Groupe Doo Wop US originaire de Queens (New York), Shep And The Limelites ont été formé à la fin des années cinquante par James "Shep" Sheppard (24 Septembre 1935 - 24 Janvier 1970), Clarence Bassett (13 Mars 1936 - 25 Janvier 2005) et Charles Baskerville (6 Juillet 1936 - 18 Janvier 1995). Ils apportaient du nouveau en chantant sans voix de basse, mettant l'accent sur une harmonie à deux parties. James Sheppard connaitra une fin tragique, assassiné dans sa voiture le 24 Janvier 1970.

Shep & the Limelites' name will forever be etched in rock & roll history for recording the endearing "Daddy's Home," a tender ballad about returning from war that soared to number two on the pop charts in May 1961. James Sheppard's career began with the Heartbeats, a band from Jamaica, Queens, NY. (They were the Hearts until a female group from Harlem with the same name scored a minor hit called "Lonely Nights" in early 1955.) The Hearts would mimic songs by the Orioles, the Ravens, Five Keys, the Moonglows, the Larks, the Flamingos, and others. When not rehearsing, they competed with wannabes in parks and under street corner lamps. During one encounter they battled a group led by James Sheppard; impressed, the Hearts asked Sheppard to be their new lead.
The acquisition of Sheppard helped the Hearts twofold: not only could he blow, he also wrote gorgeous ballads. Shortly after he joined the Hearts, they became the Heartbeat Quintet and started playing clubs, weddings, graduations, ceremonies, and basement parties. Jazz saxophonist Illinois Jacquet befriended them and let them rehearse in his basement. Jacquet's brother arranged their first recording opportunity. "Tormented," a ballad written by Sheppard, was released on Network Records in Philadelphia, but lack of promotion killed any chance of success. After shortening their name to the Heartbeats, they came to the attention of William Miller, who worked for Hull Records. He introduced the quintet to owner Bea Caslin, who was impressed by their tight harmonies and Sheppard's songwriting skills; the group was soon signed to the label. Three initial releases sold well, particularly the magnificent "Your Way"; all were ballads written by Sheppard.
The minor successes of the recordings encouraged Hull Records to invest in professional choreography to tighten the band's stage presentation. Appearances at premier New York venues like the Brooklyn Fox and the Apollo had become common. To the surprise of Hull Records, fans called radio stations in record numbers demanding to hear the flip of "Baby Don't Go," the exquisite "A Thousand Miles Away." Sheppard's craving for an ex-girlfriend who moved to Texas had inspired "A Thousand." Not only did the song do well locally and regionally, it started selling nationwide. Bookings poured in, providing appearances with luminaries like Ray Charles, B.B. King, and the Flamingos. Touring, however, didn't prove lucrative, as they experienced an inordinate share of misfortunes including vehicle breakdowns and promoters leaving with the proceeds. "Daddy's Home" would be the Heartbeats' final Hull Record release.
Bea Caslin then sold the Heartbeats' contract and the publishing rights to the Roulette Record conglomerate. "I Won't Be the Fool Anymore" came out on Rama Records in 1957; after another Rama release, Roulette switched them to Gee Records, and eventually to Roulette itself. "500 Miles to Go" and "After New Year's Eve" were the most successful commercially, while "Down on My Knees" was the most notable artistically.
Problems within the group began to show: the last straw came when Sheppard passed out at the microphone in Philadelphia, and bandmate Al Crump sang the lyrics until Sheppard was able to continue. The group wanted to breakup after this embarrassment but had commitments, so the group sang on gigs as a quartet doing standards, and Sheppard appeared afterward to sing the Heartbeat hits. They did their last gig in 1959 at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., and Sheppard opened a restaurant in Jamaica, Queens, singing solo on the side.
Two years after the the Heartbeats' demise, Sheppard met some old friends -- Clarence Bassett and Charles Baskerville of the Videos -- and formed Shep & the Limelites. Bassett had also warbled with the Five Sharps. After two flops on Apt. Records, Shep returned to Hull Records and Caslin signed them on the spot. "Daddy's Home" was Shep & the Limelites' first Hull release and it nearly aced the pop chart, stopping at number two. (Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man" kept it from the top spot.) Hull released 12 Shep & the Limelites singles between 1961 and 1965. "Our Anniversary" went to number seven R&B in 1962 and was their only other chart success. Personal differences caused the Limelites to disband by 1966. Baskervlle joined the Players, and Bassett sang with the Flamingos. and later Creative Funk. Sheppard reunited with the Limelites in 1970 to perform on the oldie revival circuit, but this quickly ended when Sheppard was found on January 24, 1970, shot to death in his car on the Long Island expressway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shep_and_the_Limelites

