracks
"I Didn't Kiss the Blarney Stone"
b/w "Clancy Lowered the Boom"
"(Fifi) Bring Her Out Again"
b/w "(Lift Your Glass) Sing Until the Cows Come Home" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP)
"Dormi, Dormi"
b/w "Marianna" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP)
Sentimental Me (10" LP)
"Stars Are the Windows of Heaven"
b/w "Hoop Dee Doo" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP)
17
"Can Anyone Explain? (No, No, No)"
b/w "Sittin' 'N Starin' 'N Rockin'" (Non-album track)
5
"Twelve Days of Christmas"
b/w "Wassail Song"
Sing a Song of Christmas (10" LP)
"Silent Night"
b/w "Adeste Fidelis"
Christmas Harmony
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
b/w "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear"
"Thirsty for Your Kisses"
b/w "I Don't Mind Being All Alone" (from Sentimental Me 10" LP)
26Favorite Songs (10" LP)
"Oh Babe!"
b/w "To Think You've Chosen Me" (from Sentimental Me 10" LP)
20Non-album tracks
"The Thing"
b/w "Music by the Angels" (from The Ames Brothers)
29
1951"Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland"
b/w "Moonlight Bay"
In the Evening by the Moonlight (10" LP)
"Love's Old Sweet Song"
b/w "Because"
"Music by the Angels"
b/w "Loving Is Believing" (Non-album track)
The Ames Brothers
"More Than I Care to Remember"
b/w "Three Dollars and Ninety-eight Cents"
Non-album tracks
"Sentimental Me"
b/w "Dormi, Dormi"
Sentimental Me (10" LP)
"Can Anyone Explain (No, No, No)"
b/w "Lingering Down the Lane"
"To Think You've Chosen Me"
b/w "Lorelei"
"I Don't Mind Being All Alone"
b/w "Stars Are the Windows of Heaven"
"My Love Seranade"
b/w "I Love You Much Too Much" (from The Ames Brothers)
My Love Serenade
"Too Many Women"
b/w "Somewhere There Must Be Happiness"
Non-album tracks
"Wang Wang Blues"
b/w "Who'll Take My Place (When I'm Gone)"
16My Love Serenade
"Hawaiian War Chant"
b/w "Sweet Leilani"
21Sweet Leilani (10" LP)
"To You Sweetheart, Aloha"
b/w "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii"
"Song of the Islands"
b/w "Sing Me a Song of the Islands"
"The Moon of Manakoora"
b/w "Blue Hawaii"
"Only, Only You"
b/w "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"
Non-album tracks
"Undecided" /2Our Golden Favorites
"Sentimental Journey"23
"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas"
b/w "Ting-a-Ling-a-Jingle"
Non-album tracks
1952"I Wanna Love You" /19
"I'll Still Love You"29The Ames Brothers
"Mother, at Your Feet Is Kneeling"
b/w "Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue"
Non-album tracks
"Dry Bones"
b/w "Deep River"
Favorite Spirituals (10" LP)
"Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho"
b/w "Go Down Moses"
"Stardust"
b/w "Crazy 'Cause I Love You" (Non-album track)
Our Golden Favorites
"The Sheik of Araby"
b/w "And So I Waited Around" (Non-album track)
18The Ames Brothers
"Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart"
b/w "Break the Bands That Bind Me" (Non-album track)
13Favorite Songs (10" LP)
"String Along"
b/w "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder"
1t16
"My Favorite Song"
b/w "Al-Lee-O Al-Lee-Ay" (Non-album track)
1512
"Sing a Song of Santa Claus"
b/w "Winter's Here Again"
Christmas Harmony
1953"No Moon at All"
