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The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts. The song peaked at #8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart,〔 but had a three-week run at #1 on the R&B chart. ==Early career== The original members of The Penguins were Cleveland Duncan (July 23, 1935 – November 7, 2012), Curtis Williams (December 11, 1934 – August 10, 1979), Dexter Tisby (March 10, 1935) and Bruce Tate (January 27, 1937 – June 20, 1973).〔 Duncan and Williams were former classmates at Fremont High School in Los Angeles, California, and Williams had become a member of The Hollywood Flames. In late 1953, they decided to form a new vocal group, and added Tisby and Tate. Their midtempo performance style was a cross between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Williams brought with him a song, "Earth Angel", on which he had worked with Gaynel Hodge, another member of the Hollywood Flames.〔() 〕 The Penguins were one of a number of doo-wop groups of the period named after birds (such as The Orioles, The Flamingos, and The Crows). One of the members smoked Kool cigarettes, which, at the time, had "Willie the Penguin" as its cartoon advertising character. They considered themselves "cool", and accordingly decided to call themselves "The Penguins".〔 Dootone Records released The Penguins' single "Hey Senorita" in late 1954 as the intended A-side, but a radio DJ flipped the record over to the B-side: "Earth Angel" worked its way up to #1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart (the only Penguins song to chart that high), and held that place for three weeks early in 1955. By 1966 the disc had sold four million copies. The Penguins followed up this hit with a Christmas release "A Christmas prayer" with "Jingle jangle."〔The Mercury Labels: The 1945-1956 era Michel Ruppli, Ed Novitsky - 1993 - Page 538 "THE PENGUINS: Cleveland Duncan , Dexter Tisby(tenor vo)Bruce Tate (baritone vo)Curtis Wil 1 iams (bass vo) with ts,p & rhythm. Mercury Sound Studio , NYC .November 12, 1955 12409 12410 A Christmas prayer Jingle jangle Merc.70762 ..."〕 Duncan sang lead on "Earth Angel". He reprised his performance a decade later on Frank Zappa's "Memories of El Monte", an elegiac 1963 song in which he suddenly breaks into "Earth Angel" as one of the various songs remembered.〔() 〕 El Monte, a city near Los Angeles, had spawned such popular performers as Tony Allan, Marvin & Johnny, The Shields, as well as the Penguins. Those groups were also emulated as part of Zappa's tribute to early days of rock and roll. In a common practice of the time, radio stations frequently featured segregated playlists. Thus, "Earth Angel" was simultaneously recorded by the white group, The Crew-Cuts in 1955. The Crew-Cuts cover peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 chart, five spots higher than the Penguins version. The single's success contributed to the Crew-Cuts' own successful career of recording crossover-friendly covers of R&B hits. The songwriting genesis for "Earth Angel" was a matter of some dispute, eventually ending up in a split credit between Penguins baritone Curtis Williams, Gaynel Hodge, and Jesse Belvin. The song had evolved through several Los Angeles area groups, and was based on the "Blue Moon" chord changes that were so popular with many doo-wop groups. The song was influenced by Jesse and Marvin's #2 R&B hit "Dream Girl", which contained many of the same vocal inflections used to great effect in "Earth Angel". The "Will you be mine?" hook in "Earth Angel", which was also the song's subtitle, was borrowed from the #9 R&B hit of the same name by The Swallows. The Hollywood Flames had also recorded "I Know" in 1953, a song which has been called a chord-for-chord blueprint for "Earth Angel", and which featured the same Curtis Williams piano intro that Williams himself reused on the Penguins hit. The coda of "Earth Angel", with the repeatedly harmonized word "You-oo... you-oo... you-oo... you-oo", had previously been heard in the Dominoes' #5 R&B cover of "These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Penguins」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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