The HistoryMakers video oral history with Harry Elston.

Chicago, Illinois : The HistoryMakers, [2016]

1 online resource (7 video files (3 hr., 18 min., 45 sec.)) : sound, color.

Access is available to the Yale community.

Videographer, Matthew Hickey.

Access restricted by licensing agreement.

R&B singer Harry James Elston was born on November 4, 1938, in Dallas, Texas. Elston began his career in the music industry at the age of twenty by working as the limousine driver for The Temptations. In 1963, Elston formed an R&B group called the Hi Fi's with Lamonte McLemore, Floyd Butler and Marilyn McCoo. In 1964, The Hi Fi's came to the attention of Ray Charles, and he produced the group's single "Lonesome Mood". In 1966, Elston and Floyd Butler left the Hi Fi's and along with Jessica Cleaves and Barbara Jean Love formed the Friends of Distinction. In 1969, Friends of Distinction released their first album entitled Grazin'. The album included the songs "Grazing in the Grass" and "Going in Circles." The album peaked at number five on the R&B charts. Elston co-founded the Mavericks Flat, a well-known L.A. night club and was instrumental in the formation of the N.I.E.U.

Images / Online / Video & Film

English

February 04, 2021

Videographer, Matthew Hickey.

Jacques Lesure, interviewer.