Groupe Doo Wop US de New York, Lewis Lymon & The Teenchords comprenaient Louis Lymon, Ralph Vaughan, Rossilio Pocca, Lyndon Harold et David Little. Lewis Lymon est le frère de Frankie Lymon.

Following in the footsteps of his older brother, the legendary Frankie Lymon, Lewis Lymon also made an attempt at rock & roll stardom. And though his group, the Teenchords, never enjoyed the level of success achieved by Frankie's Teenagers, they still carved out a significant niche for themselves in the ranks of 1950s rock & roll Vocals groups.
The Lymon family was a musical one, with the father, Howard Lymon singing in a local gospel group, the Harlemaires. Lewis had previously sung with the Harlemaires Juniors along with brothers Frankie and Howard Jr.. And in 1956, with the success the Teenagers were having, it was not surprising that Lewis wanted to take a stab at it too. The Harlem-based Teenchords even had a similar-sounding name to the pace-setting Teenagers. The group consisted of Lewis Lymon (lead), Ralph Vaughan (first tenor), Rossilio Rocca (second tenor), Lyndon Harold (baritone), and David Little (bass).
The Teenchords didn't even have to leave Harlem to be discovered and recorded. On a visit to the Apollo to hear the Teenagers, Lewis and his group were tipped off that local entrepreneur Bobby Robinson was looking for new talent. Robinson owned a record store in Harlem and was also a record producer who had already started two record labels, Red Robin and Whirlin' Disc. The fledgling Teenchords group went to Robinson's shop and introduced themselves. When Robinson learned that Frankie Lymon's brother, Lewis, was in the group, he was quite receptive to an on-the-spot audition. the Teenchords performed "Who Can Explain," a Teenagers song. Convinced that the young lads could sing, and with the Lymon name to go along with it, Robinson signed the Teenchords on the spot.
For their first recording, Robinson tried to come up with something that would be catchy and appealing to a teenage audience. First he came up with a Vocals riff. He had the group keep singing ad nauseum, until finally he came up with suitable lyrics to go with it. And so "I'm So Happy" was born. The flip side, "Lydia," was penned by Lymon and relates to a girl he knew from his neighborhood. The tunes were issued on Robinson's newly formed Fury label and released in late 1956. The record never charted nationally, but had respectable East Coast sales. In a January 1957 trade ad, Robinson boasted the disc had sold 40,000 copies in its first ten days in the New York, Philadelphia, and Boston markets. In fact, four years later, in 1961, a young record producer named Phil Spector would cover the record with a group called the Ducanes. the Teenchords' second record, and perhaps their best two-sider, was released in March of 1957. It paired the up-tempo "Honey, Honey" with a nice ballad, "Please Tell the Angels." the Teenchords maintained an active performance schedule. They returned to the Apollo, but this time as performers rather than fans, and also appeared at the Paramount on an Alan Freed extravaganza. A June 1957 press release announced that the Teenchords would be featured in a new film, "The Hit Record," along with a bevy of other rock & roll acts. When the film made it to the screen, the title had been changed to Jamboree. The group's last Fury release, also in 1957, was "I'm Not Too Young to Fall in Love" backed with "Falling in Love."
Apparently the Teenchords had fallen out of love with Bobby Robinson. They had supposedly been signed to a two-year contract with Robinson, but by September 1957 George Goldner was announcing that he had signed the Teenchords to his End label, although it appears that there was never an official contract signed. The label move came on the heels of a tour the Teenchords had made in the British West Indies with the Bullmoose Jackson Orchestra. Their first End waxing of "Too Young" paired with "Your Last Chance" received excellent ratings from Billboard. You can see the Teenchords perform "Your Last Chance" in the Jamboree motion picture. But, like their Fury recordings, their End releases would also not chart nationally. Their second and last End recording matched "Tell Me Love" with "I Found Out Why," which was a lackluster answer song to the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love." Both sides received very good ratings from Billboard. Spurred by a demand for "oldies" in the early '60s, Goldner reissued "Too Young," this time paired with "I Found Out Why" in 1962.
When two of the Teenchords, Little and Harold, were discovered in a stolen automobile, the fate of the group was all but sealed. Mrs. Lymon would not allow her son to continue singing with the contingent. Some personnel changes were made, but shortly thereafter the group had disbanded. As the group's swan song, Goldner released a single on his Juanita label. "Dance Girl" backed with "Them There Eyes" came out in 1958 with little fanfare. Although the Teenchords were the first to record the Les Cooper-authored "Dance Girl," it had also been given to another group, the Charts. The Charts' version on Everlast beat the Teenchords to market and garnered most of the sales. Les Cooper & the Soul Rockers would have a hit in 1962 with the instrumental "Wiggle Wobble," and his Soul Rockers group included former Charts member Joe Grier on sax.
Following the breakup of the Teenchords, Lewis Lymon went on to record one more record as part of the Townsmen. Issued in 1961 on the PJ label, "I Can't Go On" had Lewis on lead. The flip side, "That's All I'll Ever Need," had Louis Vasquez handling the lead Vocals chores. The other members of the Townsmen were Ralph Ramos and McDuffy Swaggart. The record became an instant obscurity. A tour of duty in the armed forces in the early to mid-'60s removed Lewis from the music scene. By the time of his return, America had experienced the British Invasion and the shape of teenage rock & roll had changed dramatically from the heyday of doo wop.
In the early '70s, when another "oldies" revival was sweeping the Northeast, Lewis re-formed the Teenchords and played at a number of venues. In the years since then, he has at times performed with other aggregations of the Teenchords. In 2003, he performed as a member of Frankie Lymon's Teenagers with original members Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago. Louie Lymon & the Teenchords' End and Fury recordings are available on a CD issued by Relic Records.

