![]() For more than two decades, the Tavares brothers were in the thick of it with the best and biggest of them. ![]() The story of Tavares is the inspirational tale of a band of young brothers bound not only by blood, prodigious talent, and a rich musical legacy, but by a fierce determination to succeed in the music business. Special thanks also go out to Bob Bovi, an early friend and supporter, to Brian Panella, the group’s longtime manager, and to Tiny Tavares for filling in the gaps and shedding light on the hazier parts of the story. The author would like to thank Ralph Tavares for his generosity and cooperation during the interview process and for opening up the family archive to the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. “But, we’re not doing anything – we’re just singing!” And that’s when the officer said, “Okay, get in the car,” and took them all down to headquarters on a charge of disturbing the peace! Little did he know that he had so rudely interrupted one of the earliest public performances by a group which a decade later would become one of the most successful singing groups of all time and known worldwide as simply “Tavares.” ![]() The eldest among them spoke up, “But we live here.” “Oh, yeah?” “Yes, this our house – we live on the third floor.” “Well, I still need you to move it along.” The eldest tried to reason with him one more time. Up in the North End of Providence, Peter Andreoli and Vini Poncia held court while their group, The Videls, serenaded the neighborhood.Īnd so it was on the South Side of Providence about fifty years ago when a police cruiser pulled up to a group of youths singing on the sidewalk on Willard Avenue. Out in Detroit, two rival groups, The Distants and The Primes battled it out nightly under the street lamps until they both cried “uncle” and merged to form The Temptations. Down in New York City, Dion DiMucci and his gang staked their claim on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx. Over a spacious, sleepy track Nelson sings the refrain -“But remember my love is the sound that you hear in your mind”- which gives way to a wounded guitar solo, as plain as the crack in an ancient sidewalk.Street corners loom large in the history and legends of the rise of the American singing group in the Rock ’n’ Roll/Rhythm & Blues era. ![]() Included here is arguably the sweetest, weariest version of “Amazing Grace” ever recorded, as well as a brilliantly understated medley of “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy” and “Night Life.” But the centerpiece is undoubtedly the title song. “A Penny for Your Thoughts” and “Thanks Again” are quintessential beer-joint torch songs, inched along on little more than the twinkle of Bobbie Nelson’s piano and the soft rap of Paul English’s drumkit. Following the release of his masterful concept album Red Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson returned to the studio to, as Willie explained to one interviewer, “do some songs we already do that people like to hear when we’re on the road.” A rollicking take on Lefty Frizzell’s “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time” reflects the band’s roadhouse energy, but the album is mostly a showcase of low-burning ballads - the kind of sweetly forlorn songs that come at the very end of a long, lonely night.
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