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SPOTLIGHT ON THE FOUR TONES
THIS WEEK'S SELECTIONS PROVIDED BY
MARK DeMEYER
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"Beyond The Stars"/ |
"Put Your Cards On The Table"/ |
"Ol' Man River"/ |
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SPOTLIGHT ON THE FOUR TONES
THIS WEEK'S SELECTIONS PROVIDED BY
MARK DeMEYER
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"Beyond The Stars"/ |
"Put Your Cards On The Table"/ |
"Ol' Man River"/ |
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Above Left: The Four Tones from 1950, appearing at the Rossonian Lounge (located in Denver). Lucius "Dusty" Brooks is at top. Disco-File gives Dusty Brooks, Ray Wheaton, Rudolph Hunter, Virgil Johnson, and Art Maryland as the 1950 line-up on the Majestic label.Above Right: Column from California Eagle newspaper dated 8/15/40.
Click HERE for an article about The Four Tones From Rhythm And News magazine.
(This PDF document will open in a separate window)
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Above Left: Column from The Billboard dated 3/13/43.Above Right: Exclusive label image. The beginning of this song is almost identical to their "Someone's Rocking My Dream Boat." Leon René, owner of Exclusive, composed both sides of this record and was co-composer of "Someone's Rocking...." There is no number on the label, the matrix numbers stamped in the "dead wax" are AM-02494-E and, on the flip, AM-02495-E. Excelsior 00100 has the same label design and color, even the same label stamping imprint, and also uses the "AM-" matrix numbering. The Eddie Beal Trio on that record has Ulysses Livingston on guitar. Excelsior was owned by Otis René, Leon's brother. The Make Believe Ballroom label, owned by the René brothers, is also very similar in design, color and "AM" numbering system. That label (A.M. 02357-E) shows Louis speiginer on guitar for the Eddie Beal Trio.
"Beyond The Stars" was also recorded by the Buddy Baker Orchestra on Exclusive 1003 (Album) in late 1947 and again by Herb Jeffries (backed by the Buddy Baker Orch.) on Exclusive 44X in mid-1948.
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Above: Column from Afro-American newspaper dated 8/30/41.
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Above: Column from Afro-American newspaper dated11/8/41
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Above Left: Column from The Billboard dated 1/12/46. "Memo" is short for Melody Moderne. Dusty Brooks And His Four Tones had previously recorded for the La Marr's Star label, earlier in 1945.Above Right: Column from The Billboard dated 3/6/48.
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Above: Label image of Memo 7001-A released in 1948. These sides were originally released on Memo 1005 (shown side) and 1003 (flip side) in 1945. Dusty Brooks is co-composer on the flip side.
Reference: Memo 1001 and 1002 (one side each) Memo 1001 (other side)
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Above: Clipping from The Billboard dated 11/25/50.
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Above: Label image of Majestic 78-123 released in 1950. Dusty Brooks is composer on the flip side. The Four Tones' recording career went from 1939 to 1953 including such other labels as D & S, Ebony, A-1, Columbia, Bluebird, Eccles, Make Believe Ballroom, Kangaroo, Preview, ABC-Eagle, La Marr's Star, Bullet, Sun, Checker, and DooTone. They appeared and sang in four "all black" westerns with Herbert Jeffrey (aka Herb Jeffries) in 1937 to 1939.
Listen to this week's selections by The Four Tones:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]
A. Stream RealAudio...
1. Beyond The Stars
2. Sweet Mint Julep Man
3. Put Your Cards On The Table
4. Please Don't Rush Me
5. Ol' Man River
6. Cream O' Wheat
ALL SIX played in sequenceB. Download RealAudio...
1. Beyond The Stars
2. Sweet Mint Julep Man
3. Put Your Cards On The Table
4. Please Don't Rush Me
5. Ol' Man River
6. Cream O' WheatC. Stream/Download Media Player...
1. Beyond The Stars
2. Sweet Mint Julep Man
3. Put Your Cards On The Table
4. Please Don't Rush Me
5. Ol' Man River
6. Cream O' Wheat
(Afro-American Newspaper 8/1/53)
[To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]
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