THIS MONTH’S MEETING
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14TH 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
NEXT MEETING, SEPTEMBER 11TH 2:00 PM
BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS 37TH ANNUAL RECORD SHOW
We are just days from our record show, August 19-21 at the Gardendale Civic Center located at 857 Main Street, Gardendale, AL 35071. Make plans to be there and spread the word to everyone on your facebook page, email list, twitter or just call your friends. We once again look forward to a full house of dealers, over 100 tables full of vinyl to browse through.
Hours are: Friday 11:00-3:00 (early bird with paid BRC membership only) and 3:00-8:00 open to public. $5. Saturday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM & Sunday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. $5. Kids 12 and under free. Plenty of free parking. More info can be found on the website at birminghamrecord.com or our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/birminghamrecordcollectors. There will also be a food truck on location each day.
Thanks to those who have already volunteered to work the front table. We still need more volunteers to help at the table. If you can spare an hour or two, please contact me at cbailey@bsc.edu and let me know.
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
We are going back to our roots this month. Long-time BRC member, Jack Wilson will be spinning some platters for our enjoyment. If you are familiar with what Jack collects you know we are in for a treat. Drop by, enjoy the music and the friendship of all the BRC members. See ya there!
AND THEN I WROTE…….
When you think back on all the great music of your young days you can remember a lot of recording stars who were in the spotlight and then….gone. Some may have been one-hit wonders and some may have had that big hit and then a few minor ones before not being heard of again. As I have browsed through boxes of records over the years I have been amazed to find the names of composers and producers on the labels who I knew as those one-hit wonders that did more in the business after they ‘disappeared’. There are also a group of very well-known singers who did the same, they stayed in the business without the notoriety of being on the front cover of 16 Magazine, Teen Beat, Tiger Beat and the like. So, let’s take a look at a few of these entertainers and see if you knew these things about them. And I know there are probably 1,000’s of other stories.
The Virtues had a classic instrumental song in 1959 called ‘Guitar Boogie Shuffle’. The band member whose name was used for the name of the group was Frank Virtue. It was the group’s only hit but things didn’t end musically for Frank. He would go on to produce recordings including the hit ‘Hey There Lonely Girl’ by Eddie Holman and Gabriel & The Angels’, ‘That’s Life (That’s Tough)’ (click here to play).
When it comes to 1950’s-60’s summer time songs one of the ones that will always stick out is Jerry Keller’s ‘Here Comes Summer’. That song reached #14 in the US and #1 in the UK. After other recordings failed to make much noise, Keller would stay in the music business composing and doing the vocals on TV jingles. He wrote songs that Andy Williams and Ricky Nelson would record. But his highest charted song that I am aware of is ‘Turn Down Day’ recorded by The Cyrkle. It reached #16 on the charts.
Larry Hall had a hit in 1960 with ‘Sandy’. Another one-hit wonder who didn’t just get behind the mic, sing and then leave the business when other recordings didn’t make it. He would stay and help produce Dobie Gray’s version of ‘The In-Crowd’ and Terry Stafford’s hit, ‘Suspicion’.
What a great recording ‘For Your Love’ (click here to play) by Ed Townsend was. It reached #13 on the pop chart and #7 on the R&B chart. It was to me a mix of a Nat ‘King’ Cole pop sound and the R&B sound of Ben E. King. Townsend didn’t have much luck with other recordings but knew he could write and produce. I don’t know all the music business careers of other on-hit wonders but his would hold its own against anyone. He would write and produce ‘The Love Of My Man’ (click here to play) for Theola Kilgore. The song reached #3 on the R&B chart and #1 on the pop chart. He also wrote ‘How Can I Forget’ which Jimmy Holiday and Ben E. King both had hits with. Not finished yet, he would co-write with Marvin Gaye, ‘ Let’s Get It On’. He would also co-produce Marvin’s LP of the same name.
Remember the fun song, ‘You Talk Too Much’ by Joe Jones? Jones took that song to #3 on the pop chart and #9 on the R&B chart. It would be his only hit. But never fear, Joe didn’t hang it up and leave the business. In fact Joe had been part of the business before his hit. He had been working with B B King doing odd jobs which led to becoming B B’s pianist and arranger. He discovered and played piano for Shirley & Lee who had the hit ‘Let The Good Times Roll’. After he finally did his own recordings and had success with ‘You Talk Too Much’, he would later discover The Dixie Cups and produce their song, ‘Iko, Iko’. He also would do the arrangement for Alvin Robinson’s, ‘Something You Got’. One other interesting fact about Joe Jones. He did the original recording of ‘California Sun’, which the Rivieria’s would cover and have a big hit with it.
See if you can follow this story. Born James Cason but known as Buzz Cason, he started a band called The Casuals in Nashville, his home town and would also record with two friends as The Statues. In 1960 he went solo and when looking for a song, ‘Looking For A Star’, a hit already for British singer Garry Mills was chosen. Mills version went to #7 in the UK and #26 on the US pop chart. The song was covered by many here in the states including Cason. To make things really strange, producer Snuff Garrett chose the pseudonym, Garry Miles for Cason to record under. Now we had the same song released by Garry Mills and Garry Miles. As far as I know there was not a lawsuit or anything like it by Mills people. Cason, aka, Miles’s version went to #16 on the US pop chart. It was Cason’s, aka Miles only charted pop song. But Buzz did not leave the music business. He went on to write songs, produce records and sang back up for people such as Elvis and Kenny Rogers. If you are a fan of Arthur Alexander you will know his recording of ‘Soldier Of Love’ (click here to play), the flip of ‘Where Have You Been’. The Beatles also covered ‘Soldier Of Love’. But Cason had a big success with his song, ‘Everlasting Love’. That song went to #13 for Robert Knight and also charted for 3 other performers.
There have been many songs I have listened to over the years that have a great female back-up singer that I never have known who she was. Fortunately, one label actually shows the name of the back-up singer but…..who was she? It just continues to show the paths that many people took over the years in their music career. Listen to Tommy Dee’s, ‘Three Stars’, a song about the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. The label shows the singers as Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires. Born in Carol Kaye in 1935 she would be playing guitar by the age of 13 and playing in local jazz clubs not long after. While doing a gig one night she was invited to a Sam Cooke recording session where she played on his recording of ‘Summertime’. After seeing she could make more money as a session player, her amazing career began. So guitarist Carol Kaye, aka back-up singer Carol Kay would be part of the session players group that became known as the Wrecking Crew. Be watching for a newsletter about this lady’s career.
Before I close let me mention a few well-known, not one-hit wonders who wrote some songs that many don’t know they did. Gene Pitney wrote the Crystals ‘He’s A Rebel’, Bobby Vee’s ‘Rubber Ball’ and Ricky’s Nelson’s ‘Hello Mary Lou’. David Gates who also needs a newsletter about his career, wrote the Murmaids ‘Popsicles And Icicles’ and was the arranger for Glenn Yarbrough’s ‘Baby The Rain Must Fall’. Are you familiar with the movie, ‘The Longest Day’? The theme song to the movie was written by Paul Anka. I’ll end with a novel writer whose novel-to-movies you know well. Ian Fleming wrote over 12 James Bond novels that became hit movies. He also wrote Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Now you know.
See ya,
Charlie