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Old Macdonald' by Nolan Strong & Diablos from 1963. This could have been recorded earlier and went unreleased until this album came out in 1963. Nolan Strong & The Diablos were a Detroit-based R&B and doo-wop vocal group best known for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group was one of the most popular, pre-Motown, R&B acts in Detroit during the mid 1950s, through the early 1960s.
Nolan Strong (1934--1977), the lead vocalist, had an ethereally high tenor. Strong's smooth voice, influenced mainly by Clyde McPhatter was, in turn, a primary influence on a young Smokey Robinson. [1]
The group, along with label-mates Andre Williams and Nathaniel Mayer, recorded for Fortune Records, a small label in Detroit starting in 1954, and ending somewhere around 1973.
Strong has also been an influence on rock and roll bands. In December 2009 Lou Reed, of the influential '60s band The Velvet Underground, told Rolling Stone Magazine editor David Fricke, "If I could really sing, I'd be Nolan Strong" - during an interview at the New York Public Library. [2][dead link]
The Diablos were inducted into the United In Group Harmony Hall of Fame in 2003. In March 2008 the group was inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame of America.
In 2007, The Metro Times listed "The Wind" at #11 in The 100 Greatest Detroit Songs list - which was the November 11th cover story. [3]
In September 2010 Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos LP was released by The Wind Records, with distribution by Norton Records. The album features 13 new Diablos covers by a cast of rock and roll, punk and garage rock bands. It features The Dirtbombs, Reigning Sound, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby and Mark Sultan, among others.Nolan's bio
Nolan Strong was born in Scottsboro, Alabama on January 22, 1934 and moved to Detroit at a young age. He started singing soon after arriving in Detroit and formed his first Diablos group in 1950. Nolan was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1956 and was honorably discharged in 1958. Nolan died on February 21, 1977 at the age of 43 in Detroit - little is known about the last years of his life. [4]
[edit] Biography
The Diablos, with their 1954 classic "The Wind," are revered among R&B and doo wop lovers. The group had a unique sound, centered around the high ethereal lead tenor voice of Nolan Strong. Besides "The Wind," the Diablos were known for many songs, such as "Adios My Desert Love," "Can't We Talk This Over," "Mambo of Love," "If I," "Harriet," "I Am With You," "Goodbye Matilda," "I Wanna Know," "Beside You," "Mind Over Matter," and many more.
The group formed at Central High School in Detroit around 1950 and originally consisted of Strong (lead tenor), Juan Guieterriez (tenor), Willie Hunter (baritone), Quentin Eubanks (bass), and Bob "Chico" Edwards (guitar). The Diablos name is said to have come from a book, El Nino Diablo (The Little Devil), that Strong was reading for a high-school book report. In 1954, the Diablos went in to Detroit's Fortune Record Studios to cut some demo sides, with the hopes of furthering their career. Their hopes were realized even more quickly than they expected. Those demos impressed Jack and Devora Brown, owners of Fortune, who immediately signed the group to record for their label. Their first recording for Fortune was the Devora Brown-penned "Adios My Desert Love," a cha cha-flavored tune. [5]
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Tags: Old Macdonald-Nolan Strong Diablos-1963-Fortune (LP).