Group from Queens,NY. formed in 1961 by Bob Freedman(Lead),Sam Wood(Bass),Billy D'Elia(1st Tenor),James Brady(Baritone) and Dominic D'Elia(Tenor).all they were catholics and jews and want recapture the sound of the early 50's rhythm & blues groups such as The Orioles or The Ravens.In 1962 they recorded some demos on tape and the next year one of these songs_Merry Christmas Baby. with Dom as Lead singer were realized on Dom Broadcast label.
Now in 1965 Sal Mondrone replaced Brady and Dom formed the Jet Records label and released the first acappella of the group_Deep In My Heart with the B side_Love My Baby.To Listen or Download please visit;http://www.zshare.net/audio/71808313ef7bf06a/
The group disbanded in 1969 and reformed in 1971 they recorded a complete album for Jet Records in 1974 under the tittle of_Sparrows Quartette-Rehearsal Session.
In 1973-74 Sal Mondrone recorded a solo recording under the group name of Mel Dark & The Giants(see in this blog).
Two more singles and two more LP's were released when finally the group disbanded again in 1975 later Dom and Billy form The Sharks Quintet and recorded three singles in the Sparrows style in 1983.the Sparrows members Sal,Dom,Billy and Bob reunited and have some life perfomances for UGHA in 1982.LISTEN...
More? go to Youtube...
1 comment:
Hi. Bob Friedman here. Puuullllease get the spelling rights. I was not a member of the original Sparrows. I came around in 1965. I had previously sung with two groups in Washington Heights, the DuVals and the Chambrays and then the Squires (on Gee). Have a bunch of tapes on all those groups. Gotta do something, right? I sang bass, not lead. I was on most of the Sparrows' recordings after Love My Baby. On the 78 rpm, Believe Me, Sam sang bass and I sang second tenor. I did the same on My Saddest Hour, when George Lavatelli sang bass. Also sang first tenor on It's Written in the Stars. I'm the bass on all the albums and on The Christmas Song, which I arranged. I wish there were more songs recorded when Sam was back with us. We sang Your My Inspiration, If Loving You is Wrong and others as a quintet but no recordings. I have a few that have not been burned and I'm sure Dom has many. I'd love to hear So Much, the Bachelors on Aladdin and the Heartbreakers on RCA.
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