The Skyliners

The Skyliners are an American doo-wop group from Pittsburgh fronted by Jimmy Beaumont. The original line-up also included Wally Lester, Jack Taylor, Joe Verscharen, and Janet Vogel. While this quintet constituted the formal group of vocalists, they were backed by a variety of Pittsburgh musicians including Joe Dalu, a drummer from Pittsburgh's Manchester neighborhood who also played with local favorites Ray and The Furys (COED Label, 1959).

The Skyliners were best known for their 1959 hit "Since I Don't Have You". Popular covers by Trini Lopez, Chuck Jackson, Don McLean, Guns N' Roses, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Ronnie Milsap and Buckaroo Banzai have helped keep the song in the public consciousness. They also hit the Top 40 with "This I Swear" and "Pennies from Heaven". Other classics include "It Happened Today" (1959), "Close Your Eyes" (1961) and "Comes Love" (1962). The original group dissolved in 1963 but re-united eleven years later (without Jack Taylor) for what would become their last charted record, "Where Have They Gone?"

In 1965, Jimmy Beaumont recorded two notable singles for the Bang label. The first, "Tell Me" b/w "I Feel Like I'm Falling in Love", were pleasant medium-tempo soul-styled tracks. For his second Bang 45, "I Never Loved Her Anyway" b/w "You Got Too Much Going for You", Jimmy was transformed into an impressive soul singer sounding nothing like his previous more pop styled efforts, leading some to question in later years if it actually was his singing. These two tracks are now considered Northern Soul collectibles. The second 45 was also issued on UK London HLZ 10059 in 1966.

In 1978, Detroit producer Don Davis — who produced Marilynn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., Johnny Taylor, the Dramatics, and the Dells — picked up one of his favorite groups (the Skyliners) to record in his United Sound Studios. There they recorded the group's "comeback" album for the RCA subsidiary, Tortoise International Records. The songs "Oh, How Happy" and "The Love Bug" were included, as was a hefty re-make of Dan Schafer's original RCA Victor single, "A Day Without You, Dear".

Today, Jimmy Beaumont still performs with The Skyliners in their current line-up of Nick Pociask, Rick Morris, and Donna Groom (whose husband, Mark Groom, has been the group's drummer/conductor for more than 25 years). Two of the original members have died — Janet Vogel (suicide) in 1980 (aged 37), and Joe Verscharen of cancer in 2007 (aged 67). Their longtime manager and producer Joe Rock, who also co-wrote "Since I Don't Have You", died on April 4, 2000 after complications from quadruple bypass heart surgery at age 63.

David Proch, a singer who became the third person to sing first tenor for the group the Skyliners, died Monday Oct 19, 1998 in a car accident. He was 44. His car collided with a truck hauling asphalt on U.S. Route 30 near Ligonier, about 45 miles east of Pittsburgh. Proch was singing with another group when the Skyliners came to hear him sing in 1993. At first listen, the Skyliners' original lead singer, Jimmy Beaumont,invited him to join the group. Other subsequent and interim members of the group were Pittsburgh brothers Tom and Bob Sholes from St George High School in the Allentown neighborhood.

The Skyliners played places like Atlantic City, Hawaii and Madison Square Garden.