1956
I'LL BE HOME * THE FLAMINGOS * CHECKER 830 * USA
The Flamingos, Jake Carey, Nate Nelson (lead on the above) Johnny Carter, Zeke Carey and Paul Wilson, sing in faultless harmony on this heart-aching ballad of separation which was sung with the military forces in mind but also applied, equally as well, to those unlucky sods in the shovel. Robert Pruter, in his excellent book, Doowop, The Chicago Scene, describes how this cut, from the groups first recording session at Chess, was recorded in the Office Studio! It was later recorded, he tells us, in a bigger professional studio, but the Chess brothers thinking the later recording sounded to 'plastic' went with the office recording for all releases. Although, along with When (their first release) it was the first thing they cut at Chess it was eventually their third Checker 45, released January 1956, and was their biggest hit up till then. The record was not released in the UK until Pye records issued it on a compilation album in the early 1960s.
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