That catchy 'Mexican feel' reappeared on their next hit, "Cara Mia", which was a rather astonishing exercise in sheer top-range vocal power by Black. Further success followed in 1965: "Let's Lock The Door", (#11) "Some Enchanted Evening", (#13) and a song that was Neil Diamond's first big hit as a songwriter, "Sunday and Me" (#18). "Come A Little Bit Closer" climbed all the way to #3 on the national charts and solidified the group's reputation as one that was capable of producing hits. In 1964, they recorded a tune which had been written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The song made it into the Top 40, peaking at #25 in the Fall of 1963. The Americans changed some of the offending lyrics like, "Only in America, do they make you sit in the back of the bus." and released it in August of 1963. Atlantic Records had vetoed The Drifter's version because, believe it or not, in the early sixties a Black group was discouraged from singing about becoming President. Given the group's name, he suggested they record it too. It was a tune recorded by The Drifters called "Only In America". While rehearsing one day in the studio, Kenny Vance brought a song to other's attention. Marty Sanders from The Empires joined the group and introduced the others to a powerful singer named David Blatt, who agreed to use the stage name Jay Black. Singer Howie Kane, also working as a mortician, couldn't work on Sundays, when Murray The K had his Coney Island shows, so he dropped out, as did Jay Traynor. After their first hit, the band went through some changes. The record rose to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 during an eleven week stay in the Top 40. The wire services picked up on the story and the song and the group gained national attention. locked himself in the booth a played the song for four straight hours. "She Cried" gained national attention when a West coast D.J. Their second effort though was to be their breakthrough. Under the name Jay And The Americans, "Tonight" sold 50,000 copies, but was far overshadowed by an instrumental version by Ferrante and Teicher. United Artists had just finished the movie version of West Side Story and offered the boys heavy promotion if they recorded a song from the soundtrack called "Tonight". The four were teamed up with songwriters Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber, who had a great track record with The Drifters, The Coasters, and Ben E. As fate would have it, John 'Jay' Traynor, a stand-in singer with a group called The Mystics was looking for another band, and since the two groups shared Jim Gribble as manager, the three got together, adding a fourth member, Howie Kane. After a couple of failed recordings, Sandy began looking for a stronger lead singer. The foundation of what would become Jay And The Americans was laid in 1959 when two teenagers named Kenny Vance and Sandy Deane formed a Doo-Wop style group called The Harbourlites.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |