R&B vocal group from West Baltimore. A 1955 lineup featured Cora Boykins, Bobby Covington, Richard Quarles, Earle Beale, and Bill ‘Harvey’ Hagie. Boykins was later replaced with Elaine Jones. Covington was generally the group’s lead singer and was in and out of the group over the years. Their first gig was in 1955 at the Comedy Club on Pennsylvania Avenue where they were backed by the Jolly Jax.
The Tangiers were also backed by Joe Coddie’s Houserockers and performed at the Rally Club on Forrest and Ensor Streets.
Tangiers photos courtesy of Richard Quarles
The Tangiers joined Kelson Fisher’s traveling live rock and roll show that performed at various cabarets and teen centers around the state. Traveling with the show were various local groups including the Houserockers, the Young Quads, and Baltimore Colt football star Lenny Moore. The Tangiers made weekly performances on Fisher’s Swing Party” radio show on WSID in the late-‘50s. By the late-‘50s several members went into the military service and the group folded.
In 1961 the Tangiers reunited and rehearsed for the better part of a year to perfect their sound. Their first backing band was a group from Catonsville called the Gliders, led and managed by saxophonist John Robinson.
On their day job, Quarles and a co-worker named Danny Shaw discovered that each were involved with musical groups. They decided to have a rehearsal with the Tangiers and Shaw’s group Danny & the Elegants. The groups hit it off and began performing together at teen centers, CYO’s, and frequent appearances at Hollywood Park.
In 1965 the Tangiers joined up with the Jetsons as their new backing band. As the Jetsons & the Tangiers the group performed at Hollywood Park, the Zoo, CYO Cotillion at the Civic Center, opened for the Dave Clark 5 at Painter’s Mill, and did double bills with local groups such as the Chaumonts… They eventually became a house band at the Club Venus Upstairs Lounge.
With a recommendation from local promotion man Zim Zemarel, the Tangiers signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. They traveled to a Philadelphia studio on Broad Street and recorded “Baby It’s Cold Outside” b/w “Excuse Me for Living” (B-side written by WCAO DJ Alan Field). The single was released as by The Tangiers & the Jetsons Band on the Date label, a subsidiary of Columbia. Unfortunately, not enough copies sold for Columbia to pick up the contract for additional releases. Alan Field then released two more sides on his own Pumpkin label. The A-side “Dance of Love” as by the Jetsons and the Tangiers featured lead vocals by Richard Quarles. The B-side “All Souled Out” was a Jetsons instrumental. The group continued performing locally and throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
By mid-1968 the Tangiers joined up with a new backing group the Chancellors. The group recorded “Let My Heart and Soul Be Free” and “What’s The Use of Me Trying” at Bradley Studios, produced by Nick Barker. Managers Plato Theopolous and Nick Bollon arranged for a release on Okeh Records. Due to a west coast group using the name Tangiers, the group was forced to change their name. The new record billed them as the Tan Geers. Subsequent recordings with the group at Blue Seas Studios backed by the Chancellors were picked up by Scepter Records and released as by the Tangeers.
Over the years the Tangiers (Tan Geers, Tangeers) with their backing bands developed associations with local DJ’s Kelson Fisher, Big Al Sears, Hot Rod, Al Jefferson, and Alan Field. On television they performed twice on the Kerby Scott Show and once on The Milt Grant Show in D.C. They performed at various cabarets, teen centers (Arbutus, Perry Hall…), CYO’s, pool parties, The Comedy Club, Famous Ballroom, Carr’s Beach, Hollywood Park, Club Venus, Cherry Hill Union Hall, The Zoo, Blackjack Club, Rhapsody, Knotty Pine, Dotson’s, Sperl’s, Gwynn Oak Park, Pier Ballroom (Ocean City), Martin’s West, Martin’s Eastwind, Martin’s Glen Burnie, Civic Center, Painter’s Mill…
The group folded in 1970. Quarles and Jones went on to join Over Easy.
Record releases:
As the Tangiers and the Jetsons Band:
1966 Date 2-1548 Baby It’s Cold Outside / Excuse Me for Living
As the Jetsons and the Tangiers:
1966 Pumpkin 101 Dance of Love / All Souled Out
As the Tan Geers:
1968 Okeh 7319 Let My Heart and Soul Be Free / What’s The Use of Me Trying
As the Tangeers:
1969 Scepter 12269 This Empty Place / (He’s) Not That Kind of Guy
1969 Scepter 12282 Make the Night a Little Longer – Reach Out for Me (Medley) / Even Though I Love You
The Tangiers records continue to be popular among Northern Soul enthusiasts. “Let My Heart and Soul Be Free” has been reissued on the various artists CD “Golden Nuggets: A Collection of Northern and Modern Soul Winners” (Goldsoul 002). “This Empty Place” was included on the CD’s “The Sound of Bacharach” (WESA 894), and “New York Soul Serenade” (Kent Soul 149).
Thanks to Richard Quarles for photos and recordings!
