Tom Williams (fascinators / Turks / Four Shades) Interview

[boba]

Hi. Today on my radio show I interviewed a singer named Tom Williams. Williams is from the west side of Chicago; he started singing as a teenager. Williams formed the Fascinators while he was in high school in the late 50s. The group performed together for years at clubs and record hops before finally getting a record deal with Bombay records in the mid-60s. The group recorded the cut "In other words" (written by Kermit Chandler, guitarist of the Sheppards) after both the Fascinators and the Sheppards auditioned the song and the label owner preferred the Fascinators' version. Although it had an excellent Chicago sound, the record received little promotion or airplay. The group broke up a couple of years later after one of the members was drafted to go to Vietnam and the remaining members drifted apart. During this period, Williams also sang backup on the Dutones' hit "The Bird".

A few years later Williams was attending a show at the Regal Theater where a friend approached him and asked him to join his group the Turks. Williams joined and the group started performing in local clubs. The group recorded a track for a local label that was never released. The group went through several lineup changes and began to do shows produced by the Dontells. Willie Weems, guitarist for the Dontells, became a songwriter for the group and his band became the group's backing band. Weems helped the group get a record deal on James Shelton's Daran / DJO label. "You turn me on" was the group's first release; the track had an excellent Chicago sweet soul sound and became a local hit. The Turks got bigger shows as a result of their single, playing the first Black Expo in Chicago in 1969. Daran records released a second Turks single, "The bad brought out the good", but Williams doesn't remember recording the record and thinks it is actually a different group singing. The group broke up in the late 60s.

In the early 70s, a new version of the group formed, calling themselves the Four Shades. The group originally worked with Johnny Moore, cutting a demo for the Blue Rock record label and backing Johnny on "Just my way of loving you" as well as backing Blue Rock artist Junior Wells. In 1972 the group decided to produce themselves. Working with arranger David Baldwin, the group cut the record "My world" / "Something special". Baldwin and member Ted Long took the tracks to Paula records on Shreveport, LA. The label released the tracks on their Ronn subsidiary, pushing the "Something special" side as the a-side. The record got play in many cities, although not in Chicago, despite being an excellent early 70s group harmony double sider. The group continued to perform until they disbanded in the mid-70s. Williams worked as a solo artist for several years, working with Leroy Dandridge (aka Singing Sam) of the Dontells. Recently Williams performed with the Kool Gents in a doowop show in New Jersey.

You can listen to this interview or any other of my interviews at:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

thanks for your interest,

Bob