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He was a singer-songwriter born in New York often
known as "Buddy". In the early
1950s he was the second tenor for the group originally called The Keynotes that
would have their line-up changed and become The Chords. 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. He left the
band in 1956 and moved to Detroit to sing with the group The Hummers. He was also a member of the studio
backing singers The Side Steppers, The Cognacs and The Twisters. He returned to New York by
1960 and the original Chords line-up got back together under the name The
Sh-Booms and recorded three tracks that were released as singles. After that they took the decision
to disband he still sang, but also ran a bar/club which he had opened in
New York. Jimmy Keyes kept
various incarnations of The Chords going through the years and in 1979 he would
appear with them 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. 48
years after "Sh-Boom" had been first recorded he decided to put together a
new version of The Chords in their memory, with other veterans of the
business and him being the only surviving original member.
Big Wheelie & The Hubcaps recordings
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) (James
Keyes/Carl Feaster/Claude Feaster/Floyd F. McRae/James Edwards)
Sources:
- http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/Chords/chords.html
- http://cdbaby.com/cd/mellows/from/evor
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