The first tenor of the Bronx group, the
Regents, Sal Cuomo, died on
June 10. (Guy Villari was the lead singer.) Cuomo had been a recluse and in poor health for many years. The Regents had a top 10
hit in 1961 with “Barbara Ann,” followed by a lesser hit,
“Runaround.” “Barbara Ann” was covered by the Beach Boys in
1965. A parody of this song, “Bomb Iran,” was recorded during
the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980 by Vince Vance and the Valiants.
The song returned to prominence when John McCain sang it during the
2008 presidential campaign, when it was situationally inappropriate, helping Barack Obama to win the election.
Cornelius “Nini” Harp,
lead singer of the Marcels, died in Homestead, PA on June 5. The
Marcels were a bi-racial Pittsburgh group who had a #1
R&B hit, “Blue Moon,” in 1961. It, and a followup,
“Heartaches,” are best remembered for the power bass part by
Fred Johnson. Harp's lead singing
can be better appreciated on this ballad, “Goodbye to Love.”
The Marcels are members of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In spite of the group's popularity in Pittsburgh, no obituary of Harp appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Here are the original members reunited for one of T. J. Lubinsky's PBS specials.
The
bass singer of the Youngstown, Ohio group, the Edsels, Marshall
Sewell, died of esophageal cancer on June 5 at the age of 75. The group originally recorded
“Rama Lama Ding Dong” in 1958, but it went nowhere. Due to a
printing error, the label read “Lama Rama Ding Dong,” making this
disc a collector's item. It was reissued in 1961 and became a best
seller, but their only hit. Sewell was a Cleveland policeman for
many years.
Jimmy Steward,
the last member of the late '40s-early '50s supergroup, the Ravens, died
May 18 in Jacksonville, FL at age 86. He was a substitute member
during the Ravens' declining years, replacing Leonard Puzey as second
tenor from 1951-1953 while Puzey was in the service. He rejoined
them in 1954 and stayed until they broke up in 1956. Although he was
usually in the background, on this song, “Green Eyes,” he sings
second lead to bass man Jimmy Ricks.
Finally,
Moses “King Moe” Uzzell,
of the Corsairs died on May 11 in Newark, NJ. He was 80. The
Corsairs, from LaGrange, NC, consisted of three brothers, Jay “Bird”
Uzzell, the lead singer, James and Moses, and their cousin, George
Wooten. Their 1962 hit, “Smoky Places,” had a similar sound to
the early '60s Drifters. Its lyrics were slightly more adult than
the typical pop song of that era. Their followup, “I'll Take You Home,” was
covered by the Drifters.
I'm
grateful to the editors of Blues
and Rhythm, a great magazine from England, for keeping me up to date on R&B
deaths that typically don't make the newspapers in this country.
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