Lead singer for one of the alltime great doo wop groups The Cadillacs—whose biggest hit was "Well they often call me Speedo but my real name is Mister Earl"—Earl Carroll has passed and will be missed. He'd been working as a school janitor for years but those of us who go back to the doo wop era remember him for all the Cadillac tunes that were an essential ingredient in being a teenager in the 1950s and early '60s. The soundtrack to romance, gang fights and drag races etc.
I'll put a video up as soon as I get this new computer working correctly. Steve Jobs where are you when we need you?
[Here's a great example of Earl's stage charisma and singing chops. The Cadillacs were also know for their choreograph, some say they invented the whole male group dance moves made more famous in the 'sixties Motown groups. This is obviously post-fifties, but he's still in great voice. You can find a video of his last performance just last year on YouTube but the sound is terrible. It's poignant though as he and just two Cadillacs go through the old dance moves as best they can at their late age.]
[PS: I meant to add that it's worth it to take the time to watch it through to the second song "Gloria" a ballad where Carroll really shows how great a vocalist he was.]
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