b/w "Do Nothin' till You Hear from Me"
2119Non-album tracks
"You Are My Sunshine"
b/w "Rye Whiskey"
Home on the Range (10" LP)
"Can't I?"
b/w "Lonely Wine" (Non-album track)
23My Love Serenade
"Candy Bar Boogie"
b/w "At the End of a Rainbow" (Non-album track)
The Ames Brothers
"Always In My Dreams"
b/w "This Is Fiesta"
Non-album tracks
"You, You, You"
b/w "Once Upon a Time" (Non-album track)
11The Best of the Ames Brothers
"Lazy River"
b/w "Stardust" (from Our Golden Favorites)
My Love Serenade
"My Love, My Life, My Happiness"
b/w "If You Want My Heart"
2919Non-album tracks
"I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" /2240Sweet and Swing
"Boogie Woogie Maxixe"25Non-album track
1954"The Man with the Banjo" /68The Best of the Ames Brothers
"Man, Man, Is For The Woman Made"3025For Sentimental Reasons
"Don't Believe a Word They Say"
b/w "Don't Lie to Me"
Non-album tracks
"Leave It to Your Heart" /2927Sweet and Swing
"Let's Walk and Talk"48Non-album tracks
"Hopelessly" /26
"One More Time"44
"The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" /336The Best of the Ames Brothers
"Addio"40Non-album tracks
1955"Sweet Brown-Eyed Baby"
b/w "Sympathetic Eyes"
28
"Gotta Be This or That"
b/w "Southern Cross" (Non-album track)
The Ames Brothers (RCA)
"My Bonnie Lassie"
b/w "So Will I" (Non-album track)
1116Sweet and Swing
"The Next Time It Happens"
b/w "My Love, Your Love" (Non-album track)
1956"Forever Darling" /3527It's Show Time
"I'm Gonna Love You"84Non-album track
"It Only Hurts for a Little While" /1114Sweet and Swing
"If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight"89
"49 Shades of Green" /49
"Summer Sweetheart"67
"I Saw Esau"
b/w "The Game of Love"
51
1957"I Know Only One Way to Love You"
b/w "Did You Ever Get the Roses"
Non-album tracks
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (It's So Good)"
b/w "Man on Fire" (from It's Show Time)
"Tammy" /510The Best of the Ames Brothers
"Rockin' Shoes"6441Non-album track
"Melodie D'Amour (Melody of Love)"
b/w "So Little Time" (Non-album track)
57The Best of the Ames Brothers
1958"Little Gypsy"
b/w "In Love"
67Non-album tracks
"A Very Precious Love"
b/w "Don't Leave Me Now" (from For Sentimental Reasons)
2353The Best of the Ames Brothers
"Stay" /90Non-album tracks
"Little Serenade"9845
"Pussy Cat" /1736
"No One But You (In My Heart)"4534
"It's Only a Paper Moon"
b/w "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" (from Sweet Seventeen)
Destination Moon
"Red River Rose"
b/w "When the Summer Comes Again"
3733Non-album tracks
1959"Dancin' in the Streets"
b/w "(Yes, I Need) Only Your Love"
"Someone to Come Home to"
b/w "Mason-Dixon Line"
7884
"Now It's Me"
b/w "Now Hear This"
"Take Me Along"
b/w "What Do I Hear"
124
1960"China Doll"
b/w "Christopher Sunday"
3869
"Me Lo Dijo Adela"
b/w "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas"
Hello Amigos
"A Happy Pair"
b/w "Carnival"
Non-album tracks
"Ring Them Bells"
b/w "You Are My Love"
"Where the Hot Wind Blows"
b/w "Suzie Wong"
1961"A Kiss from Cora"
b/w "Asking for You"
1962"Love Me with All Your Heart"
b/w "Love Is an Ocean (Of Emotion)"
1963"The Wrong Man"
b/w "Surrender, Surrender"
"Washington Square"
b/w "Knees Up Mother Brown" (from Knees Up! Mother Brown)
129

Albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1956 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brunswick Records</span> US record label

Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Four Lads</span> Canadian male quartet

The Four Lads were a Canadian male singing quartet that earned many gold singles and albums in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Their million-selling signature tunes include "Moments to Remember"; "Standing on the Corner"; "No, Not Much"; "Who Needs You?" and "Istanbul".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Ames</span> American singer and actor (1927–2023)

Edmund Dantes Urick, known professionally as Ed Ames or Eddie Ames, was an American pop singer and actor. He was known for playing Mingo in the television series Daniel Boone, and for his Easy Listening number #1 hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including "My Cup Runneth Over", "Time, Time", and "When the Snow Is on the Roses". He was also part of the popular 1950s singing group with his siblings, the Ames Brothers.

Hugo Winterhalter was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his many arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor.

Roy C. Bennett was an American songwriter known for the songs he wrote with Sid Tepper, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs.

"I'm Walking Behind You" is a popular song which was written by Billy Reid and published in 1953. The recording by American singer Eddie Fisher was a No. 1 hit in both the US and UK Singles charts, but it had previously been recorded by Reid's former partner, Dorothy Squires, who had a hit with the song in the UK.

"Lullaby of Broadway" is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935. The lyrics salute the nightlife of Broadway and its denizens, who "don't sleep tight until the dawn."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music! Music! Music!</span> 1950 single by Teresa Brewer, with the Dixieland All Stars

"Music! Music! Music! " is a popular song written by Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum and published in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mundell Lowe</span> American jazz guitarist (1922–2017)

James Mundell Lowe was an American jazz guitarist who worked often in radio, television, and film, and as a session musician.

"Sentimental Me" is a popular song which was written by James T. Morehead and James Cassin and published in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Barnes (musician)</span> American swing jazz guitarist

George Warren Barnes was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was also a conductor, composer, arranger, producer, author, and educator. He was hired by the NBC Orchestra at the age of 17, making him the youngest musician on staff. At 17, he was considered to be a great player by many musicians, including Tommy Dorsey, and Jimmy McPartland. Barnes was also proficient as a recording engineer. During his career, Barnes recorded with singers Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Patti Page, Dinah Washington, Lena Horne, Billy Eckstine and Johnny Mathis among many others. He was an inspiration to, and influenced guitarists Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Herb Ellis and Merle Travis, among many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Heywood</span> American jazz pianist and composer (1915–1989)

Edward Heywood Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer particularly active in the 1940s and 1950s.

"Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)" is a popular rock novelty song written in late 1954 by the rhythm and blues partnership of Forest Gene Wilson and Eunice Levy, and also credited to Jake Porter. One of the earliest rock and roll songs, it was probably "the most extensively recorded rock 'n' roll song of that time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russ Morgan</span> Musical artist

Russell Morgan was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being one of the composers of the song "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock and James Cavanaugh, and was the first to record it in 1944.

"Outside of Heaven" is a popular music song written by Sammy Gallop and Chester Conn. A recording by Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter's orchestra and chorus was made at Manhattan Center, New York City, on July 19, 1952, produced by Winterhalter. It was issued by RCA Victor with the catalog number 20-4953 and by EMI Records on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10362.

The Johnston Brothers were a vocal group who had a No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1955 with their cover version of "Hernando's Hideaway".

Abraham Samuel Richman, better known as Boomie Richman, was an American jazz tenor saxophone player who played with Tommy Dorsey. He also played clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, and flute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Mills Brothers</span> American jazz and pop vocal quartet

The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers and originally known as Four Boys and a Guitar, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunny Gale</span> American singer (1927–2022)

Sunny Gale was an American pop singer who was popular in the 1950s. Gale reached the Billboard Hot 100 several times throughout the earlier half of the decade, scoring her biggest hit with "Wheel of Fortune" with the Ed Wilcox Orchestra in 1952.

References

  1. 1 2 "Joe Ames, the Eldest Member of the 1950s Singing Group the Ames Brothers, Dies at 86". The New York Times . January 17, 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  2. Ames, Ed, Encyclopedia.com, accessdate July 21, 2018
  3. "Radio and Television" . The New York Times. February 22, 1949. p. 42. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  4. Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 16/7. ISBN   0-85112-732-0.
  5. Doc Rock. "The 1970s". The Dead Rock Stars Club. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  6. "Eugene (Gene) Ames Obituary". Variety . June 25, 1997. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  7. Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club 2007 July To December". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  8. Saperstein, Pat (May 26, 2023). "Ed Ames, 'Daniel Boone' Star and Ames Brothers Singer, Dies at 95". Variety.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  9. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 22. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.

Further reading