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The Ames Brothers were an American singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop hits.[1]
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2017) |
The Ames Brothers | |
|---|---|
 The Ames Brothers in 1955. Clockwise from top: Ed, Vic, Joe and Gene | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Malden, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | Traditional pop |
| Years active | 1947–1963 |
| Labels | Decca, Coral, RCA Victor |
| Past members | Ed Ames Vic Ames Joe Ames Gene Ames |
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The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachusetts. Joe (May 3, 1921 – December 22, 2007),[1] Gene (February 13, 1924 – April 26, 1997), Vic (May 20, 1925 – January 23, 1978), and Ed (July 9, 1927 – May 21, 2023)[2] formed the singing group the Amory Brothers, which would become the Ames Brothers.
Born into a non-professional but musically talented family, the boys were raised to enjoy classical music and operatic music. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were Russian Jewish immigrants from Ukraine who read Shakespeare and semi-classics to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen.
Three of the brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring United States Army and Navy bases entertaining the troops when they were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds nightclub, one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. This one-week engagement turned into several months when positive word-of-mouth about their appearance got around. At the time, they were using Vic's middle name and calling themselves the Amory Brothers. They were becoming quite popular in the area and it was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. Taking their act to New York City, they got a job with bandleader Art Mooney. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler of Decca Records overheard them singing it and asked them to cut a few sides for Decca Records, just before the AFM recording ban which James Petrillo imposed in January 1948. The ban was lifted a year later. The brothers shortened Amory to Ames and became the first artists to record for the newly founded Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca.[citation needed]
The group sang on Robert Q. Lewis's radio program until it was cut from one hour to 15 minutes. In late February 1949 they began performing on Sing It Again, a musical quiz program on CBS radio.[3]
The brothers were swept into national top billing with their first hit record, "Rag Mop", in January 1950.[4] Doing radio shows for free at times, just for the experience, they later became regulars on such shows as Arthur Godfrey and His Friends. One of the first acts to appear on the original The Ed Sullivan Show when it was known as Toast of the Town, the foursome made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from Wanamaker's Department Store.
Soon, the Ames Brothers were the top paid group in nightclubs and supper clubs everywhere and their popularity on television was nationwide. In 1956, they starred in their own syndicated TV program, The Ames Brothers Show, sponsored by RC Cola and broadcast on Friday nights. It was the first syndicated TV show to be broadcast in foreign countries. The brothers also appeared on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.
Over their fifteen-year career, the Ames Brothers prolific work notched up 49 US chart entries, 21 of them on the Coral label before signing with RCA Victor in 1953. The quartet disbanded in 1963, but Ed Ames continued with a successful singing and acting career, including playing Daniel Boone's sidekick, Mingo, on the popular Daniel Boone television series.
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They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
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Vic died in a car accident in 1978 at age 52,[5] Gene died of cancer in 1997 at age 73,[6] and Joe died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 86.[7] Ed, the last surviving member, died in 2023 at the age of 95.[8]
