|
|
|
|
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
I'm So Happy
(1956)
LYDIA
(1956)
HONEY
HONEY (1957)
I'm Not Too Young To Fall In Love (1957)
|
|
Years in activity :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
| 1956 | SP FURY 1000 (US) | |
| 1957 | SP FURY 1003 (US) |
Honey, Honey
|
| 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
|
| 1957 | SP END 1007 (US) |
I found out why / Tell me love |
| 1958 | SP JUANITA J-101 (US) |
Dance Girl
|
| 1958 | SP FURY 1000 (US) (repress) | |
| 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) | |
| 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
