In 1946, second tenor Henry Oliver “Ollie” Jones was selected to be a part of the original Ravens (along with Jimmy “Ricky” Ricks, Leonard Puzey, and Warren Suttles). The Ravens, with Ollie, recorded six sides for the Hub label (including “Lullaby,” which Ollie wrote and “Out Of A Dream,” on which Ollie alternates leads with Ricky). All the sides were released in June of that year.
Ravens' arranger Howard Biggs had a problem, though. Ollie's voice wasn't strong enough, and Biggs didn't like the way he blended in with the rest of the group. There was no animosity about it; Ollie wasn't “fired.” He was simply told that the Ravens would continue using him until they found a first tenor who could fit in better. Late in the year, Ricks came across a bartender named Maithe Marshall, who had the type of soaring tenor that the Ravens were looking for. Around January 1947, Maithe replaced Ollie.
After the Ravens, Ollie toured with the 4 Notes for about nine months, playing the carnival circuit (carnivals were very popular attractions in rural areas in the 1940s). The only members of the group whose names I know are baritone Tommy Adams and lead Gene Smith. (James Sapp and Frederick Johnson seem to have been later members.) Tommy Adams did a comic imitation of Ink Spots' lead Bill Kenny, replete with flashing “diamond” rings. In 1948, Ollie decided to form his own group. He met bass James DeLoach and took him to Jimmy Ricks for an appraisal. DeLoach didn't have a bass voice as rich and deep as Ricky's, but Ricky was sufficiently impressed for DeLoach to be hired. For a baritone, Ollie got Tommy Adams, who added some visual excitement to the act.
To round out the group, they consulted voice teacher Gerald Hall, who had a rehearsal studio. Through him, they found two first tenors who were so equally suited for the job that they ended up flipping a coin. That's how Abel DeCosta ended up joining the group. A fifth member initially was arranger and pianist Herman Flintall.
Calling themselves the Blenders, they once again turned to Jimmy Ricks for recording advice. Thus, a few weeks after they'd formed, Ricks took them to Al Green, owner of National Records, for whom the Ravens were recording at the time. The Blenders started as basically a bass-lead group, using Ravens-type arrangements. And, since the Ravens had more work than they could handle, Ricky also got them some bookings.
Around September of 1949, the Blenders recorded four songs for National: “I Can Dream, Can't I,” “Why Is It You,” “Come Back Baby Blues,” and “Why Does A Good Man Get Kicked Around.” “I Can Dream, Can't I” and “Come Back Baby Blues” were issued in October.
While at National, the Blenders met a&r man Lee Magid, who became their manager. When he left National in early 1950, he took the Blenders with him. The trade papers reported, on April 1, that the Blenders had been signed by Coral Records (a subsidiary of Decca). For whatever reason, however, for the next three years all Blenders' recordings would be issued on the parent label.When the Blenders made the switch, they added a fifth member: guitarist and occasional tenor Ernie Brown. Although no one I spoke to mentioned him, Teddy Brannon was listed in two trade articles as being the group's arranger and pianist (at least in 1950).
Decca was one of the largest record companies around and the Blenders were lucky to have hooked up with them. Decca probably hoped that the Blenders would follow in the hit-making tradition of their 40s acts: the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Jordan. As it turned out, however, the Blenders' Decca recordings didn't achieve the commercial success expected of them.On April 3, 1950 the Blenders recorded two songs for Decca: “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Gone (My Baby's Gone).” On April 27, there were another two: “Count Every Star” and “Would I Still Be The One In Your Heart.” The first two of these were released in May and reviewed on May 27 (with “Honeysuckle Rose” receiving an “excellent”). Other reviews that week went to the Ravens' “Count Every Star,” Billy Mathews & Balladeers' “If You Only Knew,” and the 4 Blues' “Missing You.”
Hoping for the best, Decca issued “Count Every Star” and “Would I Still Be The One In Your Heart” only a week after “Honeysuckle Rose.” “Count Every Star” was given an “excellent” rating on June 3, along with Little Esther's “Just Can't Get Free,” the Orioles' “Moonlight,” and Mr. Google Eyes' “Cryin' For You.”In June, a Decca public relations blurb told the heartwarming story of how the Blenders met while singing in a New York City church choir. While they wanted to sing secular music, World War 2 got in the way and they had to wait until war's end to get back together. (I hate to say it, but some of these flights of fancy are a lot more interesting than the truth.)
