Clyde McPhatter With Billy Ward And His Dominoes - 1958 Vinyl LP - KLP 559

$

68

Dominoes
Clyde McPhatter With Billy Ward And His Dominoes
KLP 559

1980s US pressing of Clyde McPhatter With Billy Ward And His Dominoes LP on the King label. Still in factory shrinkwrap.

Grading:
Sleeve:  VG+   In shrink
Vinyl:  VG+   Sounds great

Notes:
 In the late 1940s, while working as a vocal coach and part-time arranger on Broadway, Billy Ward met talent agent Rose Marks, who became his business and songwriting partner. The pair set out to form a vocal group from the ranks of his students, hoping to cash in on the new trend of vocal quintets in R&B. The group was at first called the Ques, with lead vocals performed by Clyde McPhatter, whom Ward recruited after McPhatter won "Amateur Night" at the Apollo Theater. Ward acted as the group's pianist and arranger.

 In 1950 they were signed to a recording contract with Federal Records and renamed themselves The Dominoes. Their first single release, "Do Something For Me", with McPhatter’s lead vocal, reached the R&B charts in early 1951, climbing to number 6. After a less successful follow-up, the group released "Sixty Minute Man", which reached number 1 on the R&B chart in May 1951 and stayed there for 14 weeks, and crossed over to the pop charts, reaching number 17 and voted "Song of the Year" of 1951. (In later years, it became a contender for the title of "first rock and roll record").

 The group toured widely, building up a reputation as one of the top R&B acts of the era, and commanding an audience which crossed racial divides. However, Ward's strict disciplinarian approach, and failure to recompense the singers, caused internal problems. The name "The Dominoes" was owned by Ward and Marks, who had the power to hire and fire and to pay the singers a salary. Clyde McPhatter was being paid barely enough to live on, even though most of the Dominoes' success was due to McPhatter's soaring vocal abilities. In early 1953, McPhatter left to form his own group, the Drifters. His replacement in the Dominoes was Jackie Wilson, who had been coached by McPhatter while also singing with the group on tour.

 Billy Ward And His Dominoes were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.

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