The Velvets | |
---|---|
Origin | Odessa, Texas, United States |
Genres | Doo-wop |
Years active | 1959 | –1962
Labels | Monument |
Past members |
|
The Velvets were an American doo-wop group from Odessa, Texas, United States. They were formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high-school English teacher, with four of his students. [1] Roy Orbison heard the group and signed them to Monument Records in 1960. [2] Their first release was a tune called " That Lucky Old Sun". Their biggest hit single was "Tonight (Could Be the Night)", which hit #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. [1] The follow-up, "Laugh", peaked at #90, [1] and after a half-dozen further singles the group disbanded.
Virgil Johnson, a former deejay at Radio KDAV in Lubbock, Texas, was the lead tenor singer, with backup from Mark Prince ( bass), Clarence Rigsby (tenor), Robert Thursby (first tenor), and William Solomon ( baritone). The four were originally Johnson's eighth-grade pupils in an English class which he instructed in Odessa in the 1959-1960 school year.
"That Lucky Old Sun" (#46) and "Tonight (Could Be the Night)" (#50) made brief appearances in the UK Singles Chart in 1961. [3]
Their complete recorded output runs to 30 songs, which were collected on one compact disc and released by Ace Records in 1996. [4]
Johnson was later a school principal [5] before his death in February 2013. [6] Clarence Rigsby was killed in an automobile accident in 1978. [7]
Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Record Label | B-side |
---|---|---|---|---|
US Pop | ||||
1961 | " That Lucky Old Sun" | — | Monument | "Time and Again" |
"Tonight (Could Be the Night)" | 26 | "Spring Fever" | ||
"Laugh" | 90 | "Lana" | ||
1962 | "The Love Express" | — | "Don't Let Him Take My Baby" | |
" Let the Good Times Roll" | 102 | "The Lights Go On, the Lights Go Off" | ||
1963 | " Crying in the Chapel" | — | "Dawn" | |
1964 | "Nightmare" | — | "Here Comes That Song Again" | |
" If" | — | "Let the Fool Kiss You (But Don't Let the Kiss Fool You)" | ||
1966 | "Baby the Magic Is Gone" | — |
The Velvets | |
---|---|
Origin | Odessa, Texas, United States |
Genres | Doo-wop |
Years active | 1959 | –1962
Labels | Monument |
Past members |
|
The Velvets were an American doo-wop group from Odessa, Texas, United States. They were formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high-school English teacher, with four of his students. [1] Roy Orbison heard the group and signed them to Monument Records in 1960. [2] Their first release was a tune called " That Lucky Old Sun". Their biggest hit single was "Tonight (Could Be the Night)", which hit #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. [1] The follow-up, "Laugh", peaked at #90, [1] and after a half-dozen further singles the group disbanded.
Virgil Johnson, a former deejay at Radio KDAV in Lubbock, Texas, was the lead tenor singer, with backup from Mark Prince ( bass), Clarence Rigsby (tenor), Robert Thursby (first tenor), and William Solomon ( baritone). The four were originally Johnson's eighth-grade pupils in an English class which he instructed in Odessa in the 1959-1960 school year.
"That Lucky Old Sun" (#46) and "Tonight (Could Be the Night)" (#50) made brief appearances in the UK Singles Chart in 1961. [3]
Their complete recorded output runs to 30 songs, which were collected on one compact disc and released by Ace Records in 1996. [4]
Johnson was later a school principal [5] before his death in February 2013. [6] Clarence Rigsby was killed in an automobile accident in 1978. [7]
Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Record Label | B-side |
---|---|---|---|---|
US Pop | ||||
1961 | " That Lucky Old Sun" | — | Monument | "Time and Again" |
"Tonight (Could Be the Night)" | 26 | "Spring Fever" | ||
"Laugh" | 90 | "Lana" | ||
1962 | "The Love Express" | — | "Don't Let Him Take My Baby" | |
" Let the Good Times Roll" | 102 | "The Lights Go On, the Lights Go Off" | ||
1963 | " Crying in the Chapel" | — | "Dawn" | |
1964 | "Nightmare" | — | "Here Comes That Song Again" | |
" If" | — | "Let the Fool Kiss You (But Don't Let the Kiss Fool You)" | ||
1966 | "Baby the Magic Is Gone" | — |