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The String-A-Longs were an American instrumental group from Plainview, Texas, United States. The band consisted of Richard Stephens and Jimmy Torres alternating lead guitars, Keith McCormack on rhythm guitar, Aubrey de Cordova, bass guitar and Don Allen, drums.[1] They are best known for their hit single, "Wheels", which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in and was the number 8 single of 1961.

History

The band was formed under the name Patio Kids in 1956 by McCormack, Stephens and de Cordova, who were Plainview High School classmates. They were then joined by drummer Charles Jay Edmiston and, in early 1957, and they rechristened themselves the Rock ‘n’ Rollers with the arrival of another guitar player, Jimmy Torres.

They began recording in Amarillo, Texas, as the Rock'n Rollers, under their first manager Johnny Voss, Keith McCormack's Uncle. Their first single was on the Ven label. In the later fifties they began recording at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. McCormack’s mother, Glynn Thames, paid for their first recording session. Those recordings were subsequently sold to the Imperial record label, but the songs did not get much play. Allen then replaced Edmiston who left to join the military. The group changed its name to The Leen Teens and recorded "So Shy" and "Dreams About You," which also met with little success on the Imperial label.[2] In 1960, they signed with Petty who became their manager, and brought their songs to Warwick Records. Petty suggested changing the name to String-A-Longs. They had several releases before recording their big hit "Wheels."

"Wheels," produced by Norman Petty on Warwick Records, was released in December 1960 and became a hit in 1961. The tune peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the number 8 single of 1961 according to Billboard.[3] The track reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[5]

Warwick Records paid few royalties to the band and they declared bankruptcy as they were being sued to avoid paying more.^{[citation needed]} McCormack said that they did not received the $700,000 (the equivalent of $7 million in 2004) owed.[6]

There are more than one hundred cover versions of "Wheels," including by Joe Loss ("Wheels Cha-Cha") and Billy Vaughn.

The String-A-Longs followed up "Wheels" with "Brass Buttons" (U.S. No. 35), "Should I," and "Replica." In 1961, they moved to Dot Records; and had disbanded by 1964. Petty still had the String-A-Longs name copyrighted, and to avoid confusion with the instrumental Fireballs music and the Fireballs current vocal hit "Bottle Of Wine," it was decided to reuse String-A-Longs for the LP Wide World Hits on Atco in 1968. This is actually the Fireballs performing the music under the String-A-Longs moniker.^{[citation needed]}

The original String-A-Longs lineup reunited for the Clovis Music Festival in 2006.

Keith McCormack, singer, guitarist and songwriter, died of a stroke on April 10, 2015, at age 74.[7]

Singles

Year	A-side/B-side Both sides from same album except where indicated	Peak chart positions					Album	Note
		US Billboard			US Cashbox	UK [8]
		Pop	AC	R&B
1961	"Wheels" b/w "Tell the World" (first pressings) "Am I Asking Too Much" (later pressings) Both B-sides are non-album tracks	3	–	19	4	8	Pick a Hit
	"Tell the World" b/w "For an Angel"	–	–	–	–	–	Non-album tracks
	"Brass Buttons" b/w "Panic Button" (from Pick a Hit)	35	–	–	44	–	Matilda
	"Should I" b/w "Take a Minute"	42	10	–	54	–	Non-album tracks
	"Mina Bird" b/w "Scottie"	–	–	–	–	–
1962	"Theme for Twisters" b/w "Nearly Sunrise" (from Pick a Hit)	–	–	–	–	–
	"Twistwatch" b/w "Sunday"	–	–	–	–	–
	"My Blue Heaven" b/w "Spinnin' My Wheels" (non-album track)	–	–	–	–	–	Matilda
	"Matilda" b/w "Replica" (non-album track)	133	–	–	–	–
1963	"Happy Melody" b/w "Heartaches"	–	–	–	–	–	Non-album tracks
1964	"My Babe" b/w "Myna Bird"	–	–	–	–	–
1965	"Caravan" b/w "Mathilda"	–	–	–	–	–
1969	"Popi" (non-album track) b/w "Places I Remember" (from Wide World Hits)	–	–	–	–	–		By The Fireballs

References

Bibliography

• Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000

External links

• Allmusic
• Superoldies.com - dead link
• The String-A-Longs discography at Discogs

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