The Original Clovers: Reunion Performance - Austin, TX -10/14/88

Описание: Formed in Washington, D.C. in 1946, the Clovers (John “Buddy” Bailey, Matthew McQuater, Harold Lucas, Harold Winley, Billy Mitchell, and guitarist Bill Harris) were among the most successful and prolific rhythm and blues vocal groups of the 1950s. Between 1951 and 1956, when records by black artists were often restricted in terms of airplay and chart success, the Clovers reeled off twenty R&B hits including 13 straight top 10s. Their first two hits, “Don’t You Know I Love You” and “Fool, Fool, Fool” both claimed the top spot, and were followed to #1 by “Ting-A-Ling” in 1952. The group’s tight harmony, showcased behind the blues-tinged leads of Bailey and, later, Mitchell, turned “One Mint Julep”, “Hey Miss Fannie”, “Good Lovin’”, and “Your Cash Ain’t Nothin’ But Trash” into national best sellers. All told, the group’s efforts spent 219 weeks on the R&B charts in the 1950s. Their recordings of “Blue Velvet” (1954), “Devil or Angel” (1956), and their crossover pop hit, “Love Potion #9” in 1959, have remained fan favorites and regular inclusions in their concert performances through the years.
By 1961, the group’s membership had changed considerably, with founding baritone-second tenor Harold “Hal” Lucas and lead tenor Billy Mitchell, who had joined in late 1953, teaming up with new members. Lucas reorganized the act in 1963 with originals Bailey and Winley, but after about a year, the trio went their separate ways. Winley organized his own Clovers group to record for Josie in 1968 and Lucas and continued performing with his own unit.
It was always the desire of the group’s original guitarist and musical director Bill Harris, who went on to a successful career as a jazz musician, to reorganize the Clovers for one special reunion concert. In 1988, Harris was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and struggling with medical bills. The recently established Rhythm and Blues Foundation stepped in to assist, and the original Clovers decided to reunite at a benefit concert supporting the Foundation’s efforts.
On Friday, October 14, 1988, John “Buddy” Bailey, Harold Lucas, Matthew McQuater, Harold Winley and Billy Mitchell performed together for the first time in 27 years. Of their brief set, film footage has emerged of two of the songs from that evening. After being introduced by their Atlantic labelmate Ruth Brown, the original quartet performs their 1953 hit, “Crawlin’.” At this point, the recording shifts to the last song of the set, with Winley introducing Harris’ son on guitar and bringing out the current members of Lucas’ touring and recording Clovers group, John Bowie, formerly of the Jets/Bachelors who joined in 1969, Johnny Mason, who joined around 1976, and Steve Charles, who came aboard in 1978. Bowie had also recorded one song with the original group, “Rock and Roll Tango”, in 1957. Billy Mitchell, who replaced Bailey during his military service, is already on stage and reprises his original lead on “Love Potion No. 9”, sharing the lead microphone with Mason, who had been singing the song with Lucas’ group.
Following the show, Lucas telephoned Harris to share the news of the concert, much to his delight. The reunion was repeated in Washington, DC two nights later but, again, Harris was too ill to participate. He died weeks later, on December 6, 1988.
Hal Lucas became ill with cancer in 1993 and died in 1994. Bailey succumbed to heart failure just four weeks later. McQuarter and John Bowie both passed in 2000, and Johnny Mason continued working with new members until his death in 2018. Cancer claimed Billy Mitchell in 2002. Charles “Steve Charles” Stevens died in 2023. Harold Winley, the last surviving member and a longtime member of Jimmie Nabbie’s Ink Spots, was still singing with his own Clovers group into his 90s in 2023.