The Moonglows

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The Moonglows was an influential American R&B and doo-wop group based in Cleveland, Ohio.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early years

Originally formed in their native Louisville Kentucky as the Crazy Sounds, the group moved to Cleveland, where legendary disc jockey Alan Freed renamed them the Moonglows (after his own nickname, "Moondog"). Freed helped to promote the group during their early years and, in a common practice of the day, took a co-writer credit as compensation for his efforts. Lead Fuqua served as the group's leader and chief writer. Vocals were split between Bobby "Lester" Dallas and Harvey Fuqua and sometimes, in the group's occasional duet leads, both. The other members were tenor Alexander "Pete" Graves and bass Prentiss Barnes, with Billy Johnson on guitar. The Moonglows recorded one single for Freed's Champagne label in late 1952, and then for Chicago's Chance record label in 1953 and 1954. After a moderately-successful release of the Lester-led version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" on Chance, the Moonglows signed to independent Chicago powerhouse Chess Records in mid-1954.

[edit] R&B stardom and influence

Their first Chess release, 1954's "Sincerely" became a number one R&B hit and was "covered" successfully for the pop (read: "White") market by The McGuire Sisters. Between 1955 and 1957, the Moonglows reached the R&B charts frequently with hits like "Most of All", "In My Diary", "When I'm With You", "See Saw", "We Go Together", and "Please Send Me Someone to Love." Different styles defined the Moonglows lead singers: Fuqua favored the uptempo R&B/rock numbers while Lester sung more of the romantic ballads, for which the group was better known, and occasionally the two would share the leads, duet-style. Although Lester and Fuqua are credited as forming a spinoff group called the Moonlighters, recording in 1955 for the Chess subsidiary label Checker, they paired on only two numbers released as by the Moonlighters, "So All Alone" and "New Gal." The flip sides of these two songs, respectively "Shoo-Do-Be-Doo" and "Hug And A Kiss" featured the full group. The flip side of "Starlite" called "In Love" also featured a Lester-Fuqua duet. In 1957, the Moonglows appeared the Alan Freed movie Rock, Rock, Rock. In late 1957, the group recorded their classic "Ten Commandments of Love," featuring Fuqua on lead and guitarist Billy Johnson flawlessly executing the spoken recitation. This became the group's second biggest hit, after "Sincerely," early in 1958. It was also the first record to be billed on the label as "Harvey & the Moonglows".

The Moonglows singing style is revered by aficionados as "blow" harmony, based on the techincial method used by the backgrounds singers. This style can be heard in many other groups of the era and beyond, perhaps most notably the Chi-Lites (particularly on their hit "Oh Girl").

[edit] Fallout from the original group and "The New Moonglows"

In 1958, shortly after the Moonglows recorded their final hit, "10 Commandments of Love", Fuqua re-asserted himself as the group's lead singer, putting Lester further in the background causing friction among group members. The biggest blow came when Fuqua spotted a young vocal group, the Marquees from Washington, D.C., and took the talented quartet of Reese Palmer, Chester Simmons, James Knowland and nineteen-year-old lead singer Marvin Gaye under his wing. The group had recently recorded (unsuccessfully) on the Okeh record label after being discovered by rock icon Bo Diddley when Fuqua found them. Recording with fifth member Chuck Barksdale, who had been (and would again become) the bass singer of The Dells, Fuqua hired them as his new Moonglows. This group recorded songs such as "Twelve Months of the Year" (featuring a speaking part by Marvin Gaye), "Beatnik" and "Mama Loocie", which (the first recorded lead by Gaye), released in 1959. The forming of the "New Moonglows" ended he affiliation of the original Moonglows. In 1959 and 1960, Fuqua also recorded several duets for the Chess label with the singer of "Roll with Me Henry" (and future blues superstar) Etta James. After Barksdale left to return as member of The Dells, the other four Moonglows recruited bass John Bowie to fill their commitments, and then disbanded.

[edit] After the Moonglows and splinter groups

In 1960, Fuqua moved to Detroit, Michigan, disbanded the Moonglows, and joined the new Motown label as behind-the-scenes jack of all trades. While there, Fuqua was responsible for getting Marvin Gaye signed to Motown, and would continue to play a pivotal role in Gaye's career later serving as producer of some of his famed recording duets with Tammi Terrell and later being the production adviser of Marvin's final album, 1982's Midnight Love. Fuqua also began a record label called Tri-Phi, signing and mentoring the original Spinners, who copied the Moonglows style on their 1961 hit, "That's What Girls are Made For." Fuqua would serve as a staff songwriter and producer for Motown producing hits for The Spinners and later played a role in forming the funk-soul band New Birth in the 1970s.

