The Silhouettes
Courtesy of Elaine
Lewis
"Get A Job" was one of the Top 10 rock & roll records of the 1950's. So
enormous was the tune, that it generally overshadowed the very group that
created it.
The Silhouettes story actually began in Hickory, North Carolina, where William
Horton, the Silhouettes lead, was born and raised. It was there that Bill
began singing in the church and became involved with a quartet singing
spiritual harmony. In 1954, Bill Horton moved to Philadelphia and there,
within a year, was singing with a new gospel group.
In the Gospel Tornadoes, Bill Horton was joined by native Philadelphians Earl
Beale, Raymond Edwards and a fourth member remembered only as Shorty. In the
beginning the group stuck religiously to church singing, but as time went by
they began doing some club and cabaret work. The transition from spiritual to
pop group was a gradual one for the Gospel Tornadoes. On Sunday they would
sing in the churches and during the week they would sing in the clubs. When
singing secular music the group began using a new name, the Thunderbirds. The
reason for the crossover was survival. As much as the group loved singing
gospel, they could not make a living at it.
In 1956, Shorty left the group and was replaced for a short time by James
Jenkins. Jenkins was drafted into the service and was replaced by Richard
Lewis, who was from the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
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Bill Horton
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Rick Lewis
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Raymond Edwards
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Earl Beal
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Photos Courtesy of Elaine Lewis
Though a young man, Richard (Rick) Lewis was already a veteran of the
Philadelphia pop music scene. While in the service Richard was stationed in
Germany where he met entertainers Jesse Belvin and Philadelphian Eddie Fisher.
Both encouraged Rick's song writing talents and he began working on material
to present to them when he returned home. Upon his release from the service,
Rick found that success would not come that easily. After some struggling,
Richard Lewis began singing with a Philadelphia group called the Parakeets.
They did some traveling, mostly playing the carnival circuit. Rick spent
this time singing other artists' material instead of recording his own. When
the Parakeets returned to Philadelphia, Richard joined the Turbans as their
road manager. The Turbans were riding high at that time on the success of
"When You Dance" (Herald #458) and were getting their share of bookings. With
the Turbans, Rick toured extensively. Upon returning to Philadelphia Rick
became associated with the Thunderbirds, replacing James Jenkins as the
group's tenor. At that time the group consisted of Bill Horton (lead),
Richard Lewis (tenor), Earl Beal (baritone) and Raymond Edwards (bass).
Rick Lewis tried to encourage the group to sing rock and roll rather than
Gospel. They performed at supper clubs (such as "Tony’s" on Germantown Ave.),
bars and cabarets. In the beginning the Thunderbirds were influenced by
groups like the Dominoes, Drifters and Spaniels, but they soon developed their
own style.
While in the service, Rick had written a song called "Get A Job.” "Get A Job"
was not intended to be any kind of socioeconomic statement of the times. It
was merely a lighthearted look at one man's frustration at having a nagging
wife and no job. In the days to come, however, the song was to become much
more than that. To the rebellious teenagers of the mid 1950' s who grew up on
James Dean movies, Alan Freed stage shows, and their own form of music - rock
& roll, the song "Get A Job" symbolized their very struggle against authority
(in this case their parents who repeatedly lectured them on the virtues of
working for a living). It was this appeal that probably made hits of many
other songs from that era such as the Coasters' "Yakety Yak", Eddie Cochran's
"Summertime Blues", etc.
Although the teenage public was ready for a song like "Get A Job", the music
industry was not. The Thunderbirds rehearsed the song and then went to
numerous record companies around Philadelphia with the hope of recording it
and their other material. Local DJ Hy Lit was busy working with Lee Andrew's
Hearts and didn't have time to do anything with the group. Bernie Lowe, owner
of Cameo records said the song "Get A Job" was "nothing". The group even
traveled to New York City in an unsuccessful attempt to interest record
companies in their songs. In the car, on the way to New York, they wrote
"Bing Bong" which they would later record.
Finally in 1957, the group got their first real break. As Rick Lewis
recalled, "Robert Williams, a theater technician, caught one of (our)
performances at a local club and was so enthusiastic about the group that he
secured an engagement for (us) where he worked, which was none other than the
famous Uptown Theater. The M.C. of the show, Kae Williams, a record company
owner and local DJ on radio station WDAS, expressed interest in managing the
group.
