- The Velvets
The Velvets were an American
doo wop group from Odessa in Ector County in westTexas . TheAfrican American quintet was formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, ahigh school Englishteacher , with four of his students. [ [http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hiftxqr5ldde~T1 Biography] , Allmusic.com]Roy Orbison heard the group and signed them toMonument Records in 1960. [Nite, Norm N. "Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock n' Roll (The Solid Gold Years)". Thomas Y. Crowell (1974), p. 630.] Their first release was a tune called "That Lucky Old Sun". Their biggesthit single was "Tonight (Could Be the Night) ", which hit No. 26 on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. [http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hiftxqr5ldde~T5 Billboard Singles] , Allmusic.com] The follow-up, "Laugh", peaked at number 90, and after a half-dozen further singles the group disbanded.Their complete recorded output runs to just thirty
song s, which were collected on onecompact disc and released onAce Records in 1996. [ [http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:gjfrxq8jldfe The Complete Velvets] . Allmusic.com]Johnson sometimes appears in
nostalgia concerts.Members
*Virgil Johnson
*Will Solomon
*Mark Prince
*Clarence Rigby (died in an auto accident, 1978)
*Bob ThursbyReferences
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