1963 Hit, From a Band That Formed in High School, Became a No. 1 Song 63 Years Ago Today

The Tymes was a group formed by teenagers in high school back in 1956, but they were originally called the Latineers. When they recruited a new lead vocalist, George Williams, they changed their name to The Tymes.

“So Much in Love” was their biggest hit in the United States. It was a rhythm and blues song released in 1963, which became a massive hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 3, exactly 63 years ago today. The song also reached No. 4 on the Hot R&B Singles chart.

In an interview with Warren Kurtz, Albert “Caesar” Berry spoke about the creation of their iconic song, crediting Williams with it. He explained that he and the other band members had been singing songs in his basement, but they didn’t have a lead singer. Then “[George] came in with a song called ‘As We Stroll Along,’ at the time. We rehearsed it and sang it many ways until it became the way people know it from its hit version, with the title change to ‘So Much in Love.’ When I heard it on the radio, it was like a dream come true.”

Berry continued, “When ‘So Much in Love’ was released, I didn’t tell anybody at work. They didn’t know it was me and asked me, ‘Did you hear that new song by The Tymes?’ I said, ‘Not quite,’ ha ha ha. I never let them know it was me because I didn’t think they would believe it.”

Related: 1969 Hit Rock Song, From a ‘Dysfunctional’ Band That Broke Up, Climbed the Charts 57 Years Ago

The Tymes had another huge hit with the song “Ms Grace,” which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles chart. The group was signed to Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, which was a series of live concert tours, in 1963. In 2005, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

When speaking about the differences between their success in the US and the UK, Berry said, “In the UK, they are more accepting of music, to a degree. Nothing seems to go out of style. We did several UK tours because of ‘Ms. Grace’ going to No. 1 and we received a gold record there. It is still a good beach music record here, even though it wasn’t a big U.S. hit. It is now accepted. It is a good shag song, so they say.”

The surviving original members, Berry and Norman Burnett, still perform to this day.