Who was/is The Four Buddies ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
The Four Buddies
The Four Buddies
You're Part Of Me
Baltimore was also where The Four Buddies called home sweet home. They tasted their greatest success their first time out with I Will Wait on Herman Lubinsky's Newark, New Jersey-based Savoy Records (it's on our 1950 volume). They never charted again, but the quartet reigned as Savoy's top group until their '53 breakup.
Lead tenor Leon 'Larry' Harrison and second tenor John Carroll were there when the group first formed as The Metronomes, though the other two original members, baritone William Duffy and bass Maurice Hicks, had been replaced by Vernon 'Bert' Palmer and William 'Tommy' Carter prior to the recording of I Will Wait. The Buddies waxed Harrison's pretty You're Part Of Me as part of a four-song session on April 10, 1952 in New York. Not only was Larry their lead tenor, he was their primary source of original material (the group always specialized in tender ballads). Harrison's rocking Story Blues was tucked on the B-side.
The Four Buddies went their separate ways before 1953 was in the history books. Harrison wasn't through in the vocal group business by a long shot. He formed The Barons (future Chuck Jackson/Shirelles producer Luther Dixon was their baritone) and recorded for Decca in 1954. After his old Metronomes mate Maurice Hicks came in on bass, they switched their billing to The Buddies and cut a '55 single, I Stole Your Heart, for the Glory imprint (Hicks then defected to The Orioles). Harrison briefly tried a solo career with a '55 single on Savoy (a remake of I Will Wait occupied one side) before putting together The Dappers with Carroll and recording for Groove and Rainbow in 1956.
Carroll was luckier commercially than Harrison. After The Orioles and Dappers, he concentrated on songwriting as Gregory Carroll. In 1963, Just One Look, his collaboration with Doris Payne, proved a huge hit when Atlantic Records released her demo with no changes (she changed her surname to Troy for the occasion).
Bill Dahl
Various - Street Corner Symphonies Vol.04
1952 The Complete Story Of Doo Wop
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