The Viscaynes
| The Viscaynes | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Biscaynes The Vi-Tones The Viscaines |
| Origin | Vallejo, California |
| Genres | Doo-wop |
| Years active | 1961 |
| Labels | Tropo, VPM |
| Associated acts | The Vicounts, The Ramblers, Joe Piazza and the Continentals |
| Past members | Frank Arellano Maria Boldway Charlie Gebhardt Vern Gebhardt Charlene Imhoff Mike Stevens Sylvester Stewart |
The Viscaynes were a Doo wop group from San Francisco that released a few singles in the early 1960s. They also had a regional hit with the song "Yellow Moon". One of their members Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone would front the multi-racial group Sly & the Family Stone. They were unique in being one of the very few integrated doo-wop groups of their time.
The Viscaynes were a high school group that Sylvester Stewart became a member of. He joined them in or around 1961 when he was 17. The make up of the group consisted of two white females, two, white males, a Filipino male (Frank Arellano ) and Stewart. According to Rickey Vincent's book, Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers' Band and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music, they were the only integrated doo-wop vocal act around. There was a romance going on in the group between Stewart and one of the girl singers, believed to be Maria Boldway.
The history given by the Rockportraits website is, in late 1959, a group called The Webs which Stewart formed at the age of 16 had merged with The Viscounts. The Viscounts like The Webs were a Vallejo High School vocal group. At this time the line up consisted of Frank Arellano, Charlene Imhoff, Sylvester Stewart, Maria "Ri" Boldway and Charles and Vern Gebhardt who were brothers. Also at this time the group was still known as The Viscounts. Due to another group already known as The Viscounts who had a hit with "Harlem Nocturne", and possible confusion with that band, they changed their name to The Viscaynes. The idea for their name came from the Chevrolet car model Biscayne. The B was removed and replaced with V because V is for Vallejo which is where they came from. By 1961 the line up consisted of Frank Arellano, Charlene Imhoff, Sylvester Stewart, Ria Boldway, Charlie Gebhardt and new member Mike Stevens possibly having replaced Vern Gebhardt.
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