Billy Ward and His Dominoes were one of the top American R&B groups of the … Read Full Bio ↴Billy Ward and His Dominoes were one of the top American R&B groups of the 1950s, and launched the careers of both Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson.
Billy Ward (born Robert L. Williams, 19 September 1921, Savannah, Georgiaโdied 16 February 2002, Inglewood, California) grew up in Philadelphia, the second of three sons of Charles Williams and Cora Bates Williams, and was a child musical prodigy, winning an award for a piano composition at the age of 14. Following military service he studied music in Chicago, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. While working as a vocal coach and part-time arranger on Broadway, he met talent agent Rose Marks, who became his business and songwriting partner.
The pair set out to form a vocal group from the ranks of his students. The group was at first called the Ques, and comprised Clyde McPhatter (lead tenor), Charlie White (tenor), Joe Lamont (baritone), and Bill Brown (bass). Ward acted as their pianist and arranger. After the group made successful appearances on talent shows in the Apollo Theater and on the Arthur Godfrey show in 1950, Rene Hall recommended them to Ralph Bass of Federal Records, a subsidiary of King, where they were signed to a recording contract and renamed themselves the Dominoes. Their first single release, "Do Something For Me", with McPhatterโs lead vocal, reached the R&B charts in early 1951, climbing to #6.
After a less successful follow-up, the group released "Sixty Minute Man", on which Brown sang lead, and boasted of being able to satisfy his girls with fifteen minutes each of "kissin'" "teasin'" and "squeezin'", before "blowin'" his "top". It reached #1 on the R&B chart in May 1951 and stayed there for a 14 weeks. It was an important record in several respectsโit crossed the boundaries between gospel singing and blues, its lyrics pushed the limits of what was deemed acceptable, and it appealed to many white as well as black listeners, peaking at #17 on the pop charts. In later years, it became a contender for the title of "the first rock and roll record".
The group toured widely, building up a reputation as one of the top R&B acts of the era, and an audience which crossed racial divides. However, Ward's strict disciplinarian approach, and failure to recompense the singers, caused internal problems. The name "The Dominoes" was owned by Ward and Marks, who had the power to hire and fire, and to pay the singers a salary. Clyde McPhatter was being paid barely enough to live on, and often found himself billed as "Clyde Ward" to fool fans into thinking he was Billy Ward's brother. White and Brown both left in 1951 to form The Checkers, and were replaced by James Van Loan and David McNeil (previously of The Larks).
In March 1952, the Dominoes were chosen to be the only vocal group at Alan Freed's "Moondog Coronation Ball". The hits continued, with "Have Mercy Baby" topping the R&B charts for 10 weeks in 1952. However, in early 1953, McPhatter also decided to leave, and soon formed a new group, The Drifters. His replacement in the Dominoes was Jackie Wilson, who had sung with the group on tour. Lamont and McNeil also left and were replaced by Milton Merle and Cliff Givens. With Wilson singing lead, singles such as "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" continued to be successful.
In 1954, Ward moved the group to the Jubilee label and then to Decca, where they enjoyed a #27 pop hit with "St. Teresa of the Roses". However, the group were unable to follow that success in the charts, and there were a succession of personnel changes. They increasingly moved away from their R&B roots with appearances in Las Vegas and elsewhere. In late 1956, Wilson left for a solo career and was replaced by Gene Mumford of The Larks. The group then got a new contract with Liberty Records, and had a #13 pop hit with "Stardust". This proved to be their last major success, although various line-ups of the group continued recording and performing into the 1960s.
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.
Former members
Billy Ward
Clyde McPhatter
Charlie White
Joe Lamont
Bill Brown
James Van Loan
David McNeil
Jackie Wilson
Milton Merle
Cliff Givens
Billy Ward (born Robert L. Williams, 19 September 1921, Savannah, Georgiaโdied 16 February 2002, Inglewood, California) grew up in Philadelphia, the second of three sons of Charles Williams and Cora Bates Williams, and was a child musical prodigy, winning an award for a piano composition at the age of 14. Following military service he studied music in Chicago, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. While working as a vocal coach and part-time arranger on Broadway, he met talent agent Rose Marks, who became his business and songwriting partner.
The pair set out to form a vocal group from the ranks of his students. The group was at first called the Ques, and comprised Clyde McPhatter (lead tenor), Charlie White (tenor), Joe Lamont (baritone), and Bill Brown (bass). Ward acted as their pianist and arranger. After the group made successful appearances on talent shows in the Apollo Theater and on the Arthur Godfrey show in 1950, Rene Hall recommended them to Ralph Bass of Federal Records, a subsidiary of King, where they were signed to a recording contract and renamed themselves the Dominoes. Their first single release, "Do Something For Me", with McPhatterโs lead vocal, reached the R&B charts in early 1951, climbing to #6.
