Preceding the New York City Capris by three to four years, the Philadelphia Capris were an interesting teenage RB vocal ensemble. The group's style, reflecting their youth, was more enthusiastic than polished. Nonetheless, on at least one recording they were able to achieve a certain musical magic that would guarantee them being remembered almost 50 years later. Featuring the lead female vocals of Renee Hinton, the Capris recording of God Only Knows assured their place in the hearts of 1950s vocal group harmony lovers. Following a brief piano introduction by Ruben Wright (the songwriter and also baritone in the group), the group sets up a pleading chant harmony background. The insistent male harmony pattern nicely underscores Renee's lead vocal as she proclaims "God only knows just how much I care" and continues to taut the depths of her teenage love. It was a perfect recipe for capturing teenage angst.

The group when it formed in 1953 was originally an all-male quintet, comprised of Ruben Wright , Charlie Stroud, Eddie Warner, Harrison Scott, and Bobby Smart. The members all hailed from South and West Philadelphia and were in their mid-teens. Besides singing, Wright was also a talented piano player and songwriter, who wrote several of the songs the group would eventually record. His piano work is also featured prominently in the Capris' recordings. Wright seemed to be equally at home with ballad stylings or up-tempo jump tunes.

As anyone who has ever worked with a group or band knows, it's not easy to keep five individuals together as a unit for an extended period of time. The Capris illustrate this problem well, because by the end of 1953 Stroud, who had been handling lead vocals with the group, was gone. By now though, Wright and his cohorts were more aware of the competitive musical scene around them, and were looking for a replacement that would help their group to stand out from their peers. They found that person when their paths crossed with Renee Hinton. Although only 14 years old, Hinton had already been singing with a female group, the Lovettes. But apparently she felt the guys had more potential and so, in early 1954, Hinton joined the Capris.

Not long after, under the direction of their new manager Sidney Goldstein, the Capris were signed to Gotham Records, a Philadelphia label owned by Ivin Ballen. For their first release, Ballen chose God Only Knows, an original ballad by the group with the up-tempo flip side of That's What You're Doing to Me, a cover of the Dominoes earlier recording. The Capris-released version of That's What You're Doing to Me includes a lyrical goof, with Renee singing the line "Why I love that woman so." Apparently, she had the Dominoes version firmly ingrained in her mind, and forgot to make the gender change. Released in August of 1954, God Only Knows received an "Excellent" rating from Billboard in their September 1954 review, and became a territorial pick in Philadelphia, along with the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., markets that same month. By November of 1954, it had become a territorial pick in Los Angeles as well. The success of the disc also opened up a variety of local performance opportunities for the group. In fact, it did well enough to prompt another RB cover version by the Crystals (male group) issued on Deluxe in January 1955.

But their newly found success was to be short-lived. As was the fate of many groups of the day, the military beckoned, and in 1955 Wright and others in the Capris answered the call. Trying to piggyback on the success of their first outing, Gotham issued two follow-up singles by the group in late 1954 and early 1955. The first was a pairing of two Ruben Wright originals, It Was Moonglow, a nice ballad reminiscent of God Only Knows, and Too Poor to Love, a fast call-and-response-styled number. The record barely was noticed and their next release, It's a Miracle, a sleepy ballad, covered with Let's Linger Awhile, a Latin flavored mid-tempo tune, also quickly fizzled out. Neither record was reviewed by Billboard.

In 1958, the Capris tried again. With the fellows back from the service, they gave it one more try for Ballen on his Twentieth Century label. But their release of My Weakness covered with Yes, My Baby, Please was also ill fated, and with that the group called it a day. In subsequent periods of renewed interest in "oldies," God Only Knows would find new groups of listeners to appreciate it once again. Besides their released material, the Capris recorded several other tracks for Gotham, which have now been made available on a number of CDs. Among the previously unreleased tracks are a few gems. Just a Fool was a solid Hinton lead ballad. Another significant tune is He/She Loves Me Still, recorded in two different versions, one with a female lead and the other male. Had the Capris been able to continue performing together as a stable unit between 1954 and 1958, they may have achieved even greater success. ~ Jim Dunn, Rovi