The Sunbeams were formed in Glen Cove, in Long Island, New York; this is no… Read Full Bio ↴The Sunbeams were formed in Glen Cove, in Long Island, New York; this is not a place you'd normally expect an R&B group to hail from.
John Cumbo was originally from Philadelphia, and relocated to Glen Cove when he was 18 (around 1947). In 1950, he started singing with some local guys. "Glen Cove was a small place; I met some singers and asked around for others."
The members of the resulting group (called the "Kovaks", for "Glen Cove") were: Bobby Lee Hollis (tenor lead), Bobby Coleman (first tenor), James Davis (second tenor), John Cumbo (baritone lead), and William Edwards (bass). Unlike most groups, they didn't immediately try to get booked all over; they rehearsed for about two years before starting to look for gigs. The Kovaks, like most other groups of the day, were highly influenced by the music of the Orioles, the Ravens, and the Dominoes.
Finally, they started playing clubs, both on Long Island and in nearby New York City. For a while in 1954, they had a sixth member, a gravedigger who was living in Hempstead, New York (also in Long Island) at the time, named Joe Tex. He didn't remain too long, however, before leaving to start working on his solo career.
One day, in early 1955, John, who also acted as the group's manager, called up Herald Records and arranged for an audition. Why Herald? John's wife just looked up record companies in the phone book, and Herald was the first one she found. The Sunbeams journeyed into Manhattan, to Herald's offices at 236 West 55th Street (although the company was starting to pack for its move to 1697 Broadway in April) and sang four or five original songs for owners Jack Angel and Al Silver, and a&r man Howard Biggs. Two of the songs they sang were "Tell Me Why" and "Come Back Baby".
Bobby Lee Hollis Herald liked the singing, but didn't like the name "Kovaks"; it had to go! The company gave them a few choices (including the "Turbans"), and the one they selected was the "Sunbeams". In late February or early March 1955, the newly-christened Sunbeams recorded four songs that John Cumbo had written: "Tell Me Why", "Come Back Baby", "Shouldn't I Have A Right (To Cry Over You)", and "I Love The Way You Look Tonight". Bobby Lee Hollis was the lead on all the sides.
"Tell Me Why" and "Come Back Baby" were released in March, but Herald really took its time promoting the record. The company was having great success with the Nutmegs ("Story Untold" and then "Ship Of Love"), the Turbans ("When You Dance"), and Al Savage ("Paradise Princess"). With hits like these, it isn't hard to see how the Sunbeams got lost in the shuffle for a while. The record wasn't reviewed until eight months after its release (during the week of November 11, 1955). Other reviews that week were for the Midnighters' "The House On The Hill", the Hearts' "Gone, Gone, Gone", Marvin & the Chirps' "Sixteen Tons", the Sparks Of Rhythm's "Hurry Home", the Cadets' "If It Is Wrong", the Kansas City Tomcats' "Nobody Knows", the Saigons' "You're Heavenly", the Hepsters' "I Had To Let You Go", the Coronets' "The Little Boy", and the Squires' "Heavenly Angel".
That same month, Angel and Silver announced that "Come Back Baby" was going strong. However, it wasn't strong enough, never making the national charts. Meanwhile, the Sunbeams started appearing more and more around Long Island, at beach shows and at small clubs. There was also the Lincoln House, in Glen Cove, a community center at which John Cumbo, along with DJ Ralph Cooper, promoted shows. They appeared at the Celebrity Club (in Freeport, Long Island, with Baby Washington), Club Ruby (in Jamaica, Queens, with Ruth Brown and Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson), Gibson's Bar & Grill (Manhasset, Long Island), and places in Spring Valley (New York), Connecticut, New Jersey, and Manhattan. Says John, "Any club that would let us get up and sing. We weren't trying to make bucks."
The Sunbeams - 1957 Sometime in 1956, Bobby Lee Hollis departed. He'd go on to do some solos for Sue, released in early 1960, under the name "Johnny Pancake" (Sue 721: Wonderful Baby/Shook). In 1963, he joined Bill Pinkney, Gerhart Thrasher, and Andrew Thrasher in the Original Drifters. His place in the Sunbeams was taken by Henry Williamson.
