There would come a time when Savoy would have many groups: the Dreams, Wanderers, Jive Bombers, Five Wings, Five Pennies, Carnations, Roamers, Carols, and Luther Bond and His Emeralds, just to name a few. But in the beginning, vocal groups were scarce on the label: 1945 saw the Three Barons (aka the Three Riffs) and the Toppers (aka the Five Red Caps); these were pretty much the only groups until the Robins came along in December of 1949. Of course, Savoy's Regent subsidiary had the Ravens, Four Barons (Larks), and Falcons (about whom more later), but Regent's groups had no national chart hits.

For a year the Robins were Savoy's only group, until the December 1950 debut of the Four Buddies (by which time the Robins had stopped recording for the label). The Four Buddies had releases through mid-1953, during which time the only other Savoy groups were the Marshall Brothers and the Gaylords.

In all the time the Four Buddies were together, they were the only Savoy group to have a top 10 national R&B hit ("I Will Wait" reached #3 nationally, starting a 9-week run on the Billboard R&B charts in April of 1951). The only other Savoy acts to make the top 10 in this period were Johnny Otis/Mel Walker, Varetta Dillard, and the Emitt Slay Trio.

In other words, while they existed they were Savoy's mainstay group. This is their story:

John Carroll and Leon "Larry" Harrison were from the Northwest side of Baltimore, and had known each other since elementary school. (Note that at a later date John Carroll would begin calling himself "Gregory" Carroll as a stage name, and eventually make that his legal name). John's older brother, Charlie Carroll, had been in a group called the Four Buds, which had made some recordings with the Earl "Fatha" Hines orchestra. As a further influence, the Vibra-Naires/Orioles were friends from the same part of town; it seemed natural that John and Larry would sing.

And sing they did, taking their talent to other parts of Baltimore. In this way they met William Duffy and Maurice "Tank" Hicks from the South Side. The sound was good and eventually, sometime in 1949, they started calling themselves the Metronomes. Larry Harrison sang first tenor lead, John Carroll was the second tenor, William Duffy the baritone, and Maurice Hicks the bass. They were all between 16 and 18 years old.

Practice paid off, and the Metronomes ended up with a 15-minute radio show, every Saturday, on Baltimore's WITH. Then one day, in May of 1950, they found themselves with a rare opportunity. Baltimore's Royal Theater was host to Savoy's hottest act: the Johnny Otis Show, with Little Esther and Mel Walker. Esther's Savoy recording of "Double Crossing Blues" had hit the charts in February, and was still riding high. Savoy's owner, Herman Lubinsky, came down to Baltimore to record her, and looked around for a group to back her up in the same way the Robins had on "Double Crossing Blues." The group he picked was the Metronomes.

On May 3, 1950 the guys recorded "Just Can't Get Free" behind Little Esther (Savoy 750; they weren't on the flip, "Cupid's Boogie"). The group credited on the record was "The Beltones," one of the catch-all names that Johnny Otis used for his pick-up groups or singing band members; sometimes he used the name "Bluenotes". Gregory Carroll says that the Metronomes also backed up Mel Walker that day. The only other known master from that session is SBA-674, "My Heart Tells Me," but there's no group present. There are no other SBA masters known ("SBA" stands for Savoy Baltimore), but the next 13 master numbers (through 687) are unaccounted for, so it's reasonable to suspect that a couple of them were used in Baltimore. If so, the Metronomes may have been on one or more; since the masters no longer seem to exist, we'll probably never know. The record was released in May, 1950.

Strangely, their contracts were executed the day after they recorded. On May 4, John Wayne Carroll, William M. Duffy, Maurice Hicks, and Leon Harrison signed on the dotted line.

A few months later, John and Larry said "Hey, we've got a contract, why aren't we doing something about it?" They contacted Savoy and were invited to New York for a session. Although William Duffy and Maurice Hicks enjoyed the group's local success, they weren't confident enough to leave Baltimore. John and Larry got two friends as replacements: Vernon "Bert" Palmer (baritone) and William "Tommy" Carter (bass). After some intense practice, off to New York they went.

They signed their Savoy contracts on October 9, 1950, and, on October 12, they recorded "Just To See You Smile Again," "I Will Wait, "Why At A Time Like This," and "Don't Leave Me Now." Like the Orioles before them the group excelled at ballads, in fact, their first 12 recordings were ballads (this, in a time when the uptempo tune was usually listed as the "A" side on a group's record). ). In October, Savoy proudly announced the signing of Marilyn Scott, Mary DeLoach, the Jubilators (a six-man group whose secular songs would be released by Savoy as the "4 Barons"; they'd go on to become the Larks), and the Metronomes.

An important change came out of that first session: the name "Metronomes" was dropped. A letter to the group in the Savoy files makes it official: by "mutual consent" the name was dropped in favor of "more of a commercial name." They first chose "Four Buds," after John's brother's group; the first pressing of "I Will Wait" shows this name. A little more thought then went into it and the feeling was that they didn't want to be associated with the original Four Buds' older form of music. The name was simply lengthened to "Four Buddies."

