u/Dr_whotfisyou

Hey guys, like the title says, I’m Brandon and I’m a 21 yr old Bass Singer. I’ve been singing since my voice first deepened around 15. That was around the time I got back in to old (late 40s to early 70s) Doo Wop, R&B, and Soul. Now, I love other genres too (Hair Metal, Jazz, Rock and many of its sub genres, etc) and I’m more than “just a Bass”, I can make it to 2nd Tenor on a good day and on a great day, falsetto. However this stuff really shakes me and my now late, but ever great, Pop Pop introduced me to it at a young age. To honor him and do what I love at the same time, I’m looking to make Bass-led stuff mainstream again.

My biggest inspirations (Bass Wise at least and heavy on the first two) are: Melvin Franklin (Temptations), Bill Brown (Dominoes and Checkers), Jimmy Ricks (Ravens), “Boots” Bowers (King Odom Quartet, Larks, and Ravens), and “Dub” Jones (Jacks/Cadets and Coasters) in that order.

This is the fourth entry in a series about obscure vocal group members who seem to have just disappear over the years. Last year the more complete, longer version of this was posted but not received well. Didn’t know how to flair this but unexplained death sounds about right. Shoutout to some dear friends of mine who share the same interest: u/mcm0313, u/grayzee227, and u/DurianObjective2133.

Check out the first three entries all written by Matt (u/mcm0313)

The Jarmels (https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/s/RgHYeLWPiB)

Ted Bluechel Jr. (https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/s/ESezMvk8M8)

Joe “Ditto” Dias (https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/s/gzd3vMpwdn)

That being said on with the show…

The early 50s gave rise to quite a few genres but above all there was Rock n Roll which only grew as the decade went on. There’s often a debate about what was the FIRST Rock N Roll record. Popular contenders are Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston, Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, Good Rockin Tonight by Wynonie Harris, and Sixty Minute Man by The Dominoes. It’s that last song that’s important to our mystery.

The Sixty Minute Man himself is Bill Brown. A natural Baritone, he sang bass for the Dominoes and Checkers. He was a secondary lead in the Dominoes (despite bagging them their biggest hit) but was out front in the Checkers. He is believed to have been born in the early to mid 1920s in South Carolina, his first name may have been “William” and while previously believed to have died sometime in 1950s, recent evidence shows he survived until at least 1970.

Luckily there’s quite a few photos of the guy and a decent sized discography. However, census records, birth/death records, draft cards provide no insight on WHO exactly the Sixty Minute Man was. It is not even known he was married or had children. Due to his common name and the lack of solid details online, he’s never been positively pinned to a documented individual.

Bill’s first group was the “5 International Gospel Singers of South Carolina”. The only known of the group features another original Domino, Baritone Joe Lamont (1920-1991) and another original Checker, Baritone James “Buddy” Brewer (1923-2000), along with two unidentified men who were presumably the group’s tenor and lead singer.

Joe Lamont, a Burgaw, North Carolina native had been living with his sister in NYC when he registered with the Draft Board in 1942. He appears to have moved back home by his entry into the US Army on March 12, 1946 and was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia by the time of his marriage 6 months later. I’m willing to say the group happened between 1940 and 1942 due to this timeline. It would explain why the guys all look so young.

It is unknown what Bill did after the gospel group folded. By 1950, Joe was out of the Army and had linked back up with Bill. The two men met a Pianist/Arranger and Vocal Coach named Billy Ward (1921-2002). Ward had the idea to form a Pop and R&B act. To his end, he gathered 16 year old 1st Tenor Clyde McPhatter (1933-1972). Ward had first seen young Clyde at an Apollo Amateur Night and knew he was destined for greatness. Clyde also brought his friend, 2nd Tenor, Charlie White (1931-2005).

These 4 would form would become the original Dominoes. After winning an episode of “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” a month after their formation, the episode was heard by René Hall a guitarist and A&R man for King who brought it to the attention of Ralph Bass, head of the King subsidiary, Federal. Bass signed the gents almost immediately but before he did, he singled out Clyde McPhatter for leads but also stated Bill should get leads of his own which did.

2 months after signing to Federal, they waxed “Sixty Minute Man”. The track probably the most enduring legacy of any Dominoes song today largely due to the Fallout video game series. However by September 1951, things began to fall apart. Charlie White left to join the Clovers on Atlantic. While he did eventually join them, that wasn’t until 1953. He stayed at King Records and when Bill Brown left the Dominoes in February 1952, the two friends linked back up.

They performed at house parties and hops around the Harlem area but became enamored with a revolving door of a street corner group named, the Checkers. The only two consistent members were tenors John Carnegie (1933-1979) and Irwin “Teddy” Williams (1927-1970). Named in tribute to the Dominoes, the two tenors were honored to have their idols join their ranks. Needing a Baritone, Bill called upon James “Buddy” Brewer.

