The Paradons are an American
doo wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...
vocal group from
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region.
Bakersfield's population as of th ...
, United States, that formed in 1959.
The group began by singing locally at school dances and clubs. Within a few months they secured a recording session with
Werly Fairburn
Werly Fairburn (November 27, 1924 – January 18, 1985) was an American rockabilly musician.
Fairburn was born near Folsom, Louisiana. In his youth, he listened to the ''Grand Ole Opry'' and old-time music ("hillbilly music") on the radio. He le ...
's Milestone Records
—not to be confused with the
like-named jazz label founded by
Orrin Keepnews
Orrin Keepnews (March 2, 1923 – March 1, 2015) was an American jazz writer and record producer known for founding Riverside Records and Milestone Records, for freelance work, and for his work at other labels.
Biography Early life
Keepnews ...
about six years later—and recorded eight songs. Their first release with the label, "Diamonds and Pearls" / "I Want Love", became a hit in the US, peaking at number 27 on the US ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
R&B 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 ...
and number 18 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1960.
The group appeared on ''
American Bandstand
''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
'' and at the
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
in the wake of its success.
The group soon broke up over monetary disputes, having been together less than a year.
Biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
Despite the group's demise, Milestone continued releasing singles from their initial recording sessions, but these releases – "Bells Ring", "Take All of Me", and "I Had a Dream" – did not chart.
Discogs.com 26-05-2015 May 25, 2015
Members
*William Powers
Charles Arbuckle
*Billy Meyers
* Chuck Weldon
*West Tyler
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paradons, The
Doo-wop groups
Musical groups from Bakersfield, California
American rhythm and blues musical groups