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Singles
NOTE: Repeat titles of Coral tracks shown below are standard singles and not under Coral's "Silver Star Series" reissue line
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated |
Chart positions | Album Standard 12" records except where indicated | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Singles Charts | Cashbox Singles Charts | UK[9] | |||
| 1947 | "Caravan" b/w "There Is No Breeze" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| "Goodnight My Love" b/w "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream" Above two singles shown as "The Armory Brothers" |
— | — | — | ||
| 1948 | "Tell Me a Story" b/w "If You Had All the World and Its Gold" |
— | — | — | |
| "A Tree in the Meadow" (with Monica Lewis) b/w "On the Street of Regret" |
21 | — | — | ||
| "Where the Apple Blossoms Fall" b/w "If I Live to Be a Hundred" Both tracks with Monica Lewis |
— | — | — | ||
| 1949 | "You, You, You Are the One" b/w "More Beer" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP) |
23 | — | — | |
| "I'm Just Wild About Harry" b/w "Good Fellow Medley" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Far Away Places" b/w "Lorelei" (from Sentimental Me 10" LP) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Cruising Down the River" b/w "Clancy Lowered the Boom" (Non-album track) |
29 | — | — | Favorite Songs (10" LP) | |
| "It Only Happens Once" b/w "You Can't Buy Happiness" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Barroom Polka" b/w "We'll Still Be Honeymooning" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | Hoop-De-Doo (10" LP) | |
| "St. Bernard Waltz" b/w "Oh, You Sweet One" (from Favorite Songs 10" LP) |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Lingering Down the Lane" b/w "Still Waters and Green Pastures" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | Sentimental Me (10" LP) | |
| "Noah's Ark" b/w "Tears of Happiness" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | Hoop-De-Doo (10" LP) | |
| "Good Fellow Medley"—Part 1 b/w Part 2 |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "White Christmas" b/w "Winter Wonderland" |
— | — | — | Christmas Harmony | |
| 1950 | "Sentimental Me" b/w "Blue Prelude" (from Favorite Songs 10" LP) |
— | — | — | Sentimental Me (10" LP) |
| "Rag Mop" / | 1 | — | — | Hoop-Dee-Doo (10" LP) | |
| "Sentimental Me" | 1 | — | — | Sentimental Me (10" LP) | |
| "(Put Another Nickel In) Music! Music! Music!" b/w "I Love Her Oh! Oh! Oh!" |
14 | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "I Didn't Kiss the Blarney Stone" b/w "Clancy Lowered the Boom" |
— | — | — | ||
| "(Fifi) Bring Her Out Again" b/w "(Lift Your Glass) Sing Until the Cows Come Home" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Dormi, Dormi" b/w "Marianna" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP) |
— | — | — | Sentimental Me (10" LP) | |
| "Stars Are the Windows of Heaven" b/w "Hoop Dee Doo" (from Hoop-De-Doo 10" LP) |
17 | — | — | ||
| "Can Anyone Explain? (No, No, No)" b/w "Sittin' 'N Starin' 'N Rockin'" (Non-album track) |
5 | — | — | ||
| "Twelve Days of Christmas" b/w "Wassail Song" |
— | — | — | Sing a Song of Christmas (10" LP) | |
| "Silent Night" b/w "Adeste Fidelis" |
— | — | — | Christmas Harmony | |
| "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" b/w "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Thirsty for Your Kisses" b/w "I Don't Mind Being All Alone" (from Sentimental Me 10" LP) |
26 | — | — | Favorite Songs (10" LP) | |
| "Oh Babe!" b/w "To Think You've Chosen Me" (from Sentimental Me 10" LP) |
20 | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "The Thing" b/w "Music by the Angels" (from The Ames Brothers) |
29 | — | — | ||
| 1951 | "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland" b/w "Moonlight Bay" |
— | — | — | In the Evening by the Moonlight (10" LP) |
| "Love's Old Sweet Song" b/w "Because" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Music by the Angels" b/w "Loving Is Believing" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | The Ames Brothers | |
