Billy Ward and his Dominoes

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Billy Ward and his Dominoes were an American

One source summarized the song's appeal: it "contains "rebelliousness, unsubtle sexuality, and a steady rhythm. It arguably coined the very name of this new type of music: rock and roll". Its success on the pop charts indicated that R&B cross over was certainly possible. The recording "opened the door for other sexually forthright records, planting the seed for songs like Hank Ballard's "Work with me Annie", Etta James' "Roll with Me Henry" and other future hits".[7]

The group toured widely, building up a reputation as one of the top R&B acts of the era, edging out the Five Keys and the Clovers (two of the top R&B groups of the early 1950s) and commanding audiences which crossed racial divides. However, Ward's strict disciplinarian approach, and failure to recompense the singers, caused internal problems. Ward is remembered as a petty tyrant who levied fines against group members for infractions, including arriving late for rehearsals and wearing un-shined shoes on stage. Jackie Wilson recalled,^[8] "Billy Ward was not an easy man to work for. He played piano and organ, could arrange, and he was a fine director and coach. He knew what he wanted, and you had to give it to him. And he was a strict disciplinarian. You better believe it! You paid a fine if you stepped out of line."^[9] Ward most likely got the idea of levying fines against group members from his tenure in the military. Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice gives a unit commander authority to mete a certain amount of punishment to troops under his or her command without going through a court-martial, which includes fines (partial forfeiture of pay).

The name "The Dominoes" was owned by Ward and Marks, who had the power to hire and fire and to pay the singers a salary. Clyde McPhatter was being paid barely enough to live on, even though most of the Dominoes' success was due to McPhatter's soaring vocal abilities. "Whenever I'd get back on the block where everybody'd heard my records—half the time I couldn't afford a Coca-Cola," according to McPhatter.^[10] Allegedly, Ward paid his singers $100 a week (US$1,139 in 2023 dollars^[11]), minus deductions for taxes, food and hotel bills.^[12] McPhatter often found himself billed as "Clyde Ward" to fool fans into thinking he was Billy Ward's little brother. Others assumed Ward was doing the lead singing.

White and Brown both left in 1951 to form the Checkers and were replaced by James Van Loan (1927–1960) and David McNeil (1932–2005, previously of the Larks).^[6] In March 1952, the Dominoes were chosen to be the only vocal group at Alan Freed's "Moondog Coronation Ball". The hits continued, with "Have Mercy Baby" topping the R&B charts for 10 weeks in 1952. Later records were credited to "Billy Ward and His Dominoes".^[13]

In early 1953, after nine hits,^[14] McPhatter left to form his own group, the Drifters.^[6] His replacement in the Dominoes was Jackie Wilson, who had been coached by McPhatter while also singing with the group on tour.^[6] Lamont and McNeil also left and were replaced by Milton Merle and Cliff Givens (Givens had been in the Southern Sons Gospel Quartet; he joined the Ink Spots in 1944 upon the death of original bass Orville "Hoppy" Jones). With Wilson singing lead, singles such as "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" continued to be successful, although the Dominoes did not enjoy quite the same success as they had with McPhatter as lead tenor.

In 1954, Ward moved the group to Jubilee Records and then to Decca Records, where they had a number 27 pop hit, "St. Therese of the Roses",^[3] featuring Wilson on tenor, giving the Dominoes a brief moment in the spotlight again. However, the group was unable to follow that success on the charts, and there was a succession of personnel changes. They increasingly moved away from their R&B roots with appearances in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Elvis Presley went to hear Jackie Wilson and the Dominoes in Las Vegas in 1956 and was so impressed with Wilson's singing that he went back to Sun Studios and cut the Million Dollar Quartet's version^[15] of "Don't Be Cruel". Presley introduced the song by saying how Wilson sang it much better and then proceeded to do an impersonation of the much slower Dominoes version, backed by Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.

In 1957, Wilson left for a solo career and was replaced by Gene Mumford of the Larks,

They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.

Deaths

James Van Loan died on March 27, 1960, from heart disease.^[17]

In March 1971, Bruce Cloud killed his estranged wife and two-year-old son. Afterwards, he asphyxiated himself in his car.^[17]

Clyde McPhatter died on June 13, 1972.^[18][19]

Eddie Herring and his wife were murdered in their home on February 3, 1973.^[17]

Gene Mumford died on May 10, 1977, from bacterial pneumonia, alcoholism and diabetes.^[20][21]

Jackie Wilson died on January 21, 1984, from complications of pneumonia.^[22][23][24]

Cliff Givens died on June 6, 1989.^[24]

William "Joe" Lamont died on August 2, 1991.

David McNeil died on January 7, 2005, from cancer.^[25]

Milton Grayson died on September 3, 2005.^[26]

Milton Murrill died on January 24, 2012.^[27]

Discography

Singles

References