At some point the Sunbeams met up with William Henry Miller, a&r man for Hull Records and father of the Miller Sisters. He had a studio in his basement and wanted to record the group, but they were still under contract to Herald. Unfortunately, Herald had decided that the Sunbeams tunes in the can were too "pop", and never released them. The Sunbeams "got pissed" at Herald, since the company wasn't pushing the group: "we wanted action!"
So they bided their time until their Herald contract ran out, and then recorded some sides for Miller: "Please Say You'll Be Mine" and "You've Got To Rock & Roll" (both led by Henry Williamson); note that "You've Got To Rock & Roll" was the only song the Sunbeams recorded that wasn't written by John Cumbo).
The sides were released, in October 1957, on the small Acme label (located at 419 West 44th Street), another outfit that used Miller as an a&r man. It's possible that the label was owned by the brother of Johnny Halonka (first name unknown), owner of Alpha Distributors.
While the record doesn't seem to have been reviewed in the trades, the competition around at the time included the Cuff Links' "It's Too Late Now", the Rob-Roys' "Tell Me Why", the Chantels' "He's Gone", Huey Smith's "Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu", the Velours' "This Could Be The Night", the Plants' "Dear I Swear", Bobby Day's "Little Bitty Pretty One", Chuck Berry's "Rock & Roll Music", the Spaniels' "You're Gonna Cry", the Hollywood Flames' "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz", the Rays' "Silhouettes", Lee Andrews & Hearts' "Teardrops", and the Dubs' "Could This Be Magic".
Finally, as you might suspect, with the record going nowhere, they guys started to get depressed and dejected. There was no money coming in any more (amazingly, they had gotten some royalties from Herald for a while) and sometime in 1958, it was all over. Bobby Coleman went solo. Henry Williamson joined one of the many Ink Spots groups floating around. John Cumbo found it too hard to get replacements and hold the group together; it just didn't seem worth the trouble. He would occasionally do some solo appearances over the years.
The Sunbeams turned out some nice music. The problem was that they existed at a time when there was a veritable explosion of vocal groups. This made it difficult for established record companies to know which artists to concentrate on, and the proliferation of tiny record companies almost ensured that the label wouldn't be able to finance a hit. (The lack of "promotion" that groups complain about usually translated to a lack of record company money available for payola.) Unfortunately, the Sunbeams got caught up in both problems.
THE SUNBEAMS
HERALD
451 Tell Me Why (BLH)/Come Back Baby (BLH) - 3/55
UNRELEASED HERALD:
Shouldn't I Have A Right (To Cry Over You) (BLH)
I Love The Way You Look Tonight (BLH)
ACME
719 Please Say You'll Be Mine (HW)/You've Got To Rock & Roll (HW) - 10/57
LEADS: BLH = Bobby Lee Hollis; HW = Henry Williamson
John Cumbo was originally from Philadelphia, and relocated to Glen Cove when he was 18 (around 1947). In 1950, he started singing with some local guys. "Glen Cove was a small place; I met some singers and asked around for others."
The members of the resulting group (called the "Kovaks", for "Glen Cove") were: Bobby Lee Hollis (tenor lead), Bobby Coleman (first tenor), James Davis (second tenor), John Cumbo (baritone lead), and William Edwards (bass). Unlike most groups, they didn't immediately try to get booked all over; they rehearsed for about two years before starting to look for gigs. The Kovaks, like most other groups of the day, were highly influenced by the music of the Orioles, the Ravens, and the Dominoes.
Finally, they started playing clubs, both on Long Island and in nearby New York City. For a while in 1954, they had a sixth member, a gravedigger who was living in Hempstead, New York (also in Long Island) at the time, named Joe Tex. He didn't remain too long, however, before leaving to start working on his solo career.
