Song:Speedoo
Album:The Fabulous Cadillacs/The Crazy Cadillacs
The Cadillacs were probably the first black doo wop group to make a big splash on the pop charts with the 1955 hit Speedoo. It's one of the all time great hits of the era. They started out in the early 50s as The Carnations with leader Earl Carroll, LaVerne Drake, Robert Phillips and Cub Gaining. Though Carroll and Phillips were not brothers, they were raised as brothers as Carroll lived with the Phillips family after his mother died. They were spotted by Lover Patterson of The Five Crowns and he became their manager. He introduced them to songwriter Esther Navarro. Gaining was replaced by James "Poppa" Clark of The Five Crowns and Johnny "Gus" Willingham. The Carnations was already being used so the group name was changed to The Cadillacs. They signed with Jubilee Records owned by former bandleader and record distributor Jerry Blaine. After some regional success, Clark and Willingham were replaced by Earl Wade and Charles "Buddy" Brooks. Then they released Speedoo and that was one of the biggest hits of the doo wop era. Esther Navarro based Speedoo on Got The Water Boiling by The Regals. Apparently Speedy was Carroll's childhood nickname because of his slow moving demeanor. That's what the song is about. Carroll may be slow but he's fast with the ladies. The record was produced and arranged by Jubilee house producer Jesse Powell. He was a sax player in Howard McGhee's band. The guy who made Speedoo a hit was Cleveland DJ Alan Freed. He promoted live shows and The Cadillacs were on all his shows. Speedoo reached #17 on the pop charts. Remember in those days there were still radio stations that refused to play black groups. Unfortunately The Cadillacs didn't follow it up mostly due to personnel problems. They split into two groups. The one led by Carroll was the more successful of the two. The Cadillacs became a comedy act like The Coasters and they had a couple of minor hits. Carroll even joined The Coasters in the early 60s where he remained for 20 years. This CD is a twofer of albums released in the late 50s. Carroll and Phillips revived The Cadillacs in the 80s and they worked the oldies circuit until Phillips died in 2011 and Carroll died in 2012. Speedoo has appeared in several films, most notably Goodfellas. Here's The Cadillacs performing Speedoo on what looks to be Showtime at the Apollo in the late 80s. The host may be standup comic Rick Aviles.
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