When I first saw the Medallions recalled the late Dootsie Williams of Dootone Records in 1990 I was attracted by the intense young leader Vernon Green. He had a bluesy quality I liked, and he wrote his own material. Vernon was a polio victim who walked with difficulty, and the group members were rough street kids. Even though vocal groups were big around town at that time, nobody would touch them - they were too scruffy. Johnny Otis, who was working for Aladdin at the time, had rejected Vernon and the boys outright because he wanted clean-cut kids with cuddly sex appeal.From their first recording session in 1954, Dootsie Williams sought to preserve that infectious street delivery rather than polish the group into something professional but contrived. these kids had always sung together a cappella. I wanted to catch their style undiluted. When releasing the group's records Dootsie would match an uptempo number on one side with a smoochie ballad on the other. One of these - The Letter - was about as far out as ballads can get. Check it out: Oh my darling, let me whisper sweet words of pismatality and discuss the pulpitudes of love, and put 'em together and what do you have: matrimony! Green's sweet-talk was developed, he says, to compensate for his polio- withered leg and small stature. As a youngster he had practised on the phone, talking to recorded messages to convince his elder brother that he was cool with women. As sleevenote writer Jim Dawson comments: His earnest soliloquies became a staple of nearly all of his slow material.Speedin' assembles 25 great Medallions songs, including 23 from the magic years 1954-1960, running from their first single Buick '59 b/w The Letter through to their eleventh, and last, Rocket Ship b/w Behind The Door. A previously unissued side Ticket To Love is included as are I'm In Love With You and Give Me The Right from a comeback 1973 session.
- Genre:
- Doo Wop
- Label:
- Ace Records
- Format:
- CD
- Catalogue Id:
- CDCHD 536
This product is also available in these versions:
Speedin' (MP3), MP3 (£7.99)
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Track listing
ShowSide 1
- 01 Preview Speedin'
- 02 Preview Magic Mountain
- 03 Preview I Wonder, Wonder, Wonder
- 04 Preview The Letter
- 05 Preview Dance And Swing
- 06 Preview Dear Darling
- 07 Preview Push Button Automobile
- 08 Preview A Lover's Prayer
- 09 Preview Edna
- 10 Preview '59 Volvo
- 11 Preview Unseen
- 12 Preview Ticket To Love
- 13 Preview I'm In Love With You
- 14 Preview Buick '59
- 15 Preview Behind The Door
- 16 Preview Don't Shoot Baby
- 17 Preview I Want A Love
- 18 Preview My Mary Lou
- 19 Preview For Better Or For Worse
- 20 Preview Give Me The Right
- 21 Preview The Telegram
- 22 Preview Rocket Ship
- 23 Preview Did You Have Fun
- 24 Preview Coupe De Ville Baby
- 25 Preview Shedding Tears For You
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