There is more than one artist with this name:

1) The Cardinals formed in Baltimore in 1946 as the Mellotones by Leon Hardy (bass), Merredith Brothers (tenor), Donald Johnson (baritone) and Ernie Warren (lead). Jack Aydelotte (tenor, guitar) was added and they signed to Atlantic in 1951. Atlantic renamed them the Cardinals to avoid confusion with another Mellotones signed to Columbia. First single ‘Shouldn’t I know?’ was released in May 1951 and reached number 7 on the R’n’B charts. Third single ‘Wheel of fortune’, a cover of a white hit, reached number 6 on the R’n’B charts in 1952. Ernie Warren was drafted and replaced by Leander Tarver, then James Brown (not the famous one), but was back in time for their last hit, ‘The door is still open’, which reached number 4 R’n’B in 1954. The Cardinals released 12 singles for Atlantic and toured throughout this period, finally splitting at the beginning of 1957. Ernie Warren formed a new Cardinals in 1958. They toured into the 1960s before going their separate ways.

2) The Cardinals is a Manchester band. (http://www.myspace.com/thecardinalsmanchester)

3) The Cardinals was a Czechoslovak bigbeat group.