About The Marvelows
Hometown
Chicago, IL, United States
Formed
1959
Genre
R&B/Soul
The Mighty Marvelows are remembered for their 1965 hit "I Do," which was somewhat of a throwback to the doo wop era of the previous decade. They were known simply as the Marvelows earlier in their career (see separate entry), changing their name in 1964 when Jesse Smith joined the rest of the Chicago Heights, IL-based soul group's lineup: Melvin Mason, Willie Stephenson, Frank Paden, and Johnny Paden. Smith was Mason's wife's cousin. The group reportedly added "Mighty" to their name to avoid confusion with the similarly named West Coast group the Marvellos.
It was not their only name change, incidentally; they were originally known as "the Mystics" -- not to be confused with the better-known Mystics who hailed from Brooklyn, NY, "Hushabye" -- when they began singing together in 1959, but the name may have brought them luck as their biggest hit came a year later under the new moniker. "I Do" (pop number 37/R&B number seven) was written by the group members as a warm-up song; something to sing to prepare their voices for live performance.
Around 1966, Jesse Smith left the group and was replaced by Andrew Thomas. The Mighty Marvelows' only other single of note was "In the Morning," which climbed into to the R&B Top 30 (number 24) in the spring of 1968. Subsequent singles failed to chart. ABC/Paramount issued their self-titled LP that same year.
The Mighty Marvelows eventually disbanded in 1969, then reformed briefly in the mid-'70s as an oldies revival group, appearing to perform "I Do" during CBS-TV's late-'70s high school drama The White Shadow. In 1982, a live version of "I Do" was a hit for the J. Geils Band (pop number 24). ~ Bryan Thomas
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