The Spiders were an American R&B vocal group from New Orleans who recorded in the 1950s. Within a span of two years, the group had all five of their entries on the US Billboard R&B chart.[1]

The group was founded as a gospel group in 1947 under the name Zion City Harmonizers, and later sang as the Delta Southernaires, recording and performing on radio under the latter name in 1952–1953.[1] Cosimo Matassa convinced them to begin singing secular music, and in 1953 the five-piece, based around brothers Hayward "Chuck" Carbo (1926–2008) and Leonard "Chick" Carbo (1927–1998), signed with Imperial Records,[1] under the name The Spiders.[2] They had several U.S. hits on the R&B chart in the middle of the decade, including their first single "I Didn't Want to Do It" (R&B #3, 1954), "I'm Slippin' In" (R&B #6, 1954), "21" (R&B #9, 1955), and "Witchcraft" (R&B #5, 1956).[3] The latter was co-written by Dave Bartholomew and was later covered by Elvis Presley.[4]

Members Joe Maxon and Matthew West left the group in 1955 and were replaced by Issachar (Izzycoo) Gordon and Bill Moore.[1] Chick Carbo signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist late in 1956, and by the next year the group had splintered; their last single as a group was 1957's "That's My Desire", though the song "Tennessee Slim", recorded in the middle of the decade, was issued as a single in 1960.[2]

Chuck Carbo later recorded for Rounder Records, releasing an album in 1993.[2] Chick Carbo died in 1998, Chuck in 2008.

The group's name inspired the group led by Buddy Holly to name themselves The Crickets.[5]

Members

• Hayward "Chuck" Carbo
• Leonard "Chick" Carbo
• Joe Maxon
• Matthew West
• Bill Moore
• Issacher Gordon
• Oliver Howard

References