The Moonglows We Go Together Chess 1619 A

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The Moonglows "We Go Together" Chess 1619 A 1956

This is a M- 78, & one of my all time favorites, Hope you enjoy!

It's hard to imagine a pioneer R&B group being born in Louisville, Kentucky. One group was, and they are among the top-rated groups of all time: the Moonglows.

Their start was a modest one. Bobby Lester and Harvey Fuqua (nephew of Ink Spots' guitarist Charlie Fuqua) made the rounds of Louisville's amateur shows, with Bobby singing and Harvey accompanying him on piano. Getting nowhere fast, they drove up to Cleveland in early 1951 and started putting a group together. Called at first the "Crazy Sounds," the group also featured bass Prentiss Barnes, high tenor Alexander "Pete" Graves, and guitarist Billy Johnson.

In 1952, they hooked up with a rising Cleveland disc jockey, Alan Freed, and he recorded the group, which by now had been renamed the Moonglows, on his Champagne label. However, Champagne didn't work out too well and in 1953, Freed set them up with Art Sheridan and Steve Chandler's Chance Records in Chicago. They had some moderate hits in a raw street corner style, including a cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love."

Somewhat before the demise of Chance, the Moonglows had met Phil Chess, and in 1954 they sought him out again. The Moonglows were not the first R&B group on the label - the Dozier Boys, Clefs, and Coronets had gone before - but now Chess pulled out all the stops in order to crash into the R&B group market. On Chess, the Moonglows polished up their sound and did it all: R&B ballads ("Most Of All"), high tenor leads ("She's Gone"), uptempo R&B sides ("Tempting"), R&R rockers ("See Saw"), ballads ("We Go Together"), and, of course, two classics ("Sincerely" and "The Ten Commandments Of Love").

"Sincerely," led by Bobby Lester, sold in the region of 300,000 copies and ranked in ninth place of 1955's top R&B tunes as compiled by Billboard. The group appeared in an almost plotless movie, Rock, Rock, Rock (1956), which featured Freed and some of the biggest acts of the day, including Chuck Berry and the Moonglows' old pals from Chance, the Flamingos.

The Moonglows presented Chess with a few more hits during this period, including "See Saw," "Chickie Um Bah," "We Go Together," "Over And Over Again," and "Don't Say Goodbye." Then the inevitable - the hits stopped coming. It was a year and a half before the Moonglows' next hit, but it was worth waiting for: "The Ten Commandments Of Love." This song, once again featuring Harvey Fuqua [no, we never mentioned him singing lead before this; no idea why we said "again"], made both the R&B and pop charts (something "Sincerely" failed to do). Shortly after its success, in late 1959, the group broke up. Fuqua picked up a local Washington, D.C. group called the Marquees (James Nolan, Chester Simmons, Reese Palmer, and Marvin Gaye - yes that Marvin Gaye) to be the new Moonglows. The New Moonglows made their debut on "Twelve Months Of The Year," which only lists Harvey Fuqua on the label.


Turntable used: Audio Technica AT-LP120 USB Direct Drive inputted straight into the sound card using the built-in pre-amp from the turntable.

Cartridge used: SHURE M78S using 78 3 mil needle.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 1950's
• R&B

[ilbmlb51]

@PJDooWop: HAHAHAHA!!!!!! You like this one.....huh bro??, But yeah, you are right, this one seems to have more dynamic range than the 45 though........

[PJDooWop]

Sounds better on 78 than 45

[ilbmlb51]

@Westtoledoguy: This one is right up there w/"Most Of All" "In My Diary" & of course "Sincerely."

[Westtoledoguy]

love the Moonglows great 78