The Velvets

Last updated
The Velvets
Origin Odessa, Texas, United States
Genres Doo-wop
Years active1959 (1959)–1962 (1962)
Labels Monument
Past members

The Velvets were an American doo-wop group from Odessa, Texas, United States. They were formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high-school English teacher, with four of his students. [1] Roy Orbison heard the group and signed them to Monument Records in 1960. [2] They recorded in Nashville in Studio B, with the A Team as their backup band. Their first release was a tune called "That Lucky Old Sun". Their biggest hit single was "Tonight (Could Be the Night)", which hit #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. [1] The follow-up, "Laugh", peaked at #90, [1] and after a half-dozen further singles the group disbanded.

Contents

Virgil Johnson, a former deejay at Radio KDAV in Lubbock, Texas, was the lead tenor singer, with backup from Mark Prince (bass), Clarence Rigsby (tenor), Robert Thursby (first tenor), and William Solomon (baritone). The four were originally Johnson's eighth-grade pupils in an English class which he instructed in Odessa in the 1959-1960 school year.

"That Lucky Old Sun" (#46) and "Tonight (Could Be the Night)" (#50) made brief appearances in the UK Singles Chart in 1961. [3]

Their complete recorded output runs to 30 songs, which were collected on one compact disc and released by Ace Records in 1996. [4]

Aftermath

Johnson was later a school principal [5] before his death in February 2013. [6] Clarence Rigsby was killed in an automobile accident in 1978. [7]

Members

Discography

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart
positions
Record Label B-side
US
Pop
1961"That Lucky Old Sun" Monument "Time and Again"
"Tonight (Could Be the Night)"26"Spring Fever"
"Laugh"90"Lana"
1962"The Love Express""Don't Let Him Take My Baby"
"Let the Good Times Roll"102"The Lights Go On, the Lights Go Off"
1963"Crying in the Chapel""Dawn"
1964"Nightmare""Here Comes That Song Again"
"If""Let the Fool Kiss You (But Don't Let the Kiss Fool You)"
1966"Baby the Magic Is Gone"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Flamingos</span> American doo-wop group

The Flamingos are an American doo-wop group formed in Chicago in 1953. The band became popular in mid-to-late 1950s and are best known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You". They have since been hailed as being one of the finest and most influential vocal groups in pop and doo wop music history. In 2001, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as part of the swing revival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Texas</span>

The U.S. state of Texas has long been a center for musical innovation and is the birthplace of many notable musicians. Texans have pioneered developments in Tejano and Conjunto music, Rock 'n Roll, Western swing, jazz, Piano, punk rock, country, hip-hop, electronic music, gothic industrial music, religious music, mariachi, psychedelic rock, zydeco and the blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lion Sleeps Tonight</span> 1939 song by Solomon Linda

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube", through South African Gallo Record Company. Lyrics of Linda's original version were written in Zulu, while those of the English one were later written by George David Weiss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Del-Vikings</span> American doo-wop group

The Del-Vikings were an American doo-wop musical group that recorded several hit singles in the 1950s and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. The group is notable for the hit songs "Come Go with Me" and "Whispering Bells", and for having been a successful racially mixed musical group during a period of time when such groups were rare.

<i>Heres Little Richard</i> 1957 studio album by Little Richard

Here's Little Richard is the debut album by American musician Little Richard, released on March 4, 1957. Promoted as "six of Little Richard's hits and six brand new songs of hit calibre", the album compiles many of the A-sides and B-sides from Richard's hit singles including the Billboard top 40 entries "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Rip It Up" and "Jenny, Jenny" and the top 10 Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers hits "Ready Teddy", "She's Got It" and "Miss Ann".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tokens</span> American male doo-wop vocal group

The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", which borrowed heavily from the 1939 song "Mbube" by South African singer Solomon Linda. They are also known for having Neil Sedaka as an original member, before he pursued a solo career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown</span> American musician (1924–2005)

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He was best-known as a blues performer, but his music was often eclectic and also touched on genres including country, jazz and rock and roll. Brown won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, Alright Again!