Kae Williams decided to record the group for his Junior label but was
dissatisfied with the group's name. Earl Beale came up with the name
Silhouettes, possibly derived from the 1957 hit single by the Rays.
Kae Williams (1956)
Kae made arrangements for the group to record "Get A Job" and "I'm Lonely" at
Robinson Recording Laboratories in the studios of radio station WIP. At that
time, WIP was located in the old Gimbels Department store building at 9th &
Market Streets in Philadelphia. Howard Biggs, Junior's arranger at the session
worked with the Silhouettes to develop a unique style. What they came up
with, was an introduction to "Get A Job" which utilized Raymond Edward's
ability to vocalize the rapid-fire bass line "yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip,
yip, yip, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom" as well as the group’s rhythmic
chanting of "Sha na na na, Sha na na na na". The outstanding sax break in
the record was performed by local artist Rollie McGill.
In the late 1957 "Get A Job"/"I’m Lonely" was released on the Junior
label. The beautiful ballad "I’m Lonely" was intended to be the A-side. Kae
Williams began playing the record on his radio show and it soon became a local
hit.
What happened next with the record remains a matter of some conjecture. Rick
Lewis explained, "We were made privy only to information that we needed to
know. We produced the music and he (Kae) took care of the business end." The
Silhouettes were led to believe at the time that Kae Williams swung a deal
giving half of the publishing rights of "Get A Job" to Dick Clark. Dick
Clark's American Bandstand, filmed live at WFIL-TV's 46th and Market
studio (Philadelphia) expanded from a local program to a network show in mid
1957. At the time of "Get A Job”’s release, Bandstand was popular
enough to turn a local hit into a national one, almost overnight. To verify
or refute this story, one first looks at the publishing companies on the
record labels. When "Get A Job" was first released on the Junior label, the
publishers were listed as Ulysses and Bagby (Junior's publishers). The
record next appeared on the Ember label, listing Ulysses and Bagby
along with a second company, Wildcat Music. Dick Clark's involvement in the
record industry has been explored in depth by the Congressional Subcommittee
investigating the payola scandal. Although Clark was known to have financial
ties to several publishing companies, Wildcat was not listed as one of them.
On the other hand, Tony Marmmarella, co-producer (with Clark) of American
Bandstand, testified before the subcommittee that Wildcat Music was owned
by Milton Kellem Music Co. of which he (Mammarella) was a part owner. It
should be pointed out that in 1958 there was nothing illegal about giving air
play to a record you had financial interest in, or even accepting
consideration for playing a record.
"Get
A Job" Label Variations
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Junior 78
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Junior 45, Maroon label
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Junior 45, Blue label
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Ember 45, Red label
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Ember 45, Canadian, Blue label
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Al Silver, owner of Herald-Ember records, once told F. Bailen how "Get
A Job" carne into his possession.
“ … I received a call from Ed Cohen, a distributor in Philadelphia. He had
(distributed) a local label called Junior on which he had sold 9,000 copies of
a record in a few days. Kae Williams, the owner of Junior didn't have
enough money to distribute it, and he air-mailed me a copy to convince me to
take over distribution. I stalled for a few days and after I heard that
ABC and MGM were hot on the record, I purchased it from Kae and put
it on the Ember label. Dick Clark played this record, "Get A Job" by
the Silhouettes, and the next day we had orders for 300,000 records, which
were not yet pressed. That record sold one million copies in an incredible
three week period."
"Get A Job" became a number one record on both the R&B and Pop charts by
February, 1958. It remained on Billboard's Pop Charts for fifteen straight weeks. It was one of the
first R&B records to cross over into pop music and become #1.
"Get A Job" sold well over a million copies. The exact sales figures will
probably never be known since the record was subjected to large scale
bootlegging while it was on the charts. While the Silhouettes received some
royalties for writing and singing the song, Kae Williams' royalties for
publishing rights were held up by a law suit. One of the small labels that
the Silhouettes had first taken material to, produced a tape of the group
singing an early version of "Get A Job" (nearly acappella with only Rick Lewis
on guitar) and demanded a share of the royalties. The outcome of the suit is
unknown to the group.
