Tavares

Tavares (group)

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Tavares (group)

Tavares (also known as The Tavares Brothers) are an American R&B, funk and soul music group, composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Group members

  • Ralph Ralph Vierra Tavares (born December 10, 1941)[1]
  • Pooch Arthur Paul Tavares (born November 12, 1943)
  • Chubby Antone Lee Tavares (born June 2, 1945)
  • Butch Feliciano Vierra Tavares, Jr. (born May 18, 1948)
  • Tiny Perry Lee Tavares (born October 24, 1949)

Biography and career

The Tavares brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts, whose parents were of Cape Verdean descent, started performing in 1959 as Chubby and the Turnpikes when the youngest brother was 9 years old. Future Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer appeared as the "token white-guy drummer" in an early incarnation of Tavares. Chubby and The Turnpikes signed with Capitol records in 1967 and had a couple of local hit records including "I Know The Inside Story" in 1967 and "Nothing But Promises" in 1968.[2] By 1973, they had changed their name to Tavares and scored their first R&B Top 10 (Pop Top 40) hit with "Check it Out" that same year, and soon began charting regularly on the R&B and pop charts. Their first album included their brother Victor, who sang lead on "Check it Out", but dropped out of the group shortly after. In 1974 Tavares had a #1 R&B hit with Hall & Oates' "She's Gone," (which became a hit for Hall & Oates as well two years later). Tavares followed up that success with "Remember What I Told You to Forget."

1975 turned out to be their most successful year chart-wise, chalking up a Top 40 Pop album (In the City) and their biggest hit, the Top 10 Pop/#1 R&B smash "It Only Takes a Minute", which was later successfully covered by both Jonathan King and Take That, and recently sampled by Jennifer Lopez. They parlayed this success into a spot as an opening act for the Jackson 5. KC and The Sunshine Band was also on this tour. This was followed by a string of hits: "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" (1976), "Don't Take Away the Music" (1976), and "Whodunit" (1977, another #1 R&B hit), among others. In 1977 they also recorded "I Wanna See You Soon", a duet with Capitol label mate Freda Payne which received airplay on BBC Radio 1 but failed to chart.

Many of their hits, however, underplayed their R&B background and gave the group the image of being a disco act. This perception was reinforced by their appearance on the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever in 1977. Tavares recorded the Bee Gees song "More Than a Woman," and their version reached the Pop Top 40 that year. The soundtrack became one of the most successful in history, giving Tavares their only Grammy.

Later albums, such as Madam Butterfly and Supercharged, strayed from the disco format and were less successful on the Pop chart (although they continued to have Top 10 R&B hits such as "Never Had a Love Like This Before" and the popular socio-political "Bad Times" written by British singer-songwriter Gerard McMahon). At the start of the 1980s, Tavares left Capitol Records, signing with RCA. They had one last major hit, the ballad "A Penny for Your Thoughts", for which they were nominated for a Grammy in 1982, and their last major release was Words and Music in 1983.

In 1984, Ralph Tavares stepped down from the group, and Tiny left in the mid-1990s, but the other three brothers continue to tour. In early 2009, Tiny Tavares rejoined and is currently touring with the group. Tiny Tavares also invited his grandson Anthony Paul Verville to sing on stage with him during a live family concert.

"It Only Takes a Minute" was later covered by British boy band Take That, becoming a Top 10 UK hit, and is featured in the soundtrack of Konami's dancing game Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix.

"Out of the Picture" was sampled by 50 Cent in his 2003 song "Many Men (Wish Death)".

Musician Feliciano "Flash" Vierra Tavares, the family patriarch and father of all five members of Tavares, died in 2008.[3]

