Playgirl

September 11, 2016, 10:54 am

J. Walker And The Pedestrians
featuring Little Willie Woolfolk

Playgirl

J & W 900
1966

When I started to do some research and first googling the band name, I was thinking it would be a rather easy research. I was wrong. In the sixties alone, they were at least three or four bands named J. Walker and the Pedestrians or Jay Walker and the Pedestrians [on Amy, Pine Hills and Meteor] and none seems to be the same band! The one on Meteor (Upstate New York) in 1967 perhaps (but has a female lead vocalist named Dawn Wilson) ?

Mastered and pressed in Nashville, Tenn. So these Pedestrians were probably somewhere from "the South"

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These Spurs

September 12, 2016, 10:40 am

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≪ Previous: Playgirl

Gene Goza

These Spurs

(Are Made For Ridin')

Back Beat 572
1966

Recorded in Houston, with the backing of the Johnny and Edgar Winter’s Band.

Born in Vivian, Louisiana, on April 9, 1937, Gene Goza was the son of Ralph and Juanita (Cook) Goza.

Gene was a singer and an entertainer He performed with the Charlie Pruitt Show [Beaumont, Texas] and was an Elvis impersonator. With his group, Jo, Gene and Company, he enjoyed entertaining senior citizens. For his contribution to the local music and entertainment field, he received a star on the Walk of Fame in Vidor.

Gene was a fun loving, colorful character who brought laughter and smiles because his own was so contagious. He had a handsome face but a rubber-like face that he could turn into the worlds ugliest, a fun loving gimmick.

In 2012, after fifty-one years on the same job with Firestone Polymers in Orange, he died before reaching his fifty-five years goal. He was a survivor after tragedies : his first wife was killed in a wreck, his daughter Misty murdered.

Donald Eugene "Gene" Goza Sr.

1937 - 2012

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British Rock

September 14, 2016, 7:26 am

≫ Next: Thirteen Men

≪ Previous: These Spurs

Jack Urbont
Dean Lyon Almquist
with the Urbont Orchestra

British Rock
Comedy with music

Jabont Music ASCAP

Bojak 235

New York City, unknown date

Jack Urbont's work spans the realms of theatre, film, radio, and television. Growing up observing his father's work on Broadway and in broadcasting, he would later act on Broadway (Decision, Showboat), produce (All in Love, Juno and the Paycock) and compose (Livin' the Life, All In Love). Selected film credits include the themes to Iron Man I & II, Supercops, and the scores to Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Singles, and Young Doctors in Love.

Jack Urbont started his television career by writing lyrics and music for Shari Lewis. Following this, he composed themes and lyrics for The Guiding Light, One Life to Live, and General Hospital, which has been heard on television for decades. Additional credits include music for All My Children, That 70 s Show, Winter Olympics, Howie Mandel, and award-winning talk shows such as Oprah, Rosie, and Regis & Kathy Lee.

His themes to the original TV representations of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Submariner, and Thor have also endured (currently three new movies are being made using his music for these Marvel Superheroes). Jack Urbont received an Emmy for Lorne Greene's New Wilderness.

Also worth of a mention, Jack Urbont wrote "High Rise", sung by an uncredited Rhetta Hughes.
theme song of a porn film from the early 70s, considered by a classic of the era along with Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones.

P.S. : This label is also an interesting addition to this post in a new category : the hole as a letter!

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Thirteen Men

September 22, 2016, 9:12 am

≫ Next: Two Cats & A Mouse

≪ Previous: British Rock

Meg Myles

with Harry Geller

and his Orchestra

Thirteen Men
(Dickie Thompson,Fisher Music ASCAP)

Liberty 55038

1956

To the best of my knowledge,this is the very first recorded female version of "Thirteen Women", before Dinah Shore [1958] and before Ann-Margret [1962].

The song was first recorded by its composer, guitarist Dickie Thompson :

"Thirteen Women and Only One Man"— it sounded like a good idea to Dickie Thompson when he wrote the song in the early 1950s.