"I Will Wait"/"Just To See You Smile Again" was released in December, 1950, just in time to compete with the Dominoes' first recording, "Do Something For Me." The Dominoes went faster (entering the charts in February, 1951 and peaking at #6), but the Four Buddies went further (first charting in April, and reaching #3). In spite of its strong showing, Billboard had only rated "I Will Wait" a 68; much lower than subsequent releases. Also around at the time was Billy Eckstine's "I Apologize," Amos Milburn's "Let's Rock Awhile," and Muddy Waters' "Long Distance Call." The Four Buddies were on their way!

The group was unofficially managed by Fritz Pollard (a former Brown university football star), who took an interest in them when they began rehearsing at his Sun Tan Studios in Manhattan.

On January 13, 1951 The Four Buddies returned to the studios to record four more ballads: "Sweet Slumber," "My Summer's Gone," "Moonlight In Your Eyes," and "It Could Have Been Me." The latter two sides were inexplicably never released by Savoy, but are as beautiful as any of the issued material.

In February, "Sweet Slumber" was paired with the older "Don't Leave Me Now" for their second release. At this time, "I Will Wait" had not yet hit the charts. "Sweet Slumber" made some noise in several local markets, but never achieved the status of "I Will Wait." In fact, "I Will Wait" was to be their only Top 10 hit registered on Billboard's national R&B charts.

In May, when they began touring on the strength of "I Will Wait," they decided to add a fifth member. Alvin Bowen became their guitarist and musical arranger. (He doesn't appear in any photos because the group's one and only photo session had already taken place.) He signed with Savoy on May 5, 1951, but the contract was then backdated to October 9, 1950, the same date as the others.

May 23, 1951 saw their third session, which produced another four ballads: "Close To You," "Window Eyes," "I'm Yours," and "I Love You, Yes I Do." Of these, only "Window Eyes" was ever issued.

June saw their third release: "My Summer's Gone"/"Why At A Time Like This." The fiercest competition they (and everyone else) faced was the Dominoes "Sixty Minute Man." This hit the charts in June and stayed for 30 weeks! Also in June, the Clovers' first record, "Don't You Know I Love You," charted, giving the Dominoes a run for the money. In August, The Five Keys' second release, "Glory Of Love," went straight to the top, and the debut of the Swallows ("Will You Be Mine") was right behind it. In October, the Cardinals' first, "Shouldn't I Know," also zoomed up the charts, along with the Clovers' "Fool, Fool, Fool." The Larks were there too, with "Eyesight To The Blind" and "Little Side Car." All this is to show that in The Four Buddies' first year there wasn't much competition from groups, but what was there was extraordinary. The only other Savoy activity in the Top 10 that year came from Mel Walker (with the Johnny Otis Ork) hitting with "Rockin' Blues," "Gee Baby," and "All Night Long."

In a July, 1951 issue of Billboard, a short announcement was made that Vernon Palmer, formerly of the Four Buddies, would be the baritone lead of a new Savoy group, the Falcons. He was probably planning to break away and front his own group, but his plans didn't work out. The Falcons had one session (on August 20) and some letters in the Savoy files indicate that the group was actually controlled by the other members: female lead Goldie Boots and her brothers, Earl and George Alsup. They weren't pleased with the way things were working out and Palmer remained with the Four Buddies. [Gregory claimed that he knew nothing about Bert Palmer's moonlighting with the Falcons. Considering that Palmer was present on the 4 Buddies session held only a few days later, that was probably true. It's strange, though, that Savoy would release a blurb to the trades about it.]

Three days later (on August 23), the Four Buddies laid down another four tracks: "Sweet Tooth For My Baby," "Heart And Soul," "Sin," and "Simply Say Goodbye." "Sweet Tooth" was the group's first up-tempo recording, featuring bass Tommy Carter in a Ravens-type arrangement. This and "Heart And Soul" are the only numbers on which Larry Harrison didn't sing lead.

In September 1951, their next record was released: "Heart And Soul"/"Sin." When this didn't take off, Savoy paired "Simply Say Goodbye"/"Window Eyes" in December, and then all was quiet for a while.

In November 1951, Savoy's Herman Lubinsky wrote the group a pretty nasty letter. He claimed that he could see the Dominoes and the Clovers all over the charts; where were the 4 Buddies??? He went on to tell them to stop fighting with everyone (and themselves) and to start getting hits. He might have been more tactful, but his points were well-considered.

The early part of 1952 saw, in Billboard's Top 10, such group classics as "One Mint Julep" (Clovers), "Baby Please Don't Go" (Orioles), "Where Are You" (Mello-Moods), "Wheel Of Fortune" (Cardinals), "That's What You're Doing To Me" (Dominoes), and "Have Mercy Baby" (Dominoes).

Finally, on April 10, 1952, after an absence of eight months, the Four Buddies went back to the studios to record "Story Blues," "Nothin' Shakin' Baby," "You're Part Of Me" and "What's The Matter With Me." (For purists, these sides were given master numbers 4579-4582; this was misnumbering on Savoy's part - they should have been 4179-4182.)

