In 1956, Fred Parris wrote a song for his doo-wop group, the Five Satins, titled "In the Still of the Nite" (sometimes listed as "[I'll Remember] In the Still of the Night"). Setting up in the basement of a New Haven church with a two-track tape machine, the Satins (only four sang on the record) made the most out of the crude conditions -- the track's sludgy, dense sound threatened to engulf the singers, but the primitive nature of the recording actually added an exotic allure. (Reports that a truck can be heard in the background as it tools past the church are false, but the story makes for good myth.) Singing in a clear, heartfelt tenor, Parris proclaimed his love over a turgid rhythm as his fellow Satins voiced eerie, brood-ing "shoo-do-shoo-be-do" background chants that heightened both the romantic fiction of love in the shadows and a certain undercurrent of dread over what the morning would bring. Released initially on New Haven's local Standord label, "In the Still of the Nite" became the classic rock & roll story of a B side that gained more attention than the planned A side (in this case, "The Jones Girl"), and it inspired the New York-based Herald/Ember label to purchase the master and reissue it in the late spring of 1956. Today, "In the Still of the Nite" is a doo-wop classic, a song that has permanent rotation on the playlists of oldies stations and still earns Parris and his current group of Satins immediate standing ovations at oldies shows.
A year after "In the Still of the Nite," the Satins hit the Top 30 again with a far less ambiguous love song, "To the Aisle," which featured Bill Baker on lead vocal in place of Parris, who was in the army. Parris finished his tour of duty and returned to the group, but the hits ceased. The Five Satins Sing Their Greatest Hits proves, however, that the fellows were a formidable contingent, whether Baker or Parris was sing-ing lead, even if their singles failed to muster much commercial enthusiasm. Of special note are "Shadows," with Baker delivering a masterful performance bursting with powerful feeling and conviction, and a sensitive interpretation of Bing Crosby's 1944 chart-topper "I'll Be Seeing You." (DAVID MCGEE)
From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thefivesatins/biography
