The Swallows Biography
This vocal group from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, comprised Eddie Rich (lead), Irving Turner (tenor/baritone), Earl Hurley (tenor), Herman "Junior" Denby (second tenor/baritone), Frederick "Money" Johnson (baritone) and Norris "Bunky" Mack (bass). The Swallows were one of the most sophisticated of the early 50s vocal harmony groups, recording sleepy ballads much in the style of their Baltimore counterparts the Orioles, but also recording outstanding jump and bluesy tunes in the style of Charles Brown. The group was formed in 1946 and signed with King Records in 1951. Their first recordings were largely Rich-led sweet ballads, best exemplified by their first hit "Will You Be Mine" (number 9 R&B), from 1951. The Swallows developed some notoriety for a 1952 song, the risqué "It Ain't The Meat (It's The Motion)", an up-tempo number led by their bass Mack in the same style of the Dominoes' "Sixty Minute Man". Another 1952 song set a new style for the group, "Beside You' (number 8 R&B), in which lead Denby captured perfectly the sound of the urbane blues singer Charles Brown. Much of the Swallows' subsequent material was in this style, but by 1953 it had come to sound dated next to up-and-coming groups such as the Drifters and Clovers. The Swallows left King and made one more recording, for the After Hours label in 1954, and then began to fall apart. Rich kept a group together with new members until he disbanded the Swallows in 1956. In 1958 a new Swallows group consisting of three original members - Rich, Hurley and Johnson - plus new recruits Buddy Bailey and Calvin Kollette assembled. They signed with King Records" Federal subsidiary and recorded mostly up-tempo songs. When their excellent recording of "Itchy Twitchy Feeling" failed to compete with Bobby Hendricks' hit version, they disbanded.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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