| "More Than I Care to Remember" b/w "Three Dollars and Ninety-eight Cents" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Sentimental Me" b/w "Dormi, Dormi" |
— | — | — | Sentimental Me (10" LP) | |
| "Can Anyone Explain (No, No, No)" b/w "Lingering Down the Lane" |
— | — | — | ||
| "To Think You've Chosen Me" b/w "Lorelei" |
— | — | — | ||
| "I Don't Mind Being All Alone" b/w "Stars Are the Windows of Heaven" |
— | — | — | ||
| "My Love Seranade" b/w "I Love You Much Too Much" (from The Ames Brothers) |
— | — | — | My Love Serenade | |
| "Too Many Women" b/w "Somewhere There Must Be Happiness" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Wang Wang Blues" b/w "Who'll Take My Place (When I'm Gone)" |
16 | — | — | My Love Serenade | |
| "Hawaiian War Chant" b/w "Sweet Leilani" |
21 | — | — | Sweet Leilani (10" LP) | |
| "To You Sweetheart, Aloha" b/w "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Song of the Islands" b/w "Sing Me a Song of the Islands" |
— | — | — | ||
| "The Moon of Manakoora" b/w "Blue Hawaii" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Only, Only You" b/w "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Undecided" / | 2 | — | — | Our Golden Favorites | |
| "Sentimental Journey" | 23 | — | — | ||
| "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" b/w "Ting-a-Ling-a-Jingle" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| 1952 | "I Wanna Love You" / | 19 | — | — | |
| "I'll Still Love You" | 29 | — | — | The Ames Brothers | |
| "Mother, at Your Feet Is Kneeling" b/w "Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Dry Bones" b/w "Deep River" |
— | — | — | Favorite Spirituals (10" LP) | |
| "Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho" b/w "Go Down Moses" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Stardust" b/w "Crazy 'Cause I Love You" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | Our Golden Favorites | |
| "The Sheik of Araby" b/w "And So I Waited Around" (Non-album track) |
— | 18 | — | The Ames Brothers | |
| "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" b/w "Break the Bands That Bind Me" (Non-album track) |
13 | — | — | Favorite Songs (10" LP) | |
| "String Along" b/w "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" |
1t | 16 | — | ||
| "My Favorite Song" b/w "Al-Lee-O Al-Lee-Ay" (Non-album track) |
15 | 12 | — | ||
| "Sing a Song of Santa Claus" b/w "Winter's Here Again" |
— | — | — | Christmas Harmony | |
| 1953 | "No Moon at All" b/w "Do Nothin' till You Hear from Me" |
21 | 19 | — | Non-album tracks |
| "You Are My Sunshine" b/w "Rye Whiskey" |
— | — | — | Home on the Range (10" LP) | |
| "Can't I?" b/w "Lonely Wine" (Non-album track) |
23 | — | — | My Love Serenade | |
| "Candy Bar Boogie" b/w "At the End of a Rainbow" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | The Ames Brothers | |
| "Always In My Dreams" b/w "This Is Fiesta" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "You, You, You" b/w "Once Upon a Time" (Non-album track) |
1 | 1 | — | The Best of the Ames Brothers | |
| "Lazy River" b/w "Stardust" (from Our Golden Favorites) |
— | — | — | My Love Serenade | |
| "My Love, My Life, My Happiness" b/w "If You Want My Heart" |
29 | 19 | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" / | 22 | 40 | — | Sweet and Swing | |
| "Boogie Woogie Maxixe" | — | 25 | — | Non-album track | |
| 1954 | "The Man with the Banjo" / | 6 | 8 | — | The Best of the Ames Brothers |
| "Man, Man, Is For The Woman Made" | 30 | 25 | — | For Sentimental Reasons | |
| "Don't Believe a Word They Say" b/w "Don't Lie to Me" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Leave It to Your Heart" / | 29 | 27 | — | Sweet and Swing | |
| "Let's Walk and Talk" | — | 48 | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Hopelessly" / | 26 | — | — | ||
| "One More Time" | — | 44 | — | ||
| "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" / | 3 | 3 | 6 | The Best of the Ames Brothers | |
| "Addio" | — | 40 | — | Non-album tracks | |
| 1955 | "Sweet Brown-Eyed Baby" b/w "Sympathetic Eyes" |
— | 28 | — | |
| "Gotta Be This or That" b/w "Southern Cross" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | The Ames Brothers (RCA) | |
