LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS (ANTHONY GOURDINE), LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS (CLARENCE COLLINS), LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS (ERNEST WRIGHT), LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS (HAROLD JENKINS) - HFSID 283477

LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS: ANTHONY GOURDINE, CLARENCE COLLINS, ERNEST WRIGHT and HAROLD JENKINS
B/w photo by James de Kriegsmann of doo-wop and soul group Little Anthony and the Imperials. Signed by founding members Anthony Gourdine, Clarence Collins and Ernest Wright and by Harold Jenkins, part of the group's current lineup.
Photograph signed "Love/Harold/Jenkins", "Peace/Lil/Anthony", "Love/Clarence/Collins" and "Ernest/Wright". B/w, 8x9¾ overall, 7x8¾ image, one surface. Photo by James de Kriegsmann of New York. Little Anthony of the long-running doo-wop and soul group Little Anthony and the Imperials was ANTHONY GOURDINE. He formed the Chesters in 1957 with CLARENCE COLLINS (baritone), ERNEST WRIGHT (tenor), Tracy Lord (tenor) and Nat Rogers (bass). HAROLD JENKINS joined in 1972 as a replacement to Sammy Strain, who had been with the group since 1962. After a 1958 one-off with End, the Chesters became the Imperials, with Alan Freed, a DJ at New York's WINS radio, dubbing the youthful-looking Gourdine "Little Anthony". The Imperials hit pay dirt with their first single, 1958's Tears On My Pillow, which peaked inside the Top Five on both the pop and R&B charts, and they went on release a number of classic hits, including Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop (1960), Goin' Out of My Head (1964), Hurts So Bad (1965) and Out of Sight, Out of Mind (1969). Part of Little Anthony and the Imperials' early success rested on Gourdine, whose fresh face recalled those of teen idols like Frankie Avalon, but their longevity (a Collins-led lineup continued recording into the late 1970s) comes from their adapting their sound from doo wop to the sweet soul in vogue during the 1960s. The band reformed in 1992 and continues to tour with Gourdine, Wright, Collins and Jenkins. Little Anthony and the Imperials were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Lightly creased. Jenkins and Gourdine's signatures touch. Negative and reproduction errors in image. Otherwise in fine condition.