The Harptones are an American doo-wop group which formed in Manhattan, New York in 1953.
The group never had a top forty pop hit, or a record on the US Billboard R&B chart,[1] yet they are known for both their lead singer Willie Winfield and their pianist/arranger, Raoul Cita. The Harptones recorded for Coed Records and other labels. The Harptones may have been the first doo-wop group to have a full-time arranger among their members, and Cita knew how to work to Winfield's strengths.[2] Their best-known recordings include "A Sunday Kind of Love" (1953), "Why Should I Love You?" (1954), "Life is But a Dream" (1955), "The Shrine of St. Cecilia" (1956), and "What Will I Tell My Heart" (1961).
In 1956, they recorded some songs for the film Rockin' the Blues: "Mambo Boogie", "Ou Wee Baby",[3] and "High Flying Baby".[4]
The song "Life is But a Dream" was featured in the 1990 film GoodFellas; it appears on the film's soundtrack album.[5]
Members
[edit]1951–1954
[edit]- Willie Winfield (lead)
- Billy Brown (bass)
- Claudie "Nicky" Clark (first tenor)
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- William "Dicey" Galloway (baritone)
- Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Early 1955
[edit]- Willie Winfield (lead)
- Billy Brown (bass)
- Claudie "Nicky" Clark (first tenor)
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- Freddy Taylor (baritone)
- Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Dicey Galloway was drafted in November 1954.
Late 1955
[edit]- Willie Winfield (tenor)
- Billy Brown (bass)
- Claudie "Nicky" Clark
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- Bernard "Jimmy" Beckum (baritone)
- Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Early 1956
[edit]- Willie Winfield (tenor)
- Bobby Spencer
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- Bernard "Jimmy" Beckum (baritone)
- Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
1956 movie Rockin' The Blues
[edit]- Willie Winfield (tenor)
- Freddy Taylor
- Billy Brown
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Early 1957
[edit]- Willie Winfield (tenor)
- Billy Brown
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- William "Dicey" Galloway
- Toni Williams
- Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Billy Brown died of a drug overdose in spring 1957.
Late 1958
[edit]- Willie Winfield (tenor)
- William Dempsey (second tenor)
- William "Dicey" Galloway
- Toni Williams
- Curtis Cherebin
Dicey Galloway left in October and was replaced by Milton Love of The Solitares for a short time, before splitting. Galloway died on July 18, 2017, in Houghs Neck in Quincy, Massachusetts at age 84 after suffering from multiple illnesses.[6]
1959–1963
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Nicky Clark
- William Dempsey
- Curtis Cherebin
- Raoul Cita
Nicky Clark left after a few months, to be replaced by Wilbur "Yonkie" Paul, who was in turn replaced by Hank "Pompi" Jernigan.
Early 1964
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Nicky Clark
- William Dempsey
- Jimmy Beckum
- Raoul Cita
Late 1964
[edit]- Nicky Clark
- William Dempsey
- Curtis Cherebin
- Hank "Pompi" Jernigan
- Raoul Cita
Nicky Clark died In July 1978, at the age of 43.
1970–1972
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Curtis Cherebin
- Jimmy Beckum
- William Dempsey
- Raoul Cita
1972–mid-1990s
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Marlowe Murray
- Linda Champion
- Raoul Cita
Mid 1990s–1999
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Marlowe Murray
- Linda Champion
- William Dempsey
- Raoul Cita
The line-up appeared on Doo Wop 50. Linda Champion left due to health problems around 2000.[7]
2000–2008
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Marlowe Murray
- Vicki Burgess
- William Dempsey
- Raoul Cita
2008–2014
[edit]- Willie Winfield
- Don Cruz
- Vicki Burgess
- William Dempsey
- Raoul Cita
- Tommie Shider
Marlowe Murray died on December 11, 2008, from cancer, at the age of 73.[8]
Raoul J. Cita died on December 13, 2014, from liver and stomach cancer, at the age of 86.[9]
Willie Winfield died from a heart attack on July 27, 2021, aged 91. William Dempsey is the only original surviving member of The Harptones.[10]
Awards and recognition
[edit]The Harptones were featured more times than any other group in the United in Group Harmony Association's official top 500 vocal group recordings list, compiled 1996–2000.[11] They were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Passings: Raoul Cita of the Harptones". VVN Music. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "TRB Enterprises Honoring our Pioneers". www.toddbaptista.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Harptones—OO Wee Baby". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ "Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks – HARPTONES". Uncamarvy.com. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ "Goodfellas: Music from the Motion Picture". Atlantic. October 29, 1990. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Mary Whitfill. "William 'Dice' Galloway, doo-wop singer and Quincy resident, dies at 84". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- ^ "News". Theoriginal-harptones.com. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ "Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks – FI-TONES". www.uncamarvy.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "The Dead Rock Stars Club 2014 July To December". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (August 3, 2021). "Willie Winfield, Angelic-Voiced Doo-Wop Singer, Is Dead at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- ^ The Top 1000 Doo-Wop Songs: Collector's Edition. Ttgpress. 2014. p. 111. ISBN 9780982737651.
- ^ "The Vocal Group Hall Of Fame | The Harptones". vocalgroup.org. Retrieved May 2, 2018.