The El Dorados
This Chicago, Illinois R&B vocal group achieved fame with one of the great jump tracks of the early rock ‘n’ roll era, At My Front Door, also called Crazy Little Mama. Members on that hit were Pirkle Lee Moses (lead), Louis Bradley (second tenor), Jewel Jones (first tenor), James Maddox (baritone), and Richard Nickens (bass). The group was formed in 1952, and signed with VeeJay Records in 1954. The El Dorados achieved nothing but local hits until scoring with At My Front Door in 1955, when it went to number 2 R&B and number 17 pop. The group's only other chart record was the mid-tempo I'll Be Forever Loving You (number 8 R&B 1956). The group reorganized in 1958, when Pirkle Lee Moses was abandoned by the other members and recruited a new group from another Vee Jay group, the Kool Gents, whose lead, Dee Clark, had just deserted them. The new El Dorados besides Moses were Doug Brown, John McCall, and Teddy Long, but not having clicked with further releases, this group broke up in 1959. Despite the El Dorados’ meagre chart success most of their records have been cherished by doo-wop fans, who find the group not only one of the more soulful sounding of the '50s doo-wop ensembles but equally adept at both ballads (notably I Began To Realize) and jumps (typically Bim Bam Boom). The group took, perhaps unconsciously, a music that most observers consider nothing more than a commercial entertainment and created a profound and genuine folk art. Both Teddy Long and Richard Nickens died in 1991.