The Spiders (American band)
The Spiders | |
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| Also known as | Zion City Harmonizers Delta Southernaires |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1947–1957 |
| Labels | Imperial |
| Past members |
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The Spiders were an American R&B vocal group from New Orleans who recorded in the 1950s. Within a span of two years, the group had all five of their entries on the US Billboard R&B chart.[1]
The group was founded as a gospel group in 1947 under the name Zion City Harmonizers, and later sang as the Delta Southernaires, recording and performing on radio under the latter name in 1952–1953.[1] Cosimo Matassa convinced them to begin singing secular music, and in 1953 the five-piece, based around brothers Hayward "Chuck" Carbo (1926–2008) and Leonard "Chick" Carbo (1927–1998), signed with Imperial Records,[1] under the name The Spiders.[2] They had several U.S. hits on the R&B chart in the middle of the decade, including their first single "I Didn't Want to Do It" (R&B #3, 1954), "I'm Slippin' In" (R&B #6, 1954), "21" (R&B #9, 1955), and "Witchcraft" (R&B #5, 1956).[3] The latter was co-written by Dave Bartholomew and was later covered by Elvis Presley.[4]
Members Joe Maxon and Matthew West left the group in 1955 and were replaced by Issachar (Izzycoo) Gordon and Bill Moore.[1] Chick Carbo signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist late in 1956, and by the next year the group had splintered; their last single as a group was 1957's "That's My Desire", though the song "Tennessee Slim", recorded in the middle of the decade, was issued as a single in 1960.[2]
Chuck Carbo later recorded for Rounder Records, releasing an album in 1993.[2] Chick Carbo died in 1998, Chuck in 2008.
The group's name inspired the group led by Buddy Holly to name themselves The Crickets.[5]
Members[edit]
- Hayward "Chuck" Carbo
- Leonard "Chick" Carbo
- Joe Maxon
- Matthew West
- Bill Moore
- Issacher Gordon
- Oliver Howard
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 413/4. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
- ^ a b c Steve Huey, "The Spiders", AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2019
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 414.
- ^ "Witchcraft", SecondhandSongs.com. Retrieved 24 June 2019
- ^ Kerns, William (April 8, 2012). "The Crickets affected by opening for Elvis". Lubbock Online. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
Buddy and I were practicing one day, and decided we needed a group name. We liked a record by the Spiders called "Witchcraft," so we decided to be insects. We looked in the dictionary under insects and stopped at Cricket. We had a lot of Crickets in Texas that year, too.
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