The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

for their

traditional pop music Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

hits.

Biography

The Urick brothers were born in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

. Joe (born Joseph Urick; May 3, 1921 – December 22, 2007), Gene (February 13, 1924 – April 26, 1997), Vic (May 20, 1925 – January 23, 1978), and

Ed Ames Ed Ames (born Edmund Dantes Urick; July 9, 1927), who also recorded as Eddie Ames, is an American singer and actor. He is known for playing Mingo in the television series ''Daniel Boone'', and for his pop hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including " ...

(born Edmund Dantes Urick on July 9, 1927) formed the singing group the Amory Brothers, which would become the Ames Brothers. Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were raised to enjoy

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and operatic music. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

immigrants from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

who read

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and semi-

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen. Three of the brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

bases entertaining the

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

when they were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

, one of the fanciest clubs in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. This one-week engagement turned into several months when positive word-of-mouth about their appearance got around. At the time, they were using Vic's middle name and calling themselves the Amory Brothers. They were becoming quite popular in the area and it was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. Taking their act to New York City, they got a job with bandleader

Art Mooney Arthur Joseph Mooney (February 11, 1911 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer and bandleader. His biggest hits were "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Baby Face" in 1948 and " Nuttin' For Christmas," with Barry Gordon, in 1955. ...

. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing,

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sel ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

overheard them singing it and asked them to cut a few sides for Decca Records, just before the AFM recording ban which

James Petrillo James Caesar Petrillo (March 16, 1892 – October 23, 1984) was the leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada. Biography Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois, United ...

imposed in January 1948. The ban was lifted a year later. The brothers shortened Amory to Ames and became the first artists to record for the newly founded

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head o ...

, a subsidiary of Decca. They were swept into national top billing with their first hit record, "

Rag Mop "Rag Mop" was a popular American song of the late 1940s–early 1950s. The song, a 12-bar blues, was written by Tulsa Western Swing bandleader Johnnie Lee Wills and steel guitarist Deacon Anderson and published in 1949. Considered a novelty song, ...

", in January 1950. Doing radio shows for free at times, just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as ''

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends ''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 1949 to June 1957 (as ''The Arthur Godfrey Show'' after September 1956), then again as a ...

''. One of the first acts to appear on the original ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' when it was known as ''Toast of the Town'', they made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

Department Store. Soon, they were the top paid group in nightclubs and

supper clubs A supper club is a traditional dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image ...

everywhere and their popularity on television was nationwide. In 1956, they starred in their own show, ''The Ames Brothers Show'', which was seen on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated television show to be shown in foreign countries. The brothers also appeared on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

.'' Over their fifteen-year career, their prolific work notched up 49 US

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. The group disbanded in 1963, but Ed Ames continued with a successful singing and acting career, including playing

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

's sidekick, Mingo, on the popular ''

'' television series.

Legacy

They were inducted into the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame (VGHF) is an American-based hall of fame that honors vocal groups throughout the world in every genre of music. Headquartered in the Columbia Theatre in Sharon, Pennsylvania, it includes a theater and a museum. It was ...

in 1998.

After disbanding

Vic died in a car accident in 1978 at age 52, Gene died of cancer in 1997 at age 73, and Joe died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 86. , Ed (age ) is the last surviving member. The Ames Brothers early recordings was among those of hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.

Discography

Singles

NOTE: Repeat titles of Coral tracks shown below are standard singles and not under Coral's "Silver Star Series" reissue line

Albums

*''Sing a Song of Christmas'' (1950) *''Sweet Leilani'' (1951) *''Sentimental Me'' (1951) *''Home on the Range'' (1952) *''Favorite Spirituals'' (1952) *''Hoop-De-Doo'' (1952) *''In the Evening by the Moonlight'' (1953) *''Love's Old Sweet Songs'' (1955) *''The Magic Melting Pot of Melody'' with

Hugo Winterhalter Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor. Biography Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsy ...

and His Orchestra (1956) *'' Exactly Like You'' with

Joe Reisman Joseph Reisman (September 16, 1924, Dallas - September 15, 1987, Los Angeles) was an American musician (tenor and baritone saxophone, clarinet), bandleader, arranger, and record producer in the swing era. Reisman studied at Baylor University and ...

and His Orchestra (1956) *''The Ames Brothers'' with

and His Orchestra (1956) *''My Love Serenade'' (1957) *''The Sounds of Christmas Harmony'' (1957) *''There'll Always Be a Christmas'' with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1957) *''Destination Moon'' with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1958) *''Smoochin' Time'' with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1958) *''The Best of the Ames'' (1958) *''The Ames Brothers Sing the Best in the Country'' (1959) *''The Ames Brothers Sing Famous Hits of Famous Quartets'' with

and His Orchestra (1959) *''Hello Amigos'' with Esquivel's Orchestra (1960) *''The Blend and the Beat'' (1960) *''Hello Italy!'' (arranged by Bill McElhiney) (1963) *''Knees Up! Mother Brown'' (1963) *''For Sentimental Reasons'' (1964) *''Down Memory Lane with the Ames Brothers'' (1964) *''The Best of the Ames'' (1975; reissue of the 1958 LP) *''The Very Best Of The Ames Brothers'' (1998)

References

External links

Vocal Group Hall of Fame page on The Ames BrothersObituary
in the

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

Ames Brothers' Facebook page
Videos, Conversations, Photos, The history of the Ames Brothers
The Ames Brothers recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames Brothers Family musical groups Musical groups from Massachusetts Jewish American musicians People from Malden, Massachusetts Vocal quartets Decca Records artists RCA Victor artists Epic Records artists American pop music groups Traditional pop music singers Sibling quartets Coral Records artists