Brooklyn-based R&B ensemble the Quinns originated at the Brownsville Community Center in 1954, as noted in Marv Goldberg’s February 1998 Discoveries profile. Founding members Johnny “Dusty” Moye on second tenor, Gerald Johnson on baritone, and Leon McClain on bass auditioned a rotating cast of leads before adding tenors Donald Lawrence and Freddy Brown in mid-1956. First known as the Quintones, the singers honed their craft at neighborhood talent contests and then performed for Atco Records chief Herb Abramson, who immediately offered a contract. Abramson initially placed them behind blues legend Jimmy Witherspoon on “Still My Love,” yet the Quintones soon fell out of contact with the label and ended the arrangement by spring 1957. Moye departed shortly afterward; Freddy Brown’s brother Richie joined as second tenor, prompting the name change to the Quinns to sidestep name clashes with other Quintones acts then recording elsewhere.
Following guidance from fellow Brooklyn group the Paragons, the quintet contacted Winley Records proprietor Paul Winley and recorded its first official single, “Oh Starlight,” during summer 1957. The release made little commercial impact, though the group continued performing at New York City supper clubs. Lawrence’s legal troubles in 1958 led to his replacement by lead singer Francis “Frenchie” Concepcion. Two years later, dissatisfaction with the group’s progress prompted McClain to leave for postal work; Henry Thomas took over on bass, and the revised lineup held its last studio date in late 1960. Tracks from that session, “Unfaithful” and “Who Stole the Cookies?,” surfaced on the Relic label in 1965, long after the Quinns had disbanded. In 1974, Freddy and Richie Brown reemerged in Final Touch, whose single “It’s Spinning Love” appeared on Blue Thumb.
