Willie Winfield & the Harptones Live in Concert - 1974

Since the birth of rhythm and blues, precious few vocal groups have been able to earn the universal acceptance and respect of fans, critics, and their peers alike. Willie Winfield and the Harptones accomplished this without the benefit of a significant charted hit, or the degree of exposure afforded many of their contemporaries. Formed by members of two New York streetcorner groups, the Skylarks and the Winfield Brothers, they began recording in 1953 and performed until Willie Winfield retired in his 90th year in 2019.
By the end of 1964, the Harptones had settled into day jobs. They had been out of the spotlight for several years when songwriter-pianist-arranger Raoul J. Cita was approached by David Zaan in 1969 about reuniting for oldies revival shows. In April of 1970, Winfield, Cita, and fellow 1950s members William Dempsey James, Jimmy Beckum, and Curtis Cherebin returned to the concert stage and drew rave reviews. “The audience went crazy,” Willie remembered. “They really went for everything, and even those who were younger did, too. It was like something they had missed.” Occasionally, another 1950s member, Freddie Taylor, was added to the mix.
By late 1972, the group was having trouble coordinating their day jobs with their singing schedule. Dempsey and Cherebin were working for New York City Transit and had difficulty making gigs and had to drop out. Beckum and Taylor also left. Consequently, Winfield and Cita reformed the Harptones with Marlowe “Lowe” Murray, formerly of the Fi-Tones, and Linda Champion, a tenant in Cita’s building. With Cita now singing baritone, the new quartet made their first appearance in October of 1972.
This film dates from February 2, 1974, when the Harptones made their sixth appearance on the Academy of Music rock revival series in New York City, backed by Billy Vera and his Band. The film opens with “The Shrine of St. Cecilia”, which had been preceded by the Temptations’ “Get Ready” (not filmed). “A Sunday Kind of Love” and “Life Is But A Dream” follow, with (“I’m Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over” serving as the encore.
These 14 minutes of film footage from that performance have never been seen or shared publicly before. Beginning in the early 1970s, Boston-area disc jockey, concert host and producer, historian and enthusiast, Little Walter DeVenne began documenting the pioneers of vocal group harmony, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll using Super 8 movie film, reel to reel tape recorders, and whatever means were available to him. Film was shot of both of the group’s performances - the evening and late shows- which explains the changes in clothes you will notice in the different camera angles. In the 1970s, Walter dubbed his audio recording from the performance onto the videos. Some of this was done out of necessity, as a reel of Super 8 film only lasted about two and a-half minutes. If you notice a couple of moments where audio and video are not completely in sync, including at the very end of the film, this is the reason.
Sadly, Walter died in 2021, and the films were feared lost or destroyed. Through the efforts of Walter’s friend and longtime disc jockey, Mike Bollea, many of these recordings have been preserved. Through Mike’s generosity and a desire to see Walter’s historic films shared with fans and devotees of this music, we present the Little Walter’s Time Machine Official Archives series, remixed and synched by Todd Baptista, from the original source material. For the best in “oldies but goodies” from the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, listen to Mike Bollea on MIXCLOUD and follow his discjockeymike page to hear new shows. To leave comments or connect with Mike, send him a friend request and visit his Facebook page Michael Bollea (Not Just Another DJ) and the Mike Bollea’s Radio Friends Group or e-mail him at [e-mail].
Lowe Murray left briefly to join Ramon Loper’s touring Platters group in 1976 but remained part of the Harptones until his death in 2008. Linda Champion was replaced by Vicki Burgess of the Joytones in 1999. She died in 2021. Cita remained the group’s arranger, baritone-bass, and accompanist until his death in 2014. Willie Winfield passed in 2021 at age 91.

[@peterdeamicis1546]

To see and hear Willie and his group, SO Young, is just great😍

[@rem-so1ly]

As great as ever!