When they started singing together in the early 1930's,
they were working as porters at the Paramount Theatre in new York City. At first they
called themselves King Jack and the Jesters, but when the Paul Whiteman Orchestra
introduced a vocal group with a similar name, a new title was necessary. However, finding
a suitable name was not easy and the four vocalists and their manager agonized for hours.
The manager had been doodling with his pen, which eventually went dry. He shook it,
producing four ink blots on the page - the stuff of legend.
The original foursome consisted of Jerry Daniels (lead tenor/guitar), Orville (Hoppy)
Jones (bass), Charlie Fuqua (baritone/guitar) and Ivory (Deek) Watson (second tenor). At
first, the style was jive and the tunes "hot", with a strong jazz and blues
elements like " Stompin At The Savoy ". This was the style that they took to
England in the mid-1930's.
By the end of their 1936 tour, Daniels was sick and was replaced by Bill Kenny
(1915-1978), who changed their style, slowing the tempos of most of their songs. Kenny had
a remarkable falsetto and bassman Hoppy Jones included a spoken chorus in the middle of
each song. This combination, which became their signature, made the Ink Spots' sound
distinguishable from that of all other groups of this period and led to their first hit
recordings on the Decca label, " If I Didn't Care " and " My Prayer ",
both in 1939. In 1940 they added two more hits, " Whispering Grass ", and "
Don't Worry ".
Their music was so enormously popular that a recording made with Ella Fitzgerald in
1944 of " In Each Life Some Rain Must Fall " and " I'm Making Believe
" was not only a two-sided hit, but their first million-seller as well. This was one
of several collaborations with Ella Fitzgerald. The second and third million-sellers for
the Ink Spots were " The Gypsy " and " To Each His Own ", both which
were number 1 on the charts in 1946.
The influence of the Ink Spots on the history of popular music is notable. The music
industry was, to a large degree, racially segregated until the 1930's and even then, black
musicians usually performed and recorded for black audiences. There were a few performers
during the 1930's and '40's, such as The Mills Brothers, Louis Jordan and The Ink Spots,
who recorded "crossovers", popular music intended for one audience (black) and
bought by another (white). It was the change in the style of their music to show ballads
that made it attractive to white audiences. The Ink Spot's style found its inspiration in
the jubilee gospel songs and, in turn, inspired the early rhythm and blues bands and the
"doo-wop" groups like the Ravens and the Orioles.
When the Ink Spots began recording in the mid-1930's, the Depression had made
phonograph records too expensive for most people. The new, less expensive labels -
Decca, Bluebird, and the American Record Company's Challenger, Melotone, Banner and
perfect labels - easily found a market when they were introduced.
Many black musicians found "color-blind" radio more accessible than the
segregated recording industry, and The Ink Spots performed on hundreds of live and
recorded broadcasts. There were also appearances in Hollywood films, including What A
Business (1934), The Great American Broadcast and an Abbott and Costello film, Pardon My
Sarong (1942).
Hoppy Jones died in 1944, and by 1946, the group consisted of Bill Kenny and his twin
brother, Herb, Charlie Fuqua and Deek Watson. It was not a happy reunion and they
eventually went their separate ways, forming new groups. |
