78 The Crows with Melino and His Orchestra Mambo Shevitz Tico 1082 A

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DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved to the production companies and music labels that distributed and produced the music and performance respectively. I've only added the footage as a tribute for historical, entertainment, and creative purposes with no financial gain. Copyright infringement not intended. The Crows Featuring Melino And His Orchestra "Mambo Shevitz" Tico 109 A 1954 Here are The Crows Featuring "Melino" And His Orchestra with "Mambo Shevitz." This was a record that was made into an advertising comercial that would feature the Manischewitz wine. Please Enjoy! In 1951, in Harlem on 142nd Street, at a time when R&B; vocal groups seemed to be springing up on every street corner, alleyway, and subway station in the city. Daniel "Sonny" Norton (lead), Harold Major (tenor), Jerry Wittick (tenor), Bill Davis (baritone/tenor), and Gerald Hamilton (bass) came together and called themselves the Crows. The Crows, like their peers, sang for the most basic reasons: it was fun, it was a macho (but safe) way of besting other guys, and it was a great way to impress the girls in the neighborhood. "Gee" (written by Bill Davis, in less than ten minutes) was released in May. Its flip was "I Love You So," a ballad that would later be redone by the Chantels. Goldner must have had high hopes for it at this point, since he had Joe Loco (one of his Tico artists) record "Gee" as a mambo. By January 1954, the Crows had sold 100,000 copies, a good-sized hit in those days, However, all the chart action to this point was local, not national. It inspired pop covers by June Hutton on Capitol and the Skylarks on Okeh. February 10, 1954, the Crows had another session, at which they recorded "Untrue," "Baby," "Miss You," "I Really, Really Love You," and "Perfidia" (backing up Lorraine Ellis). Either recorded at the same time or within a day or two were "Don't Come Back" and "What's The Matter With You, Woman?" Another tune that they cut during this period was "Mambo Shevitz," which featured Melino and His Orchestra which was a magnificent blend of mambo and R&B;, the two great loves of George Goldner's life, as well as lyrics that were a cute take-off on the Manischewitz wine commercial. Just to keep everything in the family, the trade papers reported that George's wife, Mona, had bought the Crows management contract from Cliff Martinez. "Gee" finally charted nationally. Unbelievably, it hit the Pop charts first (on March 6), rising to #14 before it was through. This is really odd. Remember, the music business is complicated. Record companies didn't sell to stores, they sold to distributors, who in turn sold to retail outlets. However, distributors only handled certain labels and/or certain lines within a label. The R&B; distributors pretty much handled only R&B; labels and the Pop distributors only handled Pop labels. Pop DJs started playing it. Finally, "Gee" entered the R&B; charts in April 1954, eleven months after its release! Note that Goldner also made an arrangement with Quality records to have it released in Canada. Now comes the hard part: trying to get a follow-up hit. To that end, April 1954 was a busy month for the Crows. Not one, not two, but three record releases. Since they were on three different labels, I have no idea in which order they were released. Let's start with "Untrue"/"Baby" on Rama. Then there was "Mambo Shevitz" released on Tico, with Melino's "Mambo #5" as the flip side and "Perfidia" (coupled with a Lorraine Ellis solo, "Piano Player, Play A Tune") on Gee. Then there was this, from the New York Age of September 11, 1954: "With the advent of the mambo craze throughout the country, The Crows, new singing sensations of the nation, are being heralded as one of the top quartettes in the rhythm and blues field. Youngsters have just recorded the "Mambo Shevitz" on the Tito [sic] label and from all accounts it looks like a real hit." Problems? Not really. OK, so they messed up the spelling of Tico and the recording had been released five months previously.. All the Crows are gone now. Over the years, Bill Davis got some royalties for "Gee," but hardly what the song eventually brought in. "Gee" is now a treasured oldie, always a nominee in the absurd quest to find the "first Rock & Roll record." The Crows will be remembered for as long as anyone remembers R&B; music, if only for "Gee." In spite of being "one-hit wonders," they were a talented group of singers who deserve more recognition than they got at the time. TICO (with Melino & His Orchestra) 1082 Mambo Shevitz (SN) /[Mambo #5 - Melino] - 4/54 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: ATP-2XN using 78 3 mil needle.