The Eldorados

I don’t remember where I got this. That’s not so radical, but there was a time when I thought that I’d remember each and every LP, tape, single, CD, where it came from, when I bought it, etc. Not so. This was bought new, I know that much. It’s a prerecorded cassette, and I know that I took a chance, because as often as not you’d pick up something like this, and you’d get stuff “rerecorded by the original artists,” or some or one of the members of the original group. And there’d be no warning on the label. Later they changed that. But for a while that kind of fraud was rampant.

And you could tell, especially with the old stuff. Stereo – that would give it away. No doo-wop was recorded in stereo. Clear sound, another clue. Authenticity is something you can’t fake, and that is as profound as I get.

So this is 20 Hits, by The Eldorados, a group that had a handful of hits on the R & B charts in the mid 50s, and only 1 hit on the pop charts, and that was At My Back Door, and they are not exactly staples on oldies radio. The label on this is Phoenix Entertainment & Talent, distributed by Audio Fidelity, and my best guess is that this is not 100% legal. The group recorded for Vee-Jay, and Vee-Jay recordings ended up all over the place, so who knows.

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The Eldorados

• Tears On My Pillow – This is not the Little Anthony & The Imperials song. It is not a ballad even. It’s a bit hard to take, he misses his girl so he is crying in his bed? He knows she will be back some day. Like fun. Johnny Nash covered this years later.
• Trouble Trouble – How a romantic interest can pervert all your most carefully laid plans…
• Three Reasons Why – Nice and neat: 1: She’s an angel; 2: You make me happy when I’m sad; 3: You are my first love. That last one is a bit of a tautology – I love you because you’re my first love…
• At My Back Door – Not to be confused with the hit At My Front Door, which comes later. The girl that ends up at his door is some girl, looks like something from the Brookdale Zoo…
• Little Miss Love – This is one of those doo-wop songs, and there are many, whose words are there to give them something to doo-wop about.
• She Don’t Run Around – High praise indeed.
• Oh What A Girl
• Lights Are Low – This one is a ballad of sorts.
• One More Chance
• Chop Ling Soon – Let one Ling Ting Tong out of the bag and look what happens…
• Lovey Dovey Baby – Not to be confused with Lovey Dovey by Buddy Knox.
• Love Of My Own – He has a love of his own, one he’s never shared. These guys have a knack of making the most profound romantic statements from the blatantly obvious. He does not share her, she does not run around etc.
• Crazy Little Mama – I cite the title as it appears on the label, but the actual title is At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama). This was their one and only pop hit, reaching the top 20 in the fall of ’55. Pat Boone covered it and his version, predictably, did better. Harry Nilsson recorded it for Son Of Schmilsson, complete with belch. In today’s world it might be different, but “crazy little mama” was not a term of affection.
• Now That You’ve Gone – It’s a typical heartbreak ballad, except that the words don’t make a whole lot of sense.
• Rock ‘N Roll Is For Me – The obligatory rock and roll tribute song. Similar to At The Hop, but without the dances.
• A Fallen Tear – Another song about lost love. Memories of contentment, he sings about.
• I’ll Be Forever Loving You – Describes that first rush of infatuation, feels like you’ve have too much wine, when you’re near everything is so sweet… But then - words to change – when you smile I feel so gay… A great dance song.
• My Loving Baby – Their first hit, made the R & B charts. That was in 1954.
• Annie’s Answer – First came Hank Ballard’s Roll With Me Annie, followed, not necessarily immediately, with Annie Had A Baby. And here you have it, Annie’s Answer, which is “I ain’t had no baby.” Well that shouldn’t be too hard to establish. But why it is, well, it’s.not so clear. I know just what to do, says Annie. One can only wonder. The lead vocals (Annie) are by Hazel McCallum. I have a friend at worked named Annie, and I don’t know if she’d like this, and we had a cleaning lady named Annie, when I was growing up, and I don’t think she’d understand this.
• Baby I Need You