The Solitaires

After a series of personnel changes, the group had six members: Herman Curtis, also known as Herman Dunham (lead singer/first tenor), Buzzy Willis (second tenor), Pat Gaston (bass), Monteith "Monte" Owens (tenor/guitar), Bobby Baylor (second tenor/baritone) and Bobby "Schubie" Williams (tenor/piano). Curtis had previously performed with the Vocaleers, Gaston with the Four Bells, Willis with the Crows, and Owens, Baylor and Williams with the Mello-Moods.[2]

Willis happened to work for Hal Jackson, a famous disc jockey and radio personality at WLIB. With Jackson's help, the Solitaires landed an audition with record producer Hy Weiss in the fall of 1953. Weiss used to hold auditions in a local movie theater after it had closed for the night.[1] Weiss was impressed with the young men's vocals. Just teenagers at the time, the Solitaires wrote most of their own material and had their own style of harmony, which helped distinguish them from the other street-corner singers.[2] The group was signed to the Old Town record label, from which they issued a series of singles that included "Wonder Why", "Blue Valentine", and a cover version of the jazz standard, "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You". It was during this period that the group's best known publicity photo was taken, showing Curtis, Gaston, Baylor, Williams and Willis in white jackets procured for them by their manager at the time, Maurice Hines (father of the noted actor and dancer Gregory Hines).[1]

When Curtis left the group to join the air force in 1955,[2] he was replaced by Milton Love (formerly of the Concords). It was with Love that the Solitaires enjoyed their greatest success.[3] Love had taken voice lessons as a child, and had released a single with the Concords while still in high school, writing the lyrics and singing the lead on both sides.[4] With the Concords he had also sung backup on a single with Pearl Reaves ("You Can't Stay Here"/"I'm Not Ashamed") which had done well locally.[5] The Solitaires had a string of local hits throughout the latter part of the 1950s that included "The Wedding" (1955), "The Angels Sang" (1956), and their biggest hit, "Walking Along" (1957). Bass singer Freddy Barksdale joined the group in 1956 when Pat Gaston also joined the air force. Curtis rejoined the group when time permitted and sang lead on a few more songs, including "Please Kiss This Letter" and "Thrill of Love".[1]

Meanwhile the group performed regularly to sold-out crowds in venues along the East Coast and in Canada, including the Apollo Theater in Harlem, the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., and shows hosted by Alan Freed, Hal Jackson, and Dr. Jive.[1] In 1955 they performed at the Second Annual Festival of Negro Music at the Savoy Ballroom. Their songs received regular airplay and developed a loyal fan base among R&B lovers. When they performed their hit song "The Wedding" and its sequel, "The Honeymoon", Love would wear a mop on his head to play the part of the bride.[2]

In 1959 the Solitaires were booked to play at the Paramount along with Frankie Avalon, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper. They never got to meet Holly or the Big Bopper, as both were killed in a plane crash that February.[2]

The group disbanded temporarily in 1961 when Milton Love joined the army for two years. Although they were popular in New York and several of their singles had been regional hits, they had not had a national chart hit. This was likely due to poor distribution by Old Town.[1] Their signature song, "Walking Along", was a local chart hit in the New York area in 1957. When a white group, the Diamonds, covered it in 1958, it reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] The Solitaires then made some additional sales by re-releasing their version with Argo Records. A last Old Town single, recorded a few years earlier, was released in 1963.[1]

The group released three more singles under other labels in 1964. Calling themselves the Cadillacs, the group backed up Ray Brewster in "Fool", released by Arctic. They recorded another single as the Chances, "Through a Long and Sleepless Night", released by Roulette. Their last single as the Solitaires was "Fool That I Am", released by MGM.[2]

Various Solitaires lineups have toured since 1961. For several years the group was made up of Milton Love, Freddy Barksdale, George Magnezid and Robbie Mansfield.[4] (Both Magnezid and Mansfield formerly sang with the Wrens.)[4] The group performed at United in Group Harmony Association concerts and other venues in the 1990s.[4] In 2012 their lineup consisted of Milton Love, Alvin Grant, Don Cruz, and Ray Goodwin.[7] As recently as Labor Day 2014 the group was performing in the New Jersey area.[8]

The current and former members have pursued a variety of careers in and out of the music industry. Milton Love became a medical technician. Notably, Pat Gaston, formerly a high school dropout, eventually earned a doctorate in clinical psychology.[2]

Bobby Williams died in 1961.[1] Monte Owens died on March 3, 2011 in the Bronx, New York, after illness, at the age of 74.[9]

In 1984, the Murray Hill Company released a boxed set of Solitaires recordings which included several previously unreleased songs. Due to a mixup at Old Town, it also included a song not performed by the Solitaires: "Darling, Listen to the Words of This Song" was actually performed by another Old Town group called the Supremes (not to be confused with the Motown Supremes). Another unreleased song, "Silent Grief", written and sung by Milton Love, was unearthed by a collector and released in the 1990s.[10]