Artist:The Heartbeats
Song:A Thousand Miles Away
Album:The Doo Wop Box
The 1956 smash hit A Thousand Miles Away was the one big hit for doo wop group The Heartbeats. They are not to be confused with the British Invasion group of the same name. The Heartbeats were led by lead singer James "Shep" Sheppard. He was born Sept. 24, 1935 in Queens, NY. He sang with his group on local streetcorners. They were originally called The Hearts but had to change the name to The Heartbeats as there was already a group called The Hearts. The other members were Wally Roker, Robbie Adams, Vernon Walker & Walter Crump. The group signed with Hull Records in 1954 and had some minor hits until A Thousand Miles Away was a top ten R & B hit in 1956. Sheppard wrote the song and also sang the beautiful lead vocal. The Heartbeats bounced around a few labels and split up in 1959. But Sheppard started a new group and Shep & The Limelites hit it big with the 1961 hit Daddy's Home. But the song was so similar to A Thousand Miles Away that the publishing company sued and won the rights to Daddy's Home. I'm sure Sheppard was confused. As I've said many times, the 4CD Doo Wop Box has all the big hits. James Sheppard was planning to reform The Heartbeats to tour the oldies circuit when he was stabbed to death while in his car on the Long Island Expressway on Jan. 24, 1970 at age 34. Here's a video of A Thousand Miles Away by The Heartbeats.
No comments:
Post a Comment