Enchanters
At least seven different American popular music groups of the 1950s and early 1960s, performing and recording in the Doo Wop and R&B genres, adopted the name The Enchanters. Their members, songs, origins and label affiliations are often confused with one another, even by otherwise authoritative sources and reference materials. These groups included:
- A Philadelphia quartet led by Garnett Mimms and featuring Sam Bell, Charles Boyer and Zola Pearnell that recorded for United Artists from 1962 to 1965 (Cry Baby, A Quiet Place, Baby Don't You Weep, For Your Precious Love).
- A Chicago-based quintet on the Okeh label, led by Billy Butler and featuring Errol Bates, John Jordan, Alton Howell and Jesse Tillman (Can't Live Without Her, Gotta Get Away). The group later renamed themselves The Chanters to avoid confusion with Mimms' group.
- A Detroit-based quintet, led by the Hollowell brothers (Alton, Gerald and Ulysses) and featuring Tommy Wade and Jack Thomas, that recorded on the Coral Records label from 1956 to 1963 (Mambo Santa Mambo, True Love Gone)
- A Los Angeles-based group, originally called The Suddens, that recorded as The Enchanters on Orbit Records (Touch of Love, Cafe Bohemian). Their members included Jimmy Stephens, Marv Rosenberg, Rich Clasky and soprano Shelly Briar. They later recorded as The Dories (after Briar joined them), The Angels (for Tawny Records) and The Safaris (from 1960 onward).
- An all-male group that recorded for Stardust Records of Long Beach, California (Spellbound By The Moon).
- An all-female quartet based in Queens, New York that recorded for the Jubilee label in 1952 (Today Is Your Birthday, How Could You?), and billed themselves as The Dell Tones from 1953 to 1956. Adding to the confusion with Detroit's Enchanters, the Dell Tones recorded for the Brunswick label, a subsidiary of Coral Records. Personnel included lead singer Della Simpson, tenors Pearl Bryce and Rachel Gist, and bass Frances Kelley.
- A Baltimore-based group managed by Lou Krefetz (who also managed Atlantic Records artists The Clovers and The Cardinals). Personnel included Kenny Hamber (Pain In My Heart, Time Marches On).