Earl "Speedo" Carroll, legendary lead of the R&B group, the Cadillacs died
November 25, 2012, at the age of 75. Perhaps one of the greatest vocal
groups of the 1950's, the Cadillacs excelled in all aspects of entertaining
- from their flawless harmonies to their innovative choreography. Earl
Carroll was "Mr. Cadillac". His passing is a huge loss to the group
harmony community.
Earl "Speedo" Carroll
leading the Cadillacs in "Gloria," 1995
Earl “Speedo” Carroll was born November 2, 1937 and grew up in Harlem. In
the summer of 1953, he formed a vocal group called the Carnations that
consisted of himself, Bobby Phillips, Lavern Drake and “Cub” Gaining. The
group hung out on the street corners singing, mostly on Seventh and Eight
Avenues bewteen131st and 133rd Streets. The Carnations began
singing at community dances at St. Mark’s Church on 132nd Street.
The Carnations began rehearsing at PS 43 junior high school and entered a
talent contest there. That brought them to the attention of Lover
Patterson, manager of the Five Crowns. Patterson added James “Pappa” Clark
and Gus Willingham to the group (Cub Gaining dropped out) and took them to
audition for Esther Navarro, a secretary at the Shaw Booking Agency with
tied to Jerry Blaine and Jubilee/Josie Records.
PS 43
Navarro didn’t like the name Carnations and decided to call the group the
Cadillacs, a name she had obtained the rights to from General Motors.
Navarro had previously wanted the name for a group she had worked briefly
with, Bobby Thomas & the Vibranaires. As she was no longer interested in
the Vibranaires, Navarro gave the name to the Carnations.
This 1972 issue of Bim
Bam Boom magazine featured the Cadillacs
as their cover story. See here with Earl Carroll (top left). Poppa
Clark
(top right), Lavern Drake (center), Bobby Phillips (bottom left),
and Johnny "Gus" Willingham (bottom right).
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Esther Navarro decided to record the group herself, taking them to Beltone
Studios on 31st Street between 6th and 7th
Avenues. The Cadillacs recorded four songs, including “Gloria,” “I Wonder
Why,” “Wishing Well” and “I Want To Know About Love”. Esther Navarro took
the masters to Jerry Blaine who released “Gloria” backed by “I Wonder Why”
as Josie 765.
The song “Gloria,” which due to the Cadillacs’ influence was to become a
standard among doo wop groups, has a long history. Originally written in
1945 by Leon Rene’, “Gloria” was recorded by several artists before being
done by the Mills Brothers in 1946. The Cadillacs had undoubtedly been
influenced by the Mills Brothers but by the time they recorded it, the
Cadillacs had modified the tempo and even the lyrics. As songs were passed
down from group to group on the street corner, changes inevitably occur.
One story is that the Cadillacs couldn’t quite recall all of the Mills
Brothers lyrics so they mad up a few of their own.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
About this time, Papa Clark and Gus Willingham left the group, being
replaced by Charles Brooks and Earl Wade. Wade had previously recorded with
the Crystals on the Luna label (“Come To Me Darling” and the Opals on
the Apollo label “That’s My Desire”).
To distinguish the Cadillacs from many the other vocal harmony groups,
Esther Navarro hired Cholly Adkins to teach them choreography. Adkins had
been a member of the tap dance team, Coles & Adkins during the 1930’s and
1940’s. He was one of the best there was.
After the release of the Cadillacs second record, “Wishing Well” b/w “I Want
To Know Why,” the Cadillacs looked to record again. From the second
recording session on, the band that backed the group in the studio was that
of Jesse Powell.
2nd Press of "Wishing
Well"
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
The Cadillacs selection of material was superb. The group was equally at
home with tight harmony R&B ballads as well catchy as up tempo tunes that
allowed the Cadillacs to show off their dance steps. The group’s next two
releases displayed both Cadillacs’ styles. “Symphathy” and “Window Lady”
are smooth ballads while “No Chance” and “Down The Road” really rock. The
competition was unbelievable for R&B vocal groups in NYC during the
mid-1950’s but the Cadillacs were among the best.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
Until
1955, the Cadillacs were still an R&B group, known mostly to black
audiences. “Speedo” changed all of that. It was the first Cadillacs record
to cross over from the R&B Charts to the Pop Charts and gain wide spread
attention among white teenagers.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
There are varying stories of how the song “Speedo” came about. Some say
that Earl Carroll’s nickname was Speedy and “Speedo” is a derivative of
that. At Cadillacs performance at a United In Group Harmony (UGHA) show.
Bobby Phillips relayed how the name and the song came about. Phillips said
the Cadillacs were performing at an armory in Boston (ca. 1954). The group
would sometimes tease Earl Carroll about the shape his head. Spotting an
artillery shell outside the armory, Phillips pointed to it and said, “Hey
Speedo, there’s your torpedo.” Earl Carroll replied angrily, “My name is
not Speedo, it’s Mr. Earl to you.” From there the group wrote the song
“Speedo” in the car on the way home. “They often call me Speedo but my real
name is Mr. Earl.”
