[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5558-5559]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING NEW HAVEN NATIVE FRED PARRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 2015

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure today that I rise 
to join Mayor Toni Harp and the City of New Haven as they pay tribute 
to New Haven native Fred Parris at the City's 377th Anniversary 
celebration. Today, community leaders and residents will gather to 
plant five trees, one for each century during which the City of New 
Haven has been incorporated. As they do so, they will pay homage to the 
City's ``deep roots'' by recognizing one of our civic icons, Fred 
Parris.
  Founder and lead singer of The Five Satins, Fred's extraordinary 
story began in 1953 when he started singing as a student at Hillhouse 
High School in a group called the Scarlets. The group disbanded when 
its members joined the army in 1956 and Fred Parris found himself 
stationed at Philadelphia's Navy Yard. On weekends, Fred would often 
return to New Haven and sing for fun with a few friends from the 
neighborhood. In fact, they could often be found singing on street 
corners along bustling Dixwell Avenue. At the insistence of a local 
record company owner, Fred got together with Jim Freeman, Lou Peebles, 
Eddie Martin and Stanley Dortch to form the Five Satins--the era of 
Doo-Wop music was born.
  One night, while on guard duty at 4 am, Fred penned ``In The Still of 
the Night'' bringing a musical gift to the world. It has been over 50 
years since they recorded ``In the Still of the Night'' in the basement 
of St. Bernadette's church in New Haven. Just weeks later, Fred was 
shipped out by the time the record made the national charts, he was 
stationed in Japan and had to be replaced by Bill Baker. When Fred 
returned from the army, he again became the group's lead, recording 
songs like ``Shadows'' and ``I'll Be Seeing You.''
  ``In the Still of the Night'' has sold millions of copies and is 
still one of the most requested ``golden oldies'' on almost every Top-

[[Page 5559]]

40 radio station in the country. In fact, when Rolling Stone magazine 
released its list of ``The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'' a few years 
ago, ``In the Still of the Night '' was right up there at #90--in 
between #89 ``California Dreamin'' by The Mamas & The Papas and #91 
``Suspicious Minds'' by Elvis Presley. Fred and his Five Satins 
continued recording well into the 1980's and in 2003 were inducted into 
the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
  Fred, along with his wife, Emma, continues to make the Greater New 
Haven community their home today and Fred continues to perform. He is 
true community treasure and I am honored to join Mayor Harp and all of 
those gathered today in paying him tribute.

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