The Newbeats were an American popular music vocal trio, best known for their 1964 hit, “Bread and Butter”, which was released on the Hickory Records label.
The group’s members were:
Larry Henley (born Lawrence Joel Henley, June 30, 1937, Arp, Texas, United States – died December 18, 2014)[1]
Dean Mathis (born Louis Aldine Mathis, March 17, 1939, Hahira, Georgia)[1]
Mark Mathis (born Marcus Felton Mathis, February 9, 1942, Hahira, Georgia)[1]
Their mother taught brothers Dean and Mark Mathis the guitar as children, and they soon mastered other musical instruments–piano, bass guitar and drums.[1] They both played in the band at Bremen High School, Georgia, and decided on a career in the music industry upon leaving education.[1] Dean joined Paul Howard’s Western Swing Band in 1956 as pianist, then joined Dale Hawkins' band, where his brother soon joined as a bass player.[1] They stayed with the band for two years, recording “Tell Him No” as a duo for the Chess record label.[1] They then started their own eight-piece band and played in their hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. It was here that they met Larry Henley, who auditioned for the band. A parting of the ways ensued when Henley tried his luck as a solo artist, and the brothers worked as a duo, both recording independently for Wesley Rose.[1]

After about 18 months they jointly made a demo of a song entitled “Bread and Butter”, sent it to Hickory Records and were asked to formally record the track.[1]

“Bread and Butter” was the group’s first hit. Written by Larry Parks and Jay Turnbow, the record reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[1] It sold over one million copies in the U.S.[1][2] Three more singles followed in 1964 and 1965. “Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)” reached as high as #12 that fall, but it was the trio’s penultimate chart entry, although they remained with Hickory Records until 1972.[3] Brief stints at Buddah and Playboy followed before the group dissolved in 1974.[3]

Several of their singles were rediscovered by the Northern soul movement in the early 1970s. “Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)” made #10 in the UK Singles Chart, (higher than its original U.S. position), while “Don’t Turn Me Loose” and “Crying My Heart Out Over You” are popular tracks with the “soul crowd”.[citation needed]

Henley was known as the co-songwriter of “Wind Beneath My Wings”. In 2002 Bruce Channel and Ricky Ray Hector recorded a project with Larry Henley, billed as Original Copy.[4]

The Newbeats' track “Bread and Butter”, features on the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy-drama film, Simon Birch; and was used for an advertisement campaign for Schmidt’s Blue Ribbon Bread. It was also featured in the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The song “Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)” was used in the 2010 John Carpenter horror film, The Ward.

Larry Henley died on December 18, 2014, aged 77.[5]