The Ember Records Doo Wop Collection 1956-64 (2-CD)

by Various Artists

The Ember label was founded in 1952 by Mercer Ellington, song of Duke Ellington, and Jack Angel, but was acquired in 1953 by Al Silver, who turned it into a creative hub for R&B recording and most particularly becoming renowned for its output of doowop recordings by a string of different groups during the late '50s and into the 1960s. Most notable among those groups were The Five Satins and The Sihouettes, who both had multiple hits on the label during this era. This great-value 60-track 2-CD set brings together most of the label's releases by artists whose work falls broadly into the category of doowop, although this is obviously not a definition which can be slavishly or precisely applied. It features the A & B sides of the Ember releases by the Five Satins and The Silhouettes, plus most of those by The Smooth Tones, The Concords, David Clowney Band, The Marktones, The Colonairs, The Starlites, The Miffin Triplets, The Wonders, The Illusions, The Starlarks and The Fabulons. It includes the Five Satins hits 'I Remember (In The Still Of The Night)', 'To The Aisle', 'Shadows' and 'I'll Be Seeing You', and the Silhouttes' No. 1 pop and R&B hit 'Get A Job'. It's a feast of classic doowop from a label which was at the heart of the genre.