there is an article about the empires in the june issue of Echoes of the Past (doowop magazine). Someone forwarded me a copy of the article. It goes into detail about the group and says the recording lineup was Ronald Thomas, David Thomas, Carlton Banks, Robert Harold, Henry Singleton, Forrest Elliot, and George Evans. I don't know if some were band members and some were singers or what. But the article doesn't mention any connection to the Matadors or Mellow Fellows.