"The lines went something like, 'I had two gals every morning serving me breakfast in bed/I'm telling you, Jack, one rubbed my back while the other one rubbed my head,' But the idea proved too salacious for the early rock 'n' roll generation — or perhaps their parents. Disc jockeys played Thompson's song [Herald Records 424, 1954) for a couple of weeks, then decided it was too risqué and pulled it off the air.

Music producers didn't give up on it, though. The song was rewritten for Bill Haley and His Comets. The rock-'n'-rollers recorded "Thirteen Women" as their A-side — "Rock Around the Clock" was on the B-side.

The Haley version is an atomic fantasy song about a working guy dreaming of being the only man to survive an H-bomb attack. Audiences and radio stations found the hit a vast improvement. Nuclear annihilation, it seemed, was an acceptable reason to have multiple lady friends.

The change in lyrics didn't seem to faze Thompson, though. The musician received residual checks for decades even though most performers recorded the H-bomb version.

Meg Myles

Meg Myles was a popular model and pin-up of the 1950s.

As noted by the Billboard reviewer of her Mercury album from 1962 cut at New York's Living Room :

Miss Myles is a young lady of limited vocal talent but she's abundantly endowed otherwise, a fact which helps fans overlook her vocal limitations.

And Steve Allen had teasingly noted in 1957 :

She's appeared on my TV shows several times and I've noticed that our crew, a pretty casual group - not easily impressed - always pays strict attention when she's out there, standing with her feet slightly apart, her head tilted a little to one side. There's no doubt about it - Meg is one singer who's fun to look at. (Steve Allen, notes to Liberty LP Just Meg and Me, 1957)

For your desert island enjoyment, here is a selection* of 13 covers, 5 female, 6 male and two instrumentals :

1 - Dinah Shore - Thirteen Men
2 - Ann-Margaret - Thirteen Men.
3 - Girlicious - Thirteen Men
4 - Jane Wiedlin - Thirteen Men
5 - Melina Soochan - Thirteen Men

6 - Dickie Thompson - Thirteen Women
7 - The Renegades - Thirteen Women
8 - Chance Halladay - Thirteen Women
9 - Danny Gatton - Thirteen Women.
10 - Darrel Higham - Thirteen Women
11 - The Fuzztones - Thirteen Women

12 - Tommy Oliver - Thirteen Women
13 - Electromaniacs - Thirteen Women

Not included are the versions by Bill Haley, Col Buckley & The In-Crowd (Australia), Marty Rhone And His Soul Agents (Australia), Eddy Mitchell (in french), The Heroes, Rock-A-Dials, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Flaming Sideburns, Christina Aguilera, Cub Koda, Dixie Gunworks, Vidar Busk & His True Believers, The Breeze Kings, Dagmars, Pete Turland, Quinn Lemley, Michael Feinstein, Rockin' The Joint and Gina Haley (daughter of Bill).... and probably some more...

* for pw see comment

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Two Cats & A Mouse

September 25, 2016, 6:16 am

≫ Next: King Of The Blues

≪ Previous: Thirteen Men

Mickey Mandolin

Two Cats & A Mouse

Saunders, Jim Jon Music ASCAP

Arr. & conducted by Frank Hunter

Sabena Records S-1/2
1960

also issued as by Mickey Moreno

The flip, "Open Your Heart" was also issued on the Coed Records' subsidiary Companion label later in 1960. Song can be heard on YouTube.

Vincent James LaSpada 1920-1990

This is Vincent LaSpada, who recorded and sang with the big bands of the '40s as Jimmy Saunders

Jimmy Saunders, also known as Sonny Saunders and for a time as Marco Polo, sang with the bands of Harry James, Eddie Duchin, Ray Bloch, Sonny Kendis and Charlie Spivak. He co-wrote "Peach Tree Street" with Frank Sinatra and recorded such hits as "There Must Be a Way,""Santa Lucia,""You Belomg to My Heart,""I Love You for Sentimental Reasons" and "You Are Too Beautiful." He also was a featured vocalist on the "Lucky Strike Hit Parade" show.

