Jimmy Briscoe & The Little Beavers

Jimmy Briscoe, Stanford Stansberry, Kevin Barnes, Maurice Pulley, and Robert Makins were the original Jimmy Briscoe & the Little Beavers. Bobby Finch replaced Makins in 1977. The Jersey City, NJ-based group debuted with Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" on Atlantic Records in the fall of 1971. Paul Kyser, their manager and mentor, produced the side and its flip "Sugar Brown." Atlantic never issued anything else from them; their follow-up, "Together, Together (We'll Make a Way)," appeared on J City Records the following year. Six well-received releases -- from 1973 to 1976 -- followed on the Pi Kappa label, including local/regional favorites "My Ebony Princess," "Where Were You," and "I Only Feel This Way When I'm Near You." But nothing sold enough to merit an appearance on the nationally syndicated Soul Train television program. When Finch joined they dropped the Little and became Jimmy Briscoe & the Beavers. They cut the rousing disco tune "Invitation to the World" on Wanderick records in 1977; Kyser did a licensing deal with TK Records, but the additional clout didn't make the record take off as expected. A final release, the spacy "Into the Milky Way" mixed by Bobby DJ Guttadaro, bounced out on Salsoul Records in the summer of 1979. When it didn't cause a stampede to record outlets, they disbanded and pursued other endeavors. ~ Andrew Hamilton