The King label Swallows (ironically, for Jake and Zeke, a Baltimore group) were having chart successes. ) Martin's gave them a booking for the next night. (Well, truth be told, they were the only ones who showed up that night as contestants. The first of these was at Martin's Corner (owned by a friend of Weatherspoon), where they came in first, totally blowing away the competition. Weatherspoon, a member of the Elks, naturally got them a lot of gigs at Elks functions. They never got paid for them, but at least they got experience. They did a lot of these, sometimes several in a night. Weatherspoon got them to sing at "quarter parties" (held in someone's house the admission was a quarter - this was probably a local name for a rent party) and "waistline" parties, (where your admission, in pennies, was the size of your waistline). Sollie was asked to come down to a rehearsal and sang "September Song." He sang it so high and with such emotion that, partway through it, he just keeled over and fainted. The Swallows sang Sollie started harmonizing with them Weatherspoon decided to manage them and the guys decided that Sollie would fit their needs better than Earl Lewis. Since Weatherspoon was going to attend a party to hear the Swallows, he decided to bring Sollie along. While he admitted to listening to Bill Kenny and the Ink Spots, Sollie pretty much developed his own style because he wanted to "do something for himself." More than anything, he wanted to be an entertainer. He occasionally sang in the church, but wasn't really into it. Sollie had been born in Gulfport, Mississippi (on July 16, 1933), but his family moved to Chicago when he was 15. He was very impressed with a tenor on the bill named Sollie McElroy. One night in early 1952, Weatherspoon attended a talent show at the Willard Theater. Zeke had a job at Montgomery Ward, where one of his co-workers was Fletcher Weatherspoon. By late 1951, however, Earl Lewis started discovering girls and missing rehearsals. However, Judah Byrd didn't remain with them too long and Johnny Carter recruited another member of the church choir, his first cousin, baritone Paul Wilson (born January 6, 1935). They practiced and practiced, emphasizing harmonies (those minor keys!) over lead singing. Thus, the earliest incarnation of the group that was to become the Flamingos was: Earl Lewis (lead), Johnny Carter (first tenor), Zeke Carey (second tenor), Judah Byrd (baritone), and Jake Carey (bass). Since he wasn't a member of their church, Earl became the first of the Flamingos' "outsider" leads. Earl, just a "guy who liked to sing," began harmonizing with the Swallows, and soon found himself their lead singer. They called themselves the "Swallows."Įnter tenor Earl Lewis, who was dating Johnny Carter's sister. Soon, the four started singing together after church: sitting around on front steps or standing on street corners.
In the choir, the Careys met first tenor Johnny Carter (born June 2, 1934) and a baritone named Judah Byrd. (Here we have the first great influence on the future sound of the Flamingos.) This denomination sang hymns in a minor key, creating a feeling of sadness. Here, they had both joined the choir of the Church Of God And Saints Of Christ. His "cousin," second tenor Ezekiel "Zeke" Carey (born January 24, 1933), had recently graduated high school and come to Chicago too.
Bass Jacob "Jake" Carey (born August 29, 1923) was from Baltimore, but had been living in Chicago for a while. Let's go back to the South Side of Chicago, around 1950. It stops there since much of their 60s work was in the Soul field and is outside the scope of my interest. The journey will take us from their beginnings in Chicago to the close of their career on End Records. This article attempts to synthesize those writings while adding newly-discovered information. Much has been written about the Flamingos over the years. Their intricate harmonies were highly respected by their peers after a certain point they found widespread audience acceptance and, finally, their early recordings are highly prized by collectors. Justly famous for their tight, highly-polished harmonies, they turned one out beautiful tune after another. What can you say about the Flamingos? Obviously one of the great vocal groups of the 50s, they were, simply, the essence of Chicago's groups. Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - FLAMINGOS
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