Who was/is The Rhythm Kings ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more

The Rhythm Kings

The Rhythm Kings

I Gotta Go Now

The Rhythm Kings were already an experienced crew by the time they joined the roster of New York's Apollo Records in 1950. It's reported they'd recorded as The Rhythm Masters on the Bandwagon imprint in 1948 and as The Rhythmasters the next year on Bennett.

Their first release under The Rhythm Kings banner came in '49 on Dagmar Van Haur's New York-based Ivory label; Night After Night was yoked to I Shouldn't Have Passed Your House. They encored on Ivory the next year with If I Can't Have The One I Love (I'd Rather Have No One At All) and How Do You Measure Love. Led by Cecil Murray, the rest of The Rhythm Kings were Leonard Thomas, Howard Scott, James Riley, and pianist Isaac Royal.

The group moved over to Apollo in time to wax a double-sider for 1950 Yuletide consumption, Christmas Is Coming At Last b/w Merry Christmas One And All. And in April of '51, they completed their Apollo stint by releasing a secular pair: the droll organ-driven romp I Gotta Go Now and Why My Darling Why. Along the way, they performed on 'Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts,' a network radio program that promoted black vocal groups like no other, guested on Art Ford's television show in 1950, and starred at the Dogwood Room on East 58^th Street in midtown Manhattan.

After flying under the radar for several years, the group resurfaced intact in 1955 as The Four Pals, remaking If I Can't Have The One I Love with a fresh B-side, I Flipped, and encoring the next year with Can't Stand It Any Longer b/w No One Ever Loved Me, their style not changed a whit from a half decade earlier. They also moonlighted as The Four Students in 1955 behind Little Tommy Brown and Zilla Mays for RCA's Groove subsidiary (the name was a catch-all for several different backing groups that did studio duty for Groove). Pianist Royal also accompanied The Ink Spots in their King Records incarnation.

Bill Dahl

Various - Street Corner Symphonies Vol.03

1951 The Complete Story Of Doo Wop

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