AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Nutmegs

Artist:The Nutmegs
Song:Story Untold
Album:The Nutmegs' Greatest Hits





Here's a doo wop classic that was a top twenty pop hit for The Crew-Cuts in 1955. But Story Untold was originally written and recorded by the black group The Nutmegs. It was a top five R&B hit in 1954. That kind of racist nonsense was normal back in the 50s. Plenty of radio stations refused to play black artists even though the music was usually superior. Groups like The Nutmegs never got the credit they deserved. They were from New Haven, CT led by lead singer and songwriter Leroy Griffin. Other members were Griffin's brother Sonny Griffin, Dieder Cobb and a second Leroy Griffin who changed his name to Gomez. They started out singing on streetcorners. There were plenty of doo wop groups in New Haven so guys would come and go. Griffin was replaced by Bill Emery as lead singer and that's when The Nutnegs met Charlie Johnson who recorded them but he didn't have the money to promote them. Leroy Griffin returned as lead singer in 1954. Other members were Sonny Griffin, Jimmy "CoCo" Tyson, Bill Emery and Leroy McNeil. The Nutmegs moved to New York where they met Herald Records owner Al Silver. They had already recorded four songs. They needed someone to release them. Herald released Story Untold and it reached #2 on the R&B Singles chart. But as I said, a lot of radio stations refused to play black groups. So when The Crew-Cuts recording of Story Untold was a hit, that stopped any airplay for The Nutmegs original. The Nutmegs next single Ship Of Fools was an R&B hit but they were unable to cross over to pop. The Nutmegs did work the Alan Freed tours so they were able to continue performing. The Nutmegs were also part of the early 60s New York doo wop revival. This ended when Leroy Griffin died in 1964. Attempts to continue were unsuccessful. You can get all of The Nutmegs recordings on this Collectables comp. Here's a video for Story Untold by The Nutmegs.