Fred Parris, singer-songwriter for doo-wop smash ‘In the Still of the Night’, dies at age 85
Fred Parris, the man who penned the iconic doo-wop hit “In the Still of the Night,” died Thursday. He was 85.
Parris died after a brief illness, according to a Facebook post from his group Fred Parris and the Five Satins.
“The Five Satins family is devastated by this loss but appreciative of having shared Fred’s music with thousands of fans and friends,” the post read.
Recorded in a church basement in New Haven, Conn., “In the Still of the Night” rose to No. 3 on the Billboard R&B charts and No. 24 on the pop charts in 1956.
The smash hit was later covered by the Beach Boys, Boys II Men, Ronnie Milsap and many others. It appeared on the soundtracks of “Dirty Dancing” in 1987 and “The Irishman” in 2019, among several more films.
“I never expected it to have so much of an impact that people would embrace the song 50 years later,” Parris told the New Haven Register in 2014. “I had no idea it was going to be that successful ... I didn’t know if they were going to listen to it 15 minutes later, let alone 50 years.”
Born March 26, 1936, in New Haven, Parris started singing with other local kids in hallways and on street corners.
“At the Dixwell Community House, they used to have a dance every Tuesday, and if you were a singer, you were pretty popular with the ladies,” Parris said in 2014.
Parris and three (not four) of his friends, Al Denby, Jim Freeman and Ed Martin, met in the basement of St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church on Feb. 19, 1956, and recorded two songs: “The Jones Girl” and “In the Still of the Night.”
The group’s leader may not have known it would endure for decades, but he liked what he heard that night.
“When we heard it back, we knew we liked it,” Parris said in 2014. “As soon as we got the test record and took it home and listened to it, then we really knew.”
But it was bad timing for Parris and his singing pals. Days later, Denby shipped off the the Army and weeks later, Parris followed him.
After his tour with the Army, Parris went on tour with the Five Satins. “In the Still of the Night” charted in 1960 and 1961, years after its release.
The Five Satins went through several incarnations, and Parris’ own musical career diverged in the 1960s and 70s to include groups such as Fred Parris and the Restless Hearts and The Black Satins.
In 2003, The Five Satins were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the same year as Earth, Wind & Fire and Martha & The Vandellas. “In the Still of the Night” was named one of the 500 greatest songs of all-time by Rolling Stone, checking in at No. 90.
“Entertaining you and meeting you thru the years was a pleasure,” Parris wrote in one of his final Facebook posts. “I will always cherish the memories.”