Another factor that cut into the record's sales was the covering of "Get A
Job" by the Mills Brothers (Dot #15695) in January of 1958. The
Silhouettes were angered that an older group like the Mills Brothers would try
to profit at. the expense of a young group trying to establish themselves. Bill Horton stated, "I wouldn't have minded if they had been a younger group,
but the Mills Brothers had it made. They shouldn't have covered anybody".
The Silhouettes believed the Mills Brothers cover cost them an overseas
tour.
On the other hand, the Silhouettes were flattered by the large number of
answer records to "Get A Job" that began appearing in 1958. A partial list of
these answer records follows this article. The most memorable answers
included "I Found A Job" by the Heartbeats (Roulette #4054) and "Got A
Job" (End #1016), the first record by a young Detroit group called the
Miracles. The success of these records was carried by the sales of "Get A
Job".
Throughout 1958, the Silhouettes were in great demand. All but a few days
during the year were spent touring. The group did the Sam Cooke tour, the
Clyde McPhatter tour, an 82 day Alan Freed tour and Dick Clark's Caravan of
Stars tour. They played the Apollo Theater. They appeared on Dick Clark's
Bandstand and Saturday night TV show numerous times. They appeared on the
Patty Page TV Show. In virtually every town the Silhouettes toured, there was
a local TV dance show that wanted them. For Rick Lewis it was gratifying to
return to the cities he had toured with the Turbans - this time with a number
one record. In the various bus tours, the Silhouettes traveled and performed
with stars like Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Clyde
McPhatter and the Monotones.
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Biggest Show of Stars 1958 Tour Program
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During one tour, Raymond Edwards was temporarily
replaced by Alphonso Howell, the bass of another Kae Williams group, the
Sensations. Alphonso never recorded with the Silhouettes and rejoined the
Sensations a few weeks later with the return of Raymond Edwards to the
Silhouettes.
Alphonso Howell
On one tour in North Carolina the Silhouettes heard "For Your Precious Love"
by Jerry Butler and the Impressions being played on the radio. This was
before the record was well known. They began working with the tune in their
hotel room since its gospel flavor suited Bill Horton's style. The
Silhouettes actually recorded the tune and sent it to Kae Williams but he
would not release it because of his friendship with Vee Jay executive
Ewart Abner. For the same reason a Silhouettes cover of the Spaniels'
"Stormy Weather" was never released.
Back in the 9th and Market Streets studio, the Silhouettes recorded their
second release, "Heading For The Poorhouse" b/w "Miss Thing". This time the
record came out strictly on Al Silver's Ember label. Writing "Heading
For The Poorhouse" was a group effort because, as Bill said, "We collaborated
on it because we felt that if everyone had some input, they'd be able to put
out a lot more.” The tune was meant as an answer to what would happen if you
didn't 'get a job'. Both sides of this release were up-tempo, sealing the
group into a "Get A Job" style. Rick Lewis explained how up-tempo sides became
a Silhouettes trademark. "The record company owner had a lot of input as to
the kind of material you do. You present to him the songs you have in your
repertoire and he decides what he likes and this is what he is willing to
spend his money on to produce. The track records of other groups had been if
they'd came up with something that sounded like their hit record it would be
saleable ... whether it would be as phenomenal as the original hit or not. It
did not work in our case."
The Silhouettes believed another factor led to the bombing of "Poorhouse" -
lack of promotion and exposure. They recognized that Bandstand was
responsible for the success of "Get A Job" and they expected it to do the same
for their second record. The Silhouettes and Kae Williams were scheduled to
appear on Dick Clark's Saturday night TV show to publicly be presented with a
Gold Record for "Get A Job". They were to sing "Get A Job" and "Heading For
The Poorhouse". Shortly before the show, Kae Williams and Dick Clark had an
argument. To the Silhouettes shock and dismay, they were hustled off the
stage after the award without the chance to sing “Poorhouse". Instead Jackie
Wilson was brought on to sing "Lonely Teardrops" and the Silhouettes lost
their best chance to promote their new record.
The Silhouettes third record, "Bing Bong" b/w "Voo Doo Eyes" was recorded in
Al Silver's New York studio and again released only on Ember. It was
probably the final record in a package deal between Kae Williams and Al
Silver. Unlike "Poorhouse" which utilized a bass lead, "Bing Bong" returned
to the Horton led up-tempo style. The record did not sell when it was out.
