Ray Brown & The Whispers Hits & More (1965-68)

The Whispers

The Whispers

I've Got No Time

Under the stewardship of Bess Berman, New York's Apollo Records recruited a wealth of fine vocal groups, even though most of them came into the fold and left quickly without scoring a hit. One such aggregation was The Whispers, who cut a solitary single for Apollo in late December of 1949. They were an outgrowth of The Doles Dickens Quintet; bassist Dickens had left Steve Gibson's Red Caps in late '44 and formed his own group the next year, recording for Continental and Super Disc in 1947, Gotham in '49, and Decca in '51. Why they momentarily changed their billing to The Whispers when they recorded for Apollo is unknown.

The airy, jazz-tinged I've Got No Time is a classy effort with a fine lead vocalist and strong backing harmonies that frame him nicely. The mid-tempo flip Your Ever Lovin' Slick was a stop-time blues that found the extroverted lead going it alone without benefit of The Whispers, the sax-fueled combo coming more to the fore. At the same session, The Whispers laid down a quick upbeat musical theme for local deejay Harold Jackson to use on his WLIB-AM program ('1190 on your dial'). That appears to be the extent of their Apollo catalog.

These Whispers predated a Baltimore group of the same name led by future Flamingo Terry Johnson that made a pair of singles for Philly's Gotham label in 1955, nor were they related to the Los Angeles soul group of the same name led by twin brothers Walter and Wallace Scott who debuted on Doré Records in 1964 and summarily gained huge stardom in the R&B field during the '70s.

Bill Dahl

Various - Street Corner Symphonies Vol.03

1951 The Complete Story Of Doo Wop

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