THE SHIELDS - YOU CHEATED (1958) MANNY MORA 2013-11-07 | The Shields occupy a unique place in the history of rock 'n roll. Even though they existed for only a very short time, they left us with a classic 50's doo wop record.The story of the Shields begins with record producer George Motola. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1919, sold cars for a while, and by the mid-1950's was working in Los Angeles as a record producer at Modern Records. At Modern he produced records by up-and-coming singer/songwriter Jesse Belvin, among other acts, and the two became friends.Motola wrote a number of songs over the years, many of them with his wife Ricki Page, who was herself a singer/songwriter. Perhaps the best known of these is Goodnight My Love, which he had written by himself in the 1940's but had not finished. Jesse Belvin made a few changes to the song and completed it, then recorded it in 1956. It is said that because Belvin requested $400 from Motola in lieu of the co-songwriting credits, Motola sold the co-writing credit to John Marascalco in order to come up wth the money, and so Goodnight My Love is listed as written by Motola and Marascalco. Belvin's is the definitive version of the song, but others brought it to the top 40 in subsequent years with recordings of their own, including the McGuire Sisters, the Fleetwoods, and Paul Anka.Eventually Motola started his own record label, Tender Records. He drew in a number of session singers he had known over the years on the West Coast for the sole purpose of recording a song called You Cheated, which had been done originally by a group of friends from McCallum High School in Austin, Texas known as the Slades (and issued on the Domino label). That version went to #42 in 1958. Writing credits for the song went to Don Burch of the Slades. For this recording of You Cheated Motola assembled a group that included Frankie Ervin singing lead, Jesse Belvin on falsetto-tenor, Johnny "Guitar" Watson on bass and Mel Williams and Buster Williams on background tenor. He called the group the Shields. It was first released on Tender 513. The B-side was an interesting song co-written by Motola titled That's the Way It's Gonna Be.Motola's Tender label was very small and not very well financed, so he sold the distribution rights to Dot Records, headed by Randy Wood. You Cheated by the Shields became an instant Doo Wop classic, soaring to #12 on the Billboard chart in the fall of 1958. This recording is highly regarded to this day.After that recording session the Shields were not to come together again, and so there is no known video of them performing anywhere at any time. Jesse Belvin and his wife Jo Ann lost their lives in an automobile accident outside of Hope, Arkansas while Jesse was on tour in 1960 with other contemporary performers Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Marv Johnson. George Motola died in 1991 at the age of 71. His ashes were scattered at sea as Gretchen Christopher of the Fleetwoods, who attended the ceremony, sang an a cappella version of that group's last top forty hit, Motola's Goodnight My Love. Johnny "Guitar" Watson, a flamboyant personality and noted guitar picker as well as a good friend of singer Larry Williams, had a long career in the music business before he died of cardiac infarction while on tour in Japan in 1996.The Shields brief time together left the world of music with a classic 50's doo wop tune in You Cheated.
THE VOGUES - MY SPECIAL ANGEL (1968) MANNY MORA 2016-09-02 | Harmony-pop vocal group the Vogues were formed in 1960 by lead baritone Bill Burkette, baritone Don Miller, first tenor Hugh Geyer, and second tenor Chuck Blasko, who were all high school friends from Turtle Creek, PA. Originally dubbed the Val-Aires, the foursome eventually signed to the tiny Co & Ce label, reaching the number four spot in the autumn of 1965 with "You're the One"; the Vogues' most memorable hit, the classic "Five O'Clock World," cracked the Top Five before the year ended as well. Two more Top 40 entries, "Magic Town" and "The Land of Milk and Honey," followed in 1966, and when the group resurfaced in 1968 with the Top Ten smash "Turn Around, Look at Me," they had jumped to major label Reprise. The single, the Vogues' lone million-seller, anticipated the lighter, more sophisticated approach of subsequent hits like "My Special Angel," "Till," and "No, Not Much." Despite no further chart action from 1970 onward, various Vogues lineups continued touring oldies circuits for years to come.
BRUCE CHANNEL - HEY! BABY (1962) MANNY MORA 2016-09-01 | Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby" -- a classic one-shot, number-one hit from 1962 -- is one of the many records proving that, during a period in which rock has sometimes been characterized as near death, the form was continuing to evolve in unexpected and delightful ways. An irresistible mid-tempo shuffle from the first few bars of homespun harmonica (played by Delbert McClinton), it was a seemingly effortless blend of rock, blues, country, and Cajun beats, featuring Channel's lazy, drawling vocals and an instantly catchy tune. It was perhaps too much of a natural; Channel could never recapture the organic spontaneity of the track, failing to re-enter the Top 40 despite many attempts.The Texan had written "Hey Baby" around 1959 with his friend Margaret Cobb, and had already been performing the tune for a couple of years before recording it amidst a series of demos for Fort Worth producer Major Bill Smith. First released locally on Smith's label, it was picked up for national distribution by Smash. Channel would continue to write most of his own material (sometimes in collaboration with Cobb) for a series of moderately enjoyable follow-ups that echoed the riffs of "Hey Baby" too closely.McClinton played his immediately identifiable harmonica on several of these, and made his own contribution to rock history in 1962, when he was touring as a member of Channel's band in Britain. On one of their shows, they were supported by a then-unknown Liverpool group, the Beatles, who had yet to cut their first record. John Lennon was smitten by McClinton's style of playing, and picked up some pointers that he put to use on the Beatles' very first single, "Love Me Do"; in fact, McClinton's influence can be easily detected in Lennon's harmonica playing on many early Beatles tracks from 1962 and 1963.Channel did get another Top 20 hit in Britain in 1968, "Keep On," which was written by Wayne Carson Thompson (famous for penning the Box Tops' "The Letter"). Nothing else clicked in a big way on either side of the ocean, and by the late '70s he was working in Nashville as a songwriter.
