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The El Dorados

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The El Dorados were an American doo-wop group who achieved their greatest success with the song "At My Front Door" in 1955/56.

Career

The group formed in Chicago in 1952, originally as "Pirkle Lee and the Five Stars". It comprised Pirkle Lee Moses Jr. (lead vocals), Louis Bradley and Arthur Basset (tenors), Jewel Jones (second tenor/baritone), James Maddox and Richard Nickens (both baritone/bass). When Pirkle Lee got out of the Air Force in 1954, they changed their name to The El Dorados, in tribute to the new Cadillac El Dorado.

Vivian Carter heard them and signed them to her Vee Jay label, making their first recordings in mid 1954. After a string of unsuccessful singles, they recorded "At My Front Door" (also known as "Crazy Little Mama") in 1955, and it rose to # 1 on the R&B charts and # 17 on the pop charts. Their follow-up, "I’ll Be Forever Loving You", also made the R&B top ten in early 1956.

After Basset and Nickens left the group, they continued to record as a quartet, but their releases became less commercially successful. The original group split up in 1957, as a result of friction between Moses and the rest of the group. Pirkle Lee stayed in Chicago and formed a new version of The El Dorados with members of another group, The Kool Gents. Meanwhile, Bradley, Jones and Maddox moved to California, and renamed themselves The Tempos. However, neither group was successful.

The label dropped The El Dorados in 1958, and Pirkle Lee subsequently toured with a succession of back-up singers. In 1969 he resuscitated the group name with new members, at the same time as a former member of The Tempos, Johnny Carter, also toured with another set of El Dorados. The two competing groups merged in the late 1970s, and subsequently continued to tour and record as The El Dorados until Pirkle Lee Moses' death in 2000.

Discography

Sessions

  • 06/ /54 My Loving Baby / Baby I Need You
  • 09/ /54 One More Chance / Little Miss Love / Annie's Answer / Living with Vivian
  • 04/24/55 I Began to Realize / At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)
  • 08/ /55 What's Buggin' You, Baby? / Now That You've Gone
  • 10/21/55 I'll Be Forever Loving You / She Don't Run Around (version 1)
  • 01/ /56 It's No Wonder / Love of My Own / Rock 'n' Roll's for Me / She Don't Run Around (version 2)
  • 05/22/56 There in the Night / A Fallen Tear / Chop Ling Soon / Make Me a Sweetie
  • 08/ /56 Bim Bam Boom / Bim Bam Boom (alt. take)
  • 05/ /57 Trouble Trouble / Tears on My Pillow / A Rose for My Darling / Language of Love
  • 11/06/57 Oh, What a Girl / Lights Are Low / Always My Love / Why Must I
  • 01/11/58 Boom Diddle Boom / Three Reasons Why / Lord Knows I Tried

All sessions recorded at Universal Studio, Chicago

Singles

Discography compiled by slamyogi with information culled from:
recordmaster.com
liner notes - The El Dorados - Rock 'n' Roll's for Me - Charly CDGR 197
liner notes - The El Dorados - Very Best - Collectables COL-CD-7245

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