Ames Brothers
Encyclopedia
The Ames Brothers were a singing
quartet from Malden
, Massachusetts
, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music
hits.
(born 9 July 1927).
Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were brought up on classical
and opera
tic music
. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were Jewish immigrant
s from the Ukraine
who read Shakespeare
and semi-classics
to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen.
The brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring United States Army
and Navy
bases
entertaining the troops and were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds nightclub
, one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. This one week engagement turned into several months when the word got around of their appearance. At the time, they were going by the name of the Amory Brothers, a name taken from Vic's middle name and they were becoming quite popular in the area. It was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. He said they were just having too much fun together for him to miss out. Taking their act to New York
they got a job with bandleader
Art Mooney
. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler of Decca Records
heard them singing it and had them cut a few sides for Decca Records just before the AFM
recording ban which James Petrillo
imposed in January, 1948.
A year later when the ban was lifted, the Ames Brothers were the first artists
to record for Coral Records
. The name Amory was shortened to Ames. They were swept into national top billing with their first hit record
, "Rag Mop," in January, 1950. Doing radio
shows for free at times just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as Arthur Godfrey and His Friends
. One of the first acts to appear on the original The Ed Sullivan Show
when it was known as Toast of the Town, they made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from Wanamaker's
Department Store.
Soon, they were the top paid group in nightclubs and supperclubs everywhere and their popularity on television was nationwide. In 1956 they starred in their own show, The Ames Brothers Show, which was seen on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated television show to be shown in foreign countries. The brothers also appeared on ABC
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
.
Over their fifteen year career, their prolific work notched up 49 U.S.
chart
entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with RCA Victor. The group disbanded in 1960, but Ed Ames
went on with a successful singing and acting
career, including playing Daniel Boone
's sidekick, Mingo, on the popular Daniel Boone
television series (1964–1970).
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
in 1998. Ed Ames
, as the youngest brother, is the only surviving member of the group. Vic died in a car accident in 1978 at age 52, Gene died of cancer in 1997 at age 74, and Joe died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 86.
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
quartet from Malden
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
hits.
Biography
The Ames Brothers got their beginning in Malden, where all four were born. The act consisted of brothers Joe (3 May 1921 – 22 December 2007), Gene (born 13 February 1923 – 4 April 1997), Vic (20 May 1925 – 23 January 1978) and EdEd Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
(born 9 July 1927).
Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were brought up on classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were Jewish immigrant
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
s from the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
who read Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and semi-classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen.
The brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
bases
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
entertaining the troops and were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
, one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. This one week engagement turned into several months when the word got around of their appearance. At the time, they were going by the name of the Amory Brothers, a name taken from Vic's middle name and they were becoming quite popular in the area. It was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. He said they were just having too much fun together for him to miss out. Taking their act to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
they got a job with bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Art Mooney
Art Mooney
Art Mooney was an American popular bandleader. His biggest hits were "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Baby Face" in 1948 and "Nuttin' For Christmas," with Barry Gordon, in 1955...
. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler of Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
heard them singing it and had them cut a few sides for Decca Records just before the AFM
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
recording ban which James Petrillo
James Petrillo
James Caesar Petrillo was the prominent leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada.-Biography:Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois...
imposed in January, 1948.
A year later when the ban was lifted, the Ames Brothers were the first artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
to record for Coral Records
Coral Records
Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....
. The name Amory was shortened to Ames. They were swept into national top billing with their first hit record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, "Rag Mop," in January, 1950. Doing radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
shows for free at times just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as Arthur Godfrey and His Friends
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS from January 1949, to June 1957 , then again as a half-hour show from September 1958, to April 1959.Many of Godfrey's musical acts were culled from Arthur Godfrey's...
. One of the first acts to appear on the original The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
when it was known as Toast of the Town, they made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from Wanamaker's
Wanamaker's
Wanamaker's department store was the first department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the first department stores in the United States. At its zenith in the early 20th century, there were two major Wanamaker department stores, one in Philadelphia and one in New York City at Broadway...
Department Store.
Soon, they were the top paid group in nightclubs and supperclubs everywhere and their popularity on television was nationwide. In 1956 they starred in their own show, The Ames Brothers Show, which was seen on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated television show to be shown in foreign countries. The brothers also appeared on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom is a half-hour variety show that aired on ABC from October 3, 1957 to June 23, 1960, starring the young singer Pat Boone and a host of top-name guest stars. The program was of course sponsored by Chevrolet...
.
Over their fifteen year career, their prolific work notched up 49 U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with RCA Victor. The group disbanded in 1960, but Ed Ames
Ed Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
went on with a successful singing and acting
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
career, including playing Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
's sidekick, Mingo, on the popular Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
television series (1964–1970).