One day, in early 1955, John, who also acted as the group's manager, called up Herald Records and arranged for an audition. Why Herald? John's wife just looked up record companies in the phone book, and Herald was the first one she found. The Sunbeams journeyed into Manhattan, to Herald's offices at 236 West 55th Street (although the company was starting to pack for its move to 1697 Broadway in April) and sang four or five original songs for owners Jack Angel and Al Silver, and a&r man Howard Biggs. Two of the songs they sang were "Tell Me Why" and "Come Back Baby".
Bobby Lee Hollis Herald liked the singing, but didn't like the name "Kovaks"; it had to go! The company gave them a few choices (including the "Turbans"), and the one they selected was the "Sunbeams". In late February or early March 1955, the newly-christened Sunbeams recorded four songs that John Cumbo had written: "Tell Me Why", "Come Back Baby", "Shouldn't I Have A Right (To Cry Over You)", and "I Love The Way You Look Tonight". Bobby Lee Hollis was the lead on all the sides.
"Tell Me Why" and "Come Back Baby" were released in March, but Herald really took its time promoting the record. The company was having great success with the Nutmegs ("Story Untold" and then "Ship Of Love"), the Turbans ("When You Dance"), and Al Savage ("Paradise Princess"). With hits like these, it isn't hard to see how the Sunbeams got lost in the shuffle for a while. The record wasn't reviewed until eight months after its release (during the week of November 11, 1955). Other reviews that week were for the Midnighters' "The House On The Hill", the Hearts' "Gone, Gone, Gone", Marvin & the Chirps' "Sixteen Tons", the Sparks Of Rhythm's "Hurry Home", the Cadets' "If It Is Wrong", the Kansas City Tomcats' "Nobody Knows", the Saigons' "You're Heavenly", the Hepsters' "I Had To Let You Go", the Coronets' "The Little Boy", and the Squires' "Heavenly Angel".
That same month, Angel and Silver announced that "Come Back Baby" was going strong. However, it wasn't strong enough, never making the national charts. Meanwhile, the Sunbeams started appearing more and more around Long Island, at beach shows and at small clubs. There was also the Lincoln House, in Glen Cove, a community center at which John Cumbo, along with DJ Ralph Cooper, promoted shows. They appeared at the Celebrity Club (in Freeport, Long Island, with Baby Washington), Club Ruby (in Jamaica, Queens, with Ruth Brown and Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson), Gibson's Bar & Grill (Manhasset, Long Island), and places in Spring Valley (New York), Connecticut, New Jersey, and Manhattan. Says John, "Any club that would let us get up and sing. We weren't trying to make bucks."
The Sunbeams - 1957 Sometime in 1956, Bobby Lee Hollis departed. He'd go on to do some solos for Sue, released in early 1960, under the name "Johnny Pancake" (Sue 721: Wonderful Baby/Shook). In 1963, he joined Bill Pinkney, Gerhart Thrasher, and Andrew Thrasher in the Original Drifters. His place in the Sunbeams was taken by Henry Williamson.
At some point the Sunbeams met up with William Henry Miller, a&r man for Hull Records and father of the Miller Sisters. He had a studio in his basement and wanted to record the group, but they were still under contract to Herald. Unfortunately, Herald had decided that the Sunbeams tunes in the can were too "pop", and never released them. The Sunbeams "got pissed" at Herald, since the company wasn't pushing the group: "we wanted action!"
So they bided their time until their Herald contract ran out, and then recorded some sides for Miller: "Please Say You'll Be Mine" and "You've Got To Rock & Roll" (both led by Henry Williamson); note that "You've Got To Rock & Roll" was the only song the Sunbeams recorded that wasn't written by John Cumbo).
The sides were released, in October 1957, on the small Acme label (located at 419 West 44th Street), another outfit that used Miller as an a&r man. It's possible that the label was owned by the brother of Johnny Halonka (first name unknown), owner of Alpha Distributors.
