A Golden Classics Edition

The R&B vocal group The Marvelows from Chicago Heights, Illinois were essentially among the forgotten when it came to CD compilations of their music until Collectables came out with this 1996 conversion of their only album "The Mighty Marvelows" which had been released in 1968 as ABC-Paramount ABCS-643 containing A1. Talking 'Bout Ya, Baby (2:15); A2. I'm Without A Girl (3:00); A3. Hey, Hey Baby (2:20); A4. Fade Away (2:07); A5. A Friend (2:47); A6. Your Little Sister (2:19); B1. I'm So Confused (2:00); B2. In The Morning (2:40); B3. I Do (2:25); B4. My Heart (2:21); B5. The Shim Sham (2:26). In so doing, Collectables added three "bonus" tracks: Do It, I've Got My Eyes On You and You've Been Going With Sally. Starting out in the late 1950s as The Mystics were Melvin Mason, brothers Frank (bass) and Johnny (tenor) Paden, tenor Willie (Sonny) Stephenson and Jesse Smith, and when they landed a recording deal with ABC-Paramount in 1964 they changed to The Marvelows, with their first release, A Friend/Hey, Hey Baby on ABC Paramount 10603 going nowhere in 1964, not surprising considering that Billboard had suspended the R&B listings in late 1963, a situation that would last throughout 1964, the year of the arrival of the British Invasion which soon had all but the very best North American artists shoved off the upper regions of the Hot 100. But with the reinstatement of the R&B charts at the start of 1965, they scored with I Do, which surged to # 7 R&B and did quite well on the Hot 100, finishing at # 37 in May-June on ABC-Paramount 10629 b/w My Heart. Subsequent releases weren't as fortunate however, as none among these could again dent any national listings: Shim Sham/Your Little Sister (ABC- Paramount 10708) and Do It/I've Got My Eyes On You (ABC-Paramount 10756), both in 1965 and, in 1966 by which time Smith had been replaced by Andrew Thomas, Fade Away/You've Been Going With Sally (ABC 10820). In April 1968 they had their second and last nationally-charting hit when, billed as The Mighty Marvelows (to avoid confusion with a west-coast group calling themselves The Marvellos), In The Morning peaked at # 24 R&B and # 105 on the Hot 100 Bubble Under charts b/w Talkin' Bout Ya, Baby on ABC 11011. Sides released after that all failed: I'm So Confused/I'm Without A Girl (ABC 11073); Hey, Hey Girl/Wait, Be Cool (ABC 11139), both in 1968, and in 1969 You're Breaking My Heart/This Town's Too Much (ABC 11189). All but the last two sides just mentioned, all arranged and produced by Johnny Pate, are in this Collectables volume which has excellent sound reproduction and interesting liner notes written by Mark Marymont. The group broke up one year after ABC-Paramount released the album, although they did get together for a reunion appearance in 1974. Review by Amazon member: George O'Leary