The Bell Notes were an early American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 group from the East Meadow area of Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

The Bell Notes were regular performers in The Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

 in the 1950s, and performed at a bar owned by the father of Ray Tabano

Ray Tabano

Ray Tabano is a musician and former Aerosmith guitarist. Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford in 1971....

; he and Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...

 (of Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

) occasionally played between Bell Notes sets and covered their song "I've Had It". "I've Had It", released on Time Records

Time Records

-Labels:As well as the eponymous "Time Records" the company stable includes "Riserec" or "Rise Records and "Oxyd Records".-Rise Records:Founded 1998.Artists include:* Mousse T* Deepswing* Alex Gaudino* Ricky L* Avicii* Dirty South* Riva Starr...

, was a nationwide hit in the U.S. in 1959, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. They released four further singles in 1959 - "Old Spanish Town", "That's Right", "You're a Big Girl Now", and "White Buckskin Sneakers & Checkerboard Socks" - but only "Old Spanish Town" charted, peaking at #76.

In 1960, they signed to Autograph Records

Autograph Records

Autograph Records was a United States record label of the 1920s.Autograph was a small label, owned by Marsh Laboratories Incorporated of Chicago, Illinois. Marsh Laboratories in turn was owned by electrical engineer Orlando R. Marsh...

and issued "Little Girl in Blue"; two singles for Madison Records, "Shortnin' Bread" and "Friendly Star" followed. "Shortnin' Bread" hit #96 in the U.S. and was their last hit; they broke up by 1962.

In 1964, the group appeared in the series of Nu-Trading Rock 'n Roll Trading Cards.

Members

• Carl Bonura - vocals, saxophone
• John Casey - drums
• Ray Ceroni - vocals, guitar
• Lenny Giambalvo - bass
• Peter Kane - piano