The Marvels emerged from the fertile Washington, D.C. doo wop scene of the 1950s. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the December 1976 issue of Yesterday's Memories, lead Sam Gilbert, second tenor James "Junior" Isom, baritone Ronald Boyd and bass James Mitchell co-founded the group in 1954 -- after honing their harmonies on local street corners, the Marvels achieved sufficient notoriety to appear on the popular local television show Milt Grant's Record Hop, but did not actively seek a record deal until 1958, traveling to New York City to audition for the Laurie label. La...