The group originated from The Brown Dots, a quartet started in New York City by Ivory "Deek" Watson (born July 18, 1909, Mounds, Illinois – died November 4, 1969, Washington, DC) after he split from the Ink Spots in late 1944.
[1] The other original members were William Henry "Pat" Best (baritone and guitar) (born June 6, 1923, Wilmington, North Carolina – died October 14, 2004, Roseville, California),[2] Joe King (tenor), and Jimmy Gordon (bass).
After bandleader Tommy Dorsey asked them to stop calling themselves the Sentimentalists, also the name of his vocal group, they changed their name to The Four Tunes.
Billy Wells was tapped to fill Nabbie's place and tenor Gaines Steele was brought in to replace Owens.
The recording career of the 4 Tunes wound down with an LP on the ARA label in 1969 (which contained versions of "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons," but also "Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On").
The personnel were: Pat Best, Jimmy Gordon, Billy Wells, Frank Dawes, and Chuck Hampton (drums and vocals).
The group kept going throughout subsequent decades, although Wells left in the 1980s for medical reasons and was replaced by Andre Williams, who in turn made way for Rufus McKay.