Who was/is George Bedard & The King Pins ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
The King Pins
The King Pins
It Won't Be This Way (Always)
There was no mistaking the deeply ingrained gospel roots of The King Pins, who called themselves The Kelly Brothers when they sang spirituals. Three of them really were brothers - baritone Andrew, high tenor Curtis, and tenor Robert Kelly, originally from Shelby, Mississippi. Tenor Offe Reese (from Hernando, Miss.) and T.C. 'Charles' Lee were the others. The Kellys and Reese came to Chicago together in 1948, doing an unissued session in '54 for Art Sheridan's Chance label.
The next year with Lee on board, they made a platter for the C.H. Brewer label before graduating to Vee-Jay in '56 and Nashboro in '57 and '59. The quintet switched to Cincinnati's Federal Records in 1960. Eight releases after their final Federal single, they were reborn as The King Pins with Don't Wait Pretty Baby (written by Reese and producer Sonny Thompson) and its flip Believe In Me.
The mid-tempo It Won't Be This Way (Always), filled with sanctified harmonies and sporting a tuneful lead (Robert Kelly and Thompson split writer's credit), was The King Pins' big bustout, jumping to #13 R&B and #89 pop during the summer of 1963 (the lovely ballad How Long Will It Last adorned the B-side). They had five more 45s and an LP, beginning with The Monkey One More Time (Sonny was its author). The King Pins stepped lively with The Hop Scotch (the work of Thompson and labelmate Little Emmitt Sutton) and got very doo-woppy on its flip Wonderful One before reviving a house favorite, The Charms' Two Hearts and doing more testifying on I Got The Monkey Off My Back (not a dance workout). Lee got featured billing on The King Pins' raveup farewell, Just Keep On Smiling.
Any qualms about using their spiritual billing for sanctified purposes dissipated upon signing with Nashville-based Sims Records in 1964: they were The Kelly Brothers once more. In the spring of '66, they had their only hit on Sims, the uplifting Falling In Love Again. When Sims folded the next year, Nashboro picked the Kellys up and issued several more singles before dropping them in 1970. They eventually treated to the sanctity of the church.
Various - Street Corner Symphonies Vol.15, 1963 The Complete Story Of Doo Wop
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