Biography
With their very first release, "One Summer Night," the Danleers emerged among the late-'50s vocal ensembles that achieved the greatest commercial impact. The track, composed by the group's own songwriter and manager Danny Webb and captured at their initial studio date, climbed into the pop Top Ten while moving more than a million units. Like numerous other harmony outfits that coalesced on Brooklyn sidewalks, schoolyards, and apartment stairwells, the Danleers traced their roots to that borough. Formed originally as a five-man lineup—Jimmy Weston handling lead vocals, Nat McCune singing baritone, Roosevelt Mays on bass, and Johnny Lee and Will Ephraim as tenors—the ensemble gained further depth when Webb joined.
First issued on the Amp-3 imprint, "One Summer Night" generated immediate regional interest, prompting Mercury to pick up the master and re-release it in June 1958. Following an appearance at Alan Freed's Labor Day Extravaganza held at the Brooklyn Fox Theater, the Danleers received an offer to share bills with Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Eddie Cochran, Connie Francis, Dion & the Belmonts, Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Clyde McPhatter, and the Coasters on a coast-to-coast package tour.
That single, however, proved to be the Brooklyn act's sole major achievement. Three subsequent Mercury releases intended to build on its momentum fell short, leading the label to end the relationship. Weston later reconstituted the Danleers with an altered roster; the new configuration put out a pair of singles in the mid-'60s, yet neither restored the group's earlier visibility.
First issued on the Amp-3 imprint, "One Summer Night" generated immediate regional interest, prompting Mercury to pick up the master and re-release it in June 1958. Following an appearance at Alan Freed's Labor Day Extravaganza held at the Brooklyn Fox Theater, the Danleers received an offer to share bills with Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Eddie Cochran, Connie Francis, Dion & the Belmonts, Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Clyde McPhatter, and the Coasters on a coast-to-coast package tour.
That single, however, proved to be the Brooklyn act's sole major achievement. Three subsequent Mercury releases intended to build on its momentum fell short, leading the label to end the relationship. Weston later reconstituted the Danleers with an altered roster; the new configuration put out a pair of singles in the mid-'60s, yet neither restored the group's earlier visibility.
Albums