(Six years later Philadelphia disc jockey Jerry Blavat started playing "Bing
Bong" and it became quite popular locally.)
By late 1958, the Silhouettes were concerned over the lack of sales of the
previous two records and decided to try another ballad. Although originally
intended as a "B" side, "I Sold My Heart To The Junkman" was a strong ballad
that overshadowed the up-tempo side "What Would You Do". The record was first
issued on the Junior label but stirred enough action for Kae Williams
to sell it to the Ace label. Unfortunately it did not sell well enough
to return the Silhouettes to the spotlight they had grown accustomed to.
In 1959 the Silhouettes recorded "Evelyn" b/w "Never Will Part" for Junior
Records. "Evelyn" was an up-tempo side written by the groups' arranger
Dave McRae while "Never Will Part" was a pretty ballad. Kae Williams also
sold another Silhouettes record, "Never" b/w "Bull Frog" to the 20th Fox
label but neither record sold very well.
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We now come to a time in the career of the group when "Get A Job", a phrase
which had brought to the group national recognition, was returning to haunt
them with a meaning much closer to home. The release of "Rent Man", backed
with "Your Love" on the Junior label, was another attempt to utilize
what had been a successful formula at the beginning of their career. Where
the 1957 ballad, "I Am Lonely" originally was intended to be the hit side
rather than "Get A Job", there was no mistaking that "Rent Man", and not the
ballad "Your Love", was to be the side to once again stir up action for the
group. The recording, "Rent Man" usually draws a smile from one hearing it
for the first time with the inevitable statement, "that sounds like "Get A
Job" doesn't it?". Well, it does, but the surprising fact is that neither the
lead singer of "Get A Job", Bill Horton, nor the prominent bass, Raymond
Edwards, sang on "Rent Man"!
All the talent in the world wouldn't pay the bills - if one didn't have a hit
record, and with what the group felt was less than total effort by the
promoters to push their material, (which, by its own merit was as good as
ever), came the exit of original members Bill Horton and Raymond Edwards and
the emergence of the new group. Although the original group also sang a
never-recorded song called “Rent Man”, the released “Rent Man” recording
found Horton and Edwards replaced by Cornelius Brown and John Wilson who,
along with the original members Richard Lewis and Earl Beal, comprised the
second Silhouettes vocal group. Familiar with the Silhouettes and their
earlier work, the new members easily made the transition while maintaining
the integrity of the Silhouettes' unique style.
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to see photos of when John Wilson visited Classic Urban Harmony LLC World
Headquarters.
The New Silhouettes: (l->r) Earl Beal,
John Wilson, Cornelius Brown, Rick Lewis
The New Silhouettes
Courtesy of Elaine Lewis
The failure of "Rent Man" to stir more than local action brought the final
split between the group and Kae Williams Productions. Though the group
personally had no contact with Philadelphia's Grand Records,
acquaintances of the group arranged to record some of their material for
Grand. With John Wilson singing lead came two sides on Grand, "Wish I
Could Be There" backed with "Move On Over". The record appeared on
Philadelphia's WIBG “Top 99” chart on August 20, 1962 and remained for four
weeks reaching #61. Grand record producer Jerry Ragovoy, with the aid
of Van McCoy was enjoying success at Imperial Records with the Majors.
It was through Ragovoy and Van McCoy that the Silhouettes released their next
recording with Imperial. In the midst of an era which saw endless dance
records came out of Philadelphia, the contemporary side, "The Push",
represented quite a style change for the Silhouettes. Backed with "Which
Way Did She Go" (a tune which Ragavoy would later record again with the
Majors) the Imperial record hit the WIBG charts on December 24, 1962, reaching
the number 64 position during its four week stay. Though record sales for the
Imperial record were low, the dance sound generated work for the group.
The most popular release by the second Silhouettes group was not a single, but
the 1968 LP called "The Original and New Silhouettes - '58/68 Get A Job" LP on
Goodway Records. The LP was certainly unique for a number of reasons
and it is now actively sought by collectors of both '50's and '60' s sounds.
