The Sandpipers

Career

Founding members Jim Brady (born August 24, 1944, Los Angeles), Mike Piano (born October 26, 1944, Rochester, New York) and Richard Shoff (born April 30, 1944, Seattle) first performed together in the Mitchell Boys Choir, before forming the Four Seasons with friend Nick Cahuernga. Due to the rising popularity of a group with that name from New Jersey, they changed their name to the Grads and continued as a trio.

Although the Grads did not enter the charts with their early recordings, they performed well enough to secure a residency at Harrah's Lake Club (now Harveys Lake Tahoe) where a friend brought them to the attention of Herb Alpert of A&M Records. Alpert was impressed with the Grads, but after one single without success the group agreed to a name change, choosing the Sandpipers out of a dictionary. After the name change, their producer, Tommy LiPuma, recommended they record the Cuban anthem "Guantanamera" and they had their first hit. The use of a female singer (Robie Lester, uncredited) to add background vocals on "Guantanamera" established a trend that the Sandpipers would incorporate in multiple future studio recordings and live shows.

Along with the name change came a fourth member. Although consigned to the shadows behind the original trio for live performances, Pamela Ramcier had now become an integral part of the group. Her lyricless vocals were used much like second strings, adding an ethereal quality to the Sandpipers' sound.

For the Sandpipers' first live show in San Diego, their management hired two females, the well-known folk singer Penny Nichols and Pat Woolley. Early pressings of the Guantanamera LP showed a five person group—two females with Piano, Shoff, and Brady—on the back cover while later pressings had just the male trio. Subsequent albums depicted only the original trio. Other backup singers followed including Diane Jordan and Kathy Westmoreland in 1969. Some pressings of the 1970 Come Saturday Morning LP credit "solo voices" Patrice Holloway, Carolyn Willis, and Susan Tallman.

"Guantanamera" charted in the United States in September 1966, and in the United Kingdom the following month, and remains the group's biggest hit. Nevertheless, they had many lesser chart entries including cover versions of "Louie Louie", "The French Song" (Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes), and songs from the movies The Sterile Cuckoo and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

The record sleeve for their 1966 album Guantanamera was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. Dolores Erickson was featured as part of the front cover artwork.

In 1967 they recorded a cover version of The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" for their album Misty Roses. Their 1971 album A Gift of Song contained multiple covers including "It's Too Late", "An Old Fashioned Love Song", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Never My Love".

In 1968 they participated at the Festival di Sanremo in Italy, a highlight on the Italian music calendar. They were, as then usual, alongside Anna Identici one of the two performers of the song "Quando M'Innamoro," which attained sixth place. The song would become more popular in the interpretation by Gigliola Cinquetti. The English version by British pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck, "A Man Without Love", became a global hit.

Singing in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Tagalog, the Sandpipers had seven separate album entries in the Billboard 200 from 1966-1970, and over a dozen charted singles. In the mid-1970s, Ralph Nichols (later with The Lettermen) replaced Mike Piano. Gary Duckworth joined Brady and Shoff for the final album, Overdue, in 1977. The final 1979 single, "Singapore Girl", featured only Shoff and Brady.

Other Sandpipers

1. In 1965-66 an American girl group from Pensacola, Florida briefly toured and recorded as the Sandpipers, backed by an early Gregg and Duane Allman band called the Allman Joys. After "Guantanamera" was released they became the Daisies.
2. There was a South African folk rock group active in the 1960s also named the Sandpipers.
3. Another group known as the Sandpipers (or sometimes the Golden Sandpipers) sang for Golden Records, most notably the theme to Mighty Mouse, the version that is now the best known and perhaps the original.
4. A New York group released one single as the Sandpipers in 1966 on the Kismet label.
5. A Detroit group released one single as the Sandpipers in the mid-60s on the Giant label.
6. A South Florida trio (Art Williams, Wally Pape, Billy Stuart) released one LP, The Singin', Swingin' Sandpipers, in 1965 on the Art label.
7. A Malaysian group released two EPs as the Sandpipers in the 1960s: "Hey Tak Malu" on the Maria label and "Nyatakan Lah Pada Ku" on the Playboy label.
8. A female choral group at Albertus Magnus College known as the Sandpipers released an LP in 1961.
9. The psychedelic rock group The Lemon Pipers overlapped the Sandpipers' years of success in the late 1960s and the two groups were frequently confused.

Albums

U.S. releases on A&M Records unless otherwise noted. Some releases in U.K. and other countries had different titles, alternate covers, and variations in track lists.

*Mono

EPs

Compilations

Appearances

Singles