Otis Williams & The Charms

Doo-wop at it's best found at Brick Lane flea market back in the 80's. The sleeve notes tell us - " Otis Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 3rd. 1936, and when he was sixteen , he successfully auditioned with four companions for Henry Stone who at the time owned the Rockin' label( Stone now owns TK Records). In 1953 Rockin' released the Charms first single "Heaven Only Knows". Later that year King picked up the label and used the Charms record to reactivate the Deluxe label which had been dormant since 1949. The original Charms were Donald Peak, Roland Bradley, Joseph Penn and Richard Parker.
In 1955 the Charms left to join Henry Stone's Chart label where they had two releases ( A third record featuring and Otis Williams master from Rockin' was also released). In 1960 three of the four original Charms returned to Federal as the Escos.

A three man group recorded with Otis during the later part of 1955, but by 1956 the Charms were reorganised into a five man backup group again. The group maintained a distinctive sound however due to Otis' distictive voice.

Downbeat Magazine voted the Charms R & B group of the year for 1955."

Discover more about Otis Williams HERE.

Otis Williams & the Charms - Ling Ting Tong

Otis Williams & the Charms - Gum Drop

These You Send It files are available for seven days or until exhausted.