Louie Lymon & the Teenchords

Pursuing in the footsteps of his older sibling, the legendary Frankie Lymon, Lewis Lymon also produced an effort at rock and roll & move stardom. And even though his group, the Teenchords, hardly ever enjoyed the amount of achievement attained by Frankie’s Teens, they still carved out a substantial niche market for themselves within the rates of 1950s rock and roll & move vocal groupings. The Lymon family members was a musical one, with the daddy, Howard Lymon performing in an area gospel group, the Harlemaires. Lewis acquired previously sung using the Harlemaires Juniors alongside brothers Frankie and Howard Jr.. And in 1956, using the achievement the Teens had been having, it had been unsurprising that Lewis wished to have a stab at it as well. The Harlem-based Teenchords also acquired a similar-sounding name towards the pace-setting Teens. The group contains Lewis Lymon (lead), Ralph Vaughan (initial tenor), Rossilio Rocca (second tenor), Lyndon Harold (baritone), and David Small (bass). The Teenchords didn’t have even to keep Harlem to become discovered and documented. On a stop by at the Apollo to listen to the Teens, Lewis and his group had been tipped off that regional business owner Bobby Robinson wanted new skill. Robinson owned an archive shop in Harlem and was also an archive producer who got already began two record brands, Crimson Robin and Whirlin’ Disk. The fledgling Teenchords group visited Robinson’s store and released themselves. When Robinson found that Frankie Lymon’s sibling, Lewis, is at the group, he was quite receptive for an on-the-spot audition. The Teenchords performed “WHO IS ABLE TO Explain,” a Teens music. Convinced the youthful lads could sing, and with the Lymon name to go with it, Robinson agreed upon the Teenchords at that moment. For their initial recording, Robinson attempted to create something that will be catchy and attractive to a teenage market. First he developed a vocal riff. He previously the group maintain singing advertisement nauseum, until finally he developed suitable lyrics to go along with it. Therefore “I’m Therefore Happy” was created. The flip aspect, “Lydia,” was penned by Lymon and pertains to a woman he understood from his community. The tunes had been released on Robinson’s recently produced Fury label and released in past due 1956. The record hardly ever charted nationally, but acquired respectable East Coastline product sales. Within a January 1957 trade advertisement, Robinson boasted the disk had marketed 40,000 copies in its initial ten times in the brand new York, Philadelphia, and Boston marketplaces. Actually, four years afterwards, in 1961, a record producer called Phil Spector would cover the record with an organization known as the Ducanes. The Teenchords’ second record, as well as perhaps their finest two-sider, premiered in March of 1957. It combined the up-tempo “Honey, Honey” with a good ballad, “Make sure you Inform the Angels.” The Teenchords taken care of an active efficiency schedule. They came back towards the Apollo, but this time around as performers instead of fans, and in addition appeared in the Paramount with an Alan Freed extravaganza. A June 1957 news release announced that the Teenchords will be presented in a fresh film, “The Strike Record,” plus a bevy of additional rock & move acts. Once the film managed to get to the display, the title have been transformed to Jamboree. The group’s last Fury launch, also in 1957, was “I’m Not really Too Youthful to Fall in Like” supported with “Falling in Like.” Evidently the Teenchords got fallen right out of like with Bobby Robinson. That they had supposedly been authorized to a two-year agreement with Robinson, but by Sept 1957 George Goldner was announcing that he previously agreed upon the Teenchords to his End label, though it shows up that there is hardly ever an official agreement agreed upon. The label move emerged over the heels of the tour the Teenchords acquired manufactured in the United kingdom West Indies using the Bullmoose Jackson Orchestra. Their initial End waxing of “As well Young” matched with “Your Last Possibility” received exceptional rankings from Billboard. You can view the Teenchords perform “Your Last Possibility” within the Jamboree film. But, like their Fury recordings, their End produces would also not really graph nationally. Their second and last End documenting matched “Inform Me Appreciate” with “I THEN FOUND OUT Why,” that was a lackluster response music to the Teens’ “Why Perform Fools Fall in Like.” Both edges received excellent rankings from Billboard. Spurred by way of a demand for “oldies” in the first ’60s, Goldner reissued “As well Young,” this time around combined with “I THEN FOUND OUT Why” in 1962. When two of the Teenchords, Small and Harold, had been found out in a taken automobile, the destiny of the group was basically covered. Mrs. Lymon wouldn’t normally allow her kid to continue performing using the contingent. Some workers changes had been made, but quickly thereafter the group acquired disbanded. Because the group’s swan melody, Goldner released an individual on his Juanita label. “Dance Gal” supported with “Them There Eye” arrived in 1958 with small fanfare. Even though Teenchords had been the first ever to record the Les Cooper-authored “Dance Gal,” it acquired also been directed at another group, the Graphs. The Graphs’ edition on Everlast defeat the Teenchords to advertise and garnered a lot of the product sales. Les Cooper & the Spirit Rockers could have popular in 1962 using the instrumental “Wiggle Wobble,” and his Spirit Rockers group included previous Graphs member Joe Grier on sax. Following a breakup from the Teenchords, Lewis Lymon continued to record yet another record within the Townsmen. Issued in 1961 for the PJ label, “I CANNOT CONTINUE” got Lewis on business lead. The flip part, “That’s All I’ll Ever Want,” got Louis Vasquez managing the business lead vocal chores. Another members from the Townsmen had been Ralph Ramos and McDuffy Swaggart. The record became an instantaneous obscurity. A tour of responsibility in the military in the first to middle-’60s taken out Lewis through the music picture. By enough time of his come back, America got experienced the Uk Invasion and the form of teenage rock and roll & roll got transformed dramatically through the heyday of doo wop. In the first ’70s, when another “oldies” revival was sweeping the Northeast, Lewis re-formed the Teenchords and performed at several venues. Within the years since that time, he has sometimes performed with various other aggregations from the Teenchords. In 2003, he performed as an associate of Frankie Lymon’s Teens with original people Jimmy Product owner and Herman Santiago. Louie Lymon & the Teenchords’ End and Fury recordings can be found on a Compact disc released by Relic Information.