Little Anthony & The Imperials "Tears On My Pillow" & All Their Greatest Recordings Singles As & Bs [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] (1956-1961)

As they have done with so many of their releases in recent years, Jasmine of the U.K. has provided as thorough an overview of the early years of this seminal Brooklyn R&B/Doo-Wop group as you are ever going to find, starting with the first recordings by the later lead of the group, Anthony Gourdine (born January 8, 1940) who was all of 16 when he performed the same role as a tenor with The Duponts in 1956 (tenor Edward Dockerty, Jr., baritone William Christopher Delk and bass Richard Bracey) on You/Must Be Falling In Love on Winley 212 and, in 1957, Prove It Tonight/Somebody on Royal Roost 627. In 1958 he joined The Chesters in the same role (along with tenor Tracy Lord, second tenor Ernest Wright, Jr., baritone Keith Williams and bass Glouster "Nate" Rogers) and released Lift Up Your Head/The Fires Burn No More on Apollo 521. None of these made any national charts but it did get them gigs around town. The Duponts, meanwhile, also had an unsuccessful 1958 release at Roulette with Screamin' Ball (At Dracula Hall) b/w Half Past Nothing (Roulette 4060) but without Gourdine. Those sides are not here.

Changing their name from The Chesters to The Imperials part way through 1958, and with second tenor Clarence Collins replacing Williams, they broke through at George Goldner's New York City-based End Records with Tears On My Pillow. Initially released on End 1027 billed simply as The Imperials, that was changed part way through distribution to Little Anthony & The Imperials when Alan Freed began referring to to the lead vocalist as Littler Anthony and the rest, as they say, is history. By late August and into September it was on its way to a peak of # 2 R&B and # 4 Billboard Pop Hot 100 b/w Two People In The World and, before their final nationally-charted single in 1975 with Avco Records they would rack up 19 more hits in a career that would lead to induction into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame in 2009.

This 2-CD set, however, concentrates, as already indicated, solely on their End output. Following the success of Tears On My Pillow, Savoy Records, trying to capitalize on that hit, re-released You/Must Be Falling In Love on Savoy 1552 as by Little Anthony Gourdine & The Duponts, but it didn't work as the record went nowhere. Meanwhile, the new gathering had So Much/Oh Yeah come out as End 1036, and in late December the A-side topped out at # 24 R&B/# 87 Hot 100. That was a bit of a disappointment overall, nor did it get any better when their next several releases all struggled mightily: The Diary/Cha Cha Henry on End 1038 failed completely; Wishful Thinking petered out at # 79 Hot 100 in March 1959 b/w When You Wish Upon A Star on End 1039; A Prayer, And A Juke Box could only manage a # 81 Hot 100 in June 1959 b/w River Path on End 1047, and So Near And Yet So Far/I'm Alright also missed completely on End 1053. Even more ominously, they seemed to have lost their R&B audience. Then, as 1959 was winding down, Shimmy, Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop had begun its climb to # 14 R&^B and # 24 Hot 100 in January 1960 on End 1060 b/w I'm Still In Love With You. But that would be their final nationally-charted single for End as the next all failed: My Empty Room/Bayou, Bayou, Baby (End 1067), I'm Taking A Vacation From Love/Only Sympathy (End 1074), Limbo (Part 1)/Limbo (Part 2) on End 1080, and Formula Of Love/Dream (End 1083), all in 1960 and, in 1961 - Please Say You Want Me b/w a re-release of So Near, Yet So Far (End 1086), Traveling Stranger/Say Yeah (End `1091), and A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening b/w a re-release of Dream (End 1004).

After they split in 1960 with The Imperials recording at Carlton, Newtime and Capitol into 1963, and Anthony as a solo artist at Roulette (which had absorbed End Records) a revamped Little Anthony & The Imperials emerged in 1964 at Don Costa's new DCP Records with Anthony back at lead, first tenor Sammy Strain, second tenor Ernest Wright, Jr., and baritone/bass Clarence Collins and into 1966 would add six more hits, followed by three at Veep Records from 19866 to 1968, three at United Artists in 1969/70 and their last two at Avco Records in 1974/75. Some of these may be found in oter compilations covering the group.

Tracks 2 and 10 to 12 inclusive in Disc 2 are from their first LP, End 303 "We Are The Imperials Featuring Little Anthony" in 1959, while tracks 13 to 19 and 22 to 24 inclusive appeared in their 1960 album End 311 "Shades Of The Forties." (The Avid Oldies Collector)

trax disc 1 - The Duponts:

01 Must Be Falling In Love 02 You 03 Somebody 04 Prove It Tonight 05 Lift Up Your Heads 06 The Fires Burn No More

Little Anthony & The Imperials:

07 A Prayer And A Jukebox 08 River Path 09 I'm Alright 10 So Near And Yet So Far 11 I'm Still In Love With You 12 Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop 13 My Empty Room 14 Bayou Bayou Baby 15 Only Sympathy 16 I'm Taking A Vacation From Love 17 Limbo (Pts 1 & 2) 18 Formula Of Love 19 Please Say You Want Me 20 I Cover The Waterfront 21 That Lil O' Lovemaker Me 22 It Just Ain't Fair

trax disc 2 - Little Anthony:

01 Tears On My Pillow 02 Over The Rainbow 03 Cha Cha Henry 04 The Diary 05 Oh Yeah 06 Two People In The World 07 When You Wish Upon A Star 08 Wishful Thinking 09 So Much 10 Traveling Stranger 11 What Did I Do 12 Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing 13 This Love Of Mine 14 Don't Get Around Much Anymore 15 They Say It's Wonderful 16 If You Are But A Dream 17 Undecided 18 All Or Nothing At All 19 I'll Never Smile Again 20 Dream 21 A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening 22 I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night 23 Ooh Look A There Ain't She Pretty 24 I've Got A Crush On You

...served by Gyro1966...