GENE PITNEY - ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK A HEART (1962) MANNY MORA 2016-09-01 | One of the most interesting and difficult-to-categorize singers in '60s pop, Gene Pitney had a long run of hits distinguished by his pained, one-of-a-kind melodramatic wail. Pitney is sometimes characterized (or dismissed) as a shallow teen idol-type prone to operatic ballads. It's true that some of his biggest hits -- "Town Without Pity," "Only Love Can Break a Heart," "I'm Gonna Be Strong," "It Hurts to Be in Love," and "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa" -- are archetypes of adolescent or just-post-adolescent agony, characterized by longing and not a little self-pity.But Pitney was not just an archetype of his style -- he was one of the best at his style, and indeed one of the few (along with Roy Orbison) that could pull it off convincingly. Also (like Orbison), he had more range than he's generally given credit for, making forays into tough pop/rock, country, and even borderline rockabilly. Other than Dionne Warwick, he was the best interpreter of Bacharach-David's early compositions. Although he didn't pen much of his material, he was a composer of note, writing "He's a Rebel" for the Crystals, and "Hello Mary Lou" for Rick Nelson. He was also something of a closet hipster -- he was the first American artist to cover a Jagger-Richards song ("That Girl Belongs to Yesterday," which was a British hit before the Rolling Stones had ever entered the U.S. Top 100), contributed to an actual Rolling Stones session in early 1964 (during which they recorded "Not Fade Away"), had a brief fling with a teenage Marianne Faithfull, and recorded songs by Randy Newman and Al Kooper long before those musicians became famous.Pitney broke into the music as a songwriter in his late teens, getting his first taste of success when Rick Nelson had a hit with "Hello Mary Lou" in 1961. That same year, Pitney had a small hit with his first single, "(I Wanna) Love My Life Away," a self-penned demo on which he sang and played every instrument -- an extraordinary feat for 1961. Another 1961 single, Goffin-King's "Every Breath I Take," was produced by Phil Spector, and is one of the very first examples of his pull-out-the-stops Wall of Sound productions. Pitney didn't really find his metier, however, until late-1961's "Town Without Pity," which became his first Top 20 entry.For the next four years, Pitney was one of the most successful solo male vocalists in America, reeling off over a dozen more Top 40 hits. While lovelorn angst was his stock-in-trade, some of the singles were fairly innovative -- "Half Heaven, Half Heartache" and "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" were crossover country-pop before that term existed, "Mecca" was one of the few big pop/rock hits to bear the influence of Middle Eastern music (albeit in a superficial fashion), and "Last Chance to Turn Around" was a hard-boiled tough-luck tale worthy of a top-notch B-movie thriller.Pitney withstood the initial onslaught of the British Invasion fairly well, scoring Top Ten hits in 1964 with "It Hurts to Be in Love" and "I'm Gonna Be Strong." By 1966, though, he was in serious trouble stateside. Ironically, by this time he was a much bigger star in Britain, making the U.K. Top Ten six times in 1965-1966. He could also depend on a faithful international audience throughout Europe, and frequently recorded in Italian and Spanish for overseas markets. In 1966, he became one of the first artists to reach success with Randy Newman compositions, taking "Nobody Needs Your Love" and "Just One Smile" into the British Top Ten.Pitney entered the U.S. Top 20 one last time in 1968 with "She's a Heartbreaker," a rather forced updating of his trademark sound, and reached the Top 40 in Britain for the last time in 1974. Still, he remained a big concert draw on the overseas nostalgia circuit. In 1989, he made number one in the U.K. again by duetting with Marc Almond on a remake of one of his '60s singles, "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart." He died in April 2006, the night after a show in Cardiff, Wales.
BABY WASHINGTON - THATS HOW HEARTACHES ARE MADE (1963) MANNY MORA 2016-08-31 | Washington was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and raised in Harlem, New York. In 1956, she joined the vocal group the Hearts, and also recorded for J & S Records as a member of the Jaynetts ("I Wanted To Be Free"/"Where Are You Tonight", J&S 1765/6). She first recorded solo, as Baby Washington, in 1957, on "Everyday" (J&S 1665).In 1958 she signed to Donald Shaw's Neptune Records as a solo performer, and established herself as a soul singer with two hits in 1959: "The Time" (U.S. R&B #22) and "The Bells" (U.S. R&B # 20). She followed up with the hit "Nobody Cares" (U.S. R&B # 17) in 1961. Several of her singles on the Neptune and ABC labels were credited to Jeanette (Baby) Washington, which later led to confusion with an entirely different singer known as Jeanette Washington.She signed with ABC Paramount in 1961, but her two releases for the label were not hits, although the self-written "Let Love Go By" later became a notable Northern Soul single. Washington then moved to Juggy Murray's Sue Records in 1962, scoring her only entry on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 with "That's How Heartaches Are Made" in 1963. Two years later, she hit again on the U.S. R&B Top 10 with "Only Those In Love". Among her other Sue recordings were "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face", co-written by Chip Taylor and Jerry Ragovoy, and "Careless Hands", penned by Billy Myles.Washington revived her career in the early 1970s covering the Marvelettes' "Forever" (# 30 R&B) as a duet with Don Gardner. Her solo release, "I've Got To Break Away", made number 73 on the R&B charts, after which the advent of disco led to a decline in her popularity. She has never experienced great crossover recognition, although Dusty Springfield once cited Washington as her all-time favorite singer and recorded "That's How Heartaches Are Made" and "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face".Washington is still active as a live performer, appearing several times a year on the East Coast and performing on cruise ships. She also performed at the Prestatyn Soul Weekender festival in Wales in 2004. She performed with the Enchanters at a Philadelphia-area show in March 2008, and in Baltimore in June 2008. Washington was among the 2008 honorees in Community Works' Ladies Singing the Blues music series.
