The 4 Dots
By Marv Goldberg
Based on interviews with Marvin Brown
and Fletcher Williams
© 2002, 2009 by Marv Goldberg
The 4 Dots are one of those groups whose history seems to be cut
and dried, until you start digging. Then you find out that things aren't
always as they seem (to coin a phrase).
The origins of the 4 Dots go back to the Hill District and Homewood
sections of Pittsburgh, where a group called the Mellows formed around
1950. The members, all of whom were 15 and 16, were: Fletcher
Williams (lead tenor), Edgar Lee (first tenor), Melvin Peters (second
tenor), and Kenneth Miller (baritone). They weren't together too long
before they realized that they needed a bass voice to round out the
group. When, later that year, they heard 13-year-old Marvin Brown
singing with a glee club called the Wonders at the Musicians' Club in
East Liberty, they immediately knew they'd found their bass.
Once Marvin had been brought in, the group changed its name to the
5 Mellows, and started practicing in earnest. They usually met about
four times a week, at Fletcher's house, and sang both standards (like
"Begin The Beguine" and "Ebb Tide") and current R&B
hits (especially ones by the 5 Keys, the Cardinals and the
Moonglows).
Once they had practiced for a while, they started meeting DJs and
being invited to do record hops, such as the White Elephant in
McKeesport (with Porky Chedwick, who, in 1998, celebrated his 50th year
on the radio). There was also the Diamond Skating Rink on Market Street
in Pittsburgh (where they were backed by Walt Harper's jazz band).
Strangely, they never did any amateur shows.
The 5 Mellows had a manager named Cutty Alberts, who owned the
Bonange Club, on Route 51 in Southern Pittsburgh; they of course
appeared there several times. They also played the Blue Ridge and the
Cobe Hotel. At some point Edgar Lee left and was replaced, for a while,
by Edward Johnson. When Johnson subsequently left, his place was taken
by Chuck Jackson for about 6 months. (This is the same Chuck Jackson who would go on to sing with
the Del Vikings and then have a very successful solo career in the
1960s.) When Jackson left, around 1955, they decided to just leave it at
four singers and changed the name back to "The Mellows."
About this time, they hooked up with booking agent Don DeCarlo, who
suggested that they change their name again: this time to the 4 Dots.
His reasoning was hard to dispute: if you continue to play record hops,
you'll always be making small change; the real money was in playing
supper clubs and niteclubs. They liked to sing standards anyway, so if
they had a name that kind of reminded people of the "Ink
Spots," he could get them better bookings. So the 4 Dots they
became.
It turned out that Porky Chedwick knew an Englishman named Woody
Hinderling, who just happened to own a record company (Bullseye Records
at 220 West 42nd Street in New York). Porky induced Woody to set up a
recording session.
Their sole Bullseye session probably took place
in February 1956. Woody told them to come up to New York for a recording
date he'd arranged. So, one Saturday, Fletcher, Melvin, Kenneth, and
Marvin drove from Pittsburgh to Manhattan. They found Manhattan with no
trouble; Woody was a little harder to find. They ended up spending a
cold Saturday night in their car, under a bridge, eating baloney
sandwiches!
The next day, they managed to contact Woody, who put them up at the
Hotel Theresa, probably the nicest hotel in Harlem. He came around to
see them with Dorian Burton, who had written a song called
"Rita." (He had also written "A Tear Fell" for Ivory
Joe Hunter.) Burton sang the song for them, as well as three others that
Woody had brought along. One was "He Man Looking For A She
Girl," written by Norman Gimbel (who was the writer of
"Canadian Sunset," "The Girl From Ipanema,"
"Killing Me Softly With His Song," "A Man Ain't Supposed
To Cry," and "Sway") and Clyde Otis (who wrote
"Baby, You've Got What It Takes," "Boll Weevil
Song," "It's Just A Matter Of Time," "Looking
Back," and "The Stroll"). Another was "Peace Of
Mind," by Jimmy Breedlove (a member of the Cues) and J. White. The
fourth was "Kiss Me Sugar Plum," by Clyde Otis and Kelly Owens
(writer of "That's All There Is To That," "I I I,"
"I Know, I Know," "Little By Little," and "Soda
Pop"). Woody knew where to find songwriting talent!
[Just as an aside, Dorian Burton was part of Carl Feaster's group that
recorded as "Lionel Thorpe" in 1959.]
(How, you ask, could the 4 Dots have shown up for a recording
session with no material? Marvin says, "We didn't have a whole lot
of original songs. We sang mostly standards.")
After Dorian Burton sang the songs, Woody asked if the 4 Dots could
learn them overnight. They said yes and spent the evening doing the
arrangements. The next day, Monday, they went to Bell Studios and
recorded all four (with Fletcher in the lead and Jimmy Wright on sax) in
a session that took all day.