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum....
in 1998. Ed Ames
Ed Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
, as the youngest brother, is the only surviving member of the group. Vic died in a car accident in 1978 at age 52, Gene died of cancer in 1997 at age 74, and Joe died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 86.
Hit singles
- "You, You, You Are the One" (1949)
- "Can Anyone Explain?" (1950)
- "Rag MopRag Mop"Rag Mop" was a popular American song of the late 1940s-early 1950s.The song, a 12-bar blues, was written by Johnnie Lee Wills and Deacon Anderson and published in 1949...
" (1950) - "Sentimental MeSentimental Me"Sentimental Me" is a popular song.It was written by James T. Morehead and James Cassin and published in 1949.The most popular version was recorded by The Ames Brothers. Other versions were recorded by Elvis Presley, the Russ Morgan Orchestra and in England by Jackie Brown and his Quartet.The Ames...
" (1950) - "Hawaiian War ChantHawaiian War Chant"Hawaiian War Chant" was an American popular song whose original melody and lyrics were written in the 1860s by Prince Leleiohoku. The original title of the song was Kaua I Ka Huahua`i or "We Two in the Spray." It was not written as a chant, and the Hawaiian lyrics describe a clandestine meeting...
" (1951) - "UndecidedUndecided"Undecided" is a popular song written by Sid Robins and Charlie Shavers and published in 1938.The first recording was made by John Kirby and The Onyx Club Boys on October 28, 1938, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 2216, with the flip side "From A Flat to C".It was also recorded by...
" (with the Les BrownLes Brown (bandleader)Les Brown, Sr. and the Band of Renown are a big band that began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils that Brown led while a student at Duke University. He was the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences...
Orchestra) (1951) - "Wang Wang Blues" (1951)
- "I Wanna Love You" (1952)
- "String Along" (1952)
- "You, You, YouYou, You, You"You, You, You" is a popular song published in 1953. The music was written by Lotar Olias, the original German lyrics by Walter Rothenberg, with English lyrics written by Robert Mellin....
" (1953) - "The Man with the Banjo" (1954)
- "The Naughty Lady of Shady LaneThe Naughty Lady of Shady Lane"The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" is a popular song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The lyrics suggest that this "naughty lady" driving the whole town crazy is an attractive young woman who "throws those come-hither glances at every Tom, Dick and Joe" and "when offered some liquid...
" (also a hit for Archie BleyerArchie BleyerArchie Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.-Early life:He was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. He began playing the piano when he was only seven years old...
) (1954) - "My Bonnie LassieMy Bonnie Lassie"My Bonnie Lassie" is a popular song, by Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper, and Marion McClurg.The tune is actually derived from a traditional Scottish tune, "Scotland the Brave."...
" (1955) - "Forever Darling" (1956)
- "It Only Hurts for a Little WhileIt Only Hurts for a Little While"It Only Hurts for a Little While" is a 1956 popular song with music by Fred Spielman and lyrics by Mack David.The recording by The Ames Brothers was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-6481. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 19, 1956...
" (1956) - "Melodie D'AmourMelodie d'Amour"Melodie d'Amour" is a popular song. It was written by Henri Salvador and Leo Johns and published in 1949.The recording by The Ames Brothers was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 47-7046. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on October 7, 1957...
" (1957) - "TammyTammy (song)"Tammy" is a popular song with music by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. It was published in 1957 and debuted in the film Tammy and the Bachelor. It was nominated for the 1957 Academy Award for Best Original Song....
" (a bigger hit for Debbie ReynoldsDebbie ReynoldsDebbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
) (1957) - "Pussy Cat" (1958)
- "A Very Precious LoveA Very Precious Love"A Very Precious Love" is a popular song with music was written by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song was published in 1957....
" (1958) - "Red River Rose" (1959)
- "Washington SquareWashington Square (song)"Washington Square" is the title of a popular instrumental from 1963 by the New York City-based jazz group The Village Stompers.Named after the famous park in New York City, "Washington Square" became a hit single in November 1963, when it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The...
" (1963, their last national chart song, and only entry on Epic Records)
Albums
- Sing A Song Of Christmas (1950)
- Exactly Like YouExactly Like You (Ames Brothers album)Exactly Like You was an LP album by The Ames Brothers, released in 1956 by RCA Victor Records, as catalog number LPM-1142....
(1956) - There'll Always Be A Christmas (1957)
- Destination Moon (1958)
- Smoochin' Time with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1958)
- Hello Amigos (1960)
- For Sentimental Reasons (1964)
External links
- Vocal Group Hall of Fame page on The Ames Brothers
- Obituary in the Los Angeles Daily NewsLos Angeles Daily NewsThe Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....