The son of Philip Laspada, who ran a bakery at 9th and Cross streets, Jimmy was one of the first of a long line of pop singers to come out of the rich musical turf of South Philadelphia. He started singing on the street corner with the guys and quickly made a name for himself once he started entering amateur contests on stages of the Alhambra, the Earle and the Broadway theaters.

He won a contract with radio station WIP and starred on one of the few live shows originating in Philadelphia at the time. In 1942 he joined the Harry James orchestra, and it was James who changed his stage name from "Sonny" to ''Jimmy" Saunders.

As Vince La Spada, Jimmy Saunders, Sonny Sanders or Marco Polo, he recorded since the early forties for Columbia (Harry James orchestra), V Disc (Charlie Spivak Orch.), Rainbow, Hi Tone, Signature, Coral, Dragon, Mohawk, Laurie, Companion, Cameo and Music Factory. He signed a contract to Chess Records in 1956 but I'm not sure if the Chicago label issued anything.

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King Of The Blues

September 26, 2016, 3:28 am

≫ Next: Brigitte

≪ Previous: Two Cats & A Mouse

Al Berry

and The Furness Bros.

King Of The Blues

w & m Max Dickman & Marilyn Israel

Melmar 115

1957

Only "featured" on the previous record on the same label — Furness Brothers Featuring Al Berry — Al Berry is promoted here as the main artist. He was a member of the New Furness Brothers at least until the early sixties.

Businessman and songwriter Max Dickman started the Melmar label in Broomall, Pennsylvania, named after his son, Melvin, and his wife, Marilyn. The first three releases on the label were by Bonnie Davis & The Piccadilly Pipers [See Marv Goldberg's website HERE)

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Brigitte

September 26, 2016, 10:19 am

≫ Next: Let's Stay Home

≪ Previous: King Of The Blues

The Barrons

Brigitte

KRCO 101
1959

Quite probably a Beaumont, Texas group. Composers of the songs, Byrun Portor (?) and Doyle Coody, were possibly members of The Barrons.

Vocal with a Bo Diddley rhythm. This is by far their best track for my taste. All their other songs are in a doo-woopish vein. The KRCo single was leased (or sold) to Westminster Records, a budget record company and issued later that year in 1959 on their Whitehall subsidiary.

Also probably part of the Westminster deal were four songs issued later on Guest Star, another budget label.

Guest Star 1481 track list

On the 10-tracks album, apart the two "4 Seasons" songs, The Barrons are credited on eight songs.

But only four tracks are really by "our" Barrons. The four other Barrons tracks are actually by The Crescendos, the Nasco recording artists (track 2, 3, 4 and 6).

KRCo (Ken RitterCompany) was owned by the nephew of the cowboy star Tex Ritter. During his stint in the military, Ken Ritter worked in Armed Forces Radio, and upon returning to Beaumont affiliated with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). In 1956, he was granted the first music-publishing license here, and at the time it was among the earliest in the state. In 1958, his first major success came when he co-produced the recording that took J.P. Big Bopper Richardson to national fame. With two novelty songs back to back, the Chantilly Lace side became a huge hit and sold in the millions. He also discovered the talents of brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter of Beaumont and produced some of their early recordings. Ken Ritter was elected mayor of Beaumont in 1970.

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Let's Stay Home

September 27, 2016, 1:58 pm

≫ Next: Gonna Put You Down

≪ Previous: Brigitte

Alan Dean

Let's Stay Home

Panama Artists, Inc.

1959

Alan Dean

Morris Levy was his personal manager since 1951

Billboard, December 29, 1951

Alan Dean, born in East Ham, London in 1924, was voted the UK's most popular male singer in the Melody Maker 1949-50 popularity poll and retained that position until 1952.

By mid-1951 Alan realised that he had achieved all he could possibly achieve in Britain. He had kept in touch with pianist George Shearing, a colleague from his days with Frank Weir's band, and whose career had taken a great leap forward in America. Shearing advised Alan to "come on over". Then Barry Ulanov, the eminent music critic and editor of Metronome magazine, met Alan in London, heard him sing and gave him the same advice.

