- Ames Brothers
Infobox musical artist
Name = The Ames Brothers
Background = group_or_band
Origin =Malden, Massachusetts ,United States
Genre = Traditional Pop
Years_active = 1948-1961
Label = Decca, Coral, RCA Victor
URL =
Past_members = Joe Ames, Gene Ames, Vic Ames, and Ed Ames (all originally Urick)The Ames Brothers were a
singing quartet from Malden,Massachusetts , who were particularly famous in the 1950s for theirtraditional pop music hits.The Ames Brothers got their beginning in Malden, where all four were born. The act consisted of Joe (3 May 1921 – 22 December 2007), Gene (born 13 February 1923 – 4 April 1997), Vic (20 May 1925 – 23 January 1978) and Ed (born 9 July 1927).
Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were brought up on classical and
opera ticmusic . Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were RussianJew ish immigrants from theUkraine who read Shakespeare and semi-classics to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen.The brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring
United States Army and Navy bases entertaining thetroops and were offered a job at the Foxs and Houndsnightclub , one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. This one week engagement turned into several months when the word got around of their appearance. At the time, they were going by the name of the Amory Brothers, a name taken from Vic's middle name and they were becoming quite popular in the area. It was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. He said they were just having too much fun together for him to miss out.Fact|date=March 2007 Taking their act to New York they got a job withbandleader Art Mooney . One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler ofDecca Records heard them singing it and had them cut a few sides for Decca Records just before the ban which started in January, 1948.A year later when the ban was lifted, the Ames Brothers were the first artists to record for
Coral Records . The name Amory was shortened to Ames. They were swept into national top billing with their first hit record, "Rag Mop," in January, 1950. Doingradio shows for free at times just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as The Arthur Godfrey Hour. One of the first acts to appear on the originalEd Sullivan Show when it was known asToast of the Town , they made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from Wanamaker's Department Store.Soon, they were the top paid group in nightclubs and supperclubs everywhere and their popularity on
television was nationwide. In 1956 they starred in their own show, The Ames Brothers Show, which was seen on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated television show to be shown in foreign countries.Over their fifteen year career, their prolific work notched up 50 U.S. chart entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with
RCA Victor . The group disbanded in the 1960s butEd Ames went on with a successful singing and acting career, including playingDaniel Boone 's sidekick, Mingo, on the successful "Daniel Boone" television series (1964-1970).They were inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.Hit records
*"
Can Anyone Explain? " (1950)
*"Forever Darling" (1956)
*"Hawaiian War Chant " (1951)
*"It Only Hurts for a Little While " (1956)
*"I Wanna Love You " (1952)
*"The Man with the Banjo " (1954)
*"Melodie D'Amour " (1957)
*"My Bonnie Lassie " (1955)
*"The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane " (also a hit forArchie Bleyer ) (1954)
*"Pussy Cat " (1958)
*"Rag Mop " (1950)
*"Red River Rose" (1959)
*"Sentimental Me " (1950)
*"String Along" (1952)
*"Tammy " (a bigger hit forDebbie Reynolds ) (1957)
*"Undecided " (with the Les Brown Orchestra) (1951)
*"A Very Precious Love " (1958)
*"Wang Wang Blues" (1951)
*"You, You, You " (1953)
*"You, You, You Are the One" (1949)Albums
*"
Smoochin' Time with Sid Ramin's Orchestra " (1958)External links
* [http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/ames_brothers.htm Vocal Group Hall of Fame page on The Ames Brothers]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.