Prentice Moreland

Prentice Moreland was an R&B and doo wop singer of the 1950s and early 1960s. He was born on March 4, 1925 in East St. Louis, Illinois, and died in September 1988 (dates are from the U. S. Social Security Death Index).

Biography

Moreland was a member of many vocal groups including The Ink Spots, The Dominoes, The Du Droppers, The Chanteclairs, The Cadets, The Crescendos, The Colts, The Fortunes, The Hollywood Flames, and possibly The Sevilles (the group that had a hit with "Charlena" in 1961). Moreland replaced Ted Taylor (who had left for a solo career) on The Cadets' "Stranded In The Jungle" session and was the one who came up with the "Great Googla Mooga, Let Me Outta Here" line in the song. At the same session, he recorded a solo version of "Memories Of You," a song that had been done by The Ink Spots in 1939; it was released on RPM Records in 1957. He recorded along with Jackie Wilson, Milton Merle, and Cliff Givens in The Dominoes in 1955, later returning to the group a few more times. With the Crescendos, he recorded "Finders Keepers" and "Sweet Dreams" for Atlantic Records in 1956, alongside Bobby Relf of The Laurels, Young Jessie of The Flairs, and Bobby Byrd of The Hollywood Flames. He was asked by Buck Ram to join The Platters but Moreland refused because he had to take care of his seven kids.

Around the same time that Moreland recorded with The Chanteclairs on Dot Records in 1954 (as "Prentice Moore"), there was a Dot recording called "You Gave Me Heartaches" by Prentice Miller. It is possible that "Prentice Miller" is actually Prentice Moreland. Moreland's name is listed as "Prince Moreland" for the recordings he did for Johnny Otis' Dig Records in 1956. In the 60s, Moreland was a member of several Ink Spots groups, including those fronted by Cliff Givens, George Holmes, and Orville Brooks. He was never a member of the Decca Ink Spots.

Moreland died in 1988, the same year that Ted Taylor (who Moreland had replaced in The Cadets) had died in a car crash.

Discography

olo singles and recordings

* Memories Of You (Modern) (unreleased) (9/1956) (backup by The Cadets) (contains original chorus, different from the RPM #487 release in 1957)
* Believe Me Beloved/I’ve Never Been There (RPM #475) (10/1956) (as Prentice Mooreland)
* I Almost Lost My Mind (Dig) (unreleased) (1956) (as Prince Moreland)
* I Need You So (Dig) (unreleased) (1956) (as Prince Moreland)
* My Mother’s Eyes (Dig) (unreleased) (1956)
* Marie My Love/Memories Of You (RPM #487) (2/1957) ("Memories Of You" is overdubbed over original chorus)
* Please, Please, Please/Oh Pretty Baby (Edsel #778) (1959)
* Chinese Junk/Looking For Your Heart (Donna #1320) (1959)
* Wagon Wheels (Del-Fi) (1960) (unreleased)
* Holy Mackrel/Teacher Drives Me Crazy (Challenge #9134) (2/10/1962)
* Chubby Ain’t Chubby No More/You Are My Sunshine (Challenge #9154) (1962)
* Lover Supreme/For Your Love (Challenge #9176) (1962)
* Limbo Party/Come On Pretty Baby (Challenge #9181) (1963)

Group singles and recordings

* I've Never Been There (Groove) (3/18/1954) (unreleased) (The Du Droppers)
* You've Been Good To Everybody (Groove) (3/18/1954) (unreleased) (The Du Droppers)
* Just Whisper/How Much Longer (Groove #0013) (4/1954) (The Du Droppers) (sings lead on "How Much Longer")
* Baby Please/Someday Love Will Come My Way (Dot #1227) (1954) (The Chanteclairs) (may have been recorded without Moreland)
* Believe Me, Beloved/I’ve Never Been There (Dot #15404) (1955) (The Chanteclairs)
* Can't Do Sixty No More/If I Never Get To Heaven (Federal #12209) (2/1955) (The Dominoes) (Moreland sings lead on "If I Never Get To Heaven")
* Give Me You/Over The Rainbow (King #1502) (8/55) (The Dominoes) (Moreland appears on "Give Me You")
* Bobby Sox Baby/How Long, How Long Blues (Federal #12263) (4/1956) (The Dominoes) (Moreland appears on "Bobby Sox Baby")
* Stranded In The Jungle/I Want You (Modern #994) (1956) (The Cadets) (Moreland appears on "Stranded In The Jungle")
* Finders Keepers/Sweet Dreams (Atlantic #1109) (9/1956) (The Crescendos) (Moreland sang first tenor)
* Never No More/The Shiek Of Araby (Antler #4003) (1957) (The Colts)
* Guiding Angel/The Shiek Of Araby (Antler #4007) (1957) (The Colts)
* Tarnished Angel/Who Cares (Decca #30541) (1958) (The Fortunes)
* How Clever Of You/Trees (Decca #30688) (1958) (The Fortunes)
* Alone In A Crowd (Liberty) (unreleased) (about 1958) (The Dominoes) (Moreland sang lead)
* I’m Always Chasing Rainbows (Liberty) (unreleased) (about 1958) (The Dominoes) (Moreland sang lead)
* I’ll Be Seeing You/Sweet Dreams (Atlantic #2014) (2/1959) (The Crescendos)
* Louella/Salt Mine (JC #118) (1961) (The Sevilles) (probably included Prentice Moreland)

Various artists compilations

* Del-Fi Doo Wop Volume 3: Honey For Sale (Del-Fi #71258) (1998)
* Johnny Otis Orchestra: Rock 'N' Roll Hit Parade (Ace #774) (2000)
* Group Harmony & Jump: The Legendary Dig Masters Volume 5 (Ace #759) (2000)
* Dot Doo Wop Volume 6 (Dot #1016)
* Dot Doo Wop Volume 7 (Dot #1017)

Book references

* L. A. R&B Vocal Groups 1945-1965 (by Steve Propes and Galen Gart) (Big Nickel Publications) (2001)

External links

* [http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/songs/Stranded_In_The_Jungle.html Stranded In The Jungle]
* [http://home.att.net/~marvy42/Dominoes/dom01.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Dominoes]
* [http://home.att.net/~marvy42/Dudroppers/dudrop.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Du Droppers]
* [http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/JacksCadets/jackscadets.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Jacks/The Cadets]
* [http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/HollywoodFlames/hollywoodflames.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Hollywood Flames]