Encouraged by his support, but remaining cautious, Alan decided to 'test the water' on a short holiday in New York, but so quick and positive was the reaction there that he was unable to return to London until 1957.

In the USA, there was records on London, Roost, MGM (1952-1956), Rama (1956-1957), Roulette (1957) and Panama (1959).

Composer of "Let's Stay Home" is Denise Norwood (or Dennise Haas Norwood). Se wrote among others "Garden Of Eden" (Joe Valino, Vik Records, 1956), Teenage Blues (Roc LaRue With The Three Pals, Rama Records, 1957), and House Of Heartache (Cathy Carr, Fraternity Records, 1957).

Dennise Norwood recorded herself a single for Glory Records in 1959 (Bring On The Rain b/w House Of Heartache) and a concept album titled "In The Skin With Me" "an audio-musical with scenes and action in sound selections and story line"issued in 1962 on Dennise Records. She died in 1999 in Florida.

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Gonna Put You Down

September 29, 2016, 8:52 am

≫ Next: Witches Rock

≪ Previous: Let's Stay Home

Barry Wilson

and The Camelots

Gonna Put You Down

Dot 45-16462
March 1963

On this record, an article published by Billboard (in its April 20, 1963 issue) has the following details :

BUG ON WING IN N. ENGLAND

BOSTON - Out of a new dance known as the Bug has come a new record produced by the sales representative of highbrow music radio station WCRB, which will, of course, not air his record.

It grew out of a new twist dance popularized in this area by the trio of Barry Wilson, Bob Prunier and Mo Burnham. Gene Kilham of WCRB produced the record, had it published by Famous Music Corporation, New York and sold to Dot. "The Bug" is backed with "Gonna Put You Down."

The group was backed by four Framingham businessmen who were instrumental in getting the trio started on the dance in the Camelot Lounge in Framingham. The dance is now spreading to other parts of the country and is popular in New England areas.

Barry Wilson led several local bands The Orchids, among others, and was the vocalist of The Lundon Fog (until 1973).

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Witches Rock

October 1, 2016, 2:47 am

≫ Next: Makin' Whoopee!

≪ Previous: Gonna Put You Down

George Vee
and
The Nephews

Witches Rock

Pink P-1011/1012
1959

Penned and arranged by Norman Helfant and Jerry Luongo (© Norman A. Helfant & Gerald J.Luongo)
One-off 1959 label from New Jersey. Real name of artist is George Vishnesky.

Mr. Luongo later served as mayor of Washington Township since 1989. He also served 13 months in jail (2002-2003) :

In April 2002, Luongo was sentenced to serve 13 months in jail for his role in misusing campaign and community program funds for personal use, which included rent and mortgage payments, car payments, credit card bills, vacations and restaurant celebrations.. He was ordered by U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to make restitution of nearly $15,000, along with fines in excess of $20,000, which in total equal the amount that Luongo misappropriated as stipulated in his plea agreement.

During his 11 months at Federal Prison Camp, Eglin, Luongo wrote the book Surviving Federal Prison Camp: An Informative and Helpful Guide for Prospective Inmates, which was published in February 2004

Surviving Federal Prison Camp: An Informative
and Helpful Guide for Prospective Inmates

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Makin' Whoopee!

October 1, 2016, 9:57 am

≫ Next: Hey Little School Girl

≪ Previous: Witches Rock

Joanie Sommers
with Neal Hefti and his orchestra

Makin Whoopee!
Kahn-Donaldson, Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc. ASCAP

Warner Bros 5507
1961

Joanie Sommers

(from the cover of her first WB LP)

In 1959, Joanie Sommers was put under contract by Warner Bros. records. She was put to work singing with Edd Byrnes (replacing Connie Stevens) of the TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and guested on the show. Her first single with Byrnes was titled "Kookie's Love Song" and it was followed by her first solo album, 'Positively The Most', that same year. Critics embraced the jazz-influenced album and she was dubbed "the greatest singing discovery of the last 15 years". She was eighteen years old.

