
Personnel:
Jimmy Gilford
William "Worm" Harris
Kenneth E. Moore
Jimmy Scruggs
Biography:
Prior to 1960, record companies such as Capitol and Dot maintained offices in Indianapolis near the Indiana Avenue entertainment district, along Capitol Avenue. These labels sought out the best talent that Indianapolis offered, from jazz artists to doo-wop singers. Beginning in the mid-1950s, doo-wop swept the nation and the youth of Indianapolis accepted this new trend in music
Guilford recalled taking a record player and a stack of 78 RPM records to these recording studios hoping to persuade a talent scout to sign them to a deal. Guilford and his friends practiced daily on the street corners adjacent to Martindale Avenue on the east side of Indianapolis. They were familiar with the popular songs of the day, and took the record player with them for accompaniment during their tryout.
Guilford and his group, the Four Sounds, were lucky enough to record and then tour with a doo-wop revue during the 1950s, as was Indianapolis native Thurston Harris, who recorded the hit “Little Bitty Pretty One” in 1957.
The Celeste group has no relation to the Indianapolis group with Jimmy Guilford. The Tuff (January 1961), Federal (May 1961), and Ran-Dee (October 1962) sides are by the same group. The Federal and Project sides were all leased from William Harris (Thurston Harris' brother), so these must have been independently recorded.