Talents : James "Shep"  Sheppard : Lead - Clarence Bassett : Tenor - Charles Baskerville : Baritone

Style musical : Doo Wop, Rhythm 'n' Blues

Daddy's Home (1961) Ready For Your Love (1961) You'll Be Sorry (1961) Three Steps From The Altar (1961) Everything Is Going To Be Alright (1962)

Years in activity :

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles

Unissued Tracks

Albums

1962	LP 12" HULL 1000 (US)		Our Anniversary - Daddy's Home / This I Know / Ready For Your Love / You'll Be Sorry / What Did Daddy Do / Gee Baby What About You / Our Anniversary / Who Told The Sandman / Three Steps From The Altar / Oh' What A Feeling / Stick By Me (And I'll Stick By You) / I'm A Hurtin' Inside
1967	LP 12" ROULETTE 25350 (US)		Our Anniversary - Daddy's Home / This I Know / Ready For Your Love / You'll Be Sorry / What Did Daddy Do / Gee Baby What About You / Our Anniversary / Who Told The Sandman / Three Steps From The Altar / Oh' What A Feeling / Stick By Me (And I'll Stick By You) / I'm A Hurtin' Inside
1972	2 LP 12" ROULETTE RE-115 (US)		Echoes Of A Rock 'Era - The Groups - The Heartbeats / Shep & The Limelites : DISC 1 : Heartbeats : Crazy For You / Darling How Long / People Are Talking / Your Way / A Thousand Miles Away / Oh Baby Don't / I Won't Be The Fool Anymore / One Day Next Year / Lonely Lover / After New Year's Eve / Five Hundred Miles To Go / One Million Years DISC 2 : Shep & The Limelites : Daddy's Home / Ready For Your Love / You'll Be Sorry / What Did Daddy Do / Gee Baby, What About You / Our Anniversary / Three Steps From The Altar / I'm A Hurting Inside / Who Told The Sandman / For You My Love / I'm All Alone / Remember Baby
04/1990	CD Sequel NEM CD 643 (EUR)		THE BEST OF THE Heartbeats Including  SHEP & The LIMELITES - Heartbeats : A Thousand Miles Away / Crazy For You / Darling How Long / Your Way / People Are Talking / I Won't Be The Fool Anymore / Everybody's Somebody's Fool / I Want To Know / After New Year's Eve / SHEP & The LIMELITES : Daddy's Home / Heartbeats : 500 Miles To Go / Down On My Knees / I Found A Job / One Day Next Year / Lonely Lover / Sometimes I Wonder / SHEP & The LIMELITES : Three Steps From The Altar / What Did Daddy Do / Ready For Your Love / Our Anniversary
06/1992	3 CD COLLECTABLES 8805 (US)		For Collectors Only - THE Heartbeats - SHEP & THE LIMELITES : CD 1 : Heartbeats : A Thousand Miles Away / People Are Talking / Down On My Knees / It's All Right With Me / I Want To Know / Hands Off My Baby / Your Way / I Won't Be The Fool Anymore / Darling How Long / Lovin' Sickness / When I Found You / Sometimes I Wonder / I Found A Job / Rockin' & Rollin', Rhythm & Bluesin' / After New Year's Eve / One Day Next Year / Oh Baby Don't / 500 Miles To Go / Lonely Lover / Hurry Home Baby CD 2 : Heartbeats : Stars In The Sky / Crazy For You / Everybody's Somebody's Fool / Have Rock Will Roll / People Are Talking / Be Mine, Be Mine / Wedding Bells / Tell Me / Hydromatic Drive / Two Loving Hearts CD 3 : SHEP & The LIMELITES : Daddy's Home / One Week From Today / Three Steps From The Altar / Our Anniversary / Why, Why Won't You Believe Me / What Did Daddy Do? / Remember Baby / Gee Baby, What About You / This I Know / Ready For Your Love
