Side 1:
01) Earth Angel - The Penguins
02) Hey Senorita - The Penguins
03) Kiss A Fool Goodbye - The Penguins
04) Ookey Ook - The Penguins
05) Love Will Make Your Mind Go Wild - The Penguins
06) Baby Let's Make Some Love - The Penguins
Side 2:
01) The Letter - The Medallions
02) Buick 59 - The Medallions
03) Heaven And Paradise - The Meadowlarks
04) I Got Tore Up - The Meadowlarks
05) Teller Of Fortune - The Dootones
06) Ay Si Si Mambo - The Dootones
Again it's thanks to Marv for this reconstruction of an LP originally issued on the LA indie label Dootone in July 1955. Founded in 1951 by Dootsie Williams, Dootone flirted with the big time in 1954 / 1955 when "Earth Angel" by The Penguins became not only a national R&B hit in late 1954 but also entered the pop chart, peaking at number 8 in early 1955.
"Buick 59" / "The Letter" by the Medallions was the first vocal group record released by Dootone, becoming something of a West Coast regional hit in 1954 Another regional vocal group success was "Heaven and Paradise" also released in 1954. This LP (and a concurrent series of EPs) can therefore be seen as an attempt to surf the early success of Dootone's R&B vocal group issues and it must have achieved reasonable sales as it was re-released several times throughout the '50s and into the early '60's latterly as "Dooto" issues when the Dootone label changed its name following a lawsuit by the Duo Tone company.
So thanks to Marv for this great selection of West Coast vocal group sounds, and thanks to the original uploader of the artwork.
"Buick 59" / "The Letter" by the Medallions was the first vocal group record released by Dootone, becoming something of a West Coast regional hit in 1954 Another regional vocal group success was "Heaven and Paradise" also released in 1954. This LP (and a concurrent series of EPs) can therefore be seen as an attempt to surf the early success of Dootone's R&B vocal group issues and it must have achieved reasonable sales as it was re-released several times throughout the '50s and into the early '60's latterly as "Dooto" issues when the Dootone label changed its name following a lawsuit by the Duo Tone company.
So thanks to Marv for this great selection of West Coast vocal group sounds, and thanks to the original uploader of the artwork.
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10 comments:
I already have all these tracks, but this is too cool to pass up. Thank you.
Thanks! Looking forward to this.
Thanks BW, nice to have this in my collection.
Thanks so much, Great album
Very nice! Thanks BW and Marv.
I particularly enjoyed The Penguins tracks. Hey Senorita & Ookey Ook made it onto my favorite tracks list for playing later on my car stereo.
Thanks for the comments folks. A few months ago I found myself getting heavily into the Los Angeles sounds of the 1950s - especially on Combo, Dootone and the John Dolphin labels. This collection sent in by Marv has certainly hit the spot with me, and there's more to come.
BTW has anybody noticed the talking bridge on "The Letter" by The Medallions? "Sweet sounds of pismotality" which inspired the title of one of the best blogs out there - see my blogroll in the sidebar.
Now - "I am doing that Ookey Ook!" Cool.
BW
My memory tells me I have this LP, or one just like it, copied onto a cassette tape and "filed away" in a box somewhere.
My disorganisational system tells me to grab the download, say a big Thank You to Boogiewoody, and enjoy hearing this for the first time in about 30 years.
This is indeed a great collection - Ookey Ook is infernally catchy. Incidentally there was a sequel to The Letter called The Telegram, available on Ace's Medallions CD, but it doesn't have quite the same magic. Many thanks for the kind remark about my blog, BW, and I'd like to add my own plug for Todd Baptista's newly-published book about the Flamingos. It covers all their recording eras in detail, is well-balanced and takes you through all the different permutations of the group - not as many members as the Drifters, but they did go through quite a few.
Oh, so that's where 'pismotality' comes from.
http://sweetwordsofpismotality.blogspot.com/p/what-does-pismotality-mean.html
I never noticed. But then, people have written about it at some length when they apparently couldn't make out the not-that-unclear words.
Wonder if there's any connection to Pismo Beach. We'll never know.
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