"Best Of" - I guess that's better than "Greatest Hits" fo a vocal group which barely scraped the bottom of the charts with their most commercially successful efforts. That's not to say that their music wasn't good, it was just "out of time." While the group recorded from 1953 to 1963, the bulk of their output, mainly on M-G-M's Cub subsidiary, from 1958 to 1962, consisted of so-called "standards," often harking back to the 1930s, not exactly something a circa 1960 DJ would be likely to take off and run with. As a few sidelights, note that one of their Savoy tracks is actually entitled Hey Mae Ethyl NOT Hey Ethyl Mae, as it appears on the insert's track list; and that their 4 tracks for Decca in 1954 billed the group as "The Singing Wanderers."
Ray Pollard was the group's principal lead singer, and Unca Marvy Goldberg tells their story better than I ever could on his Website, so I refer you to him for in-depth group details.
I must say that, in the main, these guys gave quality performances, and I recommend their works highly to all lovers of vocal group harmony.
This CD is a definite "boot" with no credible provenance information, but that doesn't mean it's a bad CD. The "Onyx" label is a transparent ruse. I've no regrets about picking up on this one; go and do ye likewise (if ye can find it).
Tracks:
01 - For Your Love (Cub 9089) 1961
02 - A Teenage Quarrel (Orbit/Cub 9003) 1958
03 - Only When You're Lonely (Cub 9035) 1959
04 - I Could Make You Mine (Cub 9075) 1960
05 - There Is No Greater Love (Cub 9109) 1962
06 - Please (Cub 9023) 1959
07 - I'm Waiting In Green Pastures (Cub 9054) 1959
08 - I'll Never Smile Again (Cub 9094) 1961
09 - Great Jumpin' Catfish (Onyx 518) 1957
10 - Thinking Of You (Onyx 518) 1957
11 - She Wears My Ring (Cub 9099) 1961
12 - As Time Goes By (Cub 9109) 1962
13 - My Shining Hour (Cub 9003) 1958
14 - I'm Not Ashamed (Cub 9035) 1959
15 - A Little Too Long (Cub 9094) 1961
16 - Two Hearts On A Window Pane (Cub 9019) 1958
17 - Shadrach, Meshack & Abednego (Cub 9023) 1959
18 - Collecting Hearts (Cub 9019) 1958
19 - I Walked Through A Forest (Cub 9054) 1959
20 - Sally Goodheart (Cub 9089) 1961
21 - Somebody Else's Sweetheart (Cub 9099) 1961
22 - I Need You More (Cub 9075) 1960
23 - Three Roses (Decca 29298) 1954
24 - Don't Drop It (Decca 29230) 1954
25 - Hey Mae Ethyl (Savoy 1109) 1953
26 - My First, Last And Only Girl (Savoy unrel) 1954
27 - We Could Find Happiness (Savoy 1109) 1953
28 - Say Hey, Willie Mays (Decca 29230) 1954
29 - Don't Do Nothing I Wouldn't Do (Savoy unrel) 1954
30 - Wrong Party Again (Decca 29298) 1954