A clever idea that has since been done by other artists, the LP combined
material from the original group with new releases by the second group. The
first side featured previously released sides by both groups. What is called
"Bing Bong Lover" is actually the original Ember release of "Bing
Bong". Side two features the 1968 version of "Get A Job" which may be best
described as a mixture of a little bit of Detroit and a little bit of Philly.
The next two sides, "Not Me Baby" and "Gaucho Serenade" were also packaged in
the LP as a single ala some of the Cameo-Parkway LP's of the '60's.
"Climb Every Mountain" and "We Belong Together" round out the LP. These
sides were released as a single by Jamie Records as the "New
Silhouettes".
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Adding to the uniqueness of the LP was the fact that it was marketed
nationally by Sears Department stores, making it an instant coast-to-coast
seller. For the Goodway Company it was a new venture into the record
business since they were actually printers. Those readers having the LP may
notice that instead of Cornelius Brown listed as personnel in the second
group, the liner notes list an Otis Lewis. Actually, it is Cornelius on all
the sides as well as the LP photo. When Cornelius left the group, Otis Lewis
took his place for a short time to do live performances. At the time the LP
was being compiled, the group didn't know that Cornelius would soon return.
For that reason, Otis Lewis was listed in current personnel.
In 1964 Bill Horton recorded the first of two records with a new group called
the Dawns. Bill had been friends with Frank Virtue of Virtue Studios in
Philadelphia and at Frank's suggestion, Bill cut some songs that Virtue had at
the studio. The Dawns were friends of Bill who enjoyed getting together
occasionally to sing. The group's members were Joe Moody, George Willis,
Robert Byrd and Bill Horton. Their first record was released on Swan's
subsidiary label, Lawn, giving credit to Bill Harton and the Dawns.
The misspelling of Horton's name goes unexplained.
The Lawn record contains two smooth ballads with Horton's ever strong
lead and nice backup work by the group. "Like To See You In That Mood" is
obviously the stronger side, however "Shadow", (not to be confused with the
Five Satins' song, "Shadows"), is also a nice ballad. Never promoted
seriously, the record may exist only as promotional copies.
The second Dawns record was, according to Bill Horton, done in the late
sixties or early seventies. Not known to be released when we interviewed
Horton, copies were then located on the Kayden label out of
Philadelphia. The sides were probably sold by Virtue to Kayden to
recover some of the production cost. As with the Lawn record, copies have
been seen only in promotional form. Although Horton sings on both sides of
the Kayden record, he is backed by the Dawns only on "I Wanna
Know", an up-tempo side with a solid sixties sound. The flip, "No One Can Take
Your Place", is a ballad which was recorded solo by Horton with female backing
dubbed in at a later time.
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The Silhouettes disbanded after the Goodway album to pursue their
individual careers.
Silhouettes Card
From the CUH Archives
The Silhouettes
Courtesy of Elaine Lewis
Part
2
In 1979, my radio show on WXPN-FM in Philadelphia was going strong. At the
time, my partner on the show was Don Leins. Don and I would open the phone
lines to take requests and get feedback from our audience. To our pleasant
surprise, a lot of former singers began calling in. So, we’d invite them to
come down to the radio station and we’d interview them on the air. We also
asked members of our audience if they knew the whereabouts of certain group
members, to let us know. The response was terrific. Word went around the
community that we were trying to preserve the history of Philly R&B groups and
with the help of our listeners we were able to locate dozens of singers.
One group we were anxious to locate was the Silhouettes. One of our listeners
named Elaine, told us she’d met a man years back, when she was very young,
who’d claimed to have been one of the Silhouettes. Elaine then put an ad in
the Philadelphia Tribune (the local black newspaper) saying, “Members of the
Silhouettes… local dj wants to interview you…” Elaine never did find the man
she had met, and it’s likely his credentials were shaky. However, Elaine did
get a call from Rick Lewis, original tenor of the Silhouettes. Rick and
Elaine were married ten years later (on the 10th anniversary of their first
face-to-face meeting at my radio program). Meanwhile, at the same time that
Elaine had located Rick Lewis, my friend Charlie Stroud, an early member of
the Capris (“God Only Knows”) told me his cousin was Bill Horton, lead of the
Silhouettes. Charlie Stroud gave me Bill Horton’s number and I phoned him in
September 1979. Bill and I had a long talk about the Silhouettes and we made
arrangements for him to come down to the show a couple weeks later. Rick
called Bill and the two of them came down to the radio station together. Bill
and Rick hadn’t been in touch for some time, and the WXPN interview on October
20, 1979, started them thinking about getting the Silhouettes back together.