Chubby Tavares released his first solo album, Jealousy, on July 17, 2012; a few months after Tavares, Four Tops and the Temptations toured the UK together. Preceding the album a digital-only single was released called "It's Christmas". On December 17, it reached #5 on Amazon's Acid Jazz singles chart. Both the album and the single were produced by Carla Olson, and the album was released by Fuel Records / Universal.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album Peak chart positions Record Label
US
[4]
US
R&B
[4]
AUS
[5]
CAN
[6]
NLD
[7]
UK
[8]
1974 Check It Out 160 20 Capitol
Hard Core Poetry 121 11
1975 In the City 26 8 93
1976 Sky High! 24 20 36 7 2 22
1977 Love Storm 59 15 99 67
1978 Future Bound 115 55
1979 Madam Butterfly 92 13 90
1980 Supercharged 75 20
Love Uprising 205
1981 Loveline
1982 New Directions 137 30 RCA
1983 Words and Music 208 48
"" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications Record Label
US
[4]
US
R&B
[4]
NLD
[7]
UK
[8]
1977 The Best of Tavares 72 42 39
  • UK: Silver [9]
Capitol
1993 Capitol Gold: The Best of Tavares 28
1996 The Greatest Hits EMI
1997 It Only Takes a Minute: A Lifetime with Tavares
2001 The Best of Tavares EMI-Capitol
2002 Classic Masters Capitol
2004 Anthology
"" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[4]
US
R&B
[4]
US
Dan
[4]
US
A/C
[4]
AUS
[5]
CAN
[6]
NLD
[7]
UK
[8]
1973 "Check It Out" 35 5
1974 "That's the Sound That Lonely Makes" 70 10
"Too Late" 59 10 67
"She's Gone" 50 1 96
1975 "Remember What I Told You to Forget" (A-side) 25 4 46
"My Ship" (B-side)
"It Only Takes a Minute" 10 1 2 17
"Free Ride" 52 8 71
1976 "The Love I Never Had" 11
"Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Part 1)" 15 3 1 18 30 11 1 4
  • US: Gold [10]
  • UK: Silver [9]
"Don't Take Away the Music" 34 15 48 5 4
  • UK: Silver [9]
1977 "The Mighty Power of Love" 25
"Whodunit" 22 1 31 32 15 7 5
"One Step Away" 16
"Goodnight My Love" 14
"More Than a Woman" 32 36 29 34 7
1978 "The Ghost of Love (Part 1)" 48 29
"Timber" 94
"Slow Train to Paradise" 62
"Never Had a Love Like This Before" 5
1979 "Straight from Your Heart" 77
"Bad Times" 47 10
1980 "I Can't Go on Living Without You" 42
"Love Uprising" 17
1981 "Loneliness" 64
"Turn Out the Nightlight" 45
"Loveline" 47
1982 "A Penny for Your Thoughts" 33 16 15 60 45
1983 "Got to Find My Way Back to You" 24
"Deeper in Love" 10 41
"Words and Music" 29
1985 "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Remix by Ben Liebrand)" 11 12
"Don't Take Away the Music (Hands off the Music Mix)" 48
1986 "It Only Takes a Minute (Remix by Ben Liebrand)" 46
"" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. Often considered the highest music honor, the awards were established in 1958.[11] Tavares have won one award from one nomination.

Year Nominated work Award Result
1979 Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack Album of the Year Won

See also

  • List of number-one dance hits (United States)
  • List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

  1. The birth years set out here, included in most sources, do not tally with those stated in Frank Laufenberg Rock and Pop Day By Day, ISBN 0-7137-2319-X - as follows:- Ralph b. 1942, Pooch b. 1944, Chubby b. 1946, Butch b. 1948, Tiny b. 1950
  2. [1]
  3. Coddy, Don, Tavares patriarch dies, The Standard-Times (New Bedford), 2008-12-19. URL accessed on 2008-12-19.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 [Tavares (group) at All Music Guide US Albums Charts > Tavares]. Billboard. Retrieved on 2012-09-27.
  5. 5.0 5.1 David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970-1992, Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W..
  6. 6.0 6.1 CAN Charts > Tavares. RPM. Retrieved on 2012-09-27.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 NL Charts > Tavares. MegaCharts. Retrieved on 2012-09-27.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 UK Charts > Tavares. Official Charts Company. Retrieved on 2012-09-27.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 UK Certified Awards Search > Tavares. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2012-09-27.
  10. US Certifications > Tavares. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2012-09-27.
  11. O'Neill, Thomas (1999). The Grammys: The Ultimate Unofficial Guide to Music's Highest Honor, Perigee Trade.

External links

  • Tavares (group) at All Music Guide
  • Taveres at Soul Tracks
  • Tavares at Soul Walking
  • Tavares at Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Historical Archive
This page was last modified 20.03.2014 21:57:13

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