Talents : Louis : Lead - Ralph : First Tenor - Rossilio : Second Tenor - Lyndon : Baritone - David : Bass

Style musical : Doo Wop, Rhythm 'n' Blues

https://youtu.be/0wH_0-rwG6c

I'm So Happy (1956)

LYDIA (1956)

HONEY HONEY (1957)

I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love (1957)

DANCE GIRL (1959)

Years in activity :

1910 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles

1956 SP FURY 1000 (US)

I'm So Happy / Lydia

1957 SP FURY 1003 (US)

Honey, Honey / Please Tell The Angels

09/1957 SP END 1003 (US)

Too Young / Your last chance

1957 SP FURY 1006 (US)

I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Falling In Love

1957 SP END 1007 (US)

I found out why / Tell me love

1958 SP JUANITA J-101 (US)

Dance Girl / Them There Eyes

1958 SP FURY 1000 (US) (repress)

I'm So Happy / Lydia

1962 SP END 1113 (US)

I found out Why / Too Young

01/1965 SP ROULETTE GG-60 Money (MIRACLES) / Too Young (TEENCHORDS)
1973 SP BIM BAM BOOM 114 (US) Dance Girl / Them There Eyes
1973 SP ROULETTE GG-98 (US) I Found Out Why / Too Young
1978 SP Goldisc G 3033 (US) Teenage Vows Of Love (The DREAMERS) / Dance Girl (Lewis Lymon & The Teenchords)
1981 SP LOST NITE LN-357 (US) I'm So Happy (Tra-La-La-La-La-La) / Lydia
1981 SP LOST NITE LN-360 (US) Honey Honey (You Don't Know) / Please Tell The Angels
1981 SP LOST NITE LN-364 (US) I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Falling In Love
1984 SP STARLIGHT 21 (US)

I want you to be my girl / Please Tell The Angels

1985 SP STARLIGHT 25 (US)

Dance Girl / Honey, Honey

198? SP Collectables / Back To Back Hit Series COL 0157 (US) Your Last Chance / Too Young
1994 SP PARK AVENUE 9 (US)

Never let you go / I found out why

199? SP Collectables 1610 (US) I'm So Happy (Tra-La-La-La-La-La) / Lydia
199? SP Collectables 1611 (US) Honey Honey (You Don't Know) / Please Tell The Angels
199? SP Collectables 1612 (US) I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Falling In Love
199? SP Collectables 1720 (US) Your Last Chance / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love
199? SP Collectables / Back To Back Hit Series COL 3970 (US) Dance Girl / Them There Eyes
???? SP Trip Oldie TR-69 (US) Oh Gee, Oh Gosh (The Kodaks) / I'm So Happy (TEEN CHORDS)









Albums

1981 LP 10" LOST NITE LLP-13 (US) The Best Of Lewis Lymon And The Teenchords - Honey Honey / Please Tell The Angels / Lydia / I'm So Happy / Falling In Love / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love
1990 CD RELIC 5084 (US) THE BEST OF the Teenchords FEATURING LOUIS LYMON - I'm So Happy / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Dance Girl / Your Last Chance / Tell Me Love / Too Young / Please Tell The Angels / Lydia / Falling In Love / Your Last Chance / Honey Honey / I Found Out Why / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Them There Eyes
1992 CD RELIC 7028 (US) I'm So Happy - Louie Lymon & the Teenchords - I'm So Happy / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Dance Girl / Your Last Chance / Tell Me Love / Too Young / Please Tell The Angels / Lydia / Falling In Love / Your Last Chance / Honey Honey / I Found Out Why / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Them There Eyes
1994 CD COLLECTABLES 5049 (US) LEWIS LYMON AND THE TEENCHORDS MEET THE KODAKS - I'm So Happy / Lydia / Honey, Honey / Please Tell The Angels / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love / Falling In Love / Your Last Chance / Too Young / Dance Girl / Them There Eyes / Tell Me Love / I Found Out Why / I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love (alternate take) / Teenager's Dream (Kodaks) / Little Boy And Girl (Kodaks) / Oh Gee Oh Gosh (Kodaks) / Runaround Baby (Kodaks) / Kingless Castle (Kodaks) / My Baby And Me (Kodaks) / Guardian Angel (Kodaks) / Make Believe World (Kodaks)
2002 CD Mad Hands MHR004 (US)

American Masters Sing The Blues - VOL 1 - Bobby Lewis, Pookie Hudson, Lewis Lymon - I Need Somebody / All Your Love I Miss Lovin' / Nothing But The Blues / Natural Ball / Same Old Blues / Two Bones And A Pick / Unemployed / My Babe / Business Man / Feel So Bad / Frosty / Tossin' And Turnin' / Shes's A Good 'Un

© Rocky Productions 27/08/2015