Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

Maurice Williams was born April 26, 1938, in Lancaster, South Carolina. His first experience with music was in the church, where his mother and sister both performed. By the time he was six, Williams was performing regularly there. With his childhood friend Earl Gainey, Williams formed the gospel group the Junior Harmonizers. As rock and roll and doo-wop became their primary interest, the Junior Harmonizers changed their name to the Royal Charms.

In addition to Williams and Gainey, the Royal Charms were made up of Willie Jones (baritone), William Massey (tenor, baritone, trumpet), and Norman Wade (bass).{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0149-X|page=474}} In the winter of 1956, while still in high school, Williams and his band traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to record for the Excello label. At the time they were going by the name the Royal Charms, but the founder of Excello Records, Ernie Young, convinced them to change their name to the Gladiolas{{Cite web|url = http://www.rivetingriffs.com/Maurice%20Willams%20and%20the%20Zodiacs%20Interview.html|title = Interview with Maurice Williams|access-date = Mar 9, 2015|publisher = Riveting Riffs|last = Montague|first = Joe}} (at the time, there were at least two other bands using the same name).

The song "Little Darlin'" was a No. 11 hit on the Billboard R&B chart in 1957,Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of TOP 40 R&B and Hip Hop Hits, Billboard Books, New York, 2006, p. 219 but only reached number 41 on Billboard's Top 100.Whitburn, Joel Top Pop Singles 1955-2006, Record Research, 2007 p. 344 However, when it was covered by the Canadian group the Diamonds, it moved up to No. 2.{{sfn|Whitburn|1992|p=139}}

Williams finished high school and while on the road with the band, their station wagon broke down in Bluefield, West Virginia. The band came across a British-built Ford car known as the Zodiac and changed their name based on this. Shortly thereafter, Henry Gaston replaced Earl Gainey.

In the spring of 1959, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs performed at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. Around that time, the group split and reformed. The members were Williams, Gaston, Wiley Bennett, and Charles Thomas. Later, Little Willie Morrow and Albert Hill were added. One month later, in the early summer of 1959, the band recorded in a Quonset Hut on Shakespeare Road in Columbia. The recording engineer, Homer Fesperman, recorded several tracks that the band had hoped would include a hit. One of the last tracks that they recorded that day was "Stay", a song that Williams had written in 1953. Williams sang lead and Henry Gaston sang the counter-verse falsetto.

After taking the demo of "Stay" to Al Silver at Herald Records in New York City, the song was pressed and released in early 1960. At 1:36, "Stay" is the shortest recording ever to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.per Casey Kasem on the American Top 40 broadcast for the week ended March 15, 1980: [http://www.charismusicgroup.com/Cue%20Sheets/03-15-80.pdf cue sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329050751/http://www.charismusicgroup.com/Cue%20Sheets/03-15-80.pdf |date=2017-03-29 }}

At the end of 1963, the British band the Hollies recorded "Stay", which gave the group their debut Top Ten hit single in the UK, peaking at No.8Rock File 4 - Chart log of American/British Top 20 Hits 1955-1974, Charlie Gillett & Simon Frith, Panther Books Ltd (1976) in January 1964, three years after the Zodiacs' version had peaked at No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart (January 1961). Later versions of "Stay", by the Four Seasons (1963) and Jackson Browne (1978), reached the Top 20 in the U.S., each selling over one million copies in the United States alone. The inclusion of the Zodiacs' "Stay" on the soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing in 1987 led to the song selling more records than it had during its original release.

A 1965 recording by the group, "May I", released by Vee Jay Records and Dee-Su Records, became, over the years, another million-selling record.

Williams continued to record, tour, and release music until his death. He was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.{{cite web|title=2010 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2010-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012}} He also made several performances for the PBS "Doo Wop 50" show series in 2001.

Henry Gaston died on August 24, 2015, at the age of 79.{{cite web|title=Henry Gaston|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/charlotte/obituary.aspx?n=henry-gaston&pid=175668316&fhid=11958|publisher=Legacy.com|access-date=March 11, 2021}}{{cite web|title=Maurice Williams' famous song has staying power, 55 years later|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/article41831043.html|publisher=The Charlotte Observer|access-date=March 11, 2021}} Maurice Williams died on August 6, 2024, at the age of 86.{{cite news |title=Legendary “Stay” singer Maurice Williams dies at 86 |url=https://soultracks.com/story-stay-singer-maurice-williams-dies-at-86/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |publisher=Soul Tracks |date=6 August 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/16/arts/music/maurice-williams-dead.html|title=Maurice Williams, 86, Dies; His ‘Stay’ Was a Hit for Him and Four Seasons|work=The New York Times|date=August 16, 2024}} Earl Gainey died on February 4, 2025, at the age of 87.{{cite web |title=Earl Tillman Gainey |url=https://www.crawfordfuneralhomesinc.com/obituary/Earl-Gainey |website=Crawford Funeral Home |access-date=22 March 2025}}

• 1961 Stay
• 1965 At the Beach- Live in '65
• 1997 Let This Night Last, produced and arranged by Ron Oates
• 2000 The 21-song album, Back To Basics, was produced and arranged by Ron Oates in Nashville, Tennessee. It contains re-recorded versions of "Stay" and "Little Darlin".

• List of doo-wop musicians
• List of artists who reached number one in the United States
• Vocal Group Hall of Fame
• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
• List of people from South Carolina

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• {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p5834|label=Maurice Williams}}
• {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p197642|label=The Zodiacs}}
• [https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/316 American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today (Jay Warner)]
• {{imdb name|3833762}}
• {{imdb name|1530415|name=Maurice Williams}}
• {{discogs artist|Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs}}

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Category:Musical groups from South Carolina

Williams, Maurice

Category:American pop music groups

Category:Vee-Jay Records artists

Category:Herald Records artists

Category:1950s establishments in South Carolina

Category:1960s disestablishments in South Carolina