He was a singer-songwriter born in New York and 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 went 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 1950’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.
He died of cancer in 1981 when he was 51 years old and such was the respect by artists and radio personalities of the 1950s that remember his work, 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)
He sings lead here with The Chords…
Sources:
- http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/Chords/chords.html
- http://www.musicweb.uk.net/encyclopaedia/c/C127.HTM
- http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/Crows_Chords.html
- http://www.oldies.com/artist-view/Varetta-Dillard.html
- http://www.prism.net/doc-rock/1980.html