Otis Williams and the Charms
| Otis Williams and the Charms | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Charms |
| Genres | Doo-wop |
| Years active | 1950s |
| Past members |
|
Otis Williams and the Charms were an American doo-wop vocal group in the 1950s, who were originally billed as The Charms. Williams is not related to Otis Williams of The Temptations.
Otis Williams (born June 2, 1936, in Cincinnati, Ohio) attended Withrow High School in Cincinnati, and in 1952 joined an existing singing group in the school when one of its members was sick. The other original members were Bob Smith (tenor) (later replaced by Donald Peak), Rolland Bradley (tenor), Joe Penn (baritone/tenor), and Richard Parker (bass).
The group, which Williams named The Charms, performed "Rags to Riches" in Withrow's well-known and highly acclaimed show The Withrow Minstrels in May 1954, where they were seen in the Monday night opening show [May 3] by Syd Nathan of King Records. Nathan only wanted to sign Williams, but Williams insisted on taking the rest of the group along. They signed immediately to a subsidiary label, Rockin' Records, based in Florida and owned by Henry Stone (later of TK Records), with Williams giving up a sports career to pursue singing instead. As a condition of their signing, Nathan required that The Charms pull out of The Minstrels, and so they did not appear in the subsequent 5 performances of the 1954 production.
The Charms' first record in June 1953, "Heaven Only Knows", was not a hit, and after a couple more releases they moved to another King subsidiary label, De Luxe Records, also run by Stone. They recorded several more times before, in 1954, "Hearts of Stone" gave them their first and biggest hit, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for nine weeks at the end of the year. It sold over one million copies, their first recording to do so, and was awarded a gold disc. It also reached #15 on the pop charts, with a cover version by the Fontane Sisters reaching #1.
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