4 Tunes
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The 4 Tunes were probably the leading black Pop vocal group during the 1950s. Ironically, this was the decade when rhythm & blues and rock & roll were being absorbed into the top 40 charts, ultimately to replace the Pop stars of the earlier 50s.
The 4 Tunes were basically a renamed Brown Dots, a group that Deek Watson started when he split from the Ink Spots in late 1944. When they began in 1946 (as the Sentimentalists), the 4 Tunes were: Jimmie Nabbie (tenor), Danny Owens (tenor), William "Pat" Best (baritone and guitar), and Jimmy Gordon (bass). As both the Brown Dots (with Deek Watson prior to Danny Owens) and the Sentimentalists, they had recorded for Manor Records; they initially continued this association when they became the 4 Tunes.
Apocryphally, and possibly in truth, the name was devived from the fact that all they had left were four tunes that they hadn't yet recorded. This, at any rate, was the story that Jimmie Nabbie told. Pat Best didn't contradict it.
They continued recording for Manor through the Spring of 1949, when they switched over to RCA Victor, where they had 18 records released between May 1949 and November 1953. The polished style of the 4 Tunes was the product of their training, experience, dedication, and discipline. Their songs were carefully selected and arranged.
In mid-1953, they once again changed labels. This time they went to Jerry Blaine's Jubilee label, where they achieved their greatest popularity. Their first Jubilee recording, “Marie,” was released in September, and reached #2 on the R&B charts (#13 Pop). This Irving Berlin tune had been a #1 smash for Tommy Dorsey (Jack Leonard on vocal) back in 1937. Their next Jubilee release, “I Understand Just How You Feel” was a bigger hit, climbing to #7 R&B, but even higher (#6) on the Pop charts (a notable achievement for 1953).
By this time, the group that had started as an offshoot of the Ink Spots, America's most successful Pop group, had leaned closer to rhythm & blues and now had swung back to Pop.
The 4 Tunes played the black theater circuit and also many white clubs. When they were on a tour with Pop singer Joni James, she asked Jimmie Nabbie to write a song for her. The result, “You Are My Love,” was her big hit of 1955 (which the 4 Tunes covered).
In late 1959, there were two releases on Crosby (a Las Vegas label that Jimmie Nabbie partly owned). Then, there was a single release on Robin's Nest (as the “4 Tunes And One”) in 1962.
After 18 years with the group, Jimmie Nabbie left in 1963, to become a soloist (in 1965, he joined an Ink Spots group to come full circle; he would remain with them until his death); Danny Owens left about the same time. Billy Wells was tapped to fill Nabbie's place and tenor Gaines Steele was brought in to replace Owens.
In the mid-60s, Frank Dawes (tenor and piano) was also brought on board, as a utility singer. The recording career of the 4 Tunes wound down with an LP on the ARA label in 1969 (which not only contained a version of "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons," but also "Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On." The personnel were: Pat Best, Jimmy Gordon, Billy Wells, Frank Dawes, and Chuck Hampton (drums and vocals). Sometime in the 1980s, Billy Wells left for medical reasons and was replaced by a tenor named Andre Williams. Pat Best Jr was also added, as a guitarist, for a few years.
Pat Best and Jimmy Gordon kept the 4 Tunes going until about 1998 (as the “Tunes Plus One”). When they played their last engagement (in Carson City, Nevada), the members were Pat Best, Jimmy Gordon, Frank Dawes, Rufus McKay (a tenor who'd replaced Andre Williams about 10 years previously), and Chuck Hampton.
All the members of the Brown Dots/4 Tunes are deceased as of 2005, with the possible exception of Danny Owens, whom Pat Best had lost track of.
While the Brown Dots will always be associated with “For Sentimental Reasons” and the 4 Tunes with “Marie” and “I Understand Just How You Feel,” they turned out an impressive body of work over a 24-year recording career.
