The Jarmels

The Legendary Jarmels.Recording Artist of the 1961 Million Seller,“A Little Bit of Soap”.The Jarmels--A Richmond Legacy. Named after a street in Harlem, this R&B vocal group actually hailed from Richmond, VA. Back in the day, you could find a group harmonizing on the corner in every neighborhood. The scale of the vocal abilities ranged from horrible to exceptionally talented. Richmond Virginia was on the high end of that scale. Richmond was blessed with tremendous talent scattered throughout the entire city. The Jarmels were five vocally gifted young men from Richmond who turned that dream into reality. Once you heard these five talented young men sing, Ray, Earl, Tom, Paul, and Muffin, you became instantly aware that these gifted vocalist were destined to do more than just street corner harmonizing. In 1960 the group met Ben E. King at the Richmond Arena. He introduced them to the owners of Laurie Records. They auditioned and Laurie liked what they heard and signed the group to a recording contract. The Jarmels became the first black artist to sing on the Laurie label. The first song they recorded was “Little Lonely One”. The next song they recorded was called “A Little Bit Of Soap”, that song topped the music charts at number nine (9) here in America, number one (1) in Germany and at number one (1) in England. “Soap” was written by Bert Burns who also wrote “ Twist and Shout” for the Isley Brothers. The Jarmels recorded “A Little Bit of Soap” in RCA Victor’s recording studio. During that time RCA was the best recording studio in New York. Their first tour was called “The Show of Stars” with Brook Benton, The Drifters, The Platters, Roy Hamilton, Gary U.S. Bonds, Dee Clark, Dell Shannon. Eventually they toured all across the country. They appeared at all the big venues with the Spinners, Jerry Butler, Tami Terrell, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Gene Chandler, Gladys Night & The Pips, The Sherrill’s, Chuck Jackson and The Contours. After “A Little Bit of Soap” they recorded several songs for the record company but none of them ever took off. After the group disbanded, years later they tried to get back together but it didn’t work out. Paul, their lead singer and Tom, their bass singer died soon after. Ray Smith the last surviving member of the Jarmels, along with life time friend Tyrone Thomas joined forces. They will continue the legacy of Earl, Paul, Tom and Muffin. The Jarmels combine elements of Pop, Rhythm & Blues. They scored a major chart entry in 1961 with "A Little Bit of Soap"; 47 years later this song still retains an enduring appeal. The Jarmels are "NOW" available for bookings. Contact us by e-mail: [email protected]

************************************************************ ****

Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor - Image Hosting

************************************************************ ****