The Rooftop Singers were the most successful of the folk revival's one-hit wonders -- their single major chart entry, "Walk Right In," was a number one record and also the biggest-selling single in the history of their label, Vanguard Records.
The group was a trio consisting of Erik Darling, Bill Svanoe, and Lynne Taylor, formed in late 1962. Darling (b. 1933) had been
Pete Seeger's successor in
the Weavers from 1958 through 1962, and had previously worked as a member of a jazz-folk influenced trio,
the Tarriers, who had a modest hit with "Banana Boat Song." He'd also appeared on dozens of recordings (mostly on Vanguard, to which
the Weavers were signed) by other artists during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a guitar accompanist.
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The Rooftop Singers were the most successful of the folk revival's one-hit wonders -- their single major chart entry, "Walk Right In," was a number one record and also the biggest-selling single in the history of their label, Vanguard Records.
The group was a trio consisting of Erik Darling, Bill Svanoe, and Lynne Taylor, formed in late 1962. Darling (b.
1933) had been
Pete Seeger's successor in
the Weavers from 1958 through 1962, and had previously worked as a member of a jazz-folk influenced trio,
the Tarriers, who had a modest hit with "Banana Boat Song." He'd also appeared on dozens of recordings (mostly on Vanguard, to which
the Weavers were signed) by other artists during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a guitar accompanist.
It was sometime after exiting
the Weavers in June of 1962 that Darling chanced to hear "Walk Right In," a ragtime-style number originally recorded by Gus Cannon and Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929. Darling decided to put together a group to record the song, and hooked up with Bill Svanoe, a former fine arts major and economics student who had turned to playing guitar and singing full-time. Lynne Taylor was a jazz singer who had been working in East Coast nightclubs since her teens. She had appeared on bills with
Frank Sinatra,
Sophie Tucker,
Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis, and played the Village Vanguard in New York for 28 weeks, later singing with
Benny Goodman and
Buddy Rich's band.
The trio cut "Walk Right In" for Vanguard in 1963, in a version with updated lyrics and a new arrangement featuring paired 12-string acoustic guitars, which reached the number one spot later that year and yielded an album of the same title. The group differed markedly from
the Weavers and most of the popular folk trios of the era, being far more influenced by blues and ragtime, as well as less profoundly earnest in its political sensibilities. Lynne Taylor's singing showed more of a jazz influence than was usual, while Darling and Svanoe's guitar playing showed higher-than-average dexterity.
The Rooftop Singers made it to the Newport Folk Festival in 1963 (and there was a resulting live album), but their popularity only lasted about a year. By the middle of the decade, they were supplanted by rawer solo singers like
Bob Dylan,
Phil Ochs, and
Tom Rush, bolder vocal outfits like
the Seekers, and louder folk-rock bands like
the Byrds and the early
Jefferson Airplane. The trio released further singles, including "Tom Cat" and "Mama Don't Allow," and a pair of albums, Goodtime and Rainy River, before splitting up in 1967. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
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