News — 1960s

The Delacardos were an all black vocal and instrumental group from Charlotte NC, and formed at high school. They made at least nine records between 1959 and 1967, some of which received national release on major labels. Vocalists included Vernon Hill, Chris Harris, Harold Ford and Robert Gates and later George Morris. Publicity shots generally featured the vocalists only, but regular musicians included Luther Maxwell (tenor saxophone and band leader), Amos Williams (guitar), Ronnie Grier (bass), Dallas Steele (drums), Timothy Donald (baritone saxophone), and on piano and guitar, Jeremiah Shepherd and James Knight. Ronnie Grier wrote most of their sides...

Bob Collins and the Fabulous Five from Greensboro, NC were a popular booking throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. Venues in the 1960s included the Polo Club (Winston, Salem), the Casino (Nags Head, NC) and the National Guard Armoury (Greenville, NC). Their largest mainstream hit in the mid 1960s was “If I Didn’t Have a Dime” a.k.a. “Jukebox”, a previous minor hit for Gene Pitney. Their version was released on the Greensboro label Jokers 3. The band was originally formed in 1961 and continued until 2007. It had at least twenty-five members in its long history. From a northern soul perspective,...

  Olene Gaines, the wife of Earl Gaines (b.1935, d. 2009) recalls that he was raised partly by his mother in between Alabama and Nashville. His father was in the picture, though he was never really mentioned as being involved in his upbringing. His first singing experience was with his uncle in Alabama, as part of a gospel quartet. Early life consisted of helping the family pick cotton and raising cattle during the day, and listening to blues singers on WLAC at night. As a teenager Earl moved permanently to Nashville to live with his mother, and became good friends...

The Aqua Lads played largely as a revue act (later with The Chantells) around Charlotte, NC and Myrtle Beach,  although they also backed national R&B bands further afield, including Canada. The group ran from 1963-1969 and had over twenty members during this period. Five 45s by The Aqua Lads were released; of particular northern soul interest are “I Remember” on Gold Bee (GB-1650) from 1965 and “I’ll Never Know” on Aqua, recorded with The Chantells on vocal lead in 1968. Much has already been written about the legendary Stafford Top of the World all-nighters. Following northern soul’s commercial peak of...