The Orioles
The Orioles | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Vibra-Naires, Sonny Til and his New Orioles |
| Origin | Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Genres | R&B |
| Years active | 1946–present |
| Labels | It's a Natural, Vee-Jay |
| Members | David Warren, Ray Apollo, Clark Walker |
| Past members | Diz Russell, Sonny Til, Alexander Sharp, George Nelson, Johnny Reed, Tommy Gaither, Ralph Williams, Charlie Harris, Gregory Carroll, Chauncy Westbrook, Maurice Hicks, Tex Cornelius, Jerry Holeman, Billy Adams, Paul Griffin, Frank Todd, Jimmy Brown, Delton McCall, Billy Taylor, Gerald Gregory, Lawrence Joyner, Bobby Thomas, Clarence Young, Mike Robinson, Eddie Palmer, Eddie Jones, Skip Mahoney, Dwight Datcher |
The Orioles were an American R&B group in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of the first vocal groups in R&B, they were early pioneers of the doo-wop sound.
Dubbing themselves after Maryland's state bird, the Orioles started the trend of bird groups (The Cardinals, The Crows, The Flamingos, The Larks, The Penguins, The Ravens, The Wrens, etc.). They brought their winning formula to their first charted hit "It's Too Soon to Know"; a #1 record in November 1948, soon followed by the group's second hit, "(It's Gonna Be a) Lonely Christmas", in December that same year.