The Chantels

The Chantels were the second black girl group to have nationwide success in the United States. The group was established in the early 1950s at St. Anthony of Padua school in the Bronx. The group consisted of Arlene Smith (lead), Sonia Goring, Rene Minus, Jackie Landry Jackson and Lois Harris. They got their name from a rival school, St. Frances de Chantal. They were discovered by Richard Barrett, lead singer of The Valentines and eventually signed to End Records. Their first single was "He's Gone" (Pop #71) in August 1957. In January 1958 they released their second single, "Maybe" (#15 Billboard Hot 100; #2 R & B chart). Several other singles were released on End, though none as successful as "Maybe."
The group was dropped by End in 1959, and Arlene Smith decided to go solo. Harris left to pursue a college education. In 1960, Annette Smith (no relation) replaced Arlene Smith, and the group went to Carlton Records, where they had their second huge hit with "Look in My Eyes" (#14 pop, #6 R&B). Several other singles followed and the group switched record labels several times. Personnel changed throughout the 1960s, with their final single released in 1970.

Arlene Smith fronted a new group of Chantels in the 1970s which featured up and coming Disco diva Carol Douglas for oldies shows and continues to perform. The remaining original Chantels reformed as well and hired Noemi (Ami) Ortiz as their new lead singer. On the PBS special Doo Wop 50, Smith reunited with the surviving original members of the Chantels and dedicated "Maybe" to Jackie Landry, who died in 1997.

The Chantels were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2001, they made the final ballot for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[1], but did not get enough votes for induction. Despite continued appearances since then on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballots by 1950s doo-wop groups, the Chantels didn't get enough votes to reach any subsequent ballot until September 2009 when it was revealed that they were one of twelve nominees to be inducted for the Hall next year.

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shelley "SoleMann" King on October 7, 2009 at 8:12pm

A WARM WELCOME TO THE OOTP HALL OF FAME FOR THE LEGENDARY CHANTELS

Permalink Reply by Shelley "SoleMann" King on October 7, 2009 at 8:13pm

This is wonderful Mama Edie and they are all so beautiful

Permalink Reply by Edie Antoinette on October 7, 2009 at 8:17pm

Thanks Sole!!!

RSS

Welcome to
E.FM Radio

Sign Up
or Sign In

Or sign in with:

The "L" Train (Radio Channels)

Main Station (E.FM Radio)
Pop Up Player

Main Station II (E.FM Radio)
Pop Up Player

Main Station III (Edie2k2.com)

Latest Activity

Edie Antoinette posted a blog post

Remembering Q

yesterday

0 Comments 0 Likes

Edie Antoinette updated their profile

Nov 6

Film Noir updated their profile

Oct 25

Film Noir and Edie Antoinette are now friends

Oct 9

Edie Antoinette left a comment for Film Noir

"The Website"

Aug 19

Edie Antoinette commented on Edie Antoinette's blog post test

"https://www1.123moviesme.online/wp-includes/css/dist/library/style.min.css?ver=6.6.1"

Jul 30

Edie Antoinette replied to Edie Antoinette's discussion WDCB FM Jazz-DuPage Illinois in the group Jazz Lounge

"WDCB Jazz-DuPage Illinois Pop Up Player"

Jul 1

Edie Antoinette posted a song

play Summer In The City

Jun 28

Edie Antoinette replied to Edie Antoinette's discussion WDCB FM Jazz-DuPage Illinois in the group Jazz Lounge

"Many browsers have changed their settings to prevent autoplay, which may cause the WDCB player…"

Jun 26

Edie Antoinette posted a photo

Entr'acte

May 28

0 Comments 0 Likes

Edie Antoinette posted a status

"Content ..."

May 7

0 Comments 0 Likes

The Steppin Zone updated their profile

Apr 22

The Steppin Zone and Jeanette Mack are now friends

Apr 22

JazzWorld joined Shelley "SoleMann" King's group

E.FM - Black & White Photography

This Group Was Created To Focus On Black & White Photography. It Can Be Your Own Photos Or Any…See More

Apr 16

25 Comments 3 Likes

Edie Antoinette posted songs

play LetsStayTogether
play Slum Village - Get Dis Money (Instrumental)

Mar 15

Black Heritage was featured

Congratulate them!

Mar 12

Edie Antoinette liked Black Heritage's profile

Mar 12

Edie2k2 Radio updated their profile

Mar 11

JazzWorld posted a song

play Cityscape

08:46

Mar 11

JazzWorld updated their profile

Mar 11

Remembering Q

E.FM Radio Spotlight

Quincy Jones is thoroughly entwined in the musical background of my young adulthood. A genius of unique quality. I have been posting blogs and music throughout the years and decided to embark on the arduous but satisfying task of gathering some of it to remember the excellent legacy that he left.

Maze Feel That You're Feelin
Maze Somebody Elses Arms
Maze Southern Girl
Cant Get Over You
Maze Golden Time Of Day

The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me").

As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even

harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.

The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created.

The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon).

If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available.

Enjoy. "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)

"I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year) "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" (Phila, 1966) "Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)

"Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)

"If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)

Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.

Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a

well-known penning Double Exposure's

"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay."

While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).

The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. The Butlers recorded their first single in 1960 titled "Loveable Girl". Left to right John Fitch, T Conway, Frankie Beverly, Sonny Nicholson and Joe Collins.