After a less successful follow-up, the group released "Sixty Minute Man", on which Brown sang lead, and boasted of being able to satisfy his girls with fifteen minutes each of "kissin'" "teasin'" and "squeezin'", before "blowin'" his "top". It reached #1 on the R&B chart in May 1951 and stayed there for a 14 weeks. It was an important record in several respectsโit crossed the boundaries between gospel singing and blues, its lyrics pushed the limits of what was deemed acceptable, and it appealed to many white as well as black listeners, peaking at #17 on the pop charts. In later years, it became a contender for the title of "the first rock and roll record".
The group toured widely, building up a reputation as one of the top R&B acts of the era, and an audience which crossed racial divides. However, Ward's strict disciplinarian approach, and failure to recompense the singers, caused internal problems. The name "The Dominoes" was owned by Ward and Marks, who had the power to hire and fire, and to pay the singers a salary. Clyde McPhatter was being paid barely enough to live on, and often found himself billed as "Clyde Ward" to fool fans into thinking he was Billy Ward's brother. White and Brown both left in 1951 to form The Checkers, and were replaced by James Van Loan and David McNeil (previously of The Larks).
In March 1952, the Dominoes were chosen to be the only vocal group at Alan Freed's "Moondog Coronation Ball". The hits continued, with "Have Mercy Baby" topping the R&B charts for 10 weeks in 1952. However, in early 1953, McPhatter also decided to leave, and soon formed a new group, The Drifters. His replacement in the Dominoes was Jackie Wilson, who had sung with the group on tour. Lamont and McNeil also left and were replaced by Milton Merle and Cliff Givens. With Wilson singing lead, singles such as "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" continued to be successful.
In 1954, Ward moved the group to the Jubilee label and then to Decca, where they enjoyed a #27 pop hit with "St. Teresa of the Roses". However, the group were unable to follow that success in the charts, and there were a succession of personnel changes. They increasingly moved away from their R&B roots with appearances in Las Vegas and elsewhere. In late 1956, Wilson left for a solo career and was replaced by Gene Mumford of The Larks. The group then got a new contract with Liberty Records, and had a #13 pop hit with "Stardust". This proved to be their last major success, although various line-ups of the group continued recording and performing into the 1960s.
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.
Former members
Billy Ward
Clyde McPhatter
Charlie White
Joe Lamont
Bill Brown
James Van Loan
David McNeil
Jackie Wilson
Milton Merle
Cliff Givens
Brown Eyed Handsome Man
The Dominoes Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man' by these artists:
1956 The Million Dollar Quartet (E.Presley L.Lewis J.Cash C.Perkins) Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the …
Buddy Holly Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the…
Buddy Holly The Crickets Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the…
Buddy Holly & The Crickets Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the…
Carl Perkins Flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw a woman…
Carl Perkins & Johnny Cash Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the …
Carl Perkins; Johnny Cash Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Chuck Berry Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the wi…
Chuck Berry [The Roxy 1982] Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the w…
Elvis Presley Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis Flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw a woman…
Elvis Presley Carl Perkins Jerry Lee Lewis Johnny Cash Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the …
Elvis Presley Cash Lewis & Perkins Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Elvis Presley Jerry Lee Lewis Carl Perkins Flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw a woman…
Elvis Presley Jerry Lee Lewis Carl Perkins Johnny Cash Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Hal Mooney Arrested on charges of unemployment, he was sitting in the …
Jerry Lee Lewis Flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw a woman…
Johnny Cash Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Johnny Rivers Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the w…
Johnny Winter Well, flying across the desert in a twa, I saw a…
Kenny Parchman Flyin' cross the desert in a TWA I saw a…
Lyle Lovett Oh arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the…
Mike Zito And Friends Riding along in my automobile My baby beside me at the…
Mollie O'Brien Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Paul McCartney Well, flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw…
Puhdys Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in th…
Roy Orbison Arrested on charges of unemployment, he was sitting in the…
Tanya Tucker Arrested on charges of unemployment, he was sitting in the w…
The Million Dollar Quartet Flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw a woman…
The Teen Kings Arrested on charges of unemployment, he was sitting in the…
Wanda Jackson Well I arrested on charges of unemployment and he was…
Waylon Jennings Flying cross the desert in a TWA Saw a women walking Cross…
We have lyrics for these tracks by The Dominoes:
60 Minute Man Sixty-minute man, sixty-minute man Look a here girls I'm t…