11/1998	2 CD Westside WESD 204 (UK)		THE COMPLETE SHEP & THE LIMELITES - Daddy's Home to Stay : CD 1 : Daddy's Home / This I Know / Ready For Your Love / You'll Be Sorry / What Did Daddy Do? / Gee Baby, What About You / Our Anniversary / Who Told The Sandman / Three Steps From The Altar / Oh, What A Feeling / Stick By Me (And I'll Stick By You) / I'm Hurting Inside / Teach Me How To Twist / Everything Is Gonna Be Alright / Remember Baby / The Monkey / It's All Over Now / For You My Love / Steal Away (With Your Baby) / Easy To Remember / Why, Why Won't You Believe Me / I'm All Alone CD 2 : Why Did You Fall For Me? / Party For Two / You Better Believe / In Case I Forget / Two Loving Hearts / One Week From Today / I'm So Lonely / Take This Advice From Your Daddy / Makes No Difference (What You Are) / One Week From Today / Oh What A Feeling / Who Told The Sandman / Easy To Remember / I'm All Alone / Why Did You Fall For Me? / I'm A Hurting Inside / Gee Baby, What About You / Remember Baby / Two Loving Hearts / For You My Love
01/2001	2 CD COLLECTABLES 8826 (US)		Daddy's Home - The Very Best of Shep & the Limelites : CD 1 : Daddy's Home / Two Loving Hearts / Everything Is Gonna Be Alright / I'm A Hurting Inside / Gee Baby, What About You / This I Know / Party For Two / Too Young To Wed / Stick By Me (And I'll Stick By You) / You Better Believe / Why, Why Won't You Believe Me / Our Anniversary / Easy To Remember / Monkey / What Did Daddy Do? / In Case I Forgot / You'll Be Sorry / Why Did You Fall For Me? / Teach Me How To Twist / Daddy's Home CD 2 : What Did Daddy Do? / Who Told The Sandman / Three Steps From The Altar / Steal Away (With Your Baby) / Party For Two / I'm So Lonely / Ready For Your Love / I Am All Alone / For You My Love / Remember Baby / Our Anniversary / One Week From Today / Why, Why Won't You Believe Me / Oh What A Feeling / This I Know / It's All Over Now / Take This Advice From Your Daddy / Don't Let Our Love Slip By / Makes No Difference (What You Are)
07/2005	CD COLLECTABLES 9910 (US)		Daddy's Home - Daddy's Home / What Did Daddy Do / Gee Baby, What About You / Everything's Gonna Be Allright / Three Steps From The Altar / Ready For Your Love / I'm A Hurtin' Inside / Party For Two / Who Told The Sandman / Our Anniversary
04/2009	CD COLLECTABLES COL-CD-1350 (US)		Daddy's Home - Daddy's Home / Two Loving Hearts / Everything Is Gonna Be Alright / I'm A-Hurting Inside / Gee Baby, What About You / This I Know / Party For Two / Too Young To Wed / Stick By Me And I'll Stick By You / You Better Believe / Our Anniversary / Easy To Remember / Monkey / What Did Daddy Do / In Case I Forget / You'll Be Sorry / Three Steps From The Altar / Ready For Your Love / One Week From Today / Why, Why Won't You Believe Me
07/2009	CD COLLECTABLES COL-CD 1371 (US)		Shep & the Limelites Meet the Heartbeats - Shep & The Limelites : Daddy's Home / What Did Dady Do / Ready For Your Love / Our Anniversary / Three Steps From The Altar / Heartbeats : A Thousand Miles Away / Crazy For You / Your Way / Down On My Knees / Everybody's Somebody's Fool

© Rocky Productions 17/07/2018