The El Dorados were an American
doo-wop group, who achieved their greatest success with the song "
At My Front Door", a no. 1 hit on the US ''
Billboard''
R&B chart in 1955.
History
The group formed in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, United States, in 1952,
originally as "Pirkle Lee and the Five Stars". It comprised Pirkle Lee Moses Jr. (lead vocals), Louis Bradley and Arthur Basset (tenors), Jewel Jones (second tenor/baritone), James Maddox and Richard Nickens (both baritone/bass).
When Moses Jr. got out of the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
in 1954, they changed their name to The El Dorados.
Vivian Carter
Vivian Carter (March 25, 1921 – June 12, 1989) was an American record company executive who was a founder of Vee-Jay Records with her future husband, Jimmy Bracken. Carter was also a Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, radio disc jockey. V ...
heard them and signed them to her
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
label, making their first
recordings in mid 1954.
After a string of unsuccessful
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
, they recorded "
At My Front Door" (also known as "Crazy Little Mama") in 1955, and it rose to No. 1 on the
US ''
Billboard''
R&B chart, and No. 17 on the US
pop chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
.
Their follow-up, "I’ll Be Forever Loving You", also made the R&B top ten in early 1956.
After Basset and Nickens left the group, they continued to record as a quartet. The original group split up in 1957.
Moses stayed in Chicago and formed a new version of The El Dorados with John Brunson plus members of another group, The Kool Gents.
Meanwhile, Bradley, Jones and Maddox moved to California, and renamed themselves The Tempos.
The label dropped The El Dorados in 1958, and Moses Jr. subsequently toured with a succession of
backing vocalist
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
s.
In 1969, he resuscitated the group name with new members, at the same time as a former member of The Tempos, Johnny Carter, also toured with another set of El Dorados. The two competing groups merged in the late 1970s, and subsequently continued to tour and record as The El Dorados until Moses' death in 2000.
After Moses's death, Norman Palm, a long-time member since the late 1970s, took over and renamed the group Pirkle Lee Moses Jr's El Dorados, in tribute to his long-time colleague and friend. As of 2008, Pirkle Lee Moses Jr's El Dorados actively tours the Midwest, and the East Coast from time to time.
Discography
Singles
*Vee-Jay 115: "Baby I Need You" / "My Lovin' Baby"
*Vee-Jay 118: "Annie's Answer" / "Living with Vivian" (
A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
with Hazel McCollum / B-side
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
)
*Vee-Jay 127: "One More Chance" / "Little Miss Love"
*Vee-Jay 147: "
At My Front Door" / "What's Buggin' You, Baby?"
*Vee-Jay 165: "I'll Be Forever Loving You" / "I Began to Realize"
*Vee-Jay 180: "Now That You've Gone" / "Rock 'n' Roll's for Me"
*Vee-Jay 197: "A Fallen Tear" / "Chop Ling Soon"
*Vee-Jay 211: "Bim Bam Boom" / "There in the Night"
*Vee-Jay 250: "Tears on My Pillow" / "A Rose for My Darling"
*Vee-Jay 263: "Three Reasons Why" / "Boom Diddle Boom"
*Vee-Jay 302: "Lights Are Low" / "Oh, What a Girl"
References
External links
Career overview
{{DEFAULTSORT:El Dorados, The
Doo-wop groups
African-American musical groups
Vee-Jay Records artists