Billy Ward And The Dominoes 1st Press VERY RARE DL 8621

IS OFFERING FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION TODAY,AMEGA-RARE CLASSICBILLY WARD AND THE DOMINOESORIGINAL19581STPRESSING "BILLY WARD AND THE DOMINOES" LP INVERY GOODCONDITION! THIS IS THE MEGA-RARE 1st PRESSING THAT GOLDMINE CATALOG VALUES AT $200.00 IN NRMT CONDITION! CHECK OUT THE SONG LIST BELOW TO SEE THEINCREDIBLE COLLECTION OF ROCKIN' TUNES! THISIS THE ORIGINAL1958VERY RARE1st PRESSING.THIS IS ON THEDECCA BLACK LABEL WITHSILVER PRINT# DL 8621 VISUALLY,THE52 YEAR OLD THICK VINYLPLATTERIS INVERY GOODCONDITION. I HAVE EXAMINED THIS UNDER BRIGHT LIGHT AND DO SEEMANY EXTREMELY LIGHT SCUFFS/HAIRLINE SCRATCHES (MOSTLY OF THE SWIRLY VARIETY)WITH JUST2 OR 3TINY ONE'S THAT ARE BARELY "FEEL-ABLE".HOWEVER, THEY DO NOT SERIOUSLY EFFECT THEA VERY PLEASURABLELISTENING EXPERIENCE. BASED ON THE ABOVE IMPERFECTIONSI FEEL THE VINYL GRADESAS VG. THE COVER HAS SEEN BETTER DAYS BUT I HAVE SEEN MUCH WORSE!! THERE WAS AN UPPERSEAM REPAIR DONE BY A PREVIOUS OWNER. SOME OLD TAPE WAS REMOVED AND NEW TAPE APPLIED. IT LOOKS NICELY DONE THERE ARE SOME MINOR DINGS AND STAINS AS SHOWN.THE LINER NOTESWERE EXTREMELY INFORMATIVE AND PERFECTLY READABLE.THERE ISLITTLE EVIDENCE OF ANY RING WEAR ON EITHER SIDE.THE COVER STILL HAS MOST OF IT'S ORIGINAL GLOSS TO THE TEXTURED COVER.THERE IS NO WRITING ANYWHERE. THE REMAINDER OF A PRICE STICKER IS ON THE REVERSE SIDE. BASEDON THE ABOVE IMPERFECTIONS I FEEL THAT THE COVER GRADES VGAND PRESENTSDECENTLY. I HAVE PLAY GRADED THIS MOMENTS AGOAND THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE WAS VERY GOOD! THERE WAS SOMEEXTREMELY MINORCRACKLEUNDERNEATH THE MUSIC BUTNOTHING I WOULD SAY WAS DISTRACTING OR OVERPOWERING. THERE WERE NOSKIPS, OR LOUDDISTRACTINGPOPS, HISSES, CLICKS OR BURPS! PLEASE NOTE THESE LABEL PICS ARE BLOWN UP TO 2X THE ACTUAL SIZE! ANY IMPERFECTIONS APPEAR TWICE AS BAD AS THEY ACTUALLY ARE!! THE WORD "ADMATTER" WILL NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON YOU RECORD OR COVER! PLEASE NOTE THESE LABEL PICS ARE BLOWN UP TO 2X THE ACTUAL SIZE! ANY IMPERFECTIONS APPEAR TWICE AS BAD AS THEY ACTUALLY ARE!! THE WORD "ADMATTER" WILL NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON YOU RECORD OR COVER! OVERALLTHISCLASSIC LP GRADES VG IT IS A GREAT LISTENING LP ANDWILL SERVE YOU WELL UNTIL THAT NRMT COPY COMES ACROSS YOUR PATH! SONG LIST: SIDE 1 1. TO EACH HIS OWN 2. ST. THERESE OF THE ROSES 3. SEPTEMBER SONG 4. ST. LOUIS BLUES 5.WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING 6. 'TIL KINGDOM COME SIDEII 1. EVERMORE 2.I DON'T STAND A GHOST OF A CHANCE WITH YOU 3. AM I BLUE 4.WILL YOU REMEMBER (WHEN YOU ARE FAR-A-WAY) 5.OH, LADY BE GOOD! 6. WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN BILLY WARD Born Sep 19, 1921 in Los Angeles, CA (Bio by Bruce Eder) The Dominoes (also sometimes known as Billy Ward & the Dominoes) had one of the finest musical pedigrees of any R&B vocal group of the 1940s, at least based on its founder's training and experience. A lot of R&B acts came out of a gospel background, and Bo Diddley even studied violin as a boy, but rare is the R&B vocal group whose founder was trained at Juilliard. Billy Ward (born September 19, 1921, Los Angeles) had a minister father and a musician mother, and was a musical prodigy as a child, schooled in classical music theory and composition as well as performance. Before he was in his teens, Ward was good enough on the organ to play at his father's services and he won a composition award at age 14 from Walter Damrosch, the celebrated New York music educator, composer, and administrator. Following his military service during World War II, Ward studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he later became a voice coach; he also began working on Broadway during the late '40s. It was from the ranks of his ex-students that he recruited the original members of the Dominoes: Clyde McPhatter as lead singer, Charlie White (tenor), Joe Lamont (baritone), and Bill Brown (bass). The Dominoes won a series of talent contests, including a competition on the television show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which got them a lot of engagements and an audition with Ralph Bass, the head of the newly established Federal Records label, part of Syd Nathan's King Records, during the final months of 1950. The Dominoes, with McPhatter's high tenor lead, had a startlingly fresh sound and enjoyed a number six R&B hit in early 1951 with one song from their first session, "Do Something for Me." It was in May of that year that the group broke through to the top of the R&B charts with "Sixty Minute Man," which also established them as one of the leading crossover acts between gospel and blues. Riding the wave of demand for their performances off of that hit -- one of the first great double-entendre records of the '50s, and a very early example of what would be considered a "rock & roll" record -- the group spent the next seven months on the road, building up a lot of public good will and a reputation as one of the top R&B acts of the era. What made the Dominoes special, besides the excellent arrangements and McPhatter's unique voice, was their appeal beyond the usual racial lines of demarcation. They were huge in the black community, but they were also one of a relative handful of R&B acts that developed a small but fiercely loyal following among younger white listeners as well during the early '50s, which didn't matter a lot at the time -- and, as things worked out, was only incidental to their fate -- but helped plant a seed that blossomed into the full-blown rock & roll boom four years later. The Dominoes' star seemed poised only to rise, but there was already trouble within the lineup as early as 1951, when Charlie White quit and was succeeded by James Van Loan, followed by Bill Brown, who was replaced by David McNeil, formerly of the group the Larks. White (who later joined the Clovers) and Brown passed through a short-lived vocal group called the Checkers, while the reconstituted Dominoes continued scoring hits with "I Am With You" and "That's What You're Doing to Me," before scaling the top of the R&B charts again with "Have Mercy Baby," which was number one for two and a half months in 1952. Amid these successes, and the constant touring and occasional recording, there was rising dissension within the ranks of the group over the way that Ward had it organized, musically and financially. Nobody disputed that Ward had the musical training to run the group on that level, and his ruling it with an iron hand where arrangements and repert