While the record doesn't seem to have been reviewed in the trades, the competition around at the time included the Cuff Links' "It's Too Late Now", the Rob-Roys' "Tell Me Why", the Chantels' "He's Gone", Huey Smith's "Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu", the Velours' "This Could Be The Night", the Plants' "Dear I Swear", Bobby Day's "Little Bitty Pretty One", Chuck Berry's "Rock & Roll Music", the Spaniels' "You're Gonna Cry", the Hollywood Flames' "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz", the Rays' "Silhouettes", Lee Andrews & Hearts' "Teardrops", and the Dubs' "Could This Be Magic".
Finally, as you might suspect, with the record going nowhere, they guys started to get depressed and dejected. There was no money coming in any more (amazingly, they had gotten some royalties from Herald for a while) and sometime in 1958, it was all over. Bobby Coleman went solo. Henry Williamson joined one of the many Ink Spots groups floating around. John Cumbo found it too hard to get replacements and hold the group together; it just didn't seem worth the trouble. He would occasionally do some solo appearances over the years.
The Sunbeams turned out some nice music. The problem was that they existed at a time when there was a veritable explosion of vocal groups. This made it difficult for established record companies to know which artists to concentrate on, and the proliferation of tiny record companies almost ensured that the label wouldn't be able to finance a hit. (The lack of "promotion" that groups complain about usually translated to a lack of record company money available for payola.) Unfortunately, the Sunbeams got caught up in both problems.
THE SUNBEAMS
HERALD
451 Tell Me Why (BLH)/Come Back Baby (BLH) - 3/55
UNRELEASED HERALD:
Shouldn't I Have A Right (To Cry Over You) (BLH)
I Love The Way You Look Tonight (BLH)
ACME
719 Please Say You'll Be Mine (HW)/You've Got To Rock & Roll (HW) - 10/57
LEADS: BLH = Bobby Lee Hollis; HW = Henry Williamson
Good Old Days
The Sunbeams Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Good Old Days' by these artists:
"Weird Al" Yankovic Oh some times I think back to when I was…
98.20.11 I'll see ya when I'm famous Diamonds on me gotta drip Old…
Adeline V. Lopez You walked away more than you remember You gave chances, ran…
Albert Hammond And all the sad young men parading through their lives The…
Andrea Gail Red beams pierce through the sky moving Us away from what…
Antonio The Good Days And bad days I still give thanks The Good Day…
Authority Zero Let's go Watching your friends grow up around you really su…
B.S.E. You know they're gonna find out anyway All you hold inside B…
Bård Well, good old Peter Was a simple man He lived a simple…
Bisola Temple Music To the good old Oh uhhhh Oh uhhhhh To the good…
blink-182 Don't wanna hear the static on the TV screen Don't wanna…
Blue Rain Boots I don't feel, like I used to Back when the sky…
Brooke Malie I love it when we're on the beach at sunrise Watching…
Bruddah Waltah Lately I been thinkin about my younger days When I was…
Cedella Marley Irie days come on play Let the angels fly let the…
D-Noise & Metalyst D1CE 나 외로운 새벽에 깊이 또 잠이 들 때 어지러운 눈앞에 미로…
Daniel E. Johnson It's a decade of sober, that old life is over But…
Danny Michel Time ticks and drips away Days burn, distintegrate Years rol…
David Keenan Won't you meet me down, down by Barrack Street. Where…
Die & Clipz No need to tar and feather in this modern age When…
Emapea Now let's take a sec to think back Thinking back to…
Erika Woke up today, the alarm clock ringing Face to the wall,…
Fastball I've been thinking 'bout the good old days Decorated in a…
Gabriel Once I had this girl, really meant to me the…
Gentleman We bringing back the good old days And then again the…
Gentleman & The Evolution I don't know Don't know your face from my own Don't know…
Ghost Hounds GOOD OLD DAYS IF THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS DON'T…
Head Murray I was riding on the Inter-City, a window frame view…
