Ritchie Hart and His Hartbeats

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Bio

Charles Gearheart, aka Ritchie Hart, was born in Goose Creek, Kentucky. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, when he was in high school and soon landed a job at the famed recording studio Audio Recorders Of Arizona.

After hearing his voice, the studio owner quickly signed him to a recording contract. On the recommendation of the record company, Ramco Records, Charles changed his moniker to Ritchie Hart and dubbed his backing band the Hartbeats. The group quickly became a hit on both the club circuit and local television shows. The popularity of Hart’s first recording, “The Great Duane,” was nationally distributed by Felsted Records. The single’s buzz landed him an appearance on American Bandstand in 1959.

A decade later Gearheart was back to work at Audio Recorders when he founded the Folk/Country band Goose Creek Symphony. The group inked with Capitol Records and their career spanned decades. However, the great early recordings of Teen Idol Ritchie Hart can now be found at Fervor Records!