From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Sun Aug 29, 2004 2:33 am Subject: This Is My Story : The Dominoes (Part 2) THE DOMINOES - PART 2: AFTER CLYDE (By Steve Walker) We left the story of the Dominoes in the summer of 1953 (message # 20227 - 7 February 2004). Formed in 1950 by Billy Ward, the group, built around the remarkable lead tenor of Clyde McPhatter and the rumbling bass of Bill Brown, had become one of the leading r&b vocal groups of the early 1950's. Their hits included the Bill Brown-led million-seller, "Sixty Minute Man" (the first true r&b record to cross over onto the Pop charts), "That's What You're Doing To Me", "Have Mercy Baby" and "The Bells". They were touring non-stop to "sold-right-out" audiences wherever they travelled and were topping many popularity polls of the time. However, all was not well within the personnel of the group. Billy Ward kept a tight rein on the boys, especially as far as their finances were concerned. Charlie White and Bill Brown had already quit the group to be replaced by James Van Loan and David McNeil respectively and in April, 1953, Clyde McPhatter announced that he was leaving the Dominoes and moving to Atlantic Records where he would form his own group, the Drifters. Fortunately for Billy Ward, he had Clyde's replacement waiting in the wings. Around September of 1952, Ward had been approached by Jackie "Sonny" Wilson, a former Golden Gloves fighter and possessor of a remarkable tenor voice: not the same as Clyde's but powerful and exciting also. Jackie had done a couple of tunes for Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee label in late 1951 or early 1952 ("Danny Boy" and "The Rainy Day Blues") and had been in a Detroit group called the Four Falcons along with future Four Tops luminary, Levi Stubbs. But Jackie had bigger ambitions. Ward took him along on a Dominoes tour, so he learned the routines and was ready when Clyde left. The last Clyde-led release was in April 1953: "Don't Leave Me This Way" (an oldie recorded in 1951) and "These Foolish Things". In June it entered the charts, finally peaking at #5. Only James Van Loan remained from the earlier Dominoes group when they re-entered the studio in June 1953. The new members were: lead tenor Jackie Wilson, second tenor Milton Merle, and bass Cliff Givens (who had been in the Ink Spots, the Golden Gate Quartet, and the Melody Masters). This session produced "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" (lead Jackie Wilson) and "Where Now Little Heart" (lead Billy Ward) which was released in July as Federal 12139 and eventually reached #8 in the R&B charts - despite personnel changes, the Dominoes were still a hit-making group. In August of 1953 the Dominoes (along with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope) performed for President Eisenhower in Denver. The group also performed at Alan Freed's "Second Annual Moondog Birthday Party" show. The next studio session was held in October 1953 and produced their first single on parent label King - "Rags To Riches" (a magnificent lead vocal by Jackie) c/w "Don't Thank Me" (King 1280, October 1953) plus their Christmas follow-up, "Ringing In A Brand New Year" c/w "Christmas In Heaven" (King 1281, November 1953). "Rags To Riches", a cover of the Tony Bennett pop hit, made it to #2 in the R&B charts, but it was the last Dominoes record to chart for close to four years. This same October session resulted in a further release - December's "My Baby's 3-D" featuring a lead vocal by Billy Ward himself and based around the current 3-D movie fad. The flip was the Jackie Wilson-led "Until The Real Thing Comes Along" (Federal 12162). Two Dominoes records were released in April 1954, one for the r&b market ("Tootsie Roll" c/w "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town" - Federal 12178) and the other, on King, aimed at the pop market ("Tenderly" c/w "A Little Lie" - King 1342). This attempt to sell the group to both markets continued through 1954 - "Handwriting On The Wall" c/w "One Moment With You" (Federal 12184, May 1954); "Three Coins In The Fountain" c/w "Lonesome Road" (King 1364, June 1954); "Little Things Mean A Lot" c/w "I Really Don't Want To Know" (King 1368, June 1954) and "Above Jacob's Ladder" c/w "Little Black Train" (Federal 12193, August 1954). Most of these recordings feature Jackie Wilson on lead vocals, sometimes with Billy Ward also featuring. Through the summer of 1954, Billy Ward and King-Federal boss Syd Nathan were locked in a tug-of-war over the Dominoes contract. Although they recorded and released a single on Jerry Blaine's Jubilee label - "Gimme Gimme Gimme" c/w "Come To Me