Hello Kelly I gotta be honest I wanna feel it all We're getting older…
J.D. Monson I remember mostly fucking everything I remember thinking of …
Jake Anderson Five o'clock alarm goes off Wipe away the sleep from…
James Hersch Kids are in bed It′s the end of the day Scratching my…
Jang Deok Cheol 참 많은 시간이 흘러가고 넌 어떻게 사는지 참 궁금해 날 걱정하는 사람들에게 다…
JB and the Moonshine Band Back when I was 17, my friend, John Dustin, he…
JDS I can see you peeking through You can try a…
Jean-philippe Rykiel Told deno I needed a bop Back on my shit and…
Jimmy McCracklin I was born on a farm, belonged to a man…
John Park 내가 알던 그대 맞나요 나는 왜 또 설레 매일 보는 그대 얼굴에 난…
Jr Jr Today is a good day Cause I'm hanging with my homies And…
Jutes I miss the good old days Are they the last chance…
K-Maro Somehow, when time is hard You need to carry on When you…
Kesha Macklemore I wish somebody would have told me babe Some day, these…
KIDZ BOP Kids I wish somebody would have told me, babe Someday, these will…
L-Flow Good Times don't last I wonder why it's like that Even thoug…
Liberator It′s hard to seize the day and make it stay When…
lions head I heard them talk about those "Good ol′ days" I wasn't…
Lost & Hatcha I'm still in bed but it feels like work Unanswered texts…
Lotte Walda 10.000 years ago when there was no telephone and all…
Macklemore I wish somebody would have told me babe Some day, these…
Marley Ziggy Irie days come on play Let the angels fly let the…
Martin Kerr We got everything to choose and we can't commit We got…
Matt Maltese Five years ago, our worries were all so small Five years…
N-Type & Cyrus Wish I could relive some memories Like people in my life…
No Tagbacks You and me, I'd pick you up Back when making out…
Owsley I went back home the other day To see some old…
P!nk 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years go by I don't really…
Pato Banton Good Old Days by P. Banton and T. Irie Bring back the…
R. Kelly I gotta be honest I wanna feel it all We're getting older…
R.E.D Worth It Whoa It's D.R.E. yeah I woke up in lil Slip Rock Lil…
Robbie Malinga I miss the good old days (vimba) Life was simply (vala) Sasp…
Roger Creager Roger Creager, John Evans I've heard stories about the 19…
ScottDW yo have you checked the news just sun better grab your…
Shovels & Rope I been lookin' for a feeling I can't find There's no…
The Abrams I know I′m not too much of a bargain And you…
The Evolution I don't know Don't know your face from my own Don't know…
The Features Remember standing beneath the sound. The road plays in your …
The Forces of Evil step right up and see the ska band ladies and gentleman,…
The Main Ingredient Hello boy, it′s been a while Guess you'll be glad to…
The Miller I've been missing those good old days Back when my troubles…
The Mockers A crying mother Holds her baby tight She won't let go She do…
The Revivalists Changes come, I watch them grow In your eyes, an ancient…
Tiny-O 最高潮 m.o.v.e絶唱 ゴッツいビートふるまうぞ max volume ウーファーぶっ飛ぶ yeah Tシャツ 汗だ…
Tmmrw (Yeah) (Oh, hey Daan) Holding holding on Tryna hold on to t…
Toby Can you remember the days that we had in the…
Vion Konger TMW When we′re young my father told me child You just begun,…
Weird Al Yankovic - Even Worse Oh some times I think back to when I was…
X - Vibes Play this record as frequently as possible Oooooo ooooohhh G…
X-NoiZe Today is a good day to die He don’t know I…
X-noiZe & Techtonic I love Brut It smells so clean Makes me feel like I'm…
Ziggy Marley Irie days come on play Let the angels fly let the…
Ziggy Marley feat. Cedella Marley Irie days come on play Let the angels fly let the…
장덕철 참 많은 시간이 흘러가고 넌 어떻게 사는지 참 궁금해 날 걱정하는 사람들에게 다…
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4JUKEBOXSATURDAYNITE
Sunbeams - Sing A Song / Good Old Days - Tollie 9022 - 9/64
Sunbeams - Good Old Days - Tollie 9022 - 9/64
Girl Group - Chicago
John Hockenhull
Later changed their name to The Emotions (Stax, Columbia etc). The Hutchinson sisters; Sheila, Wanda and Jeanette.