From:  "Gino A." 
Date:  Sat Jan 8, 2005  11:49 am 
Subject:  Scan Do - The Avalons


The Avalons

By Jason Amal - from Big Town Review - Issue #1 - Feb.-Mar. 1972

The Avalons were formed in 1946. The original members were James Dozier, 1st lead and 
tenor from Norfolk, Va.; Charles Crowley, baritone and tenor from Newport News, Va.; 
George Cox, lead and tenor from Norfolk, Va.; Bernard Purdie, bass from Newport News, 
Va,; and Maryland Pierce, 2nd tenor from Newport News, Va. They all lived within four 
miles of each other. Bernard Purdie was the group's organizer, and the one who thought 
up the idea of naming the group after a mountain in Europe. 

After a year of singing in local clubs, Bernard Purdie quit the group because nothing 
was happening. He went into the service and the rest of the group split up. When he 
got out, he went back to Virginia and reformed the Avalons with the same original 
members (except for Maryland Pierce). Bernard had no trouble finding them because 
they were, and still are, living in the same places. They all had the same idea, 
"to become big". 

When Bernard reformed the group, he found that Maryland Pierce was no longer 
available; he had just joined a new group in town called the Five Keys. The Avalons 
were short a man, so they asked Raphael "Ray" Ingram, false and tenor from Newport 
News, to join them. Ray had also just gotten out of the service. Before joining the 
service, Ray sang with the Sentimental Four (Bernard and Rudy West, and Ray and 
Ripley Ingram) who later, with Dickey Smith, became the Five Keys. After singing with 
the Keys for about five months, he joined the service. The Five Keys being short a 
man, asked Maryland to join them because the Avalons had already broken up at that 
time. So, the Avalons got Ray from the Five Keys, and the Five Keys got Maryland from 
the Avalons. Actually, the Five Keys, the Avalons, and the Leaders (of "Stormy 
Weather" on Glory) all know each other very well, for they have all grown up together 
and attended the same schools. If you've noticed that the Avalons have the same type 
of harmony as the Five Keys, you now know why.

The Avalons were all church-going fellows and were, for the most part, exposed to 
gospel music. They were originally singing spiritual tunes at church for $5 apiece. 
When they switched to Rhythm and Blues they got themselves a big contract in Canada 
for the "Silas Green Show", which was a traveling tent show. The first night they 
appeared they were the first act on the bill, but by the second night they were the 
stars of the show. 

The Avalons' manager, Fanny Wolf, got them a recording contract with Groove. They 
recorded "Chains Around My Heart" which reached #6 in Maryland but did nothing 
anywhere else. Then their manager died and the push stopped along with everything 
else. They continued touring in Canada for a few more years, but nothing new was 
happening recordwise. Groove released their second record "Sugar Sugar", but it went 
nowhere, and as a result nothing else was released. The group finally broke up while 
doing a gig at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1958. Charles Crowley, 
fed up with the constant touring and being away from his family, quit - just a few 
minutes before going on stage. The other four finished the show, but I don't think 
they enjoyed doing it because as Bernard said, "We felt like we had lost someone in 
death". That night the Avalons broke up for good. Ray and Bernard are now living in 
Canada, and the others are back in their home towns where they have lived all their 
lives. Charles Crowley is now a preacher in his home town in Virginia. 

These guys were all very close. The group sang with a very, very high harmony thanks 
to Ray Ingram and George Cox. Ray had an offer to sing lead for the Ink Spots, and 
George had offers to sing with the Platters and the Flamingos; but they wouldn't 
leave the group even though they could have made ten times as much money. That's how 
close they were. That's why when Charles Crowley left, they broke up. A part of them 
died and they didn't want to replace him with anyone else.