Eventually he did meet them, forming a life-long friendship with Sonny Til. He was there to photograph the Orioles at various appearances, and was photographed with them just after the accident that took the life of guitarist Tommy Gaither. Later in 1948, Bobby formed a group of his own with neighborhood friends. “The Crooners” were all from Asbury Park, New Jersey, and originally were: Bobby Thomas (lead tenor), Herbie Cole (baritone; nephew of drummer Cozy Cole), Albert Smith (second tenor), Ulysses Jackson (first tenor), and Willie Busby (bass). In 1950, Busby, Smith and Jackson left; replacements were found in Mike Robinson (second tenor, aka Louis Robinson), Roosevelt McDuffie (first tenor), and Jimmy Roache (bass). You can bet they spent a lot of time singing Orioles songs; not only did Bobby idolize Sonny Til, he also sounded very much like him. And, since Jimmy Roache had the same vocal quality as Ravens' bass Jimmy Ricks, they also practiced a lot of Ravens tunes.
Interestingly enough, it was Roache's voice that prompted the Crooners to change their name in 1950. When he sang through a powerful amplifier, he vibrated the whole club. A variant of “vibrations” was chosen: the “Vibranaires”. Naturally, it doesn't hurt to remember that the idolized Orioles were originally called the “Vibra-Naires” before their recording days.
In 1953, they met Esther Navarro, who managed them for several months. However, she wasn't happy with their name (it is kind of clumsy to spell). One day, while in her office, they all crowded around the window to see a really flashy Cadillac downstairs. Esther realized that “Cadillacs” would be a dynamite name for a group and a quick call to a Cadillac dealer convinced her that General Motors wouldn't mind. Bobby is possession of a contract (which I saw), dated October 1953, between Esther Navarro and the Cadillacs; the names and signatures at the end are those of the Vibranaires. The group was taken into a studio, where two sides were recorded backed by Jesse Powell's band. (They were Esther's compositions, the names of which have long since been forgotten.) Since she didn't put the record out right away, the Vibranaires got discouraged and wanted out. She asked them to wait, but, being young, they insisted, and she was nice enough to let them out of the contract. In July of 1954, “Gloria,” by the Cadillacs we all know, was issued.
In April 1954, the Vibranaires appeared with the Solitaires, in a New York-New Jersey battle of the groups at the Three Towers Inn.
Ironically, the Vibranaires' first record was also released that same month. In the interim, they had hooked up with Lexy “Flap” Hanford. They had been appearing at the Whispering Pines Club in Sommerville, New Jersey when they were seen by Joel Turnero, former manager of the Mello-Moods. At that time he was a DJ on Newark's WNJR. Turnero introduced them to Hanford, owner of the After Hours bar in Harlem, as well as the similarly-named record label.The Vibranaires' only session produced “Doll Face,” “I Feel So Good,” “Stop Torturing Me,” and “Stop Jiving Baby,” although the session was more complicated than they could have imagined. For some reason, the night before the session, baritone Herbie Cole had stolen a bass from the club they were appearing at. He pawned it and, not being a master criminal, he gave his real name! Herb was arrested just as they were leaving for the session. They begged the police to put off arresting him for a day, but it was not to be. All the way to New York, they had to re-do the arrangements to fit four voices.
“Doll Face”/“I Feel So Good” were released in July 1954, selling around 37,000 copies in spite of lack of promotion and poor distribution. This is a respectable showing considering the size of the label. (If you've never seen an After Hours label, you should correct that oversight as soon as possible; it's about as crudely drawn as possible – this was a real shoestring operation.) The backup musicians were Eddie “Schubert” Swanston and his quintet.
The disc was reviewed on July 24 (with “Doll Face” ranked “good”). Other reviews that week went to the Shadows' “Big Mouth Mama,” the Hollywood Flames' “Peggy,” and the Treniers' “Bald Head.”
Since the name “Vibranaires” gave them more grief than anything else (it was too hard to spell and pronounce), it was shortened to “Vibes.” This is the credit on their second record, released on Hanford's other label, Chariot, in October 1954. But “Stop Torturing Me”/“Stop Jiving Baby” didn't even do as well as “Doll Face” (and “Jiving” was misspelled as “Jibing” on the label). Although they had only done two records, this was the end of their recording career. The record itself doesn't seem to have been sent out for review.
