The Four Evers consisted of Jackie Jacobs lead, Paul Verdi first tenor, Alex Barbadero second and Dominick “Steakie” Andracchio baritone. The original bass ended up in jail before the group found a record deal. “We auditioned for Jamie as a quintet,” noted Paul. “When we showed up to record, we were concerned it would quash the whole deal, But nobody seemed to notice.” The only Jamie release, “Everybody South Street” b/w “One More Time” (Jamie 1247) came out on February 16, 1963.
It got played on American Bandstand and the group was supposed to go on to perform it. But they were bumped for a surprise appearance by the Shirelles and the promised substitute time never materialized. The Four Evers did get on television dance shows in Baltimore, where the record took off. Referring to the record producer and song writer of “Everybody South Street,” Paul commented, “It was Bob Finiz’s idea to break the record in Baltimore. So we go down there and first appear on [Buddy] Dean’s TV show and then on Bob Kaye’s with the Flamingos.” The Buddy Dean Show was immortalized as the tv dance show satirized in numerous John Waters productions like Hairspray, The Shag and Cry Baby.
The Four Evers were signed as singers not dancers, but the nature of their single required them to try their feet at dancing. This took some effort and some mishaps along the way, but by the time of their Baltimore appearances, Paul Verdi could say about the Flamingos, “I caught them off-camera watching us and spied two of them trying out our steps. That made my day, I can tell you.”
The Four Evers also backed Ernie Spano in the Bell-Sound –recorded release, “Angel Marie (The Girl from Across the Sea” b/w “Darling!! Don’t Let Me Cry” (Guyden 2085) which was released on March 27, 1963, soon after their own release. All of the doo-wop groups were soon overtaken by the arrival of the Beatles and the British muscial invasion that would come within the year.
