For today’s classic song of the day, let’s travel back to the summer of 1963 and the song “So Much in Love.” Released in June of that year by the Tymes on Cameo-Parkway Records, this doo-wop classic went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
The Tymes, originally called the Latineers, were a vocal group out of Philadelphia with members George Williams, George Hilliard, Al “Ceasar” Berry, Norman Burnett and Donald Banks. “So Much In Love” was the first song they ever recorded. The song itself was initially titled “As We Strolled Along,” but the group reworked it a bit and gave it the title we all know today.
“So Much in Love” was written by Billy Jackson and Roy Straigis, along with group member George Williams. The success of the single was very much a surprise for the new group, one they really weren’t prepared for. As group member Norman Burnett recalls:
“The song was bigger than us—we were really unprepared. We did a tour with Dick Clark, but our inexperience showed. Len Barry was with the Dovells at the time, and he came up and said, ‘You guys perform like you just met right here on stage!’ We really had to grow into the song.”
The Tymes followed up the success of “So Much in Love” with the release of “Wonderful! Wonderful!,” which went to #7 on the charts. After that there wasn’t much success; the guys even took background work, providing background vocals for Len Barry’s “1-2-3.” After a number of membership changes, however, they adapted to the new Philadelphia Soul style and had another hit with 1974’s “You Little Trustmaker,” a #12 hit. They followed that with the Carolina Beach Music classic, “Ms. Grace.”
That was about it in terms of chart success for the group. The Tymes, with all replacement members, continues to perform on the oldies circuit today.
