The Skyliners welcome a new ‘fourth voice’
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jimmy Beaumont, one of Pittsburgh’s greatest vocal legends, could never be replaced, but The Skyliners have decided to keep the music alive with a new member.
The group best known for the classic 1959 ballad “Since I Don’t Have You” welcomes Bethel Park’s John Sarkis, a singer who leads the Pittsburgh cover band On the Level and also runs the local talent agency Spectrum Entertainment. Mr. Sarkis joins Nick Pociask and Donna Groom, who have been with the group for decades, and four-year member Frank Czuri (from rock bands The Igniters, Diamond Reo and the Silencers), in a version of The Skyliners with no original members. The only living original member of the Pittsburgh doo-wop quintet, Jackie Taylor, hasn’t been with The Skyliners since the ’60s.
Beaumont, renowned for his golden falsetto, died in his sleep Oct. 7 at his McKeesport home at age 76 after a career that began when he was a teenager.
Ms. Groom, who has been a Skyliner for 37 years, met Mr. Sarkis earlier this year when he called her to fill in for a singer in his band.
“I was so impressed with his vocal ability and I thought he was a strong harmony singer,” she said. “He can hear harmony. If he hears a spot with a hole, he knows how to fill it. He has what they call big ears. And he’s a strong lead singer, too.”
The Skyliners hired him to fulfill a concert obligation in Merrillville, Ind., a week after the funeral. The promoter of the multi-act show wanted the group to go on without mention of Beaumont, so “we just went on and did our thing. People knew what was going on,” Ms. Groom said.
The new foursome also sang the national anthem before the Steelers played Cincinnati at Heinz Field on Oct. 22.
On Friday, they were part of the lineup for “A Night of Pittsburgh Legends” at Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead, benefiting the ailing lead singer of the Vogues, Bill Burkette. Joining them will be Chuck Blasko’s Vogues (a regional version of the group), The Marcels and Jimmie Ross and The Jaggerz.
This new incarnation of The Skyliners will share leads, with Mr. Sarkis taking the vocal on “Since I Don’t Have You.”
“We didn’t hire him to be Jimmy,” Ms. Groom said. “We hired him to be a fourth voice in the band.”
She added that if they didn’t do it, someone else would try to come along and adopt the Skyliners name.
The Skyliners released a statement Thursday, saying, in part: “[ We] have been moved by the flood of wishes from friends and fans to keep his musical legacy alive. Now the time has come for us to celebrate Jimmy’s contributions to the world and to keep the sound alive. Cumulatively, three of us have been Skyliners ( handpicked by Jimmy) for over 100 years. We now welcome John Sarkis as the ensemble’s fourth voice, to ensure that the sound of The Skyliners continues in the same true tradition. We are not replacing Jimmy. No one could fill his shoes. But we will ensure that his beloved songs will continue to be the core of our repertoire.”