[78-L] Alvino Rey and The Kings

[Jeff Sultanof]

Sometime try to lay hands on a Capitol CD of the King Sisters albums from
the late fifties. The label tried to make them into a female Hi-Los, and
they succeeded. These are hip arrangements, and the Kings sing them
beautifully. They were better than most people believe, especially those who
know them from those terrible TV shows.

The Clarks were good, the Dinnings had a beautiful blend and some wonderful
records. The DeMarcos were also excellent, particularly on the Fred Allen
show. The Boswells were a very important pioneering group whose arrangements
were very hip for the time, and they influenced a lot of vocal groups.

For my money, the best vocal groups were not the sister or brother
combinations, but such groups as the Kay Thompson Singers, Judd Conlon's
Rhythmaires, Six Hits and a Miss (remarkable stuff on OKeh) and The
Starlighters, who made some wonderful sides for Capitol. I can't leave out
The Pied Pipers, both with and without Jo Stafford (June Hutton was one of
the best leads in the business).

Sorry to be so off-topic. My godfather was a group singer (The Beachcombers
and the Pied Pipers ca. 1970s) and I got a crash course on this subject from
him and his colleagues. I learned how to be a group singer and vocal
arranger from them.

Jeff Sultanof

On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 7:20 PM, RAY KILCOYNE <kil at roadrunner.com> wrote:

>
> From: "Taylor Bowie"
> >I  always thought it odd that the most famous and popular of the sister
> >acts
> > (Andrews) was not among the better ones in terms of the actual music.
> > Perhaps others rank them higher,  but to my ears they don't cut it when
> > compared with King,  Dinning,  Boswell,  Clark,  McGuire,  De Marco and
> > other sister groups.  I do like 'em better than the Pickens Sisters!
> >
> Taylor, although I agree with your taste most of the time, I have to draw
> the line here.  To me, the Andrews are head and shoulders above the others.
> I rank the King Sisters below the Pointers, not even in my top ten.
> RayK
>
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>