THE ORCHIDS - by Al Kelly

I love two types of Group Harmony, the mid 50s R&B  and the early 60's
"white"Doo-Wop and this  group  has that mid 50's sound that shows some
great group singing. The Orchids have always been a group that has caused
some great discussions on if this is the group that was on the King
label in '53, many say no, it's adifferent group but many swear they're
the same group. Several say the King group were the Gentleman on Apollo
Records in '54.The Parrot Orchids were interviewed by Bob Pruter, noted
Chicago music writer and none of the group ever mentioned the King
recordings. Appreciate any thoughts on this debate. Gilbert Warren was
the lead singer  and formerly was with the Five Thrills before forming
the Orchids. The Parrot label was owned by Al Benson and Ewart Abner
(part owner) and the group  had only two releases for Parrot before it
closed it's doors. After this the group split up.  Interesting is many
of the unreleased Parrot recording saw their way  into a Vee Jay  album
and other just sat in Vee Jay's archives, I believe thanks to Abner, who
was connected with Vee Jay Records.