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He was a singer-songwriter born in New York as the
brother of the singer Claude Feaster. In the early 1950s he was a first tenor for the group
The Tunetoppers and after being recommended by Jimmy Keyes to help make up
a new group originally called The Keynotes, he would soon appear with his
brother in the band that changed its name to The Chords, often as its lead
singer. Although they never
were well known and had no other huge hits, they went down in history as
being as the first artists with an R&B song to enter the pop charts in
the 1950s when they reached No. 5 on the pop chart with their timeless
"Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)" in 1954. After the group going through name changes to the
Chordcats and the Sh-Booms they eventually disbanded in 1960 when he had
already recorded several songs under the pseudonym Lionel Thorpe, which he
would never explain the reason for.
The 50's singer Varetta Dillard openly admitted that he was her
influence and encouraged her to appear in talent shows, which led to her
releasing several successful singles.
He would continue to sing for the rest of his working life including
in various re-incarnations of The Chords that were kept together by Jimmy
Keyes. With them he would
appear in performances at United in Group Harmony concerts and he was
inducted into the United in Group Harmony Hall of Fame as a member of The
Chords in 1996. Sadly he died
of cancer in 1981when he was 51 and such was the respect by artists and
radio personalities of the '50s that remember his work, that they got
together at his funeral in Harlem, New York, and ended his funeral service
with a memorable and touching version of "Sh-Boom".
Big Wheelie & The Hubcaps recordings
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) (James
Keyes/Carl Feaster/Claude Feaster/Floyd F. McRae/James Edwards)
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