Billy Ward and his Dominoes

With McPhatter singing lead, Billy Ward and the Dominoes became one of the era’s preeminent vocal groups, but the martinetish Ward fired McPhatter in 1953 (replacing him with Jackie Wilson). Shortly thereafter, Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun sought to establish a new group around McPhatter, eventually recruiting former members of…

Black vocal groups such as the Dominoes and the Spaniels began combining gospel-style harmonies and call-and-response singing with earthy subject matter and more aggressive rhythm-and-blues rhythms. Heralding this new sound were disc jockeys such as Alan Freed of Cleveland, Ohio, Dewey Phillips of Memphis, Tennessee, and William (“Hoss”) Allen of…

…of the vocal group the Dominoes, led by Billy Ward, with whom he sang until he became a solo performer in 1957. Wilson had to deal with the routine forms of racial segregation that made it difficult for African-American male artists to secure mainstream success. The commercial and stylistic barriers…