Joanie Sommers, sang Pepsi's jingles on radio and TV from 1961 through '67. Here is one to the tune of "Makin' Whoopee"... for those who think young....

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Hey Little School Girl

October 2, 2016, 9:38 am

≫ Next: You Are My Sunshine

≪ Previous: Makin' Whoopee!

Artie Lewis

Hey Little School Girl

arranged and conducted by
Richard Wess

Atco 45-6169
1960

Probably the son of Artie Lewis, one of Miami Beach's affluent hotel men and cabana owners, Artie recorded this single in 1959 but for some reason it was issued only one year after its recording.

In 1958, Artie Lewis got his recording start on Oklahoma Records, a short-lived subsidiary of Hollis Music , a New York BMI publishing house run by Howard S. Richmond. In 1959, around the same time as his Atlantic session, there was "Alone, All Alone / Why Don't They Believe Us" on Fling Records (a Fury Records subsidiary), songs also issued the following year on Kenco Records.

At the end of 1960,"16-year old Artie Lewis of Drexel School,"was in very low budget movie directed by Joe Rodero titled Bandstand Idol. Also starring in the movie were Bill Wyler, Blanche Deveraux, George Florido, Candi Scott (aka Candi Casino) and the South Florida band, The Flying Tornadoes. There is VERY little information about this movie around the internet.

Later In the sixties, he was Arty Lewis on Hawk Records (Left Over Lovin' / What's A Fellow Gonna Do), Artie Lewis again on Rust Records (Ain't that alright / I Wonder, 1964) and Loma Records (Falling (In Love With You) /Ain't No Good) in 1967.

For a picture of young and good looking Artie Lewis, see the picture sleeve of his Fling record HERE

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You Are My Sunshine

October 5, 2016, 9:30 am

≫ Next: An Old Wolf Whistle

≪ Previous: Hey Little School Girl

Les Travellers

You Are My Sunshine

Columbia (France) EP
1960

This is Ian and Jonathan Bennetts from Yorkshire, England, two buskers, or “street singers” as they call themselves. They began playing on the streets of Paris, France in 1957.

There is an interesting (and amusing) interview of the two brothers by Country Dave found HERE

Excerpt :

Jonathan :

.... in the old town of Geneva for instance, (there) was a super five-star restaurant and I’d sing in there and I’d put like a twenty franc note on the silver collection tray, and I’d score around about $200 in one show, ‘cause they were very, very wealthy, and I spoke to them in French which helped a lot.

There was a king called King Farouk, and he used to go into this place regularly. He lived in Geneva when he was in exile, and he was in there one night when I was singing, and he said “Do you know anything Arabic?”, he spoke in French, and I said ”Yeah.”
There’s a song called Moustapha that was a very popular song by an Algerian singer, so I sang that, I figure he’s gonna give me at least fifty bucks, anyway (he) went up to the collection, and he pulls out a purse and he takes out a ten centieme piece, it’s like five cents, he clinked it on my tray. I picked it up, and looked at him and I said “Your Majesty, I understand you’re in exile, and things must be very hard for you, so I think you need this more than I do” (laughs), and I gave it back to him. He went berserk, so the owner of the place threw me out. He said “We’re terribly sorry, Your Majesty”, (then) threw me out, and he winked at me and he said “Come by tomorrow”.

So I walked back in there the next night, and all the waiters and the chef came out and applauded me, they said “Fantastic, Jonathan”, gave me a beautiful dinner, and they said “This bastard’s been stiffing us”, he’d get a bill for $1000, and he’d leave a $1 tip”. (laughs). So I was popular for a long time in that place.

