The Box Tops

The Box Tops formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1963 as The Devilles. They became a popular band in the Memphis rock scene. In 1967 they changed their name to The Box Tops to avoid confusion with another local band called The Devilles. They reached national prominence with their song "The Letter" in 1967, which reached the #1 spot on Billboard's chart and stayed there for four weeks. It eventually sold more than four million copies (and earned two Grammy Award nominations). "The Letter" was followed by another hit, "Neon Rainbow", which was followed by an even bigger hit in 1968, "Cry Like a Baby". That same year they also hit the charts with "Sweet Cream Ladies". Shortly afterward the band went through some personnel changes, and the next year they had yet one more hit with "Soul Deep". In 1970, after a series of clashes with managers, lawyers and a disastrous British tour in which they were treated shabbily by the local promoters, the band was on the brink of dissolving, but Bell Records, their label, continued releasing material they had previously recorded. Sales of these records were respectable, but were not at the level of their previous hits. The original band members' final record was released in 1971 and the band broke up, but a new Box Tops--the name wasn't owned by the band but by a management company--was assembled in 1972 and began releasing records. However, these "new" Box Tops records went nowhere, and the group was finally disbanded in 1974. In 1989 the band reunited for a concert in Nashville, with some of the original members and some of the newer members. In 1996 all of the band's original members reunited, recorded a new album and embarked on an international tour, selling out venues in Germany, and returning to the US for a series of concert dates.