Bill remained the primary lead singer and Bass of the Checkers throughout their 3 years existence. He weathered quite a few line up changes. Most notably Charlie leaving to finally join the Clovers in January 1953. He was replaced by Perry Heyward (1935-2010). The Checkers did a fondly remembered recording with Perry, “Ghost of My Baby”. By pure coincidence, Perry’s wife Irene Gloria Bailey (1935-2014) was allegedly a cousin of Bill’s, her and her family were from Beaufort, SC but moved to NYC in the 40s. “Little” David Baughan (1937-1970) replaced Perry. Dave had formerly sung (and would sing again) with Drifters. The Checkers quietly broke up in early 1955 and their music is tragically, largely forgotten today.

After the Checkers folded Bill went on to attempt with one more group. He got together with the aforementioned Little David Baughan, brothers Harvey (1917-1989) and Willie (1925-1961) Ray, formerly of the Du Droppers and Edna McGriff (1935-1980). This group only lasted about month in late 1955 or early 1956.

It was at this point, Bill was thought to have died. He wasn’t recording, his name was never really mentioned in the industry, nothing. Discogs says 1958, Wikipedia says 1956. So what is it? Here’s a theory:

The Harptones formed in 1953 also in NYC had a remarkable Bass Singer, his name was Billy Brown. The night before a recording session in May 1957, Billy died of a drug overdose at 23 years old. The group, especially lead singer Willie Winfield (1929-2021) were devastated. Sadly, everyone in the group but Billy’s sister in law, Harriet “Toni” Williams-Brown missed the funeral.

So this all tracks, right? Both men sang Bass, had similar names stopped recording at roughly the same time, and both men even ended their careers with Willie Winfield. Yes there’s more to this rabbit hole.

Willie, being only the constant member of the Harptones since their formation in 1953, quit in 1964 to get a “day job” so to speak. He had a family to feed and with the British Invasion rapidly taking over, bookings and recording contracts dried up. By the end of the 1960s he was supporting himself as a bartender. His regulars were pals from the old singing days. There was Cleveland Still (who’s still alive and performing at 91) and Richard Blandon (1934-1991), both of the Dubs and… Bill Brown. Old friendships reignited and the men wanted to form a group during the early Rock n Doo Wop revival period. However in late 1969, both the Harptones and Dubs were asked to reform for an April 1970 show at the New York Academy of Music.

Bill most likely felt he was left out in the cold and saw no option to contact Billy Ward and reform the Dominoes and the Checkers were not nearly successful enough for a revival. Problems with alcoholism most likely plagued the Bassman for the rest of his days and probably had a part in his death.

Too many questions about this guy and not enough answers.

Sources:
Marv Goldberg Dominoes Article
https://www.uncamarvy.com/Dominoes/dom01.html

Marv Goldberg Checkers Article
https://www.uncamarvy.com/Checkers/checkers.html

Spontaneous Lunacy Dominoes Article
https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/artists-the-dominoes/

Stories from Willie Winfield courtesy of the book, “Group Harmony: Behind the Rhythm and the Blues” by Todd Baptista with additional info given by the author himself.

Here’s some background:
On October 23, 1950, the original line up of the Dominoes, Clyde McPhatter (Lead Singer/1st Tenor), Charlie White (2nd Tenor), Joe Lamont (Baritone), and Bill Brown (Bass) along with the group’s founder, Billy Ward (who was the group’s pianist and arranger as well) supposedly appeared on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts singing an at the time current hit song, “Goodnight Irene”.

The performance was seen by Rene Hall, a talent scout and guitarist for King Records. He told label owner, Syd Nathan, of the group. Well, just 3 weeks later, they were in the studio cutting their first records and by the end of 1950 they’d record the Bill Brown led smash hit “Sixty Minute Man” which if anyone knows the Dominoes, it’s mostly likely because they heard this song in Fallout.

However being the massive Dominoes fan I am, especially with the original line up, I tried to search for it. YouTube, Internet Archive, Facebook, Dailymotion, etc. all turned up nothing, at least when I looked. Then, about almost 3 years ago someone to told me to contact the Arthur Godfrey Archives (I believe at UMD) and I did. I went through the necessary procedures and finally got the audio, and wouldn’t ya know it? No Dominoes. Maybe I got the wrong audio, I don’t know. I left for Navy boot camp shortly after my search and never reattempted to track down the footage or audio.

While there is footage of the 1957 Dominoes singing Stardust, (which minus Billy Ward, is a completely different group) I think it’s important to find this footage of this seminal R&B and Rock N Roll group in their infancy to preserve history and the legacy of the men who are no longer here.

I say no longer here because, unsurprisingly, all original members of the Dominoes are deceased:

Bill Brown (c. 1920s-early 1970s; not the mid to late 1950s as other sources claim)
Clyde McPhatter (1932-1972)
Joe Lamont (1920-1991)
Billy Ward (1921-2002)
Charlie White (1931-2005)

Even sadder the 4 original singers and some of their replacements (James Van Loan, Jackie Wilson, Gene Mumford, Milt Grayson, Cliff Givens and Milton Merle) have yet to be inducted in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. They were considered once in 1997 and never again.

Ironically, King Records founder, Syd Nathan, was inducted that same year as a non performer. Luckily, Clyde McPhatter was inducted in 1987 as a soloist and in 1988 as a member of the Drifters, becoming the first double inductee. Jackie Wilson was also inducted in 1987 as a soloist.