Customer Reviews

Best of The Cadillacs

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Once again I have to find fault with a compilation that, although suggesting it represents "the best of" an artist, proceeds to leave off some bona fide hits. In this instance 50% of The Cadillacs' charters are omitted [with all due respect to the reviewer from Trenton, they had four charted hits].

From Harlem, New York, the group initially consisted of lead Earl Carroll, Gus Willingham, LaVern Drake, and John Clark, and they began their recording career with the Josie label in 1954 singing the slow doo-wop ballads that find so much favor among certain collectors today.

But they themselves preferred the faster, hard-rocking style epitomized in their first hit which came in 1956 - Speedoo (the nickname of lead Carroll). By this time Willingham and Clark had been replaced by Earl Wade, Robert Phillips, and Charles Brooks, and the song peaked at # 3 R&B/# 17 Billboard Top 100 in February 1956 b/w Let Me Explain (not here).

Ten months later they had their second hit with Gene Autry's Christmas classic, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer which, b/w Shacka Doo (neither included in this set), made it to # 11 R&B. On all four sides they were accompanied by Jesse Powell & His Orchestra.

A long stretch then ensued before they scored again with Peek-A-Boo. Backed by the Ossie Johnson Orchestra, and with new members James Bailey and Bobby Spencer replacing Drake and Brooks, it reached # 20 R&B/# 28 Billboard Hot 100 in January 1959 b/w Oh, Oh Lolita.

There would then be another two-year gap and a label switch to Smash before their last charter, What You Bet (# 30 R&B b/w You Are To Blame) - neither of which are in this set. By this time Carroll had left to join The Coasters and Spencer, who would go on to write My Boy Lollipop for Millie Small in 1964, became the new lead.

With a number of new personnel the Cadillacs would then go on to record, unsuccessfully insofar as charted hits are concerned, for Capitol, Mercury, and Polydor.

This is nice little collection that would have been made so much better by the inclusion of those missing hits and all four flipsides.

The Cadillacs were an immensely popular vocal group in New York City in the mid-50's despite achieving little national success. This CD contains the best of their releases on Josie between 1954 and 1960. Their only charted hits were "Speedo", uptempo doo-wop from 1955, and "Peek-A-Boo", uptempo Rock and Roll imitation of the Coasters from 1958. Other excellent tracks on this CD are "Gloria" - the classic doo-wop ballad, the uptempo doo-wop tunes "No Chance", "Down The Road", "Zoom" and "Woe Is Me", and the doo-wop ballad "You Are". Even the pop ballad number "Tell Me Today" with strings is a very good group effort. The only clunker track is the novelty tune "Please, Mr. Johnson" where the Cadillacs go too far imitating the Coasters. All other tracks are good to excellent 50's group music. The liner notes contain good historical information about the Cadillacs like the genesis of the two different touring/recording groups and lead singers using the Cadillac name, but there is no discography.

Great CD for the DooWoppers that really displays the professionalism of this group. Would have gone for 5 stars if it had "Sympathy" on the CD but it does not. Excellent CD anyway with their usual full orchestration and wonderful harmony backround. Buy it!!!

The Best of the Cadillacs is an essential recording for any Doo Wop collector/fan.
Lead by the great Earl Carroll and with a terrific backing band, the group romps through all its great songs and some lesser known numbers.
The recordings are all the original versions and, as with every Rhino collection, the sound quality is first rate.
The ample liner notes provide the details about the songs.

The Cadillacs were one of the greatest show groups of the doo-wop era and as anyone who has seen Earl "Speedo" Carroll and co. do their thing on PBS' "Doo Wop 50," they still are after all these years. But they also made excellent records. Doo Wop fanatics are pretty familiar with wonderful tunes like "Speedo" (which still gets you going some 45 years later), "Gloria," and "Zoom." But there are also some little-known gems as "Window Lady" and "Woe Is Me" (I love the fadeout on this one, you can't stop humming it to yourself). Oh yeah, see them in their prime (singing "Please Mr. Johnson" in a hilarious routine) in the Alan Freed film "Go Johnny Go."

This CD has been in my collection for over a decade. I still pull it out from time to time and spin back to a time when I was a toddler. Some of these tracks are beautiful like "The Girl I Love" with its sunny love-struck melody, "This I swear by heaven above, she'll always be the girl I love." "Peek-A-Boo" sounds like it served as inspiration for the Coasters. "Romeo" rocks with such dated bliss about a guy that attracts women like a magnet, "They're always trying to track me down just like a bloodhound." The opener "Gloria" is one of the classic heartbreak songs of the 50s and still puts a tear in your cream soda, "And you'll see, it's not Marie, it's Gloria; It's not Cherrie, it's Gloria, but she's not in love with me." "Down the Road" makes me shake my head side to side like rock-jazz with some smoking sax on the track. The popular "Speedo" is such a joyful track about a guy who blissfully moves fast for romance. This Rhino collection is a sunny disc that still puts a smile on my face. Enjoy!

The CD " The Cadillacs " was just what I needed to listen to when I drive my caddie. Lora