Lee Andrews And The Hearts - Nevertheless

Legendary Philadelphia soul and doo-wop group sing their Northern Soul monster classic, "Nevertheless". The Philadelphia based Lee Andrews & the Hearts specialized in smooth ballads and were influenced by similar vocal acts like the Moonglows. The group scored three charting hits in the span of a single year (1957-1958). Their "Long Lonely Nights" managed to barely beat the former Drifter, Clyde McPhatter's version by a few chart points and it scored even higher on the R&B charts. At its peak, the group's next single "Teardrops," was their biggest hit, making it to number 20 on the pop charts and it had jumped over to the R&B charts at number four. A third hit, "Try the Impossible" charted at number 33 on the pop charts. By 1963, the Hearts had stopped ticking and their recordings became very collectable, so Grand Records struck a deal with Gotham and issued some of the group's old sides. Collectors' demaning for more recordings prompted Lee to form a new Hearts group in the summer of 1966 with a few familiar names paired up with a few new ones: Booker, Mason, alongside new Hearts Robert Howard and Victoria McCalister. They recorded "You're Taking a Long Time Coming Back". The group signed the dotted line with Crimson Records, and eventually wound up two singles later on Crimson's parent company, Lost Night, and recorded three original singles which were issued in 1968. By the time they did a live LP for Lost Night, the Hearts were Lee Andrews, Richard Howard, Richard Booker, and Tommy White. Eventually, Andrews went into semi-retirement and opened a successful dress shop. Roy Calhoun died in an apartment fire in 1979, Butch Curry became ill with multiple sclerosis, Wendell Calhoun still lives in Philadelphia, and Ted Weems joined the Pheasants.