THE TYMES - SO MUCH IN LOVE (1963) MANNY MORA 2016-08-31 | The Tymes began as the Latineers in 1956. This Philadelphia ensemble's founding members were Donald Banks, Albert Berry, Norman Burnett, and George Hilliard. After a four-year apprenticeship on the city's club circuit, they changed their name to the Tymes in 1960 and added lead singer George Williams. They were signed by Cameo-Parkway in 1963 following a successful appearance at a talent show sponsored by Philly radio station WDAS. The group scored its biggest hit with its debut single, "So Much in Love," a Williams composition rearranged by Roy Stragis and producer Billy Jackson. It topped the Billboard Hot 100. Their first LP, So Much in Love, contained both the title cut and follow-up hit, a cover of Johnny Mathis' "Wonderful, Wonderful." Those two songs were both crossover smashes as well as R&B winners, with "So Much in Love" topping the pop charts. But after a third hit, "Somewhere," the next year, the group faded. The Tymes tried issuing albums on their own label, Winchester, but had to fold it after two releases. They signed with MGM, but were dropped after two flops. They enjoyed a brief comeback on Columbia in 1968 with another remake; this time they covered "People" from the musical Funny Girl. But CBS also dropped them in 1969. They spent three years retooling their sound, while Hilliard departed. Their longtime producer, Billy Jackson, financed some sessions at Gamble & Huff's Sigma Sound studios in an attempt to get them on the Philadelphia International roster. Gamble & Huff passed on the unfinished demos, but RCA signed them. They scored three more hits from 1974-1976, the biggest being "It's Cool" in 1976, which reached number three on the R&B charts and number 18 pop. Various aggregations using the name remained active on the oldies/cabaret circuit in the '80s and '90s.
RUBY & THE ROMANTICS - OUR DAY WILL COME (1963) MANNY MORA 2016-08-31 | One of the great male/female soul vocal groups, Ruby & the Romantics had an epic single in 1963 with "Our Day Will Come." It topped both the pop and R&B charts and for many is the definitive love/angst track. Lead vocalist Ruby Nash Curtis, Ed Roberts, George Lee, and Leroy Fann were the original members when they began in Akron in 1961. The male members had previously been working in a group known as the Supremes. Unfortunately, they never again repeated their chart success, even though they made some other excellent songs, such as 1964's "When You're Young and in Love," as well as "Our Everlasting Love" and "Baby Come Home." By 1966, they completely changed their personnel, with Curtis the only holdover. She then joined Richard Pryor, Vincent McLeod, Robert Lewis, Ronald Jackson, and Bill Evans. Ruby & the Romantics became an all-female group in 1968, as Denise Lewis and Cheryl Thomas now backed Curtis. But it didn't matter, as they never recaptured the magic of "Our Day Will Come."
THE PARIS SISTERS - I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME (1961) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | The Paris Sisters were a 1960s American girl group from San Francisco, California, United States, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris; her older sister Albeth Carole Paris; and their middle sister Sherrell Paris. They reached the peak of their success in October 1961 with the hit single "I Love How You Love Me", which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, and sold over one million copies. Some of the group's other hit songs include the US Top 40 single "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" (March 1962, No. 34), "All Through The Night" (1961), "Be My Boy" (No. 56), "Let Me Be The One" (No. 87), and "Dream Lover" (No. 91).The Paris Sisters appeared in the 1962 British rock film It's Trad, Dad! (released in the U.S. as Ring-a-Ding Rhythm) directed by Richard Lester. In the film they performed the Spector-produced song "What Am I To Do?" Sherrell Paris later served as a production assistant on The Price Is Right, and as host Bob Barker's personal assistant, until she was released in 2000.Priscilla Paris died on March 5, 2004, from injuries suffered in a fall at her home in Paris. She was 59.Albeth Paris died in Palm Springs, California on December 5, 2014. She was 79.
BOBBY HELMS - MY SPECIAL ANGEL (1957) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | Though his name is unfamiliar to most, Bobby Helms rules the airwaves every year around December 25th. His single "Jingle Bell Rock" first became a hit in 1957, and it reappeared on the charts four of the following five years to become an all-time Christmas classic. Before he was pigeonholed, though, Helms had a successful country career with two number one hits to his credit.Born on August 15, 1933, in Bloomington, IN, Helms first performed on his father Fred's Monroe County Jamboree, singing while brother Freddie played guitar. The Helms Brothers, as they were billed, became a regional attraction. Bobby later cut a single called "Tennessee Rock and Roll," but then returned to Bloomington to appear on the Hayloft Frolic television show. While on the program, he was encouraged to go to Nashville to sing background vocals on an Ernest Tubb session. Tubb recommended him to Decca Records, and the label signed him in 1956. His debut single, "Fraulein," initially flopped in January 1957 but then hit number one on the country chart in April. (The song also hit the pop Top 40 in July of 1957.) In October, Helms released another number one, "My Special Angel," which stayed four weeks at the top and crossed over to number seven pop.Helms' next recording was "Jingle Bell Rock"; though Decca released it only two days before Christmas 1957, the single still peaked at number six on the pop chart. Two 1958 singles -- "Just a Little Lonesome" and "Jacqueline" -- hit the country Top Ten but flopped elsewhere, though a reissue of "Jingle Bell Rock" made the pop Top 40. The country single "Lonely River Rhine" hit the Top 20 in 1960, but subsequent new material from Helms had little success. (Decca reissued his Christmas hit each year from 1960 to 1962 with diminishing returns.)Helms toured throughout the '60s and recorded two albums for Kapp in 1966, I'm the Man and Sorry My Name Isn't Fred -- a nod either to brother Freddie or father Fred. Two years later, he released All New Just for You on the Little Darlin' label. Several singles placed modestly on the country charts during 1967-1968, including "He Thought He'd Die Laughing" and "So Long." The 1970 Certron single "Mary Goes 'Round" was his last hit, but Helms recorded Pop-a-Billy for MCA as late as 1983.