In May 1952, "You're Part Of Me"/"Story Blues" was released and not only ran into some of the above-mentioned competition, but also "Ting-A-Ling" (Clovers), "Mary Jo" (4 Blazers), and "Beside You" (Swallows).

The last 1952 release was in October: "What's The Matter With Me"/"Sweet Tooth For My Baby."

After the April 1952 session, bass Tommy Carter left and original Metronome Maurice Hicks was called in to replace him. Around May, Bert Palmer also left. He was replaced by Joseph Walker, who didn't work out, and then by Alvin Bowen, who added baritone singing to his guitar playing.

But only a single session remained to the Four Buddies. After almost a year's absence, they recorded again on March 3, 1953: "You Left Me Blue," "Ooh-Ow," "Got Everything I Need But You," and "My Mother's Eyes." Finally, going out the way they came in their last recording was a back-up to a female singer (in this case Dolly Cooper): "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain."

With the March, 1953 release of "My Mother's Eyes"/"Ooh-Ow" and "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain" in April, it was all over. There was little money coming in, either from record sales or from songwriting royalties. They hooked up with booking agent James Evans, but the jobs they got weren’t worth the effort.

Around May, 1953, John Carroll (now known professionally as "Gregory Carroll") joined the Orioles, just in time to be on their smash hit of "Crying In The Chapel." He stayed with them a couple of years before forming his own group, the Dappers. After this Gregory did several years of studio back-up work (much more financially rewarding than group singing), formed a gospel group (the Halos) in the early 60's, went into the production end of the business, sang with Jimmie Nabbie's Ink Spots in the 70's, and then went back to production work again.

After the 4 Buddies, Larry Harrison formed a new group with Roger Wainwright (second tenor), Luther Dixon (baritone), and Danny Ferguson (bass). They first recorded as the Barons on Decca. At a July 1, 1954 session, they laid down "A Year And A Day," "My Baby's Gone," "Forget About Me," and "Exactly Like You." The first two were issued in August, and the others in October.

Later that year, Maurice Hicks replaced Danny Ferguson, and they recorded "I Stole Your Heart"/"I Waited" for Phil Rose's Glory label in early 1955, as the Buddies. By the time the record was issued (in March 1955), Maurice Hicks had departed to replace Johnny Reed in the Orioles.

An interesting side from this period was “Ashamed,” an unreleased Jubilee Ravens recording. The lead on “Ashamed” is a bit of a mystery. After it was suggested to me that the voice was that of Larry Harrison, I first had a couple of singers listen to it; both agreed that it was Harrison. I then tried to find out from Jimmie Steward, the only surviving member of the Jubilee group, but he basically (and suspiciously) refused to answer the question. It looks like, at least for a while in 1955, Larry Harrison replaced Jimmie Steward.

In August of 1955, Larry Harrison returned to Savoy to record some solo efforts. (These masters, "Move, Baby, Move" and a remake of "I Will Wait," were the last in the 4000 series.) When these didn't take off, he joined Gregory Carroll, both in the Dappers (along with original Raven Leonard Puzey) and in doing back-up work.

The Four Buddies had a unique sound. They deserved better recognition than the record-buying public accorded them in the early 50's. Even most of their unreleased material is top-rate (which can't be said for many other groups).

(all leads by Larry Harrison, except "Sweet Tooth For My Baby"
and "Heart And Soul," both led by Tommy Carter)

SAVOY
750 Just Can't Get Free (Little Esther & Metronomes)/[Cupid's Boogie – Little Esther] — 5/50
769 I Will Wait/Just To See You Smile Again — 12/50
779 Sweet Slumber/Don't Leave Me Now — 2/51
789 My Summer's Gone/Why At A Time Like This — 6/51
817 Heart And Soul/Sin — 9/51
823 Simply Say Goodbye/Window Eyes — 12/51
845 You're Part Of Me/Story Blues — 5/52
866 What's The Matter With Me/Sweet Tooth For My Baby — 10/52
888 My Mother's Eyes/Ooh Ow — 3/53
891 I'd Climb The Highest Mountain (Dolly Cooper & 4 Buddies)/[I Wanna Know – Dolly Cooper] — 4/53

UNRELEASED SAVOY
      Moonlight In Your Eyes
      I'm Yours
      Close To You
      Stop Your Hittin' On Me
      You Left Me Blue
      I Love You, Yes I Do
      Got Everything But You
      It Could Have Been Me

REGENT (Savoy Subsidiary)
1041 How Blind Can You Be/I Can't Tell You Now — 11/51

SAVOY
893 You're The Beating Of My Heart/It's You I Miss — 4/53

DECCA
48323 A Year And A Day/My Baby's Gone — 8/54
29293 Forget About Me/Exactly Like You — 10/54

GLORY (as the Buddies)
230 I Stole Your Heart/I Waited — 3/55

LARRY HARRISON

SAVOY
1171 I Will Wait/Move, Baby, Move — 8/55

GROOVE
0156 Unwanted Love/That's All, That's All, That's All — 5/56

RAINBOW
373 Bop Bop Bu/How I Need You Baby — 11/56