The first record ("Rita" and "He Man Looking For A
She Girl") was released in March 1956. Back in Pittsburgh, the 4
Dots heard their song on WHOD (played by Porky Chedwick and Bill Powell)
and on WCAE (spun by Jay Michael). The song wasn't reviewed, but its
competition was the Robins' "Cherry Lips," the Sheppards'
"Mozelle," the El Capris' "Oh But She Did,"
the 5 Swans' "Lil Tipa-Tina," Fats Domino's
"I'm In Love Again," Joe Turner's "Corrine,
Corrina," the Moonglows' "We Go Together," the 5 Dollars'
"So Strange," the Cadets' "Heartbreak Hotel," the
Cadillacs' "You Are," and the Fi-Tones' "I Call To
You."
Even though they now had a record out, they still played hops and
clubs (although they mixed in standards at the clubs). They
did manage to get on a tour through Tennessee and Kentucky, with Stanley
and Tommy Turentine, Dolores Ware, and Tiny Irwin.
When the record failed to take off nationally, Bullseye released
the 4 Dots' second record ("Peace Of Mind," backed with
"Kiss Me Sugar Plum") in June 1956. It was reviewed,
favorably, the week of July 21, along with the Gassers' "Hum De
Dum," the Tempters' "I'm Sorry Now," Bill Doggett's
"Honky Tonk," the Cues' "Crackerjack," the El
Dorados' "Chop Ling Soon," the Spaniels' "Since I Fell
For You," the Hurricanes' "Dear Mother," and the Dusters'
"Sallie Mae."
Once again the record was played locally, but with no national
success Bullseye never again asked the 4 Dots to record. (Bullseye would
end up merging with Candlelite in April 1957).
Sometime in 1957, Kenneth Miller left, to be replaced by Manning
Rosemond. Then, with nothing much happening, the recently-married
Fletcher Williams also departed. He tried for a solo career, releasing
"Mary Lou" and "Stop, Look And Love Me" on Bullseye
in September (backed by a studio group). The record got mediocre reviews the week of September 23;
other records reviewed that week were: the Del Vikings' "Come Along
With Me," the Rays' "Silhouettes," Thurston Harris'
"Little Bitty Pretty One," the Deltairs' "Lullaby Of The
Bells," the Six Teens' "My Surprise," Donnie Elbert's
"Have I Sinned?," and the Viscounts "Smoochie
Poochie."
Fletcher's place was taken by Kenny Jackson. And then it gets
interesting.
In September 1958, Liberty Records announced the formation of a new
subsidiary label, Freedom (it almost had to be called that). Its
a&r man was Jerry Capehart, who also managed Eddie Cochran. One of the
first acts that Freedom signed was the 4 Dots. However, it wasn't
our 4 Dots, but a California group led by Albert
"Jerry" Stone and Jewel Akens (there's also a tie-in to the
Fascinators on King and Dooto). That group recorded, among other songs,
"Pleading For Your Love," which was released in December 1958.
Stick with me here, folks, there's relevance to all of this.
The point is that our 4 Dots were
also signed by Freedom. However, you can probably see what's
coming. Freedom couldn't have two groups with the same name, so Kenny,
Melvin, Manning, and Marvin became the 4 Troys (although the derivation
of the name has been long forgotten). As the 4 Troys, they recorded at
least three songs for Freedom: "In The Moonlight" (written by
Marvin Brown and led by Melvin Peters), "Suddenly You Want To
Dance" (led by Kenny Jackson), and "Weeping Willow" (also
led by Kenny). The first two songs were released in April 1959, but
achieved no better success than the group's prior efforts.
After that, the group slowly fell apart. Today,
however, the 4 Dots have re-formed, with original members Fletcher Williams and
Marvin Brown. The group is rounded out by first tenor Aubry Kirkland and
baritone Nate Benson (cousin of George Benson). While they sound great
singing their own songs, the most remarkable thing is that they
also sing "Pleading For Your Love," the song done by
the Freedom 4 Dots, which is always requested by fans who think that the
Bullseye group made it in the first place!
Sadly, Fletcher Williams passed away on September 24, 2005.
Special thanks to Chuck Sutton.
BULLSEYE
103 Rita (FW)/He Man Looking For A She Girl (FW) - 3/56 (as 4 Dots)
104 Peace Of Mind (FW)/Kiss Me Sugar Plum (FW) - 6/56 (as Fletcher Williams & 4 Dots)
FREEDOM (as 4 Troys. NOTE: they were NOT the 4 Dots on Freedom)
44013 In The Moonlight (MP)/Suddenly You Want To Dance (KJ) - 4/59
UNRELEASED FREEDOM: Weeping Willow (KJ)
LEADS: FW = Fletcher Williams; MP = Melvin Peters; KJ = Kenny Jackson
BULLSEYE (Fletcher Williams solos)
1001 Mary Lou/Stop Look And Love Me - 9/57