The Swallows were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

R&B group. They are best known for their 1951 recording of "Will You Be Mine", which appeared in the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

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 ...

History

Founded in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, United States, in 1946 as "The Oakaleers", the original members were Lawrence Coxson (lead tenor), Irving Turner (tenor and baritone), Earl Hurley (first and second tenor and bongos) and Norris "Bunky" Mack (bass, piano, guitar, and drums). The 'Oakaleers' practised on street corners until around 1948, when they joined with Eddie Rich (first tenor) and Frederick “Money Guitar” Johnson (baritone and guitar). Second tenor and baritone Herman "Junior" Denby was hired later. Irving Turner stopped singing with the group, but was kept on as valet (and occasional fill-in). The Swallows' recording of "Will You Be Mine" was released in 1951, and was one of the first

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

hits. "Will You Be Mine" reached a peak position of Number 9 on the US ''

'' R&B

. In 1952, the Swallows released "Beside You", which became their second national hit, peaking at Number 10 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. More single releases failed to reach these successes, however " It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)," the raunchy

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of their third single, was a big seller in Georgia and the Carolinas. Eddie Rich noted of the song, " lthougheverybody liked it everywhere… you couldn't play it. The blackballed us on that." By 1953, their style was sounding dated and was being usurped by newer arrivals such as The Drifters and The Clovers. They left their original label, King Records and recorded for the After Hours label in 1954. Personnel changes followed, but when their recording of "Itchy Twitchy Feeling" was out-muscled by the Bobby Hendricks' version, the group disbanded. Herman "Junior" Denby died on July 14, 2013, in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio, from pneumonia and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He was aged 82.

References

Other sources

* *

External links

Biography of the Swallows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swallows, The American rhythm and blues musical groups Atco Records artists King Records artists Musical groups established in 1946 Musical groups from Baltimore