The Spiders (American band)

The Spiders were an American R&B vocal group from New Orleans who recorded in the 1950s. Within a span of two years, the group had all five of their entries on the US Billboard R&B chart.[1]

For the Japanese band of the same name, see The Spiders (Japanese band).

The group was founded as a gospel group in 1947 under the name Zion City Harmonizers, and later sang as the Delta Southernaires, recording and performing on radio under the latter name in 1952-53.[1] Cosimo Matassa convinced them to begin singing secular music, and in 1953 the five-piece, based around brothers Hayward "Chuck" Carbo (1926–2008) and Leonard "Chick" Carbo (1927–1998), signed with Imperial Records,[1] under the name The Spiders.[2] They had several U.S. hits on the R&B chart in the middle of the decade, including their first single "I Didn't Want to Do It" (R&B #3, 1954), "I'm Slippin' In" (R&B #6, 1954), "21" (R&B #9, 1955), and "Witchcraft" (R&B #5, 1956).[3] The latter was co-written by Dave Bartholomew and was later covered by Elvis Presley.[4]

Members Joe Maxon and Matthew West left the group in 1955 and were replaced by Issacher Gordon and Bill Moore.[1] Chick Carbo signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist late in 1956, and by the next year the group had splintered; their last single as a group was 1957's "That's My Desire", though the song "Tennessee Slim", recorded in the middle of the decade, was issued as a single in 1960.[2]

Chuck Carbo later recorded for Rounder Records, releasing an album in 1993.[2] Chick Carbo died in 1998, Chuck in 2008.

Members
  • Hayward "Chuck" Carbo
  • Leonard "Chick" Carbo
  • Joe Maxon
  • Matthew West
  • Bill Moore
  • Issacher Gordon
  • Oliver Howard

References
  1. Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 413/4. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
  2. Steve Huey, "The Spiders", AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2019
  3. Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 414.
  4. "Witchcraft", SecondhandSongs.com. Retrieved 24 June 2019
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