Biography
Although the Calvanes committed only a modest number of singles to tape, they remain embedded in doo wop lore. At Manual Arts High School in South Central Los Angeles, Carlye Dundee, Bobby Adams, Sterling Meade, Stewart Crunk, and Jack Harris first assembled. In 1954 the naturally pop-oriented quintet cut “Never/Evil One” for Space Records under the billing Carlyle Dundee & the Dundees; when the disc failed to register, Dundee departed, leaving the remaining quartet to wax “Bob Bop Baby/Little Girl” for the same label as the Wonders, again with Adams out front. Both efforts vanished without impact, and the group dissolved.
By 1955 Crunk and Adams, still driven by the music, reassembled with Jack Harris, Joe Hampton, and Herman Pruitt. Crunk plucked the name Calvanes from the air, an arbitrary choice valued solely for its sound. The foursome drilled intensively on Four Freshmen material, their principal stylistic model. In 1956 they signed with Dootsie Williams’s Dootone label, also based in South Central Los Angeles. Although their strongest abilities lay in straight pop, Williams steered them toward R&B, a direction reflecting his established contacts among rhythm-and-blues disc jockeys and distributors rather than any pop-marketing strategy.
Across seven sides recorded for Dootone, only two couplings saw release: “Don’t Take Your Love (From Me)/Crazy Over You” and “Florabelle/One Kiss.” Pressings of “Flee-O-Wee/They Call Me Fool” circulate, yet they stem from bootlegs; Dootone never sanctioned the pairing. “Don’t Take Your Love (From Me),” a regional success and the group’s most enduring track, featured Pruitt on lead for both sides and earned the Calvanes an appearance on Hunter Hancock’s Rhythm & Bluesville program. The follow-up, “Florabelle,” sank without trace and remains absent from every known vinyl, cassette, or CD issue; rumor attributes its recording to a favor for the disc jockey who wrote it, a track disliked by the group, Williams, and listeners alike. Reconfigured as a quartet in 1958, the Calvanes delivered two singles for Hite Morgan’s Deck label—“Dream World/5, 7 or 9” and “My Love Song/Horror Movies.”
Pruitt handled lead on “Dream World” and “My Love Song,” Fred Willis fronted “Horror Movies,” and Willis and Crunk shared “5, 7 or 9.” “Dream World” drew modest airplay yet still fell short of a national hit. Between the Dootone and Deck sessions, Pruitt joined the Youngsters—alongside Donald Miller, Charles Everidge, James Warren, Homer Green, and Harold Murray—to record “Dreamy Eyes/Christmas in Jail” and “Dreamy Eyes/I’m Sorry Now” for Empire in 1956–1957. In 1959 Adams teamed with Rodney Gooden, Val Polluto, and two additional singers as the Hitmakers, cutting “Chapel of Love/Cool School” for Original Soul. Pruitt later rejoined Adams, Freddie Willis, and newcomer Sidney Dunbar in the Nuggets, which issued two RCA couplings in 1961–1962: “Angel on the Dance Floor/Before We Say Goodnight” and “Cap Snapper/Just a Friend.” None charted. Discouraged, the members abandoned professional music for conventional employment. Their limited earnings from the road had included only a handful of Johnny Otis Show dates and scattered television spots. Adams became a police officer and served as bodyguard to Mayor Tom Bradley; the others held steady but unremarkable positions in the Los Angeles area.
The Calvanes reconvened in 1990 and have since appeared on numerous Southern California oldies and doo wop revivals. They also released a fresh single on Classic Artists—“Take Me Back” backed with “Have You No Heart.” All of their issued sides except “Florabelle” now appear on various compilation CDs. They are widely regarded as the most polished doo wop ensemble to emerge from Southern California.
By 1955 Crunk and Adams, still driven by the music, reassembled with Jack Harris, Joe Hampton, and Herman Pruitt. Crunk plucked the name Calvanes from the air, an arbitrary choice valued solely for its sound. The foursome drilled intensively on Four Freshmen material, their principal stylistic model. In 1956 they signed with Dootsie Williams’s Dootone label, also based in South Central Los Angeles. Although their strongest abilities lay in straight pop, Williams steered them toward R&B, a direction reflecting his established contacts among rhythm-and-blues disc jockeys and distributors rather than any pop-marketing strategy.
Across seven sides recorded for Dootone, only two couplings saw release: “Don’t Take Your Love (From Me)/Crazy Over You” and “Florabelle/One Kiss.” Pressings of “Flee-O-Wee/They Call Me Fool” circulate, yet they stem from bootlegs; Dootone never sanctioned the pairing. “Don’t Take Your Love (From Me),” a regional success and the group’s most enduring track, featured Pruitt on lead for both sides and earned the Calvanes an appearance on Hunter Hancock’s Rhythm & Bluesville program. The follow-up, “Florabelle,” sank without trace and remains absent from every known vinyl, cassette, or CD issue; rumor attributes its recording to a favor for the disc jockey who wrote it, a track disliked by the group, Williams, and listeners alike. Reconfigured as a quartet in 1958, the Calvanes delivered two singles for Hite Morgan’s Deck label—“Dream World/5, 7 or 9” and “My Love Song/Horror Movies.”
Pruitt handled lead on “Dream World” and “My Love Song,” Fred Willis fronted “Horror Movies,” and Willis and Crunk shared “5, 7 or 9.” “Dream World” drew modest airplay yet still fell short of a national hit. Between the Dootone and Deck sessions, Pruitt joined the Youngsters—alongside Donald Miller, Charles Everidge, James Warren, Homer Green, and Harold Murray—to record “Dreamy Eyes/Christmas in Jail” and “Dreamy Eyes/I’m Sorry Now” for Empire in 1956–1957. In 1959 Adams teamed with Rodney Gooden, Val Polluto, and two additional singers as the Hitmakers, cutting “Chapel of Love/Cool School” for Original Soul. Pruitt later rejoined Adams, Freddie Willis, and newcomer Sidney Dunbar in the Nuggets, which issued two RCA couplings in 1961–1962: “Angel on the Dance Floor/Before We Say Goodnight” and “Cap Snapper/Just a Friend.” None charted. Discouraged, the members abandoned professional music for conventional employment. Their limited earnings from the road had included only a handful of Johnny Otis Show dates and scattered television spots. Adams became a police officer and served as bodyguard to Mayor Tom Bradley; the others held steady but unremarkable positions in the Los Angeles area.
The Calvanes reconvened in 1990 and have since appeared on numerous Southern California oldies and doo wop revivals. They also released a fresh single on Classic Artists—“Take Me Back” backed with “Have You No Heart.” All of their issued sides except “Florabelle” now appear on various compilation CDs. They are widely regarded as the most polished doo wop ensemble to emerge from Southern California.
Albums
