The Younghearts

The Younghearts were a vocal group from Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. The group members, at various times, were: Ronald Preyer, Charles Ingersoll, Bobby Solomon (b. 19th November 1944. d. 30th May 1975), Earl Carter, Frank Edward Hayes Snr ( b. 19th August 1942, Caruthersville, Missouri, U.S.A. d. 3rd September 2007) and James Moore. The Younghearts line-up changed over the years, however the high standard of their musical output endured throughout the late Sixties and Seventies. The Younghearts were, originally formed at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles in 1961, by Bobby Sanders and Charles Ingersoll who formed the group under the name of the Extreems, The groups first recording was for the Dorey imprint and was entitled ‘The Bells'(a top ten on the R & B chart).The group toured several times, but eventually the four members went their seperate ways. Bobby and Charles then joined forces with a three girl group called The Blossoms. This arrangement of artists performed background vocal chores for the likes of Phil Spector, Dobie Gray along with several other notable artists of that era. In 1967 put together a new group and called them The Younghearts, line-up included James Moore, Bobby Solomon, Charles Ingersoll and Ronald Preyer. The groups first record was a song entitled ‘Oh, I’ll Never Be The Same’, which made the Top Ten on the R & B charts. A follow up album entitled ‘Sweet Soul Shakin’ was released in 1968 for the Minit label.The ‘Sweet Soul Shakin’ album included the songs ‘I’ve Got Love For My Baby’, ‘Girls,Girls,Girls’, ‘Sweet Soul Shakin’, ‘Oh, I’ll Never Be The Same’ and ‘Misty’ all of which made the number one slot on the top 5 on the R & B charts at various times between 1968 and 1970. During that time The Younghearts toured with several famous Soul Artists of that time, including The Temptations, The Dells, The Delfonics, The Moments, The Whispers, The Miracles and The Supremes. During that time Bobby Solomon was replaced by Earl Carter, who was later to be replaced by Marc P. James Moore was then replaced by Brohann. The group then became reduced to three members who were Charles Ingersoll, Ronald Preyer and Bobby Solomon who rejoined the group in 1971.The group then moved to the Avco Embassy imprint for one album and a single release entitled ‘Ooh La We’, which made the R & B Top 20, however Avco never released the album feeling that the sound wasn’t ‘Younghearts’ enough. The Younghearts then relocated to the 20th Century label and Charles Ingersoll took over the management chores. The group then released the album ‘Do You Have The Time’, which was shortly followed by a second 20th Century outing entitled ‘A Taste Of The Younghearts’ (including musical arrangements from H.B.Barnum). Several successful singles from each set made the R & B charts, however tour duties in Africa and Australia meant that they could not promote the sets in the way they would have wished. The Younghearts, over the years, earned the nickname ‘The Entertainers’ due to the intense energy of ther performances. Charles Ingersoll performed with many artists and his vocals can be heard on Sly and the Family Stone’s classic ‘Thank You (For Lettin’ Me Be Myself Again)’. By 1975, the group were writing and producing all of their own material. Sadly, that year, Bobby Solomon died from cancer, at the tender age of 31 years old, and Frank Hayes was drafted in as a replacement. Signing to ABC Records the group recorded one album entitled ‘All About Love’. The vocals for the ABC album were undertaken by Charles Ingersoll and Ronnie Preyer and included their version of the Heatwave tune ‘Sho Nuff Must Be Love’ and a cover of the David Gates song ‘If’. Charles Ingersoll then left the group to form his own production company and lost contact with the other group members. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.