After only a few months with Decca, both Tommy Adams and James DeLoach became ill and left the group. Adams was replaced by tenor Dick Palmer, who had been in the Palmer Brothers (with his brothers Clarence and Ernie) and the Beavers (another Decca group). Since Dick also played the guitar, Ernie Brown soon felt no further need to hang around and left after having been with the group for less than six months. [In 1953, he'd join the Decca Ink Spots, becoming (as far as I know) the last member added to that group before they disintegrated).] The replacement for James DeLoach was bass (and bassist) Raymond Johnson, who had been in the Beavers with Dick Palmer.On October 4, 1950, Ollie Jones, Abel DeCosta, Dick Palmer, and Raymond Johnson recorded “I'm So Crazy For Love,” “I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over,” “Little Small Town Girl,” and “What About Tonight” for Decca.
“I'm So Crazy For Love” and “What About Tonight” were paired for a November 1950 release, which was reviewed on November 17 (with “I'm So Crazy For Love” ranked “excellent”). Other reviews that week went to Lonnie Johnson's version of “I'm So Crazy For Love,” the Orioles, “Can't Seem To Laugh Anymore,” Dinah Washington's “Time Out For Tears,” Wynonie Harris' “Teardrops From Your Eyes” (as well as his “Oh Babe”), and Charles Brown's “Merry Christmas Baby.”
Still no chart action, and in January 1951, Decca issued “I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over”/”Little Small Town Girl.” The record doesn't seem to have been sent out for review.
On February 15, 1951, the Blenders recorded four more songs: “The Busiest Corner In My Home Town,” “All I Gotta Do Is Think Of You,” “You Do The Dreamin',” and “My Heart Will Never Forget.”
The Blenders were featured on the Richard Hayes show on a weekly basis, beginning in March 1951. The show was broadcast on Tuesdays, at 11 pm, on the DuMont network (Channel 5 in New York). [Unfortunately, I can't find out anything else about the show. In August 1950, Hayes joined the cast of “Songs For Sale,” but I don't know if he gave up his own show to do it.] In April, it was reported that Decca had renewed the Blenders' contract for another two years.
In May, Decca released “The Busiest Corner In My Home Town,” backed with “All I Gotta Do Is Think Of You.” This was the second Blenders record in a row not sent out for review. If Decca wasn't going to push them, it's hard to imagine why their contract was renewed.
Sometime during their stay at Decca, the Blenders switched managers, from Lee Magid to Rita Don. Magid, who was working at Savoy as an a&r man, would form Central Records in the fall of 1953.
October 1951 saw the release of “You Do The Dreamin'“ and “My Heart Will Never Forget.” These were reviewed on October 27, along with the Sugar Tones' “They Said It Couldn't Happen,” Bob Williams' “Tabor Inn,” and Roy Brown's “Bar Room Blues.”
In mid-1951, James DeLoach returned to the Blenders. Initially, Raymond Johnson was kept on as a fifth member, moving up the scale to baritone. However, both Ray and Dick Palmer had left the group by the late fall (Ray said the group simply wasn't making much money). Ray then joined Maithe Marshall, tenor Phil Shaw, and baritone Willis Sanders to form the Marshall Brothers, who recorded for Savoy. He'd later join the Dominoes for a while, becoming the first replacement for original bass Bill Brown.
Dick Palmer was replaced by Napoleon “Snaggs” Allen (baritone and guitar), and “Muscles” Swanson was added, for a while, as bass player. Therefore, by late 1951, the singers were: Ollie Jones, Abel DeCosta, James DeLoach, and Napoleon Allen.
The reorganized Blenders had their last Decca session on March 6, 1952. The four songs recorded were: “Never In A Million Years,” “I'd Be A Fool Again,” “Memories Of You,” and “Just A Little Walk With Me.”
“I'd Be A Fool Again,” backed with “Just A Little Walk With Me” were issued in April 1952. Both sides were rated “good” on April 26, along with Charles Brown's “My Last Affair,” Billy Bunn & Buddies' “Until The Real Thing Comes Along,” Lloyd Price's “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” Fats Domino's “Goin' Home,” and the Enchanters' “Housewife Blues.”
The last Decca release, in June 1952, was “Never In A Million Years”/”Memories Of You.” Once again, it wasn't sent out for review.
