An R&B record company called “Vita” was started in Pasadena in 1955 at 1486 N. Fair Oaks between Washington and Howard (now a vacant lot). Record producer Mike Gradney got together with Larry Mead, who owned this record pressing plant in Pasadena to form Mambo Records. They picked that name because the Mambo was all the rage in ’55.
Mambo hit the ground running with a roster of fantastic R&B cats, like Willie Egan (whose name always appeared on record as either Eggins or Egans), saxophonist Jackie Kelso and vocal groups the Squires and The Colts. Just as Mambo issued The Colts, “Adorable,” they decided that disc jockeys might get confused and think Mambo Records was a Latin label instead of an R&B label. They changed Mambo to Vita and reissued “Adorable” as Vita 112. “Adorable” was Vita’s first hit record and The Colts only hit record. More Vita releases from The Colts, The Squires, Harmonica Slim, Ike Turner and The Titans followed.
In late 1956, Vita had a huge hit on their hands when “Confidential” by Sonny Knight took off nationally. Vita couldn’t handle the distribution of such a large seller, so they leased the record out to Dot Records.
The tide started turning for Vita in 1957 and Gradney left Mead to form his own label, Spry Records. Unfortunately, he took some of Vita’s best artists with him and by 1959, Mead decided to shut Vita down for good. See https://www.mushroomfm.com/node/2984
The Squires, “Heavenly Angels” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNlf8pDWGXo
This Squires were formed in 1954 at John Muir High School. Their idols were The Crows, The 5 Blind Boys, The Dixie Hummingbirds, and later on, The Jacks/Cadets. Originally a quintet, the original members were: Lee Goudeau (lead tenor), Chester Pipkin (tenor and guitar), Dewey Terry (falsetto), Henry Johnson (bass), and Freeman Stevens (tenor). They began "just singing around school," according to Chester. When things got to the appearance stage, Lee's father Thomas, acted as their manager. It's surprising that they chose the name "Squires," since there already was a group by that name from Los Angeles. Delmer Wilburn's Squires had already turned out two releases for Combo Records (West coast label). Group member Freeman Stevens didn't last too long with The Squires. When he left, he was replaced by baritone Bobby Armstrong. Then five became six when they added Don Bowman (2nd tenor and piano), a friend of Dewey Terry. Ned Herzstam and Gordon Wolf, who were toying with starting a record label, saw The Squires at a show and offered to record them. The result was “A DREAM COME TRUE/LUCY LOU" released in October 1954 as the first record on the brand-new Kicks label with Lee Goudeau doing the lead to "LUCY LOU"; Lee and Chester Pipkin doing a duet lead on “A DREAM COME TRUE”. They began recording for “Vita” records in 1955.
