Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
Los Angeles in the late 1940s was teeming with music of all types. By then, it was still a major stop for touring big bands, a recording center for pop and a hotbed of bebop activity following the arrival and extended residency of Charlie Parker in 1946 and early '47. But after the rise of independent record labels in 1945, Los Angeles also became an R&B hive. Many factors contributed to R&B's rapid development there, not the least among them the drive and determination of Johnny Otis, a drummer who wrote blues songs, scouted talent, produced record dates and tapped into newly arrived jazz musicians waiting out the required six-month period for their L.A. union card.
One of the earliest R&B vocal groups in L.A. were the Robins, who began singing 1945 and were the first of the so-called "bird" groups to record. While they began as a teen alternative to the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers, the Robins pioneered a sound that would come to be known as doo wop. The Robins recorded between 1949 and 1961 for a string of labels, including Score, Aladdin, Savoy, RCA, Spark, Modern and Whippet. Original members included Bobby Nunn, Terrell "Ty" Leonard, Billy Richard and Roy Richard. [Picture above, as per Mike Stoller, in descending order, H.B. Barnum, Billy Richards, Roy Richards, Ty Terrell (or Leonard) and Grady
Chapman]
In February, the Jasmine label in London released The Robins: West Coast Doo Wop 1949-1961, a two-CD set that provides a detailed history of the group's singles.
The Robins, of course, would begin recording songs by Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber in 1951 and recorded for the pair's Spark label in 1954. A year later, the group had a huge hit with Leiber and Stoller's Smokey Joe's Cafe. When the group was offered a deal at Atlantic with Leiber and Stoller producing, only two members of the Robins agreed to make the move to New York. As a result, new members were added and the Atlantic group was renamed the Coasters in 1957, and the rest is history. [Photo above of the Coasters with Jerry Leiber, seated left, and Mike Stoller at the piano and Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun standing at right; Mike Stoller adds the following: "In the photo of the Coasters, standing behind Jerry and me are Lester Sill and Gerry Wexler. The Coasters, from left, Carl Gardner, Will 'Dub' Jones, Billy Guy and Cornel Gunter"]
Four Leiber and Stoller songs are featured on this Robins' set, which sticks with the original group through their 12-year recording history and features two two sides from the Spark label, since the Spark material had been released on an earlier CD set. Instead, this material places an emphasis on the group's vocal harmony prowess. You can hear the influence of the group's signature background vocal harmony on Steely Dan's Time Out of Mind.
Over the years, former members have led their own Coasters group, forcing the official Coasters to re-name themselves the Original Coasters and to take legal action against imposter groups. Never a dull moment in the music business.
JazzWax clips: Here's the Robins' My Baby Done Told Me from 1949...
Here's Steely Dan's Time Out of Mind...
Here's If I Didn't Love You So Much (1950)...
And here's Cherry Lips (1956)...
Used with permission by Marc Myers
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