Fred Parris composed the song In The Still Of The Night one night in the 1950s while on guard duty in the Army.
Back home in New Haven, Connecticut in 1956, he formed a vocal group with Wes Forbes, Lewis Peeples, Rich Freeman and Sy Hopkins.
They called themselves The Five Satins and recorded In The Still Of The Night in the basement of their local church, St. Bernadette’s.
Released on the local Standord label – originally as the B-side of a track called The Jones Girl – the song entered the top forty. Re-released on the New York label Ember, the single ended up charting at #3 on the R&B chart and #25 on the pop charts.
Parris was then sent to Japan with the Army so the group re-formed with a different lineup featuring Bill Baker, Eddie Martin, Jim Freeman, Al Denby, and Jessie Murphy.
The new lineup released To The Aisle in 1957, which became the only other Top 40 song for The Five Satins.
Parris replaced Baker on his release from the Army in January 1958 but as doo-wop fell out of fashion in the early 60s, the group split up.
In 1969 Fred Parris re-formed the group with a new lineup and hit the oldies circuit. This group appeared in the 1973 rock ‘n’ roll revival film, Let The Good Times Roll.
They continued recording into the 1980s, with Parris, Richie Freeman, Curtis and Nate Marshall. The Five Satins were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.
Fred Parris
Wes Forbes
Lewis Peeples
Al Denby
Rich Freeman
Sy Hopkins
Ed Martin
Bill Baker
Tommy Killebrew
Jim Freeman
Nat Mosley
Jimmy Curtis
Corky Rogers
Jessie Murphy
Nate Marshall
