Artist:The Clovers
Song:Devil Or Angel
Album:The Doo Wop Box
The Clovers were one of the earliest doo wop groups though not necessarily the best known. They started out as Washington, DC high school students in 1946. They were mostly performing in the Washington area doing covers of other vocal groups when they were discovered by Baltimore based manager Lou Krefetz in 1950. He recorded them on his own label and that got the attention of Ahmet Ertegun who was just starting Atlantic Records at the time. Ertegun & producer Jesse Stone got The Clovers their first big hit in 1952 with One Mint Julep. They continued to have success on Atlantic including this 1956 hit Devil Or Angel. At this time the group had two lead singers, John "Buddy" Bailey & Billy Mitchell. Other members were Matthew McQuarter, Hal Lucas & Harold Winley. Devil Or Angel would be an even bigger hit for teen idol Bobby Vee in 1961. In 1958, Krefetz started his own label which was taken over by the new United Artists label. He put The Clovers together with the legendary team of Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller and they had their biggest hit with Love Potion #9 in 1959. The Clovers faded after that. With the oldies boom in the 70s, there have been several groups claiming to be The Clovers but that sorted itself out and they were given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in 1988. The Clovers and plenty of other doo wop groups are all on the 4CD box set The Doo Wop Box. Here are The Clovers performing Devil Or Angel at one of those doo wop reunion shows.
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