Otis Williams (born June 2, 1936, Cincinnati, Ohio), was the lead vocalist of the Charms, an R&B group that had its greatest success in the years 1954-1957. Along with the Cadets/Jacks, they were one of the top black cover groups, though they were covered as much as they covered others. (Williams is not related to Otis Williams of The Temptations).
The Charms first record in June 1953, "Heaven Only Knows", was not a hit, and after a couple more releases they moved to another King subsidiary label, DeLuxe, also run by Stone. They recorded several more times before, in 1954, "Hearts of Stone" gave them their first and biggest hit, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for nine weeks at the end of the year. It sold over one million copies, their first recording to do so, and was awarded a gold disc. It also reached #15 on the pop charts, with a cover version by the Fontane Sisters reaching #1.
The group had further R&B chart success with "Ling, Ting, Tong" and "Two Hearts", and they toured with The Clovers, Big Joe Turner and others. However, in late 1955, Stone persuaded the
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other members of the group that they could succeed without Williams, and they left to join Stone’s new Chart label. After a court battle, Williams continued recording for DeLuxe, credited as Otis Williams and His Charms, and had another big hit in 1956 with "Ivory Tower" (#5 R&B, #11 pop).
Williams continued to record for DeLuxe in the late 1950s, but with less success. The Charms had their last recordings released in 1956. These recordings were, however, re-releases of older recordings that featured Otis Williams. The group made no other recordings. “United” (# 5, mid-1957) was Williams’s last entry into the R & B charts.
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Otis & His New Group aka The Charms 1955 |
In 1965-66 Williams recorded for OKeh without success, then retired from music for several years, working as a barber in Cincinnati. Otis had always liked country music and recorded country material for Pete Drake’s Stop label during 1969-1971, including the album “Otis Williams and the Midnight Cowboys". It seems that these were his last recordings as he was also working as a booking agent and talent scout.In the 1990s Williams returned to group harmony singing, touring internationally with a new Charms group, and, in 2001, being inducted to the United in Group Harmony Association Hall of Fame.
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| Otis Williams & Rollie Willis |
Otis was still active until his last known appearance in 2007, where he performed with The Coda Band.