BOBBY VEE - THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES (1962) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | He launched his career as a fill-in for the recently deceased Buddy Holly, Bobby Vee scored several pop hits during the early '60s, that notorious period of popular music sandwiched between the birth of rock & roll and the rise of the British Invasion. Though a few of his singles -- "Rubber Ball," for one -- were as innocuous as anything else from the era, Vee had a knack for infectious Brill Building pop, thanks to his ebullient voice as well as the cadre of songwriters standing behind him.Born in Fargo, ND in 1943, Robert Thomas Velline was still in his teens when he formed his first combo, the Shadows, with his brother Bill and their friend Bob Korum. The trio were playing around the area when their big break came, at the expense of one of Bobby's musical idols; the Winter Dance Party package tour, with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper were on their way to Fargo when their plane went down in Iowa, killing all three. The Shadows were scheduled to play the date instead of Holly, and several months later, producer Tommy "Snuff" Garrett supervised their first recording session and the release of the single "Suzie Baby" on Soma Records. Liberty/RCA picked up the single later in the year, and though it just barely scraped the pop charts, the label kept plugging with Vee as a solo act, recording him on Adam Faith's "What Do You Want?," which also failed to move.With the collective might of the Brill Building behind him, though, Vee was guaranteed to make it; his third single, "Devil or Angel," hit the Top Ten in mid-1960, followed by "Rubber Ball" later that year. One year later, Vee's biggest hit, "Take Good Care of My Baby," spent three weeks at number one, followed by the number two "Run to Him." His fame appeared to wane after the 1962 Top Ten single "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," due in large part to the success of the Beatles and other English acts. Vee appeared in several movies (Just for Fun, Play It Cool) and briefly tried to cash in on the British phenomenon -- with the disappointing Bobby Vee Sings the New Sound from England! -- but also recorded songs by his early influences, including Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Bobby Vee continued to chart throughout the '60s, and even hit the Top Ten again in 1967 with "Come Back When You Grow Up," but after a brief attempt at more serious recordings, he hit the rock & roll oldies circuit.
BARBARA LEWIS - BABY IM YOURS (1965) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | Barbara Lewis first recorded "Baby I'm Yours" in a January 8th 1965 Atlantic Recording Studios (NYC) session directed by Bert Berns with the producer credit assigned to Lewis's manager Ollie McLaughlin. The session for the track featured George "Teacho" Wiltshire conducting his orchestra, whose personnel included Clark Terry and Dud Bascomb (trumpets), Jimmy Cleveland and Tony Studd (trombones), Frank Haywood Henry (baritone sax), Charlie Brown (tenor sax), Paul Griffin (piano), Bill Suyker (guitar), Jimmy Lewis (bass), Gary Chester (drums), and Artie Butler (percussion/ handclaps); the harmony background vocals on the track were provided by the song's composer, Van McCoy, singing with Kendra Spotswood Barbara Lewis has stated that Van McCoy wrote "Baby I'm Yours" specifically for her. When she first heard the demo for "Baby I'm Yours" Lewis disliked the song — she has suggested that she actually was daunted by the high quality of the vocal, by McCoy himself, on the demo and at the original session "I didn't really put 100% into my vocal performance" hoping that Atlantic would shelve the track as sub-par. "Ollie [McLaughlin] told me 'Barbara, we're gonna have to go back to Detroit and dub you in. We gotta do your vocals over. You're just not giving like you should on the song.' We did several takes in Detroit and he was wondering 'How am I going to get this girl to give? She's so hard-headed.' He said 'You know, Barbara, Karen can sing that song better than you.' That was his little daughter. And it pissed me off. I did one more take, and that was the take that they selected." It has also been reported that Lewis dubbed her vocal in a Chicago studio.Released in April 1965, Lewis' "Baby I'm Yours" enjoyed staggered regional success exemplified by the single reaching #1 in Detroit as early as June 1965 and peaking at #4 in Chicago that August: the national peak of the single was #11 achieved on the Hot 100 in Billboard dated August 21, 1965. "Baby I'm Yours" afforded Lewis a #5 R&B chart hit.
CHAD & JEREMY - A SUMMER SONG (1964) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | "A Summer Song" is a 1964 Top Ten hit by Chad & Jeremy. The song was written and composed by duo partner Chad Stuart (Jeremy Clyde made few contributions to Stuart's and his repertoire) with Clive Metcalfe and Keith Noble.Like Stuart's and Clyde's breakthrough selection in duo partnership, "Yesterday's Gone," "A Summer Song" is a reminiscence of a summer romance. However, "A Summer Song" eschews the "Merseybeat" sound of "Yesterday's Gone" in favor of a gentler folk-influenced arrangement, with the lyrics also being wistful in tone.Stuart would recall, on The Steel Pier Radio Show, that his "A Summer Song" collaborators, Clive Metcalfe and Keith Noble, were themselves a musical duo with whom he and Clyde had become friendly, and that "A Summer Song" was written and composed in Stuart's flat in London: "We were sitting around jamming on four chords and we came up with 'A Summer Song.'" "We never thought 'Summer Song' could possibly be a single," he recalled another time. "It was just a pretty, romantic song. Or so we thought...you never can tell, can you?"The selection was one of a number to be included on the Yesterday's Gone album recorded at CTS Studios Bayswater in June of 1964 under the production auspices of Shel Talmy, with Johnnie Spence conducting the orchestra."A Summer Song" was issued in both the UK and the US in July 1964; the UK single version opens with Chad and Jeremy trading vocals while the US single features unisonant singing throughout."A Summer Song" was played on Juke Box Jury drawing from guest Ringo Starr the assessment of the track as a "miss" (i.e., flop) with US hit potential. Indeed, in the UK - where Chad & Jeremy's "Yesterday's Gone" had been a rather mild hit since followed by the unsuccessful "Like I Love You Today" - "A Summer Song" did not reach the charts while in the US following the near Top 20 success of "Yesterday's Gone" the track would afford the duo their career record reaching #7 on 17–24 October 1964. "A Summer Song" also went to number two for six weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart. When Gary James asked him about it, Stuart suggested: "You'd never hear something that sweet in the British charts...For some reason in America it worked. I don't honestly know why" -"[perhaps] because the American market is bigger.""A Summer Song" also reached #7 in Canada and #49 in Australia. The selection is featured on the soundtrack of the film Rushmore, and was used in the "ESPN's Sports Heaven" commercial that aired during Super Bowl XL.
