Lee Andrews & the Hearts
Encyclopedia
Lee Andrews & the Hearts was a doo-wop
quintet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
formed in 1953. They recorded on the Gotham, Rainbow, Mainline, Chess, United Artists, Grand and Gowen labels. Managed by Kae Williams, in 1957 and 1958 they had their three biggest hits, "Teardrops", "Long Lonely Nights" and "Try the Impossible". The group consisted of Lee Andrews, lead, Roy Calhoun, First Tenor, Tammey Currey, second tenor, Ted Weems, baritone, and Wendell Calhoun, bass.
Questlove, drummer and producer for the Grammy award winning hip-hop group The Roots
, is Lee Andrews' son, and cites growing up with doo-wop as a major influence in his music.
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
quintet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
formed in 1953. They recorded on the Gotham, Rainbow, Mainline, Chess, United Artists, Grand and Gowen labels. Managed by Kae Williams, in 1957 and 1958 they had their three biggest hits, "Teardrops", "Long Lonely Nights" and "Try the Impossible". The group consisted of Lee Andrews, lead, Roy Calhoun, First Tenor, Tammey Currey, second tenor, Ted Weems, baritone, and Wendell Calhoun, bass.
Questlove, drummer and producer for the Grammy award winning hip-hop group The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, is Lee Andrews' son, and cites growing up with doo-wop as a major influence in his music.
Singles
- "Long Lonely Nights" (1957) U.S. #45
- "Tear Drops" (1957) U.S. #20
- "Try the Impossible" (1958) U.S. #33