Emerging from Chicago, the Sheppards ranked among the most unfortunate soul ensembles in history. Under the leadership of Murrie Eskridge and Millard Edwards, they devoted a decade to capturing public attention without success, yet produced outstanding recordings along the way. The lineup originated in 1959 when members of the earlier Ballads and Bel Aires outfits—whose Decca release “Rockin’ and Strollin’” had already appeared—merged their talents. Joining Eskridge’s full, soulful wail and Edwards’s smoother delivery were baritone Jimmy Allen, bass Dennis Isaac, second tenor O.C. Perkins, and guitarist Kermit Chandler. Edwards, Perkins, and Chandler also supplied original material, giving the group a distinctive edge over most contemporaries.
In late 1958 the sextet adopted the name the Sheppards and signed with Apex Records, the label owned by Bill “Bunky” Sheppard, who had produced the Bel Aires single. Their debut, “Island of Love,” showcased Edwards on lead and climbed into Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” chart during the summer of 1959. While the A-side represented classic doo wop, the B-side “Never Felt Like This Before” spotlighted Eskridge’s impassioned vocal—reminiscent of a more fervent Jackie Wilson—and pointed toward emerging soul sounds. Subsequent Apex singles followed, among them “Come Home Come Home,” which earned regional airplay and local sales in the Midwest without reaching national audiences or chart positions. Their Apex era peaked with the achingly beautiful ballad “Tragic,” which secured an appearance on American Bandstand—their greatest national exposure—and became the group’s best-known track, one that routinely prompts listeners outside soul circles to seek the performers’ identity.
By then the Sheppards had honed a polished, commercial approach that placed them alongside the era’s leading soul acts; “Come to Me” evokes the Ben E. King/Rudy Lewis-era Drifters more closely than many of the Drifters’ own recordings, yet remained overlooked. In 1962 Sheppard moved the group to his newly formed Pam label, co-founded with Carl Davis, whose earlier credit included Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl.” Pam’s first Sheppards single, “Give a Hug to Me,” succeeded locally in Chicago but failed to travel beyond the city. A short stint with Vee-Jay Records likewise failed to elevate their profile, and by the mid-1960s they recorded for Constellation Records, which reissued earlier material alongside previously unissued tracks on an LP. Through Davis they also placed the 1963 single “Pretend You’re Still Mine” on OKeh.
Their final release, “Stubborn Heart,” appeared in 1967, though the group’s style had grown dated for contemporary competition. Around that period Edwards departed for a solo career as Mill Evans on the King label, reducing the Sheppards to a quartet. The ensemble disbanded by decade’s end, yet Chicago support prompted a 1980 LP reissue that Time magazine named among the year’s Top Ten reissues. Collectables Records later reissued that album, Golden Classics, in 1994.
