The Capris (Philadelphia group)
| The Capris | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Philadelphia |
| Years active | 1950s |
| Labels |
Gotham Records 20th Century |
| Past members |
Ruben Wright Charlie Stroud Eddie Warner Harrison Scott Bobby Smart Renee Hinton Herb Johnson Fred Hale |
The Capris were a 1950s doo-wop group from Philadelphia who started out in their teens. They consisted of four males and a female. They recorded singles for the Gotham Records label. The song they're most known for is "God Only Knows".
The group originally started out in the early 1950s as The Uniques. They all came from the same neighborhood. The early line-up consisted of Ruben Wright on piano, Harrison Scott on alto sax, Robert "Bobby" Smart on guitar, Gus Crawford the drummer, a bass player called Jerome and a male singer whose name has now been lost to time. Later, as the Capris, they were a quintet consisting of five male singers. The original lineup was Ruben Wright, Charlie Stroud, Eddie Warner, Harrison Scott and Bobby Smart. At that time the group's ages ranged from 15 to 16. Charlie Stroud left the group and they carried on for a little while as a quartet. Looking for a replacement, they came across Renee Hinton who had been singing in The Lovettes, a girl group. It was Ruben Wright who came up with name The Capris. The group did some rehearsals at Hinton's home because there was a piano there. Herb Johnson also sang with the group.
In June 1954, the group were signed to Gotham. The group recorded the original song "God Only Knows", featuring Renee Hinton's lead. They also recorded five other songs, which included "Too Poor To Love", "Let's Linger A While", and "That's What You're Doing To Me".
Their debut song "God Only Knows" got good airplay on the East Coast and became a local hit. The group also appeared on radio and television.
Two singles following their debut single were released by Gotham, "It Was Moonglow" with the B-side "Too Poor To Love" in late 1954, and then "It's a Miracle" with "Let's Linger Awhile". The singles never really got anywhere and they weren't covered in the Billboard reviews.
In the mid-1950s, Ruben Wright and other members of the group entered into military service. After having returned in or around 1958, they re-grouped and took on Fred Hale as a replacement for Harrison Scott, who was now touring with another band. With Renee Hinton on lead, they recorded "My Weakness" with the B-side "Yes, My Baby, Please", which was released on Irvin Basllen's 20th Century label. That record also didn't go anywhere, and the group finished up.
For a time, Renee Hinton went back to her old group, The Lovettes, who by this time had changed their name to The Laraes and did the show rounds at roller-skating rinks.
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