THE ANGELS - CRY BABY CRY (1961) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | The Angels' 1963 number one hit, "My Boyfriend's Back," is one of the half-dozen or so archetypal girl group classics. Hand clap beats, sassy vocals, slightly campy lyrics, and an arrangement paced by wailing horns and streetcorner harmonies; it was a surefire hit and one that the group could never live up to, although they continued to record for some time.The Angels had actually been around for a while before "My Boyfriend's Back," making the Top 20 in 1961 with the ballad "'Till," and the Top 40 with a follow-up, "Cry Baby Cry." Featuring sisters Barbara and Phyllis Allbut, along with lead singer Linda Jansen, the group was at this time much more inclined toward lush doo-wop, somewhat in the mold of Little Anthony & the Imperials. Jansen left near the end of 1962, to be replaced by Peggy Santiglia, who gave the trio a tougher sound. In 1963, they hooked up with the songwriting/production team of Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer (later to oversee the McCoys and the Strangeloves), who penned and produced material more in line with the Spectorian Wall of Sound gracing the airwaves at the peak of the girl group era."My Boyfriend's Back" was originally cut as a demo that music publishers hoped to shop to the Shirelles, but it turned out so well that it was released as an Angels single, after they had been freed from their prior contract to sign with Smash. Surprisingly, they would never make the Top 20 again, although they had minor hits with "Thank You and Goodnight," "I Adore Him," and "Wow Wow Wee (He's the Boy for Me)." They were decent, ebullient singers, the best of their efforts standing up well to other New York-produced groups like the Shirelles, but could never latch on to a tune as surefire as "My Boyfriend's Back" again, despite (or maybe because of) a steady supply of material from the Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer consortium. They worked often as session vocalists in the '60s, most notably on Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes," and continued to record, unsuccessfully, throughout the '60s.
JOHNNY MATHIS - SMALL WORLD (1959) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | from Gypsy: A Musical Fable (Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim)
THE TEDDY BEARS - TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM (1958) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | Following graduation from Fairfax high school in Los Angeles, California, Phil Spector became obsessed with the song "To Know Him Is to Love Him," a song he had written for his group, the Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records who offered to finance a studio session, the Teddy Bears - Phil Spector, Marshall Leib, Harvey Goldstein (who left the group early on), lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit, drummer Sandy Nelson - recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a cost of $75. Released on ERA's Dore label in August 1958, it took two months before "To Know Him Is to Love Him" began to get airplay.It went on to become a global hit. The record stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks, in the Top Ten for 11 of those weeks, and commanded the number 1 chart position for three weeks. It also reached #2 in the UK. It sold over two and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. At 19 years old, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were well-recorded soft pop, they did not sell, and within a year of the debut, Spector disbanded the group.Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to a career after the group broke up. Harvey Goldstein became a certified public accountant. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and changed her name to Carol Connors. Among her credits are the Rip Chords hit "Hey Little Cobra", and the Academy Awards nominated Rocky theme song, "Gonna Fly Now," co-written with Ayn Robbins.
THE CRYSTALS - HES A REBEL (1962) MANNY MORA 2016-08-30 | "He's a Rebel" is a pop/rock song credited to the girl group the Crystals (although actually recorded by the Blossoms), reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1962. Written by Gene Pitney and produced by Phil Spector, it is an example of the Spector-produced girl group sound. In 2004, the song was ranked No. 263 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.The song is about a girl in love with a young man who spurns society's conventions. Despite his being misunderstood by others, the singer claims he is sweet and faithful and vows to be the same towards him. Steve Douglas performs a saxophone solo during the song's bridge. The piano riff at the beginning was contributed by Al DeLory. Unusually for Spector productions, no strings played on the track.Pitney wrote "He's a Rebel" for The Shirelles, but they declined. Spector learned Vikki Carr was to record it for Liberty Records as her debut, and wanted his own version on sale first. The Crystals were touring on the east coast of the USA at the time, so Spector had The Blossoms, a Los Angeles group, record the track. He credited The Crystals on the record; Mary Thomas recalled that "our mouths fell open" when she and her groupmates heard a disc jockey announce "the new Crystals song." The quintet was then obliged to add "He's a Rebel" to their live repertoire, even though lead singer Barbara Alston could not mimic Blossoms lead singer Darlene Love. For this reason, 15-year-old Dolores "LaLa" Brooks became the lead singer the following year with the follow-up "Then He Kissed Me"."He's a Rebel" was released in late August 1962, with the b-side "I Love You Eddie." By November 3, "He's a Rebel" had reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The number two song was Pitney's "Only Love Can Break a Heart", giving him (as a songwriter or performer) the two top-selling singles in the U.S. (Pitney never hit the U.S. No. 1 spot as a performer). In the United Kingdom, "He's a Rebel" peaked at 19.
WALTER SCOTT - JUST YOU WAIT (1967) MANNY MORA 2016-08-28 | Walter Scott (February 7th 1943 – December 27th 1983) was an American singer who fronted Bob Kuban and The In-Men, a St. Louis, Missouri based rock 'n' roll band that enjoyed brief national popularity during the 1960s.Born Walter Notheis, Jr. in St. Louis, Missouri, Scott found fame with Bob Kuban and The In-Men in 1966 with the song "The Cheater". "The Cheater" spent eleven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #12 in March of that year. Scott left the group soon after to attempt a solo career. When this failed, Scott began touring with a cover band during the 1970s. In early 1983, Scott and Kuban performed together for a television appearance and planned to reunite the band for their twentieth anniversary in June 1983.Scott disappeared on December 27th 1983. In April 1987, his body was found floating face-down in a cistern. He had been hog-tied and shot in the back. Scott's second wife, JoAnn (née Calcaterra), pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution of his murder, and received a five-year sentence. Her lover, James H. Williams Sr., whom she married in 1986, was found guilty of two counts of capital murder involving the deaths of his previous wife, Sharon Williams, and of Walter Scott.The case was shown on Court TV's Forensic Files, HBO's Autopsy 3: Voices From the Grave, and as part of "The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science" (episode: Grave Discoveries).On September 13th 2011, James Williams, then aged 72, died in prison from a heart condition while serving his life sentence.
