Liberty F-55071 (original), USA, May 1957
Words & Music by: Side A – Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish; Side B – Billy Ward
Musicians: Eugene “Gene” Mumford (lead tenor), Billy Ward (pianoand backing vocals), Cliff Givens (bass vocals), Milton Grayson (baritonevocals), Milton Merle (second tenor), others unknown
Recording sessions: Produced by Billy Ward (and engineered by Harold
“Lanky” Linstrot) at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, CA, on 7. March 1957
Highest chart positions: Side A – US #12, US R&B #1, UK #13; Side B - none
The session took place during a time of uncertainty for the group. Their
legendary lead vocalist, Jackie Wilson, had just left the band to pursue a solo
career. Billy Ward quickly replaced him with Gene Mumford (formerly of The
Larks). Despite the pressure of replacing a future Hall of Famer, Mumford’s
silken tenor delivery on this precise session clicked perfectly with the
public, making this lush pop arrangement the group's most successful
pop-charting hit and their only single to sell over a million copies.
This is one of the First Stereo R&B/Pop Recordings. Back in March 1957, stereo was still an experimental commercial medium, mostly reserved for classical music or high-fidelity jazz. Capturing an R&B/vocal group on a multi-track machine allowed Liberty Records to release one of the earliest true stereo pop singles, bridging the gap between gritty rhythm and blues and high-end hi-fi audio. By utilizing an early Ampex multi-track tape recorder, engineer Lanky Linstrot could separate the vocal performances from Vic Schoen's large studio orchestra. In standard 1950s mono recordings, everyone played at once into one or two microphones, meaning a loud horn or drum could easily drown out a delicate vocal.
List price: Very Good+ $15, Near Mint $30. Picture sleeves VG+ $62,50, NM $125. I found two sold copies without the sleeve in eBay for $20-$25 and four copies with the sleeve for $25-$55.
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