The Avons

Formed during their high school years in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1954, this skilled doo-wop ensemble initially performed as the Robins. Upon discovering a Los Angeles act already using that name, they adopted the Avons, taking the title from an English river. The original members were Bob Lea, Bill Lea, Wendell Lea, Curtis Norris, and Ervin Watson. The five singers rehearsed intensively before venturing onto local stages, and by 1955 they stood out as the most popular vocal group in the region. A nearby entrepreneur took on management duties and secured an audition before Bea Caslon, proprietor of Hull Records, who immediately added them to her fledgling roster alongside the Heartbeats, known for “A Thousand Miles Away” and, later, “Daddy’s Home” under Shep & the Limelites.

Although the Avons never matched the commercial reach of their labelmates, they secured a lasting place in doo-wop history through the 1956 release “Our Love Will Never Die,” followed by “Baby” in 1957 and “You’re So Close to Me” in 1958. Before the second single appeared, military conscription began thinning their ranks: bass singer Curtis Norris was drafted first and replaced by Franklin Cole, who was himself called up and succeeded by George Coleman; baritone Bill Lea was next to go, with Sunny Harley stepping in. Harley appears on the group’s last Hull session, “A Girl to Call My Own,” issued in 1962. Across the seven singles the label put out between 1955 and 1962, none reached the charts. Constant personnel shifts caused by selective service kept promotional photographs perpetually obsolete, and because the group confined its appearances to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, listeners elsewhere heard nothing from them during the years their records received airplay in those states. Only through later coverage in doo-wop literature, periodicals, and compact-disc compilations have the Avons gained the recognition they once sought as hopeful young performers.