There were quite a few groups that took the name the Shells.
One of the early ones were a New York based doo-wop outfit that recorded for the Johnson label for a number of years (1957 -63 ?).
They had a few singles out that were popular at the time and as a result secured some good bookings on shows at big New York area theatres (at Loew's Breevort in Brooklyn for instance).
Another outfit that used the name came from Chicago and cut "Whiplash" for Conlo. They went on to have a 45 out on Volt as the 4 Shells but I have no idea how Jerry Butler & Eddie Thomas managed to get them signed up with the Memphis based label. No doubt Boba has full details on their history.
Then, of course, there's C & the Shells, who under Jerry Williams supervision cut for Cotillion in the late 60's. They were also New York based and had earlier recorded as the Sandpebbles. In the 70's, the group landed a deal with Zanzee Records and had a few more 45's out. J R Bailey worked with them for Zanzee..
There were quite a few groups that took the name the Shells.
One of the early ones were a New York based doo-wop outfit that recorded for the Johnson label for a number of years (1957 -63 ?).
They had a few singles out that were popular at the time and as a result secured some good bookings on shows at big New York area theatres (at Loew's Breevort in Brooklyn for instance).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPTrHHw09S8
Another outfit that used the name came from Chicago and cut "Whiplash" for Conlo. They went on to have a 45 out on Volt as the 4 Shells but I have no idea how Jerry Butler & Eddie Thomas managed to get them signed up with the Memphis based label. No doubt Boba has full details on their history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GnWT8cpClE
Then, of course, there's C & the Shells, who under Jerry Williams supervision cut for Cotillion in the late 60's. They were also New York based and had earlier recorded as the Sandpebbles. In the 70's, the group landed a deal with Zanzee Records and had a few more 45's out. J R Bailey worked with them for Zanzee..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbZh-GyNu4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHkfYDlE8aU
There was also the similarly named La'Shell & the Shellettes who had 45's out on Eagle. I believe that they were also out of New York.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h5bNoVvEkg
In more recent times a number of acts (solo + groups) have made use of the name.
It can get confusing for record collectors when so many artists use the same / very similar names.