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucky Peterson</span> American musician (1964–2020)

Judge Kenneth "Lucky" Peterson was an American musician who played contemporary blues, fusing soul, R&B, gospel and rock and roll. He was a vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist. Music journalist Tony Russell, in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray has said, "he may be the only blues musician to have had national television exposure in short pants."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy</span> 1941 hit song for The Andrews Sisters

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is a World War II jump blues song written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince which was introduced by The Andrews Sisters in the Abbott and Costello comedy film, Buck Privates (1941). The Andrews Sisters' Decca recording reached number six on the U.S. pop singles chart in the spring of 1941 when the film was in release. The song is ranked No. 6 on Songs of the Century. Bette Midler's 1972 recording of the song also reached the top ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Nolan Strong and the Diablos, also billed as The Diablos Featuring Nolan Strong, were an American, Detroit-based, R&B and doo-wop vocal group, best known for their songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter". They had one record that spent a week on the Billboard R&B chart, "The Way You Dog Me Around", which reached no. 12 in January 1956. The group was one of the more popular pre-Motown R&B acts in Detroit during the mid-1950s, through the early 1960s. Its original members were Nolan Strong, Juan Gutierrez, Willie Hunter, Quentin Eubanks, and Bob Edwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)</span> 1976 single by Rod Stewart

"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" is a song written by Rod Stewart, and recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama for his 1976 album A Night on the Town. The song, controversial at the time of release, proved to be a massive commercial success and became his second US chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100. It made its debut at number 81 on 2 October 1976 and rose quickly, climbing from number eight to the top of the chart on 13 November 1976, and remained on top for eight consecutive weeks until 8 January 1977. It was the longest stay of any song during 1976, the longest run at the top for a single in the US in over eight years (since the Beatles’ "Hey Jude" in November 1968), and the longest stay at number one for Rod Stewart in his entire recording career, and the final number one of that year. The song also peaked at No. 5 in the UK, No. 1 for six weeks in Canada, No. 3 in Australia and charted well in other parts of the world. It was the number 1 song on both Billboard's 1977 year-end chart and the year-end Canadian singles chart. It became the best-selling single of 1977 in the United States. As of 2018, it is the 19th-most popular song in the history of the chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deacon Blues</span> 1978 single by Steely Dan

"Deacon Blues" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1976 and recorded by their group Steely Dan on their 1977 album Aja. It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard charts and number 17 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 in June 1978. It also reached number 40 on the Easy Listening chart. In Canada, it peaked at number 14, a position it occupied for two weeks, and number 20 Adult Contemporary. In 2021, it was ranked No. 214 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Paul Evans is an American rock and roll singer and songwriter, who was most prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. As a performer, he had hits with the songs "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat", reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959), "Midnight Special" and "Happy-Go-Lucky Me".

The El Dorados were an American doo-wop group, who achieved their greatest success with the song "At My Front Door", a no. 1 hit on the US Billboard R&B chart in 1955.

<i>Rock n Soul</i> (Solomon Burke album) 1964 studio album by Solomon Burke

Rock 'N Soul is a 1964 studio album by Grammy Award winning musician Solomon Burke. The album contained seven top 100 hits. Originally released on LP on Atlantic Records, #8096, in July 1964, it was subsequently reissued in March, 1997, on the Sequel Records imprint, #RSACD 861. The album was also reissued in 1998 on the Collectables Records label in conjunction with a June, 1963, Burke album as If You Need Me/Rock 'n' Soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Players</span> American funk and R&B band

Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models featured in Playboy.

"If You Need Me" is a 1963 song co-written and originally recorded by Wilson Pickett. It was made into a bigger hit by Solomon Burke, who sent the song to #2 on the R&B charts that year.

Ray Rush is an American songwriter and record producer. After early collaborations with Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison, Rush moved into producing and promoting records of Texas musicians.

The Charades is a doo-wop, r&b group which was mostly active in California in the early to mid-1960s and has released a number of singles on various labels. One of the songs it recorded, which was associated with the surf genre, was "Surf 'n Stomp" on the Northridge label. The band also recorded for Tony Hilder's Impact label, and even had a release on a label owned by Fred Astaire. They had a minor hit with "Please Be My Love Tonight". The group, though it has been through some changes, still continues today, and has a history that spans six decades.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Thomas, Bryan (2008-01-01). "The Velvets - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic . Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  2. Nite, Norm N. Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock n' Roll (The Solid Gold Years). Thomas Y. Crowell (1974), p. 630.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 584. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  4. "The Complete Velvets - The Velvets : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic . Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  5. "Lubbock ISD: Dunbar Middle School". May 15, 2008. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008.
  6. 1 2 "The Dead Rock Stars Club 2013 January to June". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Archived from the original on 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  7. "Virgil Johnson (The Velvets)". Rockabillyeurope.com. 1935-12-29. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  8. "Mark Anthony Prince Obituary". Tributearchive.com. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  9. Doc Rock. "The 1970s". The Dead Rock Stars Club. Retrieved 2013-03-05.