The Velvets

The Velvets were an American doo wop group from Odessa in Ector County in West Texas. The African American quintet was formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high school English teacher, with four of his students. Roy Orbison heard the group and arranged for them to be signed to Monument Records in 1960. Their first release was the standard "That Lucky Old Sun" but their biggest hit single was "Tonight (Could Be the Night)", which hit #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. "That Lucky Old Sun" (#46) and "Tonight (Could Be the Night)" (#50) made brief appearances in the UK Singles Chart in 1961. The follow-up to "Tonight", "Laugh", peaked at number 90 and after a half-dozen further singles but no more hits the group disbanded. Their complete recorded output comprises just thirty songs, which were collected onto one compact disc and released on Ace Records in 1996 1. Tonight: (Could Be The Night) more 2. Time And Again more 3. Spring Fever more 4. That Lucky Old Sun more 5. Laugh more 6. Lana more 7. The Love Express more 8. Don't Let Him Take My Baby more 9. Let The Good Times Roll more 10. The Light Goes On, The Light Goes Off more 11. Crying In The Chapel more 12. Dawn more 13. Here Comes That Song Again more 14. Nightmare more 15. If more 16. Let The Fool Kiss You more 17. Baby The Magic Is Gone more 18. Be Ever Mine more 19. You Done Me Bad more 20. Kiss Me more 21. Alicia more 22. Bird Dog more 23. My Love more 24. Who Has The Right more 25. I'm Trusting In You more 26. Almost But Not Quite more 27. Husbands And Wives more 28. I Can Feel It more 29. Poison Love more 30. That's Out Of My Line more Group Members were Virgil Johnson, Will Solomon, Mark Prince, Clarence Rigsby (1947 -1978, died in a car accident) and Bob Thursby. Johnson sometimes appears in nostalgia concerts.