Although the Blenders weren't particularly successful as a Decca recording group, according to Ollie and Abel they did quite well at appearances. They played the Apollo Theater, however, Ollie said “We weren't a hit there. We were very frightened. It took us two days to relax. Jimmy [DeLoach] was audience-shy.” They didn't play the usual black theater circuit, concentrating more on clubs and packaged tours. This is difficult to confirm, since there are very few Blenders appearances listed anywhere. However, you don't hang around for five years, as full-time singers, unless you're getting money from appearing someplace.
When their two-year contract extension was up, Decca declined to renew the Blenders again. (They hadn't recorded in a year, nor were there any releases for almost as long.) Rita Don then took them to independent producer Joe Davis. On March 27, 1953, Davis recorded at least six sides with them at a private session and then sold four of those to MGM (the same as he did with the Crickets). The sides recorded that day were: “If That's The Way You Want It Baby,” “Please Take Me Back,” “Isn't It A Shame?,” “I Don't Miss You Anymore,” “You'll Never Be Mine Again,” and “Don't Play Around With Love.”On April 17, the Blenders did another session for Davis, which resulted in two more masters: “Somebody's Lyin'” (which Davis had written for the Red Caps back in May 1944) and “Kansas Kapers.”
In May 1953, “If That's The Way You Want It Baby” and “I Don't Miss You Anymore” were released on MGM. The disc was reviewed on May 16, along with the Falcons' “It's You I Miss,” the Checkers' “Ghost Of My Baby,” and the Treniers' “Rockin' Is Our Bizness.” Around this time, manager Rita Don died and the Blenders were finding work scarce.
In June, Joe Davis announced that he was starting up Jay-Dee Records the next month. While the pressing was handled by MGM (indicating that the parting with MGM was amicable), he took almost all of that company's R&B acts with him (including the Blenders and the Crickets). This didn't seem to concern MGM all that much.
The first Blenders record failed to take off, and MGM issued “Please Take Me Back” and “Isn't It A Shame?” in July. These were reviewed on July 4, along with the Clovers' “Here Goes A Fool,” Ray Charles' “Mess Around,” the 4 Bells' “Please Tell It To Me,” and the Rocketeers' “Foolish One.”
The Blenders only release on Jay-Dee, in August 1953, consisted of the final two sides that had been recorded for Joe Davis back in March: “You'll Never Be Mine Again” and “Don't Play Around With Love.” At that same session, Davis had them record a raunchier version (entitled “Don't Fuck Around With Love”), which he planned to send to disc jockeys as an under-the-table release. After this side found its way onto a Kelway release in 1971, Davis himself released the song (on his Davis label) in 1973. I've always considered it a superior version musically, although the group seems unsure at times what lyrics to sing.
The Jay-Dee release was reviewed (both sides “good”) on September 19, 1953. Other reviews that week were for Ruth Brown's “The Tears Keep Tumbling Down,” Fats Domino's “Rose Mary,” the Drifters' “Money Honey,” Johnny Ace's “Midnight Hours Journey,” the Thrillers' “The Drunkard,” Bobby Mitchell & Toppers' “4-11=44” (so much for higher math skills), the Orchids' “Beginning To Miss You,” and the Gay Tunes' “Thrill Of Romance.”
While the Blenders only had a single release under their own name, two years later (in September 1955), Davis released the final two of their masters (“Somebody's Lyin'” and “Kansas Kapers”) under the name “Millionaires.”
Toward the end of the Blenders' career, Chauncy “Lord” Westbrook (and occasionally Ernie Brown) would frequently replace Snaggs Allen. Westbrook (baritone and 12-string guitar) had been a short-lived member of the Orioles in late 1953, replacing Ralph Williams, who'd formed his own group for a while. He'd also been with the Drifters for a “hot minute” before Jimmy Oliver joined.
The Blenders finally broke up in 1954. At the time, Ollie Jones was concentrating heavily on songwriting, as well as demos and background singing. Also, he'd met arranger Jesse Stone, who had an idea to put a standard set of voices behind soloists. To this end, Ollie and Abel gave up on the Blenders and formed the Cues. Stone would use the Cues over the years to back up many of the acts on Atlantic (for whom he worked as an arranger and producer): Ruth Brown (as the Rhythmakers), Joe Turner (as the Blues Kings), Charlie White (as the Playboys), Lavern Baker (as the Gliders), and Ivory Joe Hunter (as the Ivorytones). They'd also be the 4 Students on Groove.
As far as I can tell, all the members of the Blenders are now deceased.