The Ames Brothers were an American singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the

1950s File:1950s decade montage.png, 370x370px, Top, L-R: U.S. Marines engaged in street fighting during the Korean War, late September 1950; The first polio vaccine is developed by Jonas Salk.Centre, L-R: US tests its first thermonuclear bomb with co ...

for their

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

hits.

Biography

The Urick brothers were born in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...

. Joe (May 3, 1921 – December 22, 2007), Gene (February 13, 1924 – April 26, 1997), Vic (May 20, 1925 – January 23, 1978), and Ed (July 9, 1927 – May 21, 2023) formed the singing group the Amory Brothers, which would become the Ames Brothers. Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were raised to enjoy

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and operatic music. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were Russian Jewish immigrants from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

who read

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and semi-

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen. Three of the brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

bases entertaining the

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...

when they were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

, one of the fanciest clubs in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. This one-week engagement turned into several months when positive word-of-mouth about their appearance got around. At the time, they were using Vic's middle name and calling themselves the Amory Brothers. They were becoming quite popular in the area and it was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. Taking their act to New York City, they got a job with bandleader Art Mooney. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler of

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

overheard them singing it and asked them to cut a few sides for Decca Records, just before the AFM recording ban which James Petrillo imposed in January 1948. The ban was lifted a year later. The brothers shortened Amory to Ames and became the first artists to record for the newly founded

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

, a subsidiary of Decca. The group sang on Robert Q. Lewis's radio program until it was cut from one hour to 15 minutes. In late February 1949 they began performing on ''

Sing It Again ''Sing It Again'' is an American radio musical quiz program that was broadcast on CBS from May 29, 1948, through June 23, 1951. A television simulcast began on October 7, 1950. Overview ''Sing It Again'' offered people listening at home opportun ...

'', a musical quiz program on CBS radio. The brothers were swept into national top billing with their first hit record, "

Rag Mop "Rag Mop" was a popular American song of the late 1940s–early 1950s. This 12-bar blues song, written by Tulsa western swing bandleader Johnnie Lee Wills and steel guitarist Deacon Anderson, was published in 1949. Considered a novelty song, t ...

", in January 1950. Doing radio shows for free at times, just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as ''

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends ''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 12, 1949, to June 1957 (as ''The Arthur Godfrey Show'' after September 1956), then agai ...

''. One of the first acts to appear on the original ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' when it was known as ''Toast of the Town'', the foursome made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from

Wanamaker's Wanamaker's was an American department store chain founded in 1861 by John Wanamaker. It was one of the first department stores in the United States, and peaked at 16 locations along the Delaware Valley in the 20th century. Wanamaker's was pur ...

Department Store. Soon, the Ames Brothers were the top paid group in nightclubs and

supper clubs A supper club is a traditional dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class imag ...

everywhere and their popularity on television was nationwide. In 1956, they starred in their own syndicated TV program, ''The Ames Brothers Show'', sponsored by

RC Cola RC Cola (short for Royal Crown Cola) is a carbonated cola beverage owned in the United States by Keurig Dr Pepper and internationally by RC Global Beverages, Inc. History In 1901, the Cole-Hampton-Hatcher Grocery Store was established in Col ...

and broadcast on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated TV show to be broadcast in foreign countries. The brothers also appeared on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

.'' Over their fifteen-year career, the Ames Brothers prolific work notched up 49 US

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

in 1953. The quartet disbanded in 1963, but Ed Ames continued with a successful singing and acting career, including playing

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

's sidekick, Mingo, on the popular ''

'' television series.

Legacy

They were inducted into the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...

in 1998.

After disbanding

Vic died in a car accident in 1978 at age 52, Gene died of cancer in 1997 at age 73, and Joe died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 86. Ed, the last surviving member, died in 2023 at the age of 95.

Discography

Singles

NOTE: Repeat titles of Coral tracks shown below are standard singles and not under Coral's "Silver Star Series" reissue line

Albums

*''Sing a Song of Christmas'' (1950) *''Sweet Leilani'' (1951) *''Sentimental Me'' (1951) *''Home on the Range'' (1952) *''Favorite Spirituals'' (1952) *''Hoop-De-Doo'' (1952) *''In the Evening by the Moonlight'' (1953) *''Love's Old Sweet Songs'' (1955) *''The Magic Melting Pot of Melody'' with

Hugo Winterhalter Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his many arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor. Biography Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, ...

and His Orchestra (1956) *'' Exactly Like You'' with

Joe Reisman Joseph Reisman (September 16, 1924 – September 15, 1987) was an American musician (tenor and baritone saxophone, clarinet), bandleader, arranger, and record producer in the swing era. Reisman was born in Dallas in 1924 and studied at Baylor U ...

and His Orchestra (1956) *''The Ames Brothers'' with

and His Orchestra (1956) *''My Love Serenade'' (1957) *''The Sounds of Christmas Harmony'' (1957) *''There'll Always Be a Christmas'' with

Sid Ramin Sidney Nathan RaminGates, Anita ''The New York Times'', July 5, 2019. Accessed April 15, 2020. (January 22, 1919 – July 1, 2019) was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer. Life Sidney Nathan Ramin (or Sidney Norton Ramin), born in ...

's Orchestra (1957) *''Destination Moon'' with

's Orchestra (1958) *''Smoochin' Time'' with

's Orchestra (1958) *''The Best of the Ames'' (1958) *''The Ames Brothers Sing the Best in the Country'' (1959) *''The Ames Brothers Sing Famous Hits of Famous Quartets'' with

and His Orchestra (1959) *''Hello Amigos'' with

Esquivel Esquivel is a surname of Basque origin as well as a place name. Origin The last name ''Esquivel''/''Esquibel'' has its origins in the village of Esquivel, located in the ayuntamiento of Mendoza, Álava, in Euskadi. Meaning Usually surnames wer ...

's Orchestra (1960) *''The Blend and the Beat'' (1960) *''Hello Italy!'' (arranged by Bill McElhiney) (1963) *''Knees Up! Mother Brown'' (1963) *''For Sentimental Reasons'' (1964) *''Down Memory Lane with the Ames Brothers'' (1964) *''This Is The Ames Brothers'' (1972) *''The Best of the Ames'' (1975; reissue of the 1958 LP) *''The Very Best Of The Ames Brothers'' (1998)

References

External links

Vocal Group Hall of Fame page on The Ames BrothersObituary
in the

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

Ames Brothers' Facebook page
Videos, Conversations, Photos, The history of the Ames Brothers
The Ames Brothers recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames Brothers Family musical groups Musical groups from Massachusetts Jewish American musicians People from Malden, Massachusetts Vocal quartets Decca Records artists RCA Victor artists Epic Records artists American pop music groups Traditional pop music singers Brother quartets Coral Records artists Signature Records artists Musical groups established in 1947 Musical groups disestablished in 1963 1947 establishments in Massachusetts 1963 disestablishments in Massachusetts Sibling musical quartets American vocal groups