The Downbeats - Request Of A Fool 1962

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The Downbeats (Detroit, Michigan)

Personnel:
Cleo Duke Miller
Robert Fleming
Johnny Dawson

Biography:
The obscure Motown act known as the Downbeats included Johnny Dawson, Cleo Miller, and Robert Fleming. They sometimes accompanied Marv Johnson before he hit on United Artists Records, and cut tracks for the Lupine family of labels. (Although nothing emerged, there are gaping blanks in Lupine's discography which may account for the omission.) The flip of the Downbeats' first Tamla single, "Request of a Fool," was published by Lupine Music, and written by Dawson. The A-side, "Your Baby's Back," is a '50s throwback that dropped early in 1962, the next Downbeats' release didn't surface until December 31, 1965. At Lupine they accompanied Marv Johnson, uncredited, on "Once Upon a Time," a beautiful but neglected doo wop release.

Motown issued "Darling Baby" a Holland-Dozier-Holland production on their VIP label and credited it to the Downbeats. Sandra Mallett joined Dawson, Miller, and Fleming and sung lead on both sides. Mallett had the single "It's Going to Be Hard Times" b/w "Camel Walk" on Tamla as Sandra Mallett & the Vandellas in 1962. Before Motown shipped "Darling Baby," they slapped new labels on the 45s effectively changing the groups' name from the Downbeats to the Elgins. It was a strange choice, since another group of Elgins recorded for Congress Records ("Ritha Mae") and a '50s group from Southern California also used the name.