Pete Graves started another Moonglows group in 1964 with the Drifters' Doc Green and George Thorpe and Bearle Easton, which recorded briefly for the Lana, Times Square and Crimson record labels, before disbanding. Lester, who had returned to Louisville and opened a nightclub, formed yet another Moonglows in 1970, with a Louisville-based group called the Aristocrats, including his cousin Gary Rodgers, Albert Workman, Robert Ford and Clyde McPhatter's son Billy. In 1972, the three original Moonglows who had remained active, Graves, Lester, and Fuqua, joined with new members Doc Williams and Chuck Lewis, and recorded an LP called "Return of the Moonglows" for RCA. The group released an updated, uptempo soul single of their hit "Sincerely", which became the group's final chart record. Soon after, the group parted ways, with Lester re-forming his Louisville Moonglows. Their LP, released in 1979, captured a live, mostly acapella performance of a nightclub date. Barnes, meanwhile, had retired from professional performing after a car accident in 1969.

[edit] Death and recent years

Lester was the first of the original members to die, succumbing to a bout of cancer in 1980 at the age of 49. Billy McPhatter had not been in the group in 1979, however he joined the current members for a performance at Madison Square Gardens, originally intended to include Bobby Lester, and remained in the group. Gary Rodgers took over management of the group and they began calling themselves Bobby Lester's Moonglows (sometimes also referred to as Gary Rodgers' Moonglows). Harvey reunited with most of his 1972 Moonglows for a 1983 Grammy performance and later toured as Harvey and the Moonglows up until 1986. By the 1980s the Billy McPhatter group included Rodgers, Robert Lee Davis, Pete Lawford, and Bruce Martin. In the early 1990s McPhatter was replaced by Bobby's son, Bobby Lester, Jr.^[1] In 1999, Harvey and members of Bobby Lester's Moonglows reunited to perform on the PBS special, Doo Wop 50. By this time, the Moonglows were Rodgers, Martin, Lawford, and Gene Kelly.

Fuqua still sings occasionally and produces and manages gospel acts. Marvin Gaye later died in a tragic incident with his father during an argument in 1984. By that point, the former Moonglows singer had become one of the world's most influential soul artists of his generation^[2]. Reese Palmer, a fellow member with Gaye on the "new Moonglows", became a member of The Orioles, while Barksdale returned to The Dells and has remained with them since 1960. Original guitarist Johnson died in Los Angeles in 1987, Rodgers died in 2005 and original member Prentiss Barnes died in 2006 ^[3]. The Moonglows were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

[edit] Members

[edit] Original members

• Harvey Fuqua: lead vocals, background vocals (1951-1958)
• Bobby Lester: lead vocals, background vocals (1951-1958)
• Alexander "Pete" Graves: background vocals (1951-1958)
• Prentiss Barnes: background vocals (1951-1958)
• Billy Johnson: background vocals (1951-1958)

[edit] Other members

Harvey Fuqua and the New Moonglows

• Marvin Gaye: lead vocals, background vocals (1958-1960)
• Reese Palmer: lead vocals, background vocals (1958-1960)
• Chester Simmons: background vocals (1958-1960)
• James Knowland: background vocals (1958-1960)
• Chuck Barksdale: background vocals (1958-1960)
  • Fuqua also served as a background singer but acted more as the group's manager.

Pete Graves' Moonglows

• Doc Green: vocals (1964-1968)
• Pete Graves: vocals (1964-1968)
• George Thorpe: vocals (1964-1968)
• Bearle Easton: vocals (1964-1968)

Bobby Lester's Moonglows

• Bobby Lester: vocals (1970-1972, 1979-1980)
• Gary Rodgers: vocals (1970-1972, 1979-2005)
• Albert Workman: vocals (1970-1972)
• Billy McPhatter: vocals (1970-1972, 1980s)
• Robert Ford: vocals (1970-1972, 1980s)
• Pete Crawford (1980s-2000s)
• Bruce Martin (1980s-2000s)
• Gene Kelly (1990s-2000s)

The revived Moonglows

• Harvey Fuqua (1972)
• Bobby Lester (1972)
• Pete Graves (1972)
• Doc Williams (1972)
• Chuck Lewis (1972)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Vocal Group Hall of Fame page on The Moonglows
• The Moonglows
• Rockabilly.NL page on The Moonglows
• All Music Guide
• Prentiss Barnes page