Search - Larks :: The Larks For Collectors Only: The Apollo Sessions

Early doo-wop from the masters

Lynn Walker | Providence, RI United States | 09/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some jewels here, the Larks began stuck in the 40's with a very forgettable "Coffee, Cigarettes and Tears" and it went uphill from there. Gene Mumford's smooth leads are reminiscent of Sonny Til, but he copies no one. "My Reverie" is haunting. But I was disappointed this collection did not have the beautiful "Stolen Love" which the Larks recorded twice, I believe in '52 and '54. The jump songs are quite ordinarly, but the ballards are great."

No "Jerks" Here

Lynn Walker | 07/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let's start off by saying this is NOT the same Larks who had a hit with The Jerk in 1965.



From Durham, North Carolina this group consisted - at first - of lead singer Eugene Mumford, Allen Bunn (alias Tarheel Slim), Thermon Ruth, David McNeil, and Haddie Rowe Jr., and in 1951 they recorded for the Apollo label.



On this set of CDs you have some of the finest harmonizing you're apt to hear anywhere, and their noted lack of charted singles is likely more due to the small, cash-strapped label they recorded for than a lack of quality. For quality is definitely as much in evidence on the beautiful, uncharted My Reverie as it is on their only two bona fide hits. These were both in 1951, with Eyesight To The Blind, b/w I Ain't Fattenin' Frogs For Snakes, going # 5 R&B in July, and Little Side Car, b/w Hey Little Girl, getting to # 10 R&B in October.



Then, as so often happened with a lot of the black groups back then, the group disbanded in 1953. At first Mumford tried with another group of Larks, recording briefly for Lloyds, but then joined Billy Ward's The Dominoes.



Bunn and his wife, Anna "Little Ann" Sandford, recorded as The Lovers for Lamp in 1957, taking Darling It's Wonderful to # 15 R&B and # 48 Billbord Top 100, and then as Tarheel Slim and Little Ann they hit again with It's Too Late on the Fire label in 1959, going to # 20 R&B.



A nice compilation featuring all four sides of their two hits that will please you from track to track."