Rochell & The Candles

about

The curiously named Rochell and the Candles were an all-male black vocal group, formed in 1958 in Los Angeles, by Rochell Henderson (lead and tenor), Johnny Wyatt (lead and first tenor), Mel Sasso (tenor) and T.C. Henderson (bass). Rochell and T.C. were not related, but both came originally from Louisiana. Wyatt was a Texan and only Sasso was an L.A. kid. The foursome played clubs until they had enough original material to record. Four tracks were recorded in the backyard studio of Ted Brinson (a professional bass player who can be heard on most of Larry Williams's early Specialty recordings) in Watts, where at least two major 1950s hits had been recorded, "Earth Angel" by the Penguins and "Western Movies" by the Olympics. The group took their demos to Hunter Hancock of KGFJ, then one of the hottest R&B deejays in L.A. Hancock had started his own label, Swingin' Records in 1959 and scored a hit with "There Is Something On Your Mind" by Big Jay McNeely. Hancock tested out their song "Once Upon A Time" on his show by playing their acetate and the studio phones started ringing immediately. Released in October 1960 on Swingin' 623, "Once Upon A Time" slipped into Billboard's Hot 100 in February 1961, eventually reaching # 26. The feminine sounding lead on this doowop number was by Johnny Wyatt. The record was not in keeping with the group's image : not only was Rochell not the lead, "Rochell" wasn't even a girl. The group got plenty of work out of their hit, but when both follow

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