Harptones Collection 1953-61

• Tracklisting

The Harptones were one of the many doowop vocal groups to emerge from New York City in the early '50s, and although they did not have an illustrious chart career, they were one of the most consistently admired and popular groups, both with the contemporary market of the times and with doowop fans and critics in more recent years. With the distinctive tenor voice of Willie Winfield almost always to the fore, they produced a string of polished and classy performances on record through the 1950s, hampered in their search for chart success by recording for a variety of small and under-resourced record companies. This great-value 54-track 2-CD set comprises A and B sides of singles for the Bruce, Essex, X, Paradise, Andrea, Rama, Gee, Tip Top, Domme, Warwick, Coed, Companion and Cub labels during this era, and features their best-known recordings such as "A Sunday Kind of Love", "Why Should I Love You?", "Life is But a Dream", "The Shrine of St. Cecilia", and "What Will I Tell My Heart". As well as their own recordings it includes performances with Bunny Paul, The Woodside Sisters, Mabel King, Raoul Cita Chorus, Ruth McFadden, Carol Blades and Valli Hilton, on which they were either named featured artists or backing vocalists. It's a worthy showcase for one of doowop's most stylish exponents.