The Penguins were four black high school students from Fremont High in Los Angeles who were named for the logo on Kool cigarettes - a penguin named Willie (the group was originally called The Flywheels). They recorded this song in a garage and released it on a small black-owned label called Dootone Records. Dootone was owned by Dootsie Williams. In 1949, Williams founded the Blue Records label. Two years later he changed the name to Dootone. One of the first artists he recorded on Dootone was a violinist named Johnny Creach, who years later would become popular as Papa John Creach (who later played with Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna). In 1954, he recorded a local group called The Penguins, who would have a huge hit with "Earth Angel."
The composition of this song has a strange and convoluted history which came under scrutiny after it proved to be a lucrative hit. A singer-songwriter named Jesse Belvin composed the first version of this song. He was among the group of friends, including members of The Penguins, who would share ideas and work with each other's songs. The Penguins recorded a demo of the song in 1953 and took it to Dootone Records, but when they tried to record it, it was clear that the song needed more work. The Penguins bass player Curtis Williams helped simplify the arrangement, and a session piano player named Gaynell Hodge tweaked the song further. According to Dootone owner Dootsie Williams, a member of the group The Flairs named Cornel Gunter also helped out. Williams told Record Exchanger magazine: "They had the melody and the harmony but they didn't have the background. This Cornel Gunter got with them and rehearsed them. 'Man,' I said, 'Now we've got something.' In my estimation it had the perfect melody, the perfect harmony and the perfect background which are the three things that it needed."
Doing forensics on the songwriter credits was up to a judge, and complicated by the fact that Curtis Williams sold the song to a publisher. If Law & Order was around in the '50s, this would have made a great episode: Jesse Belvin was asked to stand up and sing his version of the song in court, which convinced the judge that he deserved some, but not all of the songwriting credit. The judge ended up awarding the credits to Belvin, Curtis Williams and Gaynell Hodge.
The song made an appearance in the movie "Back to the Future" with the band Marvin Berry & The Starlighters. In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."
The Penguins were four black high school students from Fremont High in Los Angeles who were named for the logo on Kool cigarettes - a penguin named Willie (the group was originally called The Flywheels). They recorded this song in a garage and released it on a small black-owned label called Dootone Records. Dootone was owned by Dootsie Williams. In 1949, Williams founded the Blue Records label. Two years later he changed the name to Dootone. One of the first artists he recorded on Dootone was a violinist named Johnny Creach, who years later would become popular as Papa John Creach (who later played with Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna). In 1954, he recorded a local group called The Penguins, who would have a huge hit with "Earth Angel."
The composition of this song has a strange and convoluted history which came under scrutiny after it proved to be a lucrative hit. A singer-songwriter named Jesse Belvin composed the first version of this song. He was among the group of friends, including members of The Penguins, who would share ideas and work with each other's songs. The Penguins recorded a demo of the song in 1953 and took it to Dootone Records, but when they tried to record it, it was clear that the song needed more work. The Penguins bass player Curtis Williams helped simplify the arrangement, and a session piano player named Gaynell Hodge tweaked the song further. According to Dootone owner Dootsie Williams, a member of the group The Flairs named Cornel Gunter also helped out. Williams told Record Exchanger magazine: "They had the melody and the harmony but they didn't have the background. This Cornel Gunter got with them and rehearsed them. 'Man,' I said, 'Now we've got something.' In my estimation it had the perfect melody, the perfect harmony and the perfect background which are the three things that it needed."
Doing forensics on the songwriter credits was up to a judge, and complicated by the fact that Curtis Williams sold the song to a publisher. If Law & Order was around in the '50s, this would have made a great episode: Jesse Belvin was asked to stand up and sing his version of the song in court, which convinced the judge that he deserved some, but not all of the songwriting credit. The judge ended up awarding the credits to Belvin, Curtis Williams and Gaynell Hodge.
The song made an appearance in the movie "Back to the Future" with the band [Marvin Berry & The Starlighters](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=41GsS3jldOI). In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."
The Penguins were four black high school students from Fremont High in Los Angeles who were named for the logo on Kool cigarettes - a penguin named Willie (the group was originally called The Flywheels). They recorded this song in a garage and released it on a small black-owned label called Dootone Records. Dootone was owned by Dootsie Williams. In 1949, Williams founded the Blue Records label. Two years later he changed the name to Dootone. One of the first artists he recorded on Dootone was a violinist named Johnny Creach, who years later would become popular as Papa John Creach (who later played with Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna). In 1954, he recorded a local group called The Penguins, who would have a huge hit with "Earth Angel."
The composition of this song has a strange and convoluted history which came under scrutiny after it proved to be a lucrative hit. A singer-songwriter named Jesse Belvin composed the first version of this song. He was among the group of friends, including members of The Penguins, who would share ideas and work with each other's songs. The Penguins recorded a demo of the song in 1953 and took it to Dootone Records, but when they tried to record it, it was clear that the song needed more work. The Penguins bass player Curtis Williams helped simplify the arrangement, and a session piano player named Gaynell Hodge tweaked the song further. According to Dootone owner Dootsie Williams, a member of the group The Flairs named Cornel Gunter also helped out. Williams told Record Exchanger magazine: "They had the melody and the harmony but they didn't have the background. This Cornel Gunter got with them and rehearsed them. 'Man,' I said, 'Now we've got something.' In my estimation it had the perfect melody, the perfect harmony and the perfect background which are the three things that it needed."
Doing forensics on the songwriter credits was up to a judge, and complicated by the fact that Curtis Williams sold the song to a publisher. If Law & Order was around in the '50s, this would have made a great episode: Jesse Belvin was asked to stand up and sing his version of the song in court, which convinced the judge that he deserved some, but not all of the songwriting credit. The judge ended up awarding the credits to Belvin, Curtis Williams and Gaynell Hodge.
The song made an appearance in the movie "Back to the Future" with the band Marvin Berry & The Starlighters. In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."