But it wasn't the end of the Vibes! They hooked up with promoter Bobby McNeil, and got to play the Chitlin' Circuit: the Howard (DC), the Royal (Baltimore), the Regal (Chicago), the Rockland Palace and the Audubon Ballroom (New York). However, they never played the Apollo.
In 1955, the Vibes lost Jimmy Roache to the draft; he was replaced by Joe Major. In 1957, Herb Cole was replaced by William Penha, and Mike Robinson by Lenny Welch; Roosevelt McDuffie was added in 1958. The Vibes weathered all these changes, until later in 1958, when Bobby Thomas was drafted; that's what served to break up the group. (Note that Lenny Welch went on to have a smash hit with “Since I Fell For You” in 1963.)Being in the army didn't stop Bobby from singing, however. He was in a group that included ex-Du-Dropper and Drifter “Carnation Charlie” Hughes.
When Bobby was discharged in 1960, he once again teamed up with his old pal Roosevelt McDuffie, who was now singing with the V-Eights (another group from Asbury Park). In April 1959 they had done their first record for Morty Craft's Most label: “Pretty Girl”/“Please Come Back.” The group at the time was: Roosevelt McDuffie (first tenor), Leroy Brown (second tenor), Tony Maples (tenor), Delmar “Kirby” Goggins (tenor), and Frank Hosendove (bass).In 1960, Leroy Brown had disappeared and Bobby stepped in. The group had already recorded “My Heart” and “Papa's Yellow Tie,” but manager Gervis Tilman didn't like the way they were done and had the group (now with Bobby) re-do them.
They were released on Tilman's local Vibro label (shades of the Vibranaires!) in December 1960. At this point, Delmar Goggins left, and was replaced by Henry “Stoney” Jackson, a first/second tenor who had been with Paul Himmelstein's Heartbreakers. This group recorded four more songs: “Everything That You Said,” “Guess What,” “Let's Take A Chance,” and “Hot Water.”
“Everything That You Said”/“Guess What” were released on Vibro in early 1961, followed by “Let's Take A Chance”/“Hot Water” soon after. Sometime in 1961, Stoney Jackson left, to be replaced by Bobby Young.
The V-Eights broke up after Bobby had been with them for less than a year. There had been no big appearances for them, only local New Jersey gigs; consequently there was no widespread recognition. Bobby took Roosevelt McDuffie and Bobby Young, and re-formed the Vibranaires. The fourth member was first tenor Harry Accoo. They lasted through the mid-60s, with former Vibranaire Mike Robinson returning to replace Roosevelt McDuffie. With nothing happening in the mid-60s, Bobby was about to realize a dream cone true. In 1966, three of the Vibranaires (Bobby Thomas, Bobby Young, and Mike Robinson) joined Sonny Til, as the Orioles! That very year, he finally got to play the Apollo.
Bobby stayed with Sonny Til from 1966 to 1975, recording the “Old Gold/New Gold” album with him on RCA Victor in 1971. In November, 1981, suffering from diabetes, Sonny proposed that Bobby take over the Orioles, with Sonny getting a percentage. Bobby promised to come and see him about it sometime in the following month, but before the meeting took place, Sonny passed away on December 9, 1981.
Bobby Thomas, his biggest fan, decided to form an Orioles group as a tribute. In December, 1982, Bobby and his group recorded a 10-inch LP, “The Vibranaires Live”, on the Lirra label; side 1 was dedicated to Sonny. At the time, the group consisted of Bobby, Jimmy Roache, Matthew McKnight, Dornell Chavaus, and Cleveland Dickerson. With numerous personnel changes over the years, Bobby has kept an Orioles group together as a lasting tribute to the man who started him in the music business in the first place. As of this writing (January, 1995), Johnny Reed, original bass singer of the Orioles, came out of musical retirement and began to appear with the Bobby Thomas Orioles.
All photos are courtesy of Bobby Thomas.