JIMMY BREEDLOVE - MY GUARDIAN ANGEL (1962) MANNY MORA 2016-04-29 | My Guardian AngelIs surely watching meThis wonder for a nightMy Guardian AngelMust have arranged it soMy arms hold you tightI hear sweet musicLa la la la la!La la la la la!From up aboveHeaven sent you to meSo will your loveMy Guardian AngelFulfill the wish i madeAll my lucky starsI wanted someoneSomeone that i could loveAnd now here you areI hear sweet musicLa la la la la!La la la la la!From up aboveHeaven sent you to meSo will your loveIts like magicEverytime we touchLoving you my darlingMeans so muchMy Guardian AngelHad brought you close to meAnd its paradiseNow as I kiss youI see the love-light burningDeep in your eyesI hear sweet musicLa la la la la!La la la la la!From up aboveHeaven sent you to meSo will your loveYes My Guardian AngelSent you to meFor me to loveCome on babyGive me your loveOkeh Label 7145 - Anytime You Want Me / My Guardian AngelBorn: James H. Breedlove, April 9th 1928, Apalachicola, Florida.Died: May 25th 1978Jimmy Breedlove's problem was perhaps being too versatile. He could sing anything from soulful R&B ballads to raucous rock and roll, but he never became a serious hitmaker, though he recorded lots of first-rate material for important labels like RCA, Capitol, Atco and Epic. Breedlove's career started as a member of the Cues. This was a group formed by Atlantic Records arranger Jesse Stone in mid-1954 with the strict purpose to do professional backup work on records. Prior to that time, choruses were put together for a specific recording. Stone wanted to create an in-house group that had the versatility and skill to back all the solo acts on the label. The original Cues were Ollie Jones (ex-Ravens), Abel DeCosta (1929-1985), Robie Kirk (aka Winfield Scott on writer's credits) and Eddie Barnes ; Jimmy Breedlove was added a bit later and is not on the first two Cues singles, "Scoochie Scoochie" on Lamp and "Only You" on Jubilee (which is not a cover of the Platters hit, as All Music Guide claims). But he is the lead singer on most of the Cues' Capitol recordings, the first of which was "Burn That Candle", released in October 1955. It spent one week on the Billboard charts at # 86, but fell victim to Bill Haley's faster version, which peaked at # 9. The Cues would score one other chart entry, "Why" (# 77, Capitol 3582) in early 1957.While at Atlantic, the Cues never got to record under their own name, as Jesse Stone probably didn't want to distract them from the work at hand, which was not only backup singing but also doing demos of Stone's songs. Every solo act on Atlantic began to get vocal support from the Cues. And it was always under a different name. On LaVern Baker sides they were the Gliders, on Ivory Hunter records they were his Ivorytones, when they sang with Carmen Taylor they were her Boleros, for Joe Turner his Blues Kings, and so on. Most of the time, they received no credit at all on the label."Why" was the Cues' last release on Capitol. In May 1957, "I Pretend"/ "Crazy Crazy Party" (from their final session for Capitol) surfaced on the Prep label, a Capitol subsidiary. Soon thereafter, Jimmy departed from the group (which continued to do backing work until the early 1960s). His first solo release was on Capitol ("Danny Boy"/"The Sky"), soon followed by two singles on Atco, the first of which, "That's My Baby"/"Over Somebody's Else's Shoulder" got a UK release on London HLE 8490. Two good sides. In 1958, Jimmy had his only LP release, "Jimmy Breedlove Sings Rock & Roll Hits" (RCA Camden CAL 430), which was reissued on Bear Family BFX 15327 in 1988. Jimmy next recorded for the Epic label (1958-60). The only interesting (from an R&R point of view) release from this period is "Oo-Wee, Good Gosh A Mighty" (Epic 9289), which came out in October 1958. The recordings for OKeh (1962) were more soulful. Jimmy's 1963 recording of "Jealous Fool"/ "Li'l Ole Me" (Diamond 144) is an excellent rocker. Further record deals during the 1960s (Alert, Jubilee, Roulette) never went further then one single release. In 1971 he joined the Ravens, after this group had been reformed by original member Jimmy Ricks, who died in 1974. Jimmy Breedlove died in 1978 at the age of only 50, at an unknown location.