Don and I told Bill and Rick about the great response we had with an acappella
concert we’d produced earlier in the year in Philadelphia and about the group
harmony revival shows that were being produced in New York City. We also told
them about Ronnie I’s United in Group Harmony Association (UGHA) that was
really beginning to take off in North Jersey. The Silhouettes knew the song
“Get A Job” still had the public’s ear with the group Sha Na Na taking its
name from Silhouettes' lyrics.
Shortly after the WXPN interview, all four original Silhouettes began
rehearsing. The first public appearance I can recall by the reunited
Silhouettes was at a Bucks County (suburban Philadelphia) indoor shopping
mall. Though the set was hosted by Steve Levi, a well-known local TV news
personality, it was far from a triumphant reappearance. The event was
sparsely attended and the group merely used it as a warm-up for their
comeback. It was a chance for the four original members, Bill Horton, Rick
Lewis, Earl Beal and Raymond Edwards to sing together again in front of a live
audience, after such a long absence from the public eye.
Earl Beal, Don Leins, Steve Levi & Charlie
at the Silhouettes
first comeback appearance
in Bucks County (Photo
courtesy of Elaine Lewis)
By the end of 1980, the Silhouettes comeback was in full swing. Popular New
York City radio dee jay, Norm N. Nite, called the Silhouettes and asked them
if they’d be interested in playing an “oldies show” at the famed Beacon
Theatre. On the weekend of October 17-18, 1980, the Silhouettes appeared on
both nights of the Royal New York Doo Wop Show at the Beacon (74th &
Broadway). The show also featured Rudy West & the Five Keys, Sonny Til & the
Orioles, the Earls, the Cleftones, the Tuneweavers, the acappella group
Yesterday’s Today, Johnny Maestro & Brooklyn Bridge (Friday only) and the Jyve
Five (Saturday only). I was at the Saturday night show that also presented a
surprise guest group, the Kingtones from Japan. The Silhouettes followed the
Earls and were given a thunderous applause. The audience stomped their feet
until the Silhouettes came back out for an encore.
A month later (November 28, 1980), I arranged for the Silhouettes to appear at
UGHA in North Bergen, NJ. At UGHA, the group had the opportunity to do a much
longer set than at the Beacon. Again, to say the group was enthusiastically
received would be an understatement. Also making their first appearance at
UGHA on that night was the standout Philly acappella group, Neighbors
Complaint. At the time, Neighbor’s Complaint consisted of Bob “Big Murph”
Murphy, “Golden Voice” Harry Schmitt (now leading Cornerstone), John Jones
(now with the Norristones) and Bob Reilly. I’d also arranged for Neighbors
Complaint to be at that UGHA show, hoping to give the night a Philadelphia
flavor. But the competition was strong. That night’s show also featured the
Charts, the Five Jades, the Attributes, Playground and six other groups. UGHA
founder Ronnie I. commented in the next newsletter that the November
meeting/show had been the “best one yet”.
The Silhouettes
Courtesy of Elaine
Lewis
Throughout the early 1980’s, the Silhouettes did occasional big “oldies” shows
but kept their act sharp by working local clubs around Philadelphia. Ronnie
I. and I discussed the possibility of either forming a Philadelphia chapter of
UGHA or holding semi-regular UGHA shows in Philly. Neither of those ideas
ever came to fruition because by 1981 I had moved to central New Jersey and
only returned to Philadelphia on weekends to do the radio show. We did,
however, hold one UGHA show in Philly and the Silhouettes were the headline
group. On September 12, 1981, the Silhouettes, the Ecstasies, Neighbor’s
Complaint, New Emage and the Gospel Noble-Aires performed at a club called
Eagles on Frankford Avenue, hosted by Ronnie I. and myself.
Also in 1981, the Silhouettes came up with the concept for a new album – their
first recordings in thirteen years. The title track, “Workin’ hard,” was
meant to be an answer to “Get A Job.” The album contained nine original
numbers and came out on the C.R.S. label in 1982. The material was good, but
the album failed to sell.
