#874 (10/8/16 - 10/21/16)

SPOTLIGHT ON THE RAVENS - PART TWO

"Time Takes Care Of Everything"/
"Don't Look Now"
The Ravens
on Columbia 39050
released in 1950

"You Don't Have To Drop A Heart To Break It"/
"Midnight Blues"
The Ravens
on Columbia 39112
released in 1951

"There's No Use Pretending"/
"Wagon Wheels"
The Ravens
on Mercury 5764
released in 1951



Above: The The Ravens consisting of (Top) Jimmy Ricks (bass), (Bottom L-R) Warren Suttles (baritone), Maithe Marshall (lead tenor), and Leonard Puzey (tenor).

Click HERE for an article about The Ravens by Marv Goldberg.
(Will open in a separate window)



Above: The Ravens (Top-Bottom) Jimmy Ricks, Warren Suttles, Leonard Puzey, and Maithe Marshall.



(The Billboard Cover 4/16/49)
Caption For Above Picture: The Ravens and Dinah Washington, the "Steam Roller Unit" which has been stacking up a flock of top grosses on a series of one-nighters, at a recording session. Standing left to right are Warren Suttles, Maithe Marshall, Leonard Puzey, Dinah and James (Rickey) Ricks, the latter the Raven's leader. The Raven's latest sides for National include "Deep Purple" and "Leave My Gal Alone," and Dinah recently did "Laughing Boy" and "You Satisfy" for Mercury. Universal Attractions has scheduled the unit for a bevy of upcoming dates following the April 15th engagement for one week at the Apollo Theater, New York....

NOTE: The Ravens, with a different line-up than above, but with Jimmy Ricks, had only one record released with Dinah Washington (on Mercury 8257 in 1951).



Above: Yours truly (Tony) with Leonard Puzey and Warren Suttles at a United In Group Harmony Association (UGHA) concert in 2001. The Ravens had been inducted into the UGHA Hall Of Fame in 1991 (note the HOF gold medals around their necks).



[The above record was provided by Joe Marchesani.]
Above Left: Column from The Cash Box magazine dated 10/7/50.

Above Right: Label image of Columbia 39050 recorded on October 19, 1950 and released in November 1950. Personnel are Jimmy Ricks, Maithe Marshall, Leonard Puzey, and Louis Heyward. Ricks and Heyward share the lead on both sides. Warren Suttles had left the group in early 1950. He formed his own group, The Dreamers, who recorded for Jubilee (1951) and Mercury (1952). After The Dreamers broke up in late 1952, he rejoined The Ravens.




[The above record was provided by Joe Marchesani.]

Above: Label image of Columbia 39112 recorded on October 30, 1950 and released in January 1951. Personnel are Jimmy Ricks, Maithe Marshall, Leonard Puzey, and Louis Heyward. Marshall sings tenor lead on "You Don't Have To Drop..." while Ricks sings bass lead on "Midnight Blues." The Ravens had five releases on Columbia (1950-51) and another three releases on Columbia's subsidiary label, Okeh (1951-52).



Above Left: December 1951 clipping (courtesy of Galen Gart). The Ravens here consist of (Top) Jimmy Ricks (bass) and (Bottom L-R) Louis Frazier (baritone), Joe Van Loan (lead tenor), and Jimmie Steward (tenor).

Above Right: April 1952 clipping. The Ravens here consist of (Top-Bottom) Jimmy Ricks, Louis Frazier, Joe Van Loan, and Jimmie Steward. This is the group that recorded for Mercury Records from 1951 to 1952 with releases in 1951 to 1954. In 1953 Warren Suttles returned, replacing Frazier, for releases on Mercury in 1953 and 1954.



Above: Label image of Mercury 5764 recorded in October 1951. It was released on the "R&B" 5000 series and the "Popular" 8000 series, both in November 1951. Joe Van Loan sings the tenor lead on this side and Jimmy Ricks the bass lead on the flip side "Wagon Wheels." Joe Van Loan also sang with different "Ravens" groups for Argo Records (1956-57).

The Ravens had eight releases on Mercury (1951-54), the last two consisting of sides previously issued on National Records. They then moved to Jubilee for three records on that label, all released in 1955.

NOTE: Most discographical information provided at this website is from Ferdie Gonzalez' Disco-File.


Listen to this week's selections featuring The Ravens on Columbia 39050, Columbia 39112 and Mercury 5764 from 1950-1951:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

     A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...
 
          1. Time Takes Care Of Everything
          2. Don't Look Now
          3. You Don't Have To Drop A Heart To Break It
          4. Midnight Blues
          5. There's No Use Pretending
          6. Wagon Wheels
 
          ALL SIX played in sequence

     B. Download RealAudio...
 
          1. Time Takes Care Of Everything
          2. Don't Look Now
          3. You Don't Have To Drop A Heart To Break It
          4. Midnight Blues
          5. There's No Use Pretending
          6. Wagon Wheels

     C. Stream/Download Media Player...
 
          1. Time Takes Care Of Everything
          2. Don't Look Now
          3. You Don't Have To Drop A Heart To Break It
          4. Midnight Blues
          5. There's No Use Pretending
          6. Wagon Wheels
 
          ALL SIX played in sequence

      [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]

Click HERE for SPOTLIGHT ON THE RAVENS - PART ONE.
(Above link will open in a separate window)


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