THE EVERLY BROTHERS - CLAUDETTE (1958) MANNY MORA 2015-12-26 | The Everly Brothers are the most important vocal duo in rock. The enduring influence of their close, expressive harmonies is evident in the work of British Invasion bands like the Beatles and the Hollies, and of folk-oriented acts such as Simon and Garfunkel, not to mention countless solo artists, among them Dave Edmunds, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Most of the Everlys' hit singles — "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream" — merged Nashville's clean instrumental country style with innocuous teenage themes, and were smoother than other contemporary country-rock hybrids like rockabilly. Their mastery is revealed in their ballads, among them "Let It Be Me."Don Everly was born on February 1, 1937; his brother Phil arrived almost two years later, on January 19, 1939. They were the children of Midwestern country stars Ike and Margaret Everly of Shenandoah, Iowa. The boys toured with their parents around the South and Midwest and performed on the family radio show (a taped sample of which appears on Roots) throughout their childhoods. In the summer of 1955, still teenagers, they left for Nashville, where they were soon hired by Roy Acuff's publishing company as songwriters. Don had a minor success when his "Thou Shalt Not Steal" became a hit for Kitty Wells. The brothers also recorded a country single entitled "Keep On Loving Me" for Columbia before signing with Cadence in 1957. Songwriters Felice and Boudleaux Bryant gave them "Bye Bye Love," which 30 acts had previously rejected. It was an international hit (Number Two U.S., 1957), topped the country chart, and established the Everly Brothers' style of close country harmonies over a rocking beat.The Everlys toured internationally with a small combo over the next few years, sporting matching suits and haircuts and leaving fans to identify each brother by the color of his hair (Don's was darker). Their heyday lasted through 1962, by which time they were at Warner Bros., with cumulative record sales of $35 million. In their three years with Cadence (which they left in a dispute over royalties) they averaged a Top 10 hit every four months, including four Number One hits: "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Cathy's Clown," and "Bird Dog."Some of their most successful records — "Till I Kissed You" (Number Four, 1959), "When Will I Be Loved" (Number Eight, 1960) — were written by Don or Phil Everly. Their best-selling single, "Cathy's Clown" (sales of which exceeded 2 million), came after their switch to Warner Bros., but their success with the new label was short-lived. In June 1962 the Everlys' string of hits ended with "That's Old-Fashioned" (Number Nine, 1962). They remained major stars in England, but their careers slowed markedly in the U.S. despite continued releases on Warner Bros. ("Bowling Green," Number 40, 1967) and RCA (where they moved in the early Seventies, shortly after hosting a summer TV series on CBS). Their latter-day backup band was led by keyboardist Warren Zevon and included future L.A. studio guitarist Waddy Wachtel.By then the brothers' personal lives had gone through serious upheavals. Both were addicted to speed for a while, and Don was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown. Their relationship became increasingly acrimonious until it blew up at the John Wayne Theater at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, on July 14, 1973. Phil smashed his guitar and stalked off stage, leaving Don to announce the duo's obvious breakup. Subsequent solo attempts by both were largely unsuccessful.In 1983 the Everlys returned to the spotlight. Phil's duet with Cliff Richard, "She Means Nothing to Me," reached the British Top 10 in the spring. That September the brothers reunited onstage at London's Royal Albert Hall for a triumphant concert that was chronicled on Reunion Concert and in a video documentary that was widely aired. In 1984 they released EB 84 (Number 38, 1984), produced by longtime fan Dave Edmunds. "On the Wings of a Nightingale," penned by another admirer, Paul McCartney (who'd mentioned the pair in his "Let 'Em In"), went to Number 50 in the U.S. and Number 41 in England. Edmunds also produced 1986's Born Yesterday, which came out the same month that the duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Everlys continued to perform well into 2000s, and Phil resurfaced on a recording in 2006, singing a duet with Vince Gill on his album These Days. The Everly Brothers have inspired several musicals, including 1998's biographical Bye Bye Love: The Everly Brothers Musical, which ran in Nashville, and 2000's Dream, Dream, Dream, which played Atlantic City.
FREDDY CANNON - TALLAHASSEE LASSIE (1959) MANNY MORA 2015-12-26 | Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. (born December 4th 1936), known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".A frantic and enthusiastic vocalist, known as the ‘last rock ‘n’ roll star’, Cannon was the link between wild rock ‘n’ roll and the softer Philadelphia-based sounds that succeeded it. The son of a dance-band leader, he fronted Freddy Karmon And The Hurricanes and played guitar on sessions for the G-Clefs. He was spotted by Boston disc jockey Jack McDermott, who gave a song that Freddy and his mother had written, entitled ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Baby’, to top writing and production team Bob Crewe and Frank Slay; they improved the song, retitled it ‘Tallahassee Lassie’, and renamed him Freddy Cannon. The record was released in 1959 on Swan, a label part-owned by Dick Clark, who often featured Cannon on his US Bandstand television programme and road shows. The single was the first of 21 US hits that ‘Boom Boom’ (as the ex-truck driver was known) enjoyed over the next seven years. He had five US and four UK Top 20 singles, the biggest being his revival of ‘Way Down Yonder In New Orleans’ in 1959, and ‘Palisades Park’, written by television personality Chuck Barris, in 1962. His only successful album was The Explosive! Freddy Cannon in 1960, which made history as the first rock album to top the UK charts. During his long career, Cannon also recorded with Warner Brothers Records, Buddah Records, Claridge (where he revived his two biggest hits), We Make Rock ‘N’ Roll Records, Royal American, MCA, Metromedia and Sire Records. He returned briefly to the charts in 1981 in the company of Dion’s old group, the Belmonts, with a title that epitomized his work: ‘Let’s Put The Fun Back Into Rock ‘N’ Roll’.
LARRY WILLIAMS - BONY MORONIE (1957) MANNY MORA 2015-12-26 | A rough, rowdy rock & roll singer, Larry Williams had several hits in the late '50s, several of which -- "Bony Maroney," "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy," "Short Fat Fannie," "Bad Boy," "She Said Yeah" -- became genuine rock & roll classics and were recorded by British Invasion groups; John Lennon, in particular, was a fan of Williams, recording several of his songs over the course of his career.As a child in New Orleans, Williams learned how to play piano. When he was a teenager, he and his family moved to Oakland, CA, where he joined a local R&B group called the Lemon Drops. In 1954, when he was 19 years old, Williams went back to New Orleans for a visit. During his trip, he met Lloyd Price, who was recording for Specialty Records. Price hired the teenager as his valet and introduced him to Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, the label's house producer. Soon, the label's owner, Art Rupe, signed Williams to a solo recording contract.Just after Specialty signed Larry Williams, Specialty lost Little Richard, who had been their biggest star and guaranteed hitmaker. Little Richard decided to abandon rock & roll for the ministry shortly after Williams cut his first single, a cover of Price's "Just Because," with Richard's backing band; "Just Because" peaked at number 11 on the R&B charts in the spring of 1957. After Richard left the label, the label put all of its energy into making Williams a star, giving him an image makeover and a set of material -- ranging from hard R&B and rock & roll to ballads -- that was quite similar to Richard's hits.Williams' first post-Little Richard single was the raucous "Short Fat Fannie," which shot to number one on the R&B charts and number five on the pop charts in the summer of 1957. It was followed in the fall by "Bony Maronie," which hit number four on the R&B charts and number 14 on the pop charts. Williams wasn't able to maintain that momentum, however. "You Bug Me, Baby" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," his next two singles, missed the R&B charts but became minor pop hits in late 1957 and early 1958. Despite the relative failure of these singles, Williams' records became popular import items in Britain; the Beatles would cover both sides of the "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" single (the B-side was "Slow Down") in the mid-'60s. However, Williams' commercial fortunes in America continued to decline, despite Specialty's release of a constant stream of singles and one full-length album.In 1959, Williams was arrested for selling narcotics, which caused Specialty to drop him from the record label. During the '60s, he drifted through a number of labels in the early '60s, recording songs for Chess, Mercury, Island, and Decca. By the mid-'60s, he had hooked up Johnny "Guitar" Watson and the duo cut several sides for OKeh Records in the mid- and late '60s, including the Top 40 R&B hits "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (spring 1967) and "Nobody," which was recorded with Kaleidoscope (early 1968). Williams also became a house producer for OKeh Records in 1966, although very few of his productions became hits.Between 1968 and and 1978, Williams was inactive, recording nothing and performing very little. In 1978, he released a funk album, That's Larry Williams, for Fantasy Records that sold poorly and received bad reviews. In 1980, Williams was found dead in his Los Angeles home; he died of a gunshot wound to his head. The medical examiners called the death a suicide, but rumors persisted for years after his death that he was murdered because of his involvement in drugs, crime and allegedly prostitution.