Above Jacob's Ladder Three coins in the fountain, Each one seeking happiness. T…
Carry Go Bring Come This carry go bring come, my dear, brings misery This carry…
Christmas In Heaven It's Christmas in Heaven And it's Heaven here with you And d…
Deep Purple Woo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo When the…
Give Me You Give me the sun give me the moon give me the stars with…
Have Mercy Baby Somewhere on the hill? Chasing some poor criminal And I gues…
I Am with You I need your love so badly, I love you, oh,…
Little Lie I'd wait for you I'd slave for you I'd be a beggar…
Little Things Mean A Lot Blow me a kiss from across the room Say I look…
Love Love Love There is no greater love Than what I feel for you No…
One Moment With You I need your love so badly, I love you, oh,…
Over the Rainbow Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high There's a land that…
Rags To Riches I know I'd go from rags to riches If you would…
September Song Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December But…
Sixty Minute Man Sixty-minute man, sixty-minute man Look a here girls I'm te…
Solitude In my solitude You haunt me With dreadful ease Of days gone …
St. Louis Blues I hate to see that evening sun go down, I…
Star Dust And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the…
Tenderly The evening breeze caressed the trees tenderly The trembling…
These Foolish Things Oh! Will you never let me be? Oh! Will you never…
Three Coins In The Fountain Three coins in the fountain, Each one seeking happiness. Thr…
Until The Real Thing Comes Along I'd wait for you I'd slave for you I'd be a beggar…
When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano When the swallows come back to Capistrano That's the day you…
You Can't Keep A Good Man Down You Can't Keep A Good Man Down Luther King was a…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@yeastxtract1853
Lyrics:
Arrested on charges of unemployment
He was sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
Said free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man
Flying across the desert in a TWA
I saw a woman walking across the sand
She been a-walkin' thirty miles en route to Bombay
To reach a brown eyed handsome man
Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man
Way back in history three thousand years
Back ever since the world began
There's been a whole lot of good women shedding tears
For a brown eyed handsome man
A lot of trouble, was a brown eyed handsome man
Well the beautiful daughter couldn't make up her mind
Between a doctor and a lawyer man
Her mother told her darling go out and find yourself
A brown eyed handsome man
That's what your daddy is a brown eyed handsome man
Well DeMilo's Venus was a beautiful lass
She had the world in the palm of her hand
But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
To win a brown eyed handsome man
She fought and won herself a brown eyed handsome man
Well, two, three the count with nobody on
He hit a high fly into the stand
Rounding third he was headed for home
It was a brown eyed handsome man
That won the game, it was a brown eyed handsome man
@tomvaughn9667
I saw him perform this live in Lamesa Texas in 1956. It is still the best concert I have ever seen. I still wonder how it is possible that any human being could have so much talent. He was beyond human.
@ChihuahuaboyDH
Tom Vaughn It often makes me wonder had Buddy Holly had not gotten on that plane, that he'd have been dubbed "The King of Rock & Roll" instead of Elvis? I think so!
Buddy Holly was a GENIUS!!!
@jennifursun3303
ChihuahuaboyDH if i were asked, i would blame his record producer for making him go on that tour. still feel sorry for the late Waylon Jennings he never got over it
@tomvaughn9667
ChihuahuaboyDH I personaly think that Buddy Holley, Bo Didley, and Chuck Berry should be considered the co-founders of Classic Rock, the greatest music ever. Check out Buddy's version of Bo Didley, that song and Brown eyed handsome man were the first Classic Rock songs I ever heard and I still consider them the best.
@johnblake2045
ChihuahuaboyDH He should be the king of Rock and Roll even now...I don't get the huge appeal of Elvis at all at best he was a good performer but none of the ideas were his own ever, all of his songs were either written by somebody else or they were covers and he played guitar less and less as time went on. Elvis was really hardly anything more than a pretty face for both the music industry hollywood and other such things to exploit. He was more the just Bieber of his day more than anything.
@johnblake2045
Tom Vaughn Man you got to see him? Crazy lucky! My parents were to young in the 50's and I wasnt born till the 80's so we got crap luck in that department
@tonytrotta9322
Classic song by Buddy Holly - Nobody plays or sings it better!
Buddy doesn't miss a beat - the man was ahead of his time!
Crank this classic song up!
@hollpoll
This is a track found after his death, the guitar backing was added by Norman Petty (his manager) using the Fireballs instrumental group , just so you know
@tonytrotta9322
@@hollpoll Thanks for the info. Yes I knew many were overdubbed recordings to finish. There is a studio version on Y-tube too and it is outstanding as well. Buddy Holly used to open for Elvis Presley at the Texas State Fairs and they were friends. Take care!
@RobertJones-ne6qr
His bass player did justice to this tune, not taking anything away from Buddy, but Waylon filled a void created by Buddy's passing, their both greatly missed.