In 1982, the Silhouettes appeared on a network TV show called “Whatever Became
Of…”. The show updated the audience on the lives of stars of yesteryear. The
executive producer of the show was Dick Clark.
The Silhouettes continued appearing in diverse venues from small clubs like
Philadelphia’s Little Bourse Cafe to Mark del Costello’s 1983 Burlington NJ
Black Swan Concert. They taped an appearance for the motion picture Joey in 1983 with
the Teenagers, Limelights, Ad-Libs, Elegants, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Vito
Balsalmo. It was released in 1985.
Silhouettes performing at the Little Bourse Cafe
Philadelphia, 1982. From CUH Archives.
Bill
Horton at Little Bourse Cafe
1982. From CUH Archives
Bill
Horton at Little Bourse Cafe
1982. Courtesy of Elaine Lewis
On October 15, 1983 they again played the Royal N.Y. Doo
Wop Show, this time at Radio City Music Hall with the Spaniels, Lee Andrews &
the Hearts, the Tymes, the Earls, the Mystics and the Regents. Prior to that
show, Earl Beal had broken his leg and ended up performing with a cast. Earl
also wore the cast for a Philadelphia Academy of Music appearance.
In 1986, the Silhouettes again did a Black Swan concert, this one at the
African-American Museum in Philadelphia. The show featured Philadelphia
groups from the 1950’s including the Capris, Turbans, Keystoners, Brenda & the
Tabulations and many others. The show was MC’s by former silhouettes’
manager, Kae Williams. After the show, Kae and I shared a restaurant table
and talked. We’d known each other since he’d been a guest on my radio show
five years earlier. It was the last time I saw him before he passed away.
Grand finale at 1986 Black Swan concert in Philly.
Rene Hinton (Capris) in center. Rick Lewis to the left of her.
Courtesy of Elaine Lewis.
By 1987, the Silhouettes found themselves in Bowzer’s original Doo Wop Party
Volume II, appearing at the Valley Forge Music Fair, outside of Philadelphia
on March 8. Bowzer, of course, rose to fame with the group Sha Na Na, that
named themselves after the lyrics in “Get A Job.”
Click on Photos to Enlarge! Then click
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Flamingos' Jake Carey & Rick Lewis
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Jive Five's Eugene Pitt & Rick Lewis
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Baby Washington & Rick Lewis
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Rick Lewis (center) with the Cardinals' Melvin Coles, Herman Denby, Jack Johnson, Ernie Warren
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Photos courtesy of Elaine Lewis.
On October 20, 1989, on the tenth anniversary of when they
first met on my radio show, Rick and Elaine were married. Elaine sent us
the following photos from their wedding. Click on Photos to Enlarge! Then click
Back Arrow to return to the Profile.
In 1990, Bill Horton suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for quite
awhile. While Bill eventually did recover, this effectively ended the
Silhouettes performing days.
Bill Horton passed away in 1995; Raymond Edwards in 1997; Earl Beal in 2001;
Rick Lewis in 2005.
For those of us who loved the Silhouettes and their music, the ten year second
musical career of the group meant a lot. Many, myself included, never got to
see the Silhouettes perform during the glory years of the 1950’s. The group’s
comeback gave us our only opportunity to see and hear the group live. And I,
for one, believe the Silhouettes of the eighties were every bit as good as the
Silhouettes in the fifties.
In preparation for this web profile, Elaine Lewis shared with us her feelings
on what made the Silhouettes unique. “What was special about them was that
they stuck together, never replaced any of the original members, despite all
the ups and downs that groups have. You'd be hard-pressed to name even a
single other doo-wop group from the 50's that was still performing with all
their original members in the 80's.”
For those wishing to read more about the Silhouettes, we highly recommend two
great resources:
Todd R. Baptista’s Group Harmony: Echoes of the Rhythm & Blues Era,
(Collectables: Narberth, PA) 2007, provides the most detailed bio of the
Silhouettes to date. It also contains great bios of the Cardinals, Spiders,
Channels, Larks, Jacks, Flairs and Mellows.
Elaine Lewis’s fascinating website on the Silhouettes can be reached from our
Links Page. Elaine has been a tremendous help in putting together our
website’s Silhouettes’ Profile, including refreshing my memory on many of the
events and supplying quite a few of the photos, for which we are very
grateful.
