Song:Diamonds and Pearls
Album:The Bluejays Meet The Paradons
Diamonds and Pearls is a great doo wop song that was a top twenty hit in 1960. Unfortunately The Paradons split up soon after. They were from Bakersfield, CA. Members were West Tyler on lead vocal, William Powers on baritone, Bill Meyers on bass and Chuck Weldon on tenor. Edward Scott wrote the songs and Walter Gibson managed them. Powers was in The Scarlets who released a few singles in 1954. Local gigs got them a recording session with Milestone Records owned by bluegrass musician Werly Fairburn. Diamonds and Pearls was the second single. It reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. They appeared on American Bandstand and went on tour. They played The Apollo in New York. There were two problems with The Paradons. One was that Milestone went out of business. The Paradons recorded a single for Warner Bros. The other problem was a financial dispute between The Paradons and Gibson. They seemingly disbanded but the four singers recorded as The Trend-Tones. You can get The Paradons Milestone recordings on this Collectables CD also featuring another Milestone act The Bluejays. Beware of alternate takes on various artists CDs. Meyers and Joey Karp revived The Paradons and Karp still leads a version of the group on the oldies circuit. Here's a video of Diamonds and Pearls by The Paradons.
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