The Clovers

One of the most enduringly popular R&B groups has been the ?Mighty Clovers? (as they were tagged by Dr. Jive). Extremely successful in the early- and mid-50s, the Clovers placed 21 tunes on the R&B charts, 19 of them in the top 10. Not only were they favorites of record buyers, but also of their peers. In addition, the Clovers were also one of the most popular live acts during the early to mid 50s. They continually played the theater circuits, and were in demand to appear in the package shows which toured the country.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In fact, the Clovers were the most popular group between 1951 and 1955. One measure of popularity is how long a record remains on the charts. (This really should be computed by assigning points for how long a record stays at which position on the charts, but the following is a reasonable approximation.) The Dominoes, who started at almost the exact same time as the Clovers, managed to place 11 tunes on the R&B charts from 1951 to 1955; the combined time on the charts was 103 weeks (including 30 weeks for ?Sixty Minute Man?). The Drifters had 10 songs, for a total of 107 weeks. (However, since the Drifters weren?t formed until May 1953, let?s bend the rules a bit and compute totals for the first 5 years of their existence. Using that method, there were 15 charted songs, for a grand total of 124 weeks; this includes 23 weeks for ?Honey Love.?) The only other group that had any similar impact during this period was the Midnighters. However, in their first 5 years, they placed only 7 songs on the charts for a total of 69 weeks (although ?Work With Me Annie? was there for 26 of them). Even the Orioles, who were no longer a force to be reckoned with by this time, had had only 62 weeks of chart hits in their first 5 years. The Ravens had had a dismal 34. And what about the Clovers? In the first 5 years of their existence, they had 17 R&B hits, for a total of 191 weeks on the charts. It?s true that ?Sixty Minute Man,? ?Honey Love,? and ?Work With Me Annie? were bigger hits than any Clovers tune, but ?Don?t You Know I Love You,? ?Fool, Fool, Fool,? and ?Lovey Dovey,? were each on the charts for over 20 weeks. You can add to this the fact that 5 of their records during this period were double-sided hits, with 3 of them in a row! Actually, as far as vocal groups go, the Clovers, Dominoes, Drifters, and Midnighters pretty much had the charts tied up during this period.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~