Charlie Horner
Courtesy of Elaine Lewis
This page is dedicated to the memory of Bill Horton, Rick Lewis, Earl Beal,
Raymond Edwards, Alphonso Howell and James “Tony” Jenkins.
Silhouettes Singles Discography
Junior
391 - Get A Job / I Am Lonely 11/57
Ember
1029 - Get A Job / I Am Lonely 12/57
Ember
1032 - Headin’ For The Poorhouse / Miss Thing 3/58
Ember
1037 - Bing Bong / Voodoo Eyes 8/58
Junior
396 - I Sold My Heart To The Junkman / What Would You Do 58
Ace
552 - I Sold My Heart To The Junkman / What Would You Do 9/58
Junior
400 - Never Will Part / Evelyn 59
Ace
563 - Never Will Part / Evelyn 4/59
20th Fox
240 - Never / Bull Frog 61
Grand
142 - Move On Over (To Another Land) / Wish I Could Be There 62
Imperial
5899 - Push, The / Which Way Did She Go 12/62
Junior
992 - Rent Man / Your Love (Is All I Need) 63
Jamie
1333 - Climb Every Mountain / We Belong Together 66
Goodway
101 - Not Me Baby / Gaucho Serenade 68
Bill Horton Singles
As Bill Harton & the Dawns
Lawn
241 - Like To See You In That Mood / Shadow 64
As Bill Horton
Kayden
403 - I Wanna know / No One Can Take Your Place 70
Raymond Edwards Recordings Without the Silhouettes
In the early 1980’s my friend John Moore uncovered a copy of a record by the
Dicky Howard Quintette on the Nestor label which stated on the label,
“Ray Edwards - Vocal”. When we asked Raymond Edwards about the record, he
confirmed that that was a recording he made in 1954. Classic Urban Harmony’s
archives has since acquired that record, seen here.
In addition, Raymond Edwards voice is found on two other records from the
early 1960’s. At the time, Raymond had moved to Reading, PA, where he joined
the vocal group, the Invictors. The Invictors released one record on the
Bee label, “I’ll Always Care For You” b/w I Don’t Wanna Go”. The group
also recorded “Carrie Lou” as the Termites on Bee, though the flip is
reportedly by another group.
Click on Photos to Enlarge! Then click
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Dicky Howard Quintette
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Invictors
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Termites
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Raymond
Edwards Singles
As The Dicky Howards Quintette, Ray Edwards, vocal
Nestor
17 - Going Down To The River / Rolling Down the Highway 54
As The Invictors
Bee
1117 - I’ll Always Care For You / I Don’t Wanna Go 61
As The Termites
Bee
1825 - Carrie Lou / [flip is a different group] 63
“Not Me Baby” and Northern Soul
The Silhouettes’ 1968
recording of “Not Me Baby” has now become a sought after Northern Soul classic
in the U.K., fetching as much as $1500 for the 45 RPM single. It was not
always so highly prized. The 45 was issued only as a bonus single, packaged
inside of the Goodway LP. Thus, the only way one could get the single
was to buy the LP. Today the Goodway album is also highly desirable.
Goodway Records
lists an address on Roosevelt Boulevard in northeast Philadelphia, about a
mile from where I was born and raised. I was unaware of the record when it
coming out. About a year after its release I recall going into a local Kresge
Department store that frequently had cut-out (discontinued) records. On a
large table at the back of the store I saw a big table with close to 100
copies of the album (with the 45’s included). All the copies were new and
sealed. They were selling for $1 a piece. Being just a teenager, I pulled
out a dollar and bought only one copy for my collection. That’s the copy (45
& LP) in our CUH archive, pictured here.
Booklet issued by Rick & Elaine Lewis, 1980
Classic Urban Harmony Archives
A limited number of copies of the above pictured 24-page historical
booklet are still available from Elaine Lewis. It contains great photos
from the Silhouettes' career. Elaine also has a number of 8"X10"
photos of the
group for sale. Email her at
LEWRA@aol.com
All Label Photos Scanned from Records in the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives
Copyright © 2008, Classic Urban Harmony LLC. All
Rights Reserved.
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