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The Cadillacs’ career was aided greatly by Alan Freed who had the group star
on his next Academy of Music R&R Show.
Cadillacs photo from an
Alan Freed show booklet.
Speedo is at bottom left.
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
The Cadillacs follow-up to “Speedo” was “Zoom,” another great up tempo
song. The ballad flip, “You Are" has since become an R&B classic.
Incidentally, the second press of "Zoom" on the Josie labels uses a
different take!
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
Alternate take of "Zoom"
on the second press.
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
More classic ballads followed, including “Betty My Love” and “The Girl I
Love”.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The group ended 1956 with their interpretation of the Christmas standard,
"Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The Cadillacs
Earl Carroll, top
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
At this point a split developed in the Cadillacs. Earl Carroll, Charles
Brooks, Bobby Phillips and Earl Wade left Ester Navarro’s control and formed
the "Original Cadillacs". Ester Navarro formed a new Cadillacs group,
consisting of Jimmy (J.R.) Bailey, Bobby Spenser, Roland Martinez, Lavern
Drake and Bill Lindsay. Both groups had claim to the name “Cadillacs” and
Josie records didn’t know what to do, so they recorded both vocal groups.
Even at live performances, venues didn’t want to get involved in the legal
struggles, so in at least one week long booking in New Jersey, one Cadillacs
group performed for several days while the second Cadillacs group finished
out the gig.
The (J. R. Bailey) Cadillacs group recorded one record for Josie, “My
Girlfriend".
This JR Bailey Cadillacs group did not contain Earl Carroll.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The JR Bailey Cadillacs pictures on this LP
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
Meanwhile, the Earl Carroll Cadillacs group recorded “Hurry Home” as the
"Original Cadillacs" and “Buzz Buzz Buzz as “Earl Carroll & the Original
Cadillacs".
Earl Carroll was on the Original Cadillacs records.
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The J.R. Bailey Cadillacs also recorded “Ain’t You Gonna” as “Jesse Powell &
the Caddy’s”.
The Caddy's without Earl Carroll
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The two Cadillacs groups were causing confusion among dj’s and booking
agents so after meetings with Esther Navarro, the two Cadillacs groups
combined. A Cadillacs group consisting of Earl Carroll, Bobby Spenser,
Roland Martinez, J.R. Bailey and Lavern Drake recorded “Speedo Is Back”.
Earl "Speedo" Carroll back with the Cadillacs
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
Flyer from the Apollo Theatre
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
Earl Carroll left the Cadillacs after “Speedo Is Back” to join the Coasters
but this is not the end of the Cadillacs story. Spencer, Bailey and
Martinez continued on with a cast of other members, first with the
unsuccessful “I Want To Know” and then with “Peek-A-Boo”. “Peek-A-Boo” was
a big hit for the Cadillacs and from then on their sound shifted to more of
a Coasters sound.
The Cadillacs continued to record for Josie, including “Jay Walker,” “Please
Mr. Johnson,” “Always My Darling” and “Bad Dan McGoon,” all in a Coasters
vein.
Meanwhile, Josie pulled Cadillacs tracks from the can with Earl Carroll doing
the lead and released them, including “Tell Me Today” [released as “Speedo &
the Cadillacs”] and “I’ll Never Let You Go” [released as by “”The Original
Cadillacs”].
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
(From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives)
The Cadillacs (without Earl Carroll) continued to record for the Smash,
Capitol, Arctic, Mercury, Polydor and Lana labels.
Earl Carroll then had a long and successful career singing and recording
with the Coasters. His first recording with the Coasters appears to be “Bad
Blood,” recorded for Atco in late 1961.
In 1963, Earl led the Coasters in the recording, “Speedo’s Back In Town”.
Earl "Speedo" Carroll leading the Coasters
(From the Classic urban Harmony Archives)
Earl Carroll sang with the Coasters from 1961 until 1979. In the early
1980’s Earl Carroll and Bobby Phillips started up the Cadillacs again, to
play the oldies circuit. The third member of the group was Gary Lewis, a
Boston native who had previously sang with the Crests and Drifters. A
fourth Cadillac was Eddie Jones, a veteran of the doo wop and R&B music
scene (and member of the Demons) who became the Cadillacs' pianist and
arranger.
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
When Eddie Jones passed away, the Cadillacs continued as a trio until March
of 2011
when Bobby Phillips died.
Earl "Speedo" Carroll (left)
with Pam Horner & the Cadillacs
Earl Carroll's
musical career is covered in the John Michael Runowicz book Forever Doo Wop.
It's well worth reading.
Earl Carroll
passed away on November 25, 2012, in a New York city skilled nursing home
after a long illness. He was truly an irreplaceable giant in the group
harmony field and we'll all miss him.
Copyright © Classic Urban Harmony LLC, 2012. All
Rights Reserved.
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Cadillacs'
Earl "Speedo" Carroll Tribute