Air Week: July 29-Aug 4, 2024

The Dominoes, Pt. 1 – 1950-52

Billy Ward and his business partner Rose Ann Marks put together The Dominoes in mid-1950 and helped fuel the R&B vocal group scene that would eventually become one of the major building blocks for Rock n’ Roll. Ward, who was born Robert Lloyd Williams, was a child prodigy and made a name for himself in the Black Churches of Philadelphia. After WWII, he attended Julliard in NYC and began a career as a vocal coach, arranger, singer and songwriter. He and Rose Ann Marks wrote songs together and then formed a male vocal group to sing them. Ward discovered tenor Clyde McPhatter at an Apollo Theater amateur contest. Then Clyde introduced him to fellow tenor Charlie White. Baritone Joseph Lamont and bass singer Bill Brown rounded out what would become the first incarnation of The Dominoes. Right out of the gate, they scored a national hit with “Do Something For Me” on Cincinnati’s Federal Records. “Sixty Minute Man” and “Have Mercy Baby” shot to the top of the R&B Chart with “Sixty” crossing over to an impressive #17 Pop. McPhatter’s leads were immediately recognizable and soon Billy Ward started implementing rules to keep his group in line, but it was those restrictions that would eventually tear them apart, as members started leaving for greener pastures. What Billy Ward created was a hit-making vocal group machine and an enduring legacy. This week, Matt The Cat looks at the beginning of this storied group with part 1 of a multi-part series, focusing on their releases from 1950-52. So get ready to dig deep into The Dominoes on the “Juke In The Back.”

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