Baby" (Jubilee 5163, October 1954), Nathan held them to a clause in their contract which locked them up until they had recorded another twelve sides. In November 1954, James Van Loan left the Dominoes and was briefly replaced by his brother, Joe, tenor voice with the Ravens. Prentice Moreland from the Du Droppers also had a brief tenure with the group in late 1954, early 1955, and it was Jackie Wilson, Prentice Moreland, Milton Merle and Cliff Givens who recorded a session in January 1955 which produced their next release, "Can't Do Sixty No More" (not the Du Droppers' song from a couple of years earlier) c/w "If I Never Get To Heaven" (Federal 12209, February 1955). The Dominoes were booked for a 16-week stint at the Sahara in Las Vegas, beginning in February 1955. They played six days a week, from 6 pm to midnight, at which time Louis Prima continued the night's entertainment. During this period, Prentice Moreland concluded his brief stay with the group and was replaced with Milton Grayson. Prentice Moreland was in and out of the group after that, never staying for any length of time. He had an unusually high voice and is best remembered for the six words he squealed on the Cadets' "Stranded In The Jungle": "Great googa mooga, lemme outta here!" By the end of 1955, the Dominoes had fulfilled their contractual obligations to King/Federal and signed to Decca Records, where Billy Ward felt that he would be in a better position to fulfil his ambition to break the group in a big way into the pop market. The first Decca single was released in June of 1956: "St. Therese Of The Roses" (Jackie Wilson on lead vocal) c/w "Home Is Where You Hang Your Heart" (Decca 29933) made it to #13 on the Pop charts remaining for 15 weeks. They followed it up with "Will You Remember" c/w "Come On Snake Let's Crawl" (Decca 30043) in October. When that failed to take off (as would all remaining Decca releases) it was followed by "Half A Love" c/w "Evermore" (Decca 30149) in December. In early 1957, Jackie Wilson got into a fist-fight with Billy Ward and was sacked. He returned to Detroit and signed with Brunswick, where he would shortly hit the big time with Berry Gordy's "Reet Petite" (Brunswick 55024, August 1957). In April, Billy Ward opted to switch labels again and took the group to Liberty. Decca continued to release singles and an L.P. throughout 1957. Eugene Mumford, previously with the Larks (for their story, see message #20391), was signed to replace Jackie Wilson when the group arrived at Liberty. By now, the group had completely forsaken their r&b origins and were recording in a straight pop format. In May 1957, the Dominoes released the magnificent Eugene Mumford bellow, "Stardust" c/w "Lucinda (the b-side featuring Billy Ward on lead vocal) (Liberty 55071). "Stardust" was the pop hit that Billy had been hoping for. It peaked at #12, remaining on the charts for a respectable 24 weeks. This put them squarely into the big time - now the Dominoes would spend six months a year in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Los Angeles. Around June 1957, Liberty released the "Sea Of Glass" album, containing religious and inspirational songs, and in August they released the follow-up single, "Deep Purple" c/w "Do It Again" (Liberty 55099) which followed "Stardust" into the Pop charts, reaching a peak of #20. That was the end of the Dominoes' chart career, and the start of the end for the group. With various personnel changes (although always under the leadership of Billy Ward), the group recorded unsuccessfully for ABC Paramount in 1959 and 1960. By 1962, what was once the magnificence of one of the finest r&b groups of all time had become a supper-club trio consisting of Billy Ward, Monroe Powell and Milton Merle - a sad and subdued ending for the Dominoes, r&b vocal group pioneers who, at various times during the 1950's, featured Clyde McPhatter, Jackie Wilson and Eugene Mumford as their lead singer. Have Mercy Baby. Web sites: Marv Goldberg's R&B Articles at: http://home.att.net/~marvy42/Dominoes/dom01.html J.C. Marion's DooWop Nation at: http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/contents_14.html Reading: "The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups", Jay Warner CD's: Most Dominoes compilations feature songs led by both Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson - double enjoyment: Billy Ward & His Dominoes - Famous Groove FG 97 2001 (1999) (also includes two Little Esther duets and two Eugene Mumford-led tracks, one of which is "Stardust" - sheer bliss!) The Very Best Of Billy Ward & The Dominoes - Collectables COL CD 2827 (2002) Sixty Minute Men - Rhino 6909624 (1993)