| "My Bonnie Lassie" b/w "So Will I" (Non-album track) |
11 | 16 | — | Sweet and Swing | |
| "The Next Time It Happens" b/w "My Love, Your Love" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | ||
| 1956 | "Forever Darling" / | 35 | 27 | — | It's Show Time |
| "I'm Gonna Love You" | 84 | — | — | Non-album track | |
| "It Only Hurts for a Little While" / | 11 | 14 | — | Sweet and Swing | |
| "If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight" | 89 | — | — | ||
| "49 Shades of Green" / | 49 | — | — | ||
| "Summer Sweetheart" | 67 | — | — | ||
| "I Saw Esau" b/w "The Game of Love" |
51 | — | — | ||
| 1957 | "I Know Only One Way to Love You" b/w "Did You Ever Get the Roses" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (It's So Good)" b/w "Man on Fire" (from It's Show Time) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Tammy" / | 5 | 10 | — | The Best of the Ames Brothers | |
| "Rockin' Shoes" | 64 | 41 | — | Non-album track | |
| "Melodie D'Amour (Melody of Love)" b/w "So Little Time" (Non-album track) |
5 | 7 | — | The Best of the Ames Brothers | |
| 1958 | "Little Gypsy" b/w "In Love" |
67 | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| "A Very Precious Love" b/w "Don't Leave Me Now" (from For Sentimental Reasons) |
23 | 53 | — | The Best of the Ames Brothers | |
| "Stay" / | 90 | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Little Serenade" | 98 | 45 | — | ||
| "Pussy Cat" / | 17 | 36 | — | ||
| "No One But You (In My Heart)" | 45 | 34 | — | ||
| "It's Only a Paper Moon" b/w "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" (from Sweet Seventeen) |
— | — | — | Destination Moon | |
| "Red River Rose" b/w "When the Summer Comes Again" |
37 | 33 | — | Non-album tracks | |
| 1959 | "Dancin' in the Streets" b/w "(Yes, I Need) Only Your Love" |
— | — | — | |
| "Someone to Come Home to" b/w "Mason-Dixon Line" |
78 | 84 | — | ||
| "Now It's Me" b/w "Now Hear This" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Take Me Along" b/w "What Do I Hear" |
— | 124 | — | ||
| 1960 | "China Doll" b/w "Christopher Sunday" |
38 | 69 | — | |
| "Me Lo Dijo Adela" b/w "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" |
— | — | — | Hello Amigos | |
| "A Happy Pair" b/w "Carnival" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
| "Ring Them Bells" b/w "You Are My Love" |
— | — | — | ||
| "Where the Hot Wind Blows" b/w "Suzie Wong" |
— | — | — | ||
| 1961 | "A Kiss from Cora" b/w "Asking for You" |
— | — | — | |
| 1962 | "Love Me with All Your Heart" b/w "Love Is an Ocean (Of Emotion)" |
— | — | — | |
| 1963 | "The Wrong Man" b/w "Surrender, Surrender" |
— | — | — | |
| "Washington Square" b/w "Knees Up Mother Brown" (from Knees Up! Mother Brown) |
129 | — | — | ||
Albums
- Sing a Song of Christmas (1950)
- Sweet Leilani (1951)
- Sentimental Me (1951)
- Home on the Range (1952)
- Favorite Spirituals (1952)
- Hoop-De-Doo (1952)
- In the Evening by the Moonlight (1953)
- Love's Old Sweet Songs (1955)
- The Magic Melting Pot of Melody with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra (1956)
- Exactly Like You with Joe Reisman and His Orchestra (1956)
- The Ames Brothers with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra (1956)
- My Love Serenade (1957)
- The Sounds of Christmas Harmony (1957)
- There'll Always Be a Christmas with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1957)
- Destination Moon with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1958)
- Smoochin' Time with Sid Ramin's Orchestra (1958)
- The Best of the Ames (1958)
- The Ames Brothers Sing the Best in the Country (1959)
- The Ames Brothers Sing Famous Hits of Famous Quartets with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra (1959)
- Hello Amigos with Esquivel's Orchestra (1960)
- The Blend and the Beat (1960)
- Hello Italy! (arranged by Bill McElhiney) (1963)
- Knees Up! Mother Brown (1963)
- For Sentimental Reasons (1964)
- Down Memory Lane with the Ames Brothers (1964)
- This Is The Ames Brothers (1972)
- The Best of the Ames (1975; reissue of the 1958 LP)
- The Very Best Of The Ames Brothers (1998)
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