The Virtues were an early American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States.

History

The group formed around leader Frank Virtue (January 21, 1923 – June 11, 1994), who played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

as a child and took up the guitar and the

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

as a teenager. He continued with the latter as a member of the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

and studied orchestration at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

. He enlisted in the

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 ...

in 1945 and became bandleader of the Regular Navy Dance Band in

United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge (USNTC Bainbridge) was the U.S. Navy Training Center at Port Deposit, Maryland, on the bluffs of the northeast bank of the Susquehanna River. It was active from 1942 to 1976 under the Commander of ...

. He was discharged in 1946 because his father, who had been diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, could no longer support his family. The Virtues

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 ...

Virtue considered putting together a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

but, due to financial constraints, assembled an amplified trio instead, with Ralph Frederico on the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

Steve Rossi Joseph Charles Michael Tafarella (May 25, 1932 – June 22, 2014), better known as Steve Rossi, was an American stand-up comedian and singer, best known from his work with Marty Allen as Allen & Rossi. Early life Born in New York City in 1932 ...

on the guitar. Virtue named the band the Virtuoso Trio after their formation in 1947. The Virtuoso Trio toured the regional club circuit for the better part of a decade, playing as far as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and making regular appearances on

radio and television. They performed as a backup ensemble for

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), better known by her stage name Patti Page, was an American singer. Primarily known for Pop music, pop and Country music, country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and b ...

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentine singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, televi ...

June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued ...

, and others. When local Pennsylvanians Bill Haley & the Comets hit big in the mid-1950s, Virtue found a receptive audience in the teenagers who loved the nascent rock and roll craze. By this time, the group's lineup had expanded, with Virtue on the bass, John Renner on the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

, Jimmy Bruno on guitar, Joe Vespe on

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, and Dave Kaplin as an occasional vocalist. Under the name the Virtues, they released a rock reworking of

Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith Arthur Smith (April 1, 1921 – April 3, 2014) was an American musician, composer, and record producer, as well as a radio and TV host. He produced radio and TV shows; ''The Arthur Smith Show'' was the first nationally syndicated country music ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

hit " Guitar Boogie" in 1958 under the title " Guitar Boogie Shuffle", on the Hunt label. The instrumental became a major hit in the U.S., peaking at #27 on the Black Singles chart and #5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1959.

Billboard Singles 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 advertise ...

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 ...

The single also became a

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

smash, selling well worldwide. Several singles followed – "Flippin", "Boogie Woogie", "Vaya con Dios" – but none of them succeeded; the group was signed by

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...

, but their only return to the charts was with the 1962 release "Guitar Boogie Shuffle Twist" (U.S. #95). Toward the end of 1962, Virtue disbanded the group and pursued a career as a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

. His studio, Virtue Recording Studios, located at 1618 N. Broad St., was one of the top studios in Philadelphia for a number of years until closing in the early 1980s. Producing and mixing (with his wife Mary Anne Virtue) groups such as "Society's Child", a top 40 band from the

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

area.Society's Child (Self-titled album). Virtue Studio Records. Liner notes. His original studio, in the basement of his house on Fayette Street, was where "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" was originally recorded.

Collectables Records Collectables Records is an American reissue record label, founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene also formed the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. History It maintains a catalogue of over 3,400 active titles on compact disc, with thousands ...

released a collection of Virtues instrumentals in 1993 as ''Guitar in Orbit''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Virtues, The Musical groups from Philadelphia Smash Records artists