“I wanted to be a rock and roller” - A word with Ceasar Berry of The Tymes
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“To tell you the truth, I really didn’t think it was going to be as big as it was. I really, really didn’t.” That’s Al “Ceasar” Berry, second tenor of The Tymes, describing his reaction to their first, and biggest, hit record: “So Much In Love.”
Reflecting back on his early years, Ceasar says, “My sister Juanita and Dee Dee Sharp had a duet that used to travel around to churches, and then I got into it. Believe me, I never thought that I could really be a singer!”
That all changed with one phone call from Donald Banks. “We grew up together in North Philadelphia,” says Ceasar. “We were like brothers since we were 10 years old. He called me and asked if I wanted to join the group, and I said, ‘Sure, why not.’”
The group in question had been founded by Norman Burnett and George Hilliard. “They met at a summer camp in the ‘50s,” Ceasar explains. “After the season was over, they came back to Philadelphia and put a group together.” Donald, being George’s cousin, was a bass singer and a complement Norman’s baritone and George’s second tenor. Ceasar, at first tenor, rounded out the sound. They called themselves The Latineers.
Now all they needed was a distinctive lead singer. “George Williams worked [as a cook] at Einstein Medial Center where Norman was also working. George was driving a forklift and Norman heard him singing.” Impressed by his Johnny Mathis-influenced vocals, “Norman asked him if he wanted to join a group and he said, ‘Yeah.’”
“We sang at clubs in Philadelphia and there were shows that were just disasters,” admits Ceasar, “because we really weren’t that good at the time.”
Their big break came when they got into the Tip Top Talent hunt. “Whoever bought a loaf of Tip Top bread would write the name of the group that they were voting for and send it into the radio station (WDAS).”
They never made it to the end of the contest because one of the judges directed them to Billy Jackson at Cameo-Parkway Records. Jackson, a one-time member of The Revels of “Midnight Stroll” fame (#35 pop; #20 R&B: 1959), set up an audition with The Latineers, and then…nothing.
“After a couple of weeks passed, I gave Billy a call, and he said, ‘Man, we’ve been looking for you guys. I lost your phone number. We want you to come in and record.’” But, record what?
“George Williams had a song called ‘As We Stroll Along,’” Ceasar recalls. Al, for one, was not impressed. “We rehearsed this song in our basement and when we went in to Cameo Parkway Records, I asked, ‘Which song do you want us to do?’ Billy said, ‘What’s that song you did for us? ‘As we stroll along?’ And I said, ‘Uh oh.’”
The initial takes were not promising. “We did it in a swing beat, we did it with full orchestration. We did it in a calypso beat, and a cha-cha. Then the president of the company Bernie Lowe said, ‘Let’s take out all the music.’ They had a sound effects record and they put the birds on at the beginning, and they had a guy on bass and a guy on drums, and I did the finger snaps. Marlena Davis of The Orlons sang the high part.”
Ceasar still wasn’t sold on it. “I wanted to be a rock and roller, and when that song came out, I thought, ‘Well, this might be our first album and we’ll try again.’ Now, the other side - ‘Roscoe James McLain’ - well, that’s me singing, and I said, ‘That’s the one!’”
When the single hit the streets, The Latineers were now The Tymes, courtesy of a name change by Bernie Lowe.
The gorgeous, summery “So Much In Love” cracked Billboard’s Hot 100 on June 1, and bumped Jan & Dean’s “Surf City” from the #1 spot on August 3, 1963.
Three weeks later, The Tymes’ second 45 - a remake of Johnny Mathis’ exquisite hit “Wonderful! Wonderful” - broke nationally, rising to #7 (vs. Mathis’ #14 peak). As was the practice in those days, “Somewhere,” their third single, was released while “Wonderful” was still in the Top 20.
“Somewhere” moved quickly up the Hot 100, then stalled in mid-January 1964 as eyes and ears turned toward England and a new sensation called The Beatles. Among the many American casualties of this 20th century British Invasion were The Tymes.
“Somewhere” topped out at #19 (#14 in Cash Box) and their following five Parkway 45s performed poorly, if at all. It didn’t help that their record label was sinking fast.
“It amazed me to find out how things just faded away,” says Ceasar. “Next thing I know, Billy Jackson left Cameo Parkway.”
Jackson landed at MGM, where The Tymes released two singles, and then co-founded Winchester Records. The Tymes lone single on that label also failed.
Major label giant Columbia was Jackson and the group’s next stop, where they teamed up with the multi-talented (and “Somewhere” co-writer) Jimmy “The Wiz” Wisner.
“‘The Wiz!’ That’s my man,” says Ceasar. “He was a heck of an arranger.” Not only had The Wiz worked with The Tymes at their three former labels, he had arranged hits for Spanky and Our Gang and The Cowsills (among others). Now, at Columbia, he produced the single that returned The Tymes to the Top 40: “People.”
Unfortunately, none of the four post-“People” Columbia singles caught fire, and The Tymes were dropped. Things looked momentarily promising when they scored an audition with the hot, up-and-coming Philadelphia International label.
Recalls Ceasar: “[One song] we did was ‘Love Train’ before The O’Jays did it and Tommy Bell said that we sang ‘too pretty.’ I could never understand that.”
Despite the popularity in the early 1970s of smooth, silky soul, somehow The Tymes - as silky as they come - didn’t score another record deal until 1974, with an up-tempo groove right in the P.I. pocket on RCA Records.
“We were in the studio recording ‘You Little Trustmaker,’” says Ceasar. “George Williams had that Johnny Mathis-type sound, [and then] Billy (Jackson) came in and said, ‘This is the way I want you to sing it.’ When we sat down and listened, we said, ‘That doesn’t sound too bad.’ So that’s Billy doing the lead and we’re doing the background, even George Williams.”
“Trustmaker” - at #12 - put The Tymes back in the Top 20 for the first time in ten-and-a-half years. The follow-up single “Ms. Grace” should have performed likewise, yet barely scraped into the Hot 100.
The UK kids, however, caught onto to the song’s greatness instantly and propelled it to #1. “It’s like their national anthem!” says Ceasar. “Grace” ultimately became a stateside anthem with the Carolina Beach Music crowd who made it one of their all-time favorites.
(Another song by the composers of “Ms. Grace” - John and Johanna Hall - would reach the US Top 10 later in 1975: “Dance With Me” by John’s group Orleans.)
In 1976, The Tymes scored their final hit when “It’s Cool” coasted to #3 R&B and #68 pop.
After years of togetherness, The Tymes entered a period of personnel changes. George Hilliard had departed in 1974, then Ceasar took a year off, and George Williams and Donald Banks moved on, leaving Norman Burnett as the only original member. In 1980 four of the founding Tymes - minus George Williams and plus long-time A&R man Billy Jackson - reunited for a triumphant show at Radio City Music Hall.
Today The Tymes are still going strong with Ceasar and Norman, plus Russell Gore and Jimmy Wells. “Russell sang with a group called Serenity. They were one of the most popular groups in Philadelphia. And Jimmy Wells sang live with people like Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes and The Trammps.”
Fifty-seven years down the road, Ceasar is “very happy that I’m still able to do it! I really, really appreciate our fans and the following that we have, and I’m especially looking forward to the Malt Shop Memories Cruise!”
So are we.
- Ed Osborne © 2016