• Source: The Harptones

The Harptones are an American doo-wop group which formed in Manhattan, New York in 1953.
The group never had a top forty pop hit, or a record on the US Billboard R&B chart, yet they are known for both their lead singer Willie Winfield and their pianist/arranger, Raoul Cita. The Harptones recorded for Coed Records and other labels. The Harptones may have been the first doo-wop group to have a full-time arranger among their members, and Cita knew how to work to Winfield's strengths. Their best-known recordings include "A Sunday Kind of Love" (1953), "Why Should I Love You?" (1954), "Life is But a Dream" (1955), "The Shrine of St. Cecilia" (1956), and "What Will I Tell My Heart" (1961).
In 1956, they recorded some songs for the film Rockin' the Blues: "Mambo Boogie", "Ou Wee Baby", and "High Flying Baby".
The song "Life is But a Dream" was featured in the 1990 film GoodFellas; it appears on the film's soundtrack album.




Members






= 1951–1954

=
Willie Winfield (lead)
Billy Brown (bass)
Claudie "Nicky" Clark (first tenor)
William Dempsey (second tenor)
William "Dicey" Galloway (baritone)
Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)




= Early 1955

=
Willie Winfield (lead)
Billy Brown (bass)
Claudie "Nicky" Clark (first tenor)
William Dempsey (second tenor)
Freddy Taylor (baritone)
Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Dicey Galloway was drafted in November 1954.




= Late 1955

=
Willie Winfield (tenor)
Billy Brown (bass)
Claudie "Nicky" Clark
William Dempsey (second tenor)
Bernard "Jimmy" Beckum (baritone)
Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)




= Early 1956

=
Willie Winfield (tenor)
Bobby Spencer
William Dempsey (second tenor)
Bernard "Jimmy" Beckum (baritone)
Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)




= 1956 movie Rockin' The Blues

=
Willie Winfield (tenor)
Freddy Taylor
Billy Brown
William Dempsey (second tenor)
Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)




= Early 1957

=
Willie Winfield (tenor)
Billy Brown
William Dempsey (second tenor)
William "Dicey" Galloway
Toni Williams
Raoul Cita (piano; baritone)
Billy Brown died of a drug overdose in spring 1957.




= Late 1958

=
Willie Winfield (tenor)
William Dempsey (second tenor)
William "Dicey" Galloway
Toni Williams
Curtis Cherebin
Dicey Galloway left in October and was replaced by Milton Love of The Solitares for a short time, before splitting. Galloway died on July 18, 2017, in Houghs Neck in Quincy, Massachusetts at age 84 after suffering from multiple illnesses.




= 1959–1963

=
Willie Winfield
Nicky Clark
William Dempsey
Curtis Cherebin
Raoul Cita
Nicky Clark left after a few months, to be replaced by Wilbur "Yonkie" Paul, who was in turn replaced by Hank "Pompi" Jernigan.




= Early 1964

=
Willie Winfield
Nicky Clark
William Dempsey
Jimmy Beckum
Raoul Cita




= Late 1964

=
Nicky Clark
William Dempsey
Curtis Cherebin
Hank "Pompi" Jernigan
Raoul Cita
Nicky Clark died In July 1978, at the age of 43.




= 1970–1972

=
Willie Winfield
Curtis Cherebin
Jimmy Beckum
William Dempsey
Raoul Cita




= 1972–mid-1990s

=
Willie Winfield
Marlowe Murray
Linda Champion
Raoul Cita




= Mid 1990s–1999

=
Willie Winfield
Marlowe Murray
Linda Champion
William Dempsey
Raoul Cita
The line-up appeared on Doo Wop 50. Linda Champion left due to health problems around 2000.




= 2000–2008

=
Willie Winfield
Marlowe Murray
Vicki Burgess
William Dempsey
Raoul Cita




= 2008–2014

=
Willie Winfield
Don Cruz
Vicki Burgess
William Dempsey
Raoul Cita
Tommie Shider
Marlowe Murray died on December 11, 2008, from cancer, at the age of 73.
Raoul J. Cita died on December 13, 2014, from liver and stomach cancer, at the age of 86.
Willie Winfield died from a heart attack on July 27, 2021, aged 91. William Dempsey is the only original surviving member of The Harptones.




Awards and recognition


The Harptones were featured more times than any other group in the United in Group Harmony Association's official top 500 vocal group recordings list, compiled 1996–2000. They were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.




References






External links


Harptones official web site
Article about The Harptones by Marv Goldberg
Article about The Harptones by J.C. Marion
The Harptones at AllMusic
The Harptones discography at Discogs
'The Harptones' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page
The Harptones at IMDb
Review of 1982 album Love Needs The Boston Phoenix

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Since I Fell for You
• The Harptones
• George Harrison
• Hearts and Bones
• List of vocal groups
• Goodfellas (soundtrack)
• Why Should I Love You? (disambiguation)
• Negotiations and Love Songs
• Since I Fell for You
• Rama Records
• Deftones