WYNONIE HARRIS - LOVIN MACHINE (1952) MANNY MORA 2015-12-26 | No blues shouter embodied the rollicking good times that he sang of quite like raucous shouter Wynonie Harris. "Mr. Blues," as he was not-so-humbly known, joyously related risque tales of sex, booze, and endless parties in his trademark raspy voice over some of the jumpingest horn-powered combos of the postwar era.Those wanton ways eventually caught up with Harris, but not before he scored a raft of R&B smashes from 1946 to 1952. He was already a seasoned dancer, drummer, and singer when he left Omaha for L.A. in 1940 (his main influences being Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing). He found plenty of work singing and appearing as an emcee on Central Avenue, the bustling nightlife strip of the black community. Harris' reputation was spreading fast -- he was appearing in Chicago at the Rhumboogie Club in 1944 when bandleader Lucky Millinder hired him as his band's new singer. With Millinder's orchestra in brassy support, Harris made his debut on shellac by boisterously delivering "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well" that same year for Decca. By the time it hit in mid-1945, Harris was long gone from Millinder's organization and back in L.A.The shouter debuted on wax under his own name in July of 1945 at an L.A. date for Philo with backing from drummer Johnny Otis, saxist Teddy Edwards, and trumpeter Howard McGhee. A month later, he signed on with Apollo Records, an association that provided him with two huge hits in 1946: "Wynonie's Blues" (with saxist Illinois Jacquet's combo) and "Playful Baby." Harris' own waxings were squarely in the emerging jump blues style then sweeping the West Coast. After scattered dates for Hamp-Tone, Bullet, and Aladdin (where he dueled it out with his idol Big Joe on a two-sided "Battle of the Blues"), Harris joined the star-studded roster of Cincinnati's King Records in 1947. There his sales really soared.Few records made a stronger seismic impact than Harris' 1948 chart-topper "Good Rockin' Tonight." Ironically, Harris shooed away its composer, Roy Brown, when he first tried to hand it to the singer; only when Brown's original version took off did Wynonie cover the romping number. With Hal "Cornbread" Singer on wailing tenor sax and a rocking, socking backbeat, the record provided an easily followed blueprint for the imminent rise of rock & roll a few years later (and gave Elvis Presley something to place on the A-side of his second Sun single).After that, Harris was rarely absent from the R&B charts for the next four years, his offerings growing more boldly suggestive all the time. "Grandma Plays the Numbers," "All She Wants to Do Is Rock," "I Want My Fanny Brown," "Sittin' on It All the Time," "I Like My Baby's Pudding," "Good Morning Judge," "Bloodshot Eyes" (a country tune that was first released on "King" by Hank Penny), and "Lovin' Machine" were only a portion of the ribald hits Harris scored into 1952 (13 in all) -- and then his personal hit parade stopped dead. It certainly wasn't Harris' fault -- his King output rocked as hard as ever under Henry Glover's supervision -- but changing tastes among fickle consumers accelerated Wynonie Harris' sobering fall from favor.Sides for Atco in 1956, King in 1957, and Roulette in 1960 only hinted at the raunchy glory of a few short years earlier. The touring slowed accordingly. In 1963, his chaffeur-driven Cadillacs and lavish New York home a distant memory, Harris moved back to L.A., scraping up low-paying local gigs whenever he could. Chess gave him a three-song session in 1964, but sat on the promising results. Throat cancer silenced him for good in 1969, ending the life of a bigger-than-life R&B pioneer whose ego matched his tremendous talent.
JOHNNY KIDD & THE PIRATES - SHAKIN ALL OVER (1960) MANNY MORA 2015-12-20 | "Shakin' All Over" is a rhythm and blues song originally performed by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. The song was written by frontman Johnny Kidd, and his recording of it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in August 1960. Kidd's original recording was not a hit outside of Europe, and in other parts of the world "Shakin' All Over" is much better known in versions by other artists. In 1964 a local band from Plattsburgh, NY called the Twiliters recorded a live version of it. It did well in New England but did not chart nationally. However it was the first North American cover of the song. A 1965 cover by The Guess Who reached #1 in Canada, and also top 40 in the US and Australia, while Normie Rowe's 1965 version was a #1 Australian hit and one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the decade.The musicians who performed on the recording were Johnny Kidd (vocals), Alan Caddy (guitar), Brian Gregg (bass), Clem Cattini (drums) and Joe Moretti (lead guitar). Kidd was quoted as saying: When I was going round with a bunch of lads and we happened to see a girl who was a real sizzler we used to say that she gave us "quivers down the membranes". It was a standard saying with us referring to any attractive girl. ... I can honestly say that it was this more than anything that inspired me to write "Shakin' All Over".
