The Esquires were an American R&B group from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States, principally active from 1957 to 1976.

History

The group first formed in 1957 around the Moorer family: Gilbert (born Gilbert Moorer, Jr., August 20, 1941,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, died August 28, 2008), his brother Alvis (born Alvis V. Moorer, January 18, 1940, Birmingham, Alabama, died August 21, 2011), and their sister Betty. They first performed as Betty Moorer and the Esquires. When their sister and lead singer left, the group shortened its name to The Esquires, and Gilbert became lead singer. In 1961, Sam Pace (born Sammie L. Pace, September 22, 1944,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, died January 7, 2013) joined as a tenor. Millard Edwards, a bass, also sang during this period in place of Taylor. They went through many lineup changes over their first decade, which saw them aiming mostly for local recognition. In 1966, they moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and auditioned for

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

, who was not interested in signing them.

The Esquires The Esquires were an American R&B group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, principally active from 1957 to 1976. History The group first formed in 1957 around the Moorer family: Gilbert (born Gilbert Moorer, Jr., August 20, 1941, Birmi ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

They then attempted to sign with Constellation Records, but the record label went under at the end of 1966; they signed instead with Bunky Records, Constellation's successor. Bunky was distributed by

Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the Shire ...

on the national level. Their debut record for Bunky/Scepter was " Get on Up" (1967), becoming a major hit in the United States, peaking at No. 11 as a pop single and reaching No. 3 on 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 ...

. Following the release they played Chicago's Regal Theater and the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Further singles were also successes, and the group released one full-length LP. After five singles on Bunky the group signed a deal with Scepter themselves late in 1968. They later returned to Bunky and then, in 1970, signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

for one single ("Reach Out") and Lamarr Records in 1971 for "

Girls in the City "Girls in the City" is a song written by Tony Hester and performed by The Esquires The Esquires were an American R&B group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, principally active from 1957 to 1976. History The group first formed in 195 ...

". Perry Moorer played alto saxophone with the group. He died in 1996. Gilbert Moorer died from throat cancer on August 28, 2008, at the age of 67. Alvis Moorer died on August 21, 2011 at the age of 71. Sam Pace died after a long illness on January 7, 2013 at the age of 68. Edwards, who lives in Chicago, is now the only surviving member of the band from its recording days.

Members

*Gilbert Moorer *Alvis Moorer *Betty Moorer *Sam Pace (1961–) *Shawn Taylor (1965–1967) *Millard Edwards *Perry Moorer (alto saxophone) *Goose "Preacher" Hilliard Smith

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Gilbert Moorer, Jr (1941 - 2008) - Find A Grave Memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquires, The Musical groups from Wisconsin Apex Records artists Capitol Records artists Wand Records artists