The Ravens - Would You Believe Me

Описание: Released in June of 1947.
The Ravens' material isn't difficult to classify; it was anything that they could sing: R&B ballads, R&B uptempo, Pop standards (done as Pop), Pop standards (done as R&B), novelty numbers. You name it, they tried it. And they were generally superb. And their fans loved it. Jimmy Ricks, whose inspiration was the Delta Rhythm Boys' Lee Gaines, had a bass voice that had depth and breadth and any other quality that you could name; it was a natural winner (his range, according to original Ravens baritone Warren Suttles, was three octaves).

The Ravens began their prolific recording career in June 1946, with a single six-tune session: "Honey" and "Bye Bye Baby Blues" are led by Ricky; "Lullaby", "My Sugar Is So Refined", and "Once And For All" are fronted by Leonard; and "Out Of A Dream" features the alternating leads of Ricky and Ollie. Since their manager conveniently owned a record label, all the tunes would be issued on Hub. The first release was "Lullaby" and "Honey", which probably came out in August 1946. The Ravens were on their way!

The first engagement by the fledgling group was at Harlem's Baby Grand. They also played the Baron (at 132nd and Lenox Avenue) and the Club 845 (in the Bronx).

Next to be released was "Out Of A Dream", backed with "My Sugar Is So Refined"; this was issued around September. For some reason, they left out the very first stanza to "My Sugar Is So Refined" (a 1946 hit for Johnny Mercer). As long as you're interested, it goes: "She doesn't wear a hat/ She wears a chapeau/ She goes to see a cinema/ But never a show". "Out Of A Dream" is a pretty song, written by bandleader Edgar Hayes, who recorded the original version of "In The Mood".

The Ravens' last Hub record, "Once And For All", coupled with "Bye Bye Baby Blues", came out around October 1946.

Public reaction to the Hub songs was overwhelming, however record sales were poor. That is, they were big jukebox hits, but never really sold in stores. Even though Hub had decent recording artists (like Tab Smith, Don Byas, and Manhattan Paul), the label had poor distribution.

While it's nice to have fans, sometimes they could get out of hand. At one appearance, with bandleader Illinois Jacquet, someone in the audience was insistent that they sing "Lullaby". When they sang something else, the man started firing a gun (fortunately in the air).

When Maithe Marshall joined in Jan. of '47, Ben Bart had them re-record all their Hub tunes, but Leonard couldn't remember just why. Warren felt that it was because it was now a "different sound" (which is true, but doesn't really explain it). Possibly it was just to give them some practice with Maithe. The new recordings were kept in the can (for a while).

In April 1947, Bart signed the Ravens with National Records (Hub Records would continue on for another year). While they were appearing with Cab Calloway at Broadway's Strand Theater, they recorded their first four sides for National, in a split session on April 23 and 24: "Mahzel", "Ol' Man River", "For You", and "Would You Believe Me".

For much more information, please see Marv Goldberg's article on the Ravens.