The Viscaynes

★★★★ The Viscaynes & Friends PROPER. CD/DL/LP

Early ’60s doo wop from the young Sly Stone; comp uses the original tape source.

The Viscaynes grew out of two high school groups from Vallejo, California and featured a teenage Sylvester Stewart, who would later revolutionise soul as Sly Stone. The shortlived group, who were one of America’s first interracial outfits, recorded a handful of songs in San Francisco’s Geary Theatre in 1961, then some more later that year in LA with producer/writer George Motola. All are quintessential doo wop defined by close vocal harmonies, simple backings and sparse production. The dramatic Yellow Moon, effusive You’re My Only Love and the plaintive You’ve Forgotten Me show Stewart already had an ear for intricate vocal arrangement; the exquisite Heavenly Angel, that he was a singer capable of expressing intense feeling and creating a deeply soulful mood.