Ian and Jonathan Bennetts in 2010

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An Old Wolf Whistle

October 6, 2016, 2:50 am

≫ Next: Busy Bee Buzz Buzz Buzz

≪ Previous: You Are My Sunshine

Jack Butler

An Old Wolf Whistle
Mel Butler, Butler Publications BMI

Decoy 7105
Decoy Records

600 Beaman St.
Clinton, N.C.
1958
Also on Sparton (Canada), 1959

Jack Butler had started out in music when he was seven years old. In 1951, he won the $100 first prize in the North Carolina Annual HIllbilly Contest and even made a couple guest appearances over WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee. He was then 11. Jackie Butler and his Playmates were heard each week on Saturdays and Sundays on WRRZ out of Clinton, South Carolina. There was at least two records on the Decoy label in 1951-1953. According to hillbilly.com,group members in 1953 included Jackie Butler, 13 years old, guitar, vocals, Wade Hargrove, age 12, steel guitar, Pam Luter, age 10, tenor guitar and ballads, "Snodgrass" Carter, age 12, washboard and comedy and Ciana Dawn, age 8, ukulele and novelty songs.

Owner of Decoy Records was Mel Butler, father of Jack/Jackie. Composer and publisher, Mel Butler had written songs with Shep Sessons (59 songs published in 1945!) before organizing a five-piece hillbilly outfit, the Mountaineerfuls in 1947.

According to the Billboard issue dated November 3, 1958, Mel Butler re-activated the label with Bruce Earp as A&R man. Jack Butler was (indeed) signed to the label, and Tony Valero and the Goshen Four as well.

Bruce Earp snagged the Canadian distributing rights to the Decoy record of "An Old Wolf Whistle"and also signed Larry Cotton to the label (Billboard Feb. 23, 1959). There was also a second release by Jack Butler on Decoy in 1959 (Sunshine Street b/w Make Believe Ballroom).

Decoy, "The label that lures plenty of lucre" 1951

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Busy Bee Buzz Buzz Buzz

October 7, 2016, 10:03 am

≫ Next: My Little Girl

≪ Previous: An Old Wolf Whistle

Ray Paul Trio
Finger Ride

b/w
Nilda Dale
Busy Bee Buzz, Buzz, Buzz

DES 45-301
1953

The mastermind behind this record was a Rhode Island songwriter named Louis Anthony Des Granges. On the flip Busy Bee Buzz Buzz Buzz (also known as Busy Bee Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz) is sung by Nilda Dale, whose real name is Nilda Des Granges born in 1925 and still alive not so far ago and still living in Providence, Rhode Island, wife or sister of the composer, I reckon.

Louis A. Des Granges seems to have been a reasonably active composer since at least the end of the forties, using various pseudonyms, such as Lou Granges, Des Louis or Lou Granger :

Deep In My Heart (1947); Love Alone (1949), Jumpin ' Jack (1963) Mister And Missus (1964), Would You Mind (1968, recorded by Buddy Arden Dot Records), Cleo, The Funny Bunny (With The Funny Yellow Tail) (1969 and 1977) and If I Should Ever (1970)

Surely, it may be only a coincidence, but I've found a charming "Cleo, The Funny Bunny" sung by Cathey Conte on the website of The Fabulous Gabriel "a self contained singer/song writer who has been performing his original songs for years throughout this country and abroad."
The Fabulous Gabriel was born in 1948, he is a graduate with a masters degree in music and history from (incidentally) Rhode Island College. The Fabulous Gabriel has recorded in 1988 "Somewhere Elvis Is Smiling" and wrote more recently "Marilyn Monroe The Lost Diary" But that "Cleo, The Funny Bunny" surely it's a different song.

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My Little Girl

October 8, 2016, 8:46 am

≫ Next: Baby, Baby, Baby (You're Too Young For Me)

≪ Previous: Busy Bee Buzz Buzz Buzz

E.S. Saunders and The Spades

My Little Girl

E. Saunders, G. Gaertner
Field House Pub. Co. BMI

Echo RAM 45 64131
Produced by Austin Custom Record
Austin, Texas

It looks like Austin, Texas had a high concentration of bands named The Spades in those days. You heard about The Spades renamed The Slades (Domino Records) or about The Spades on Zero (Roky Erickson's first group), but you may never heard of this one before. Even more amazing, the three bands all recorded sometime or another at the Roy Poole recording studios !

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Baby, Baby, Baby (You're Too Young For Me)

October 9, 2016, 8:05 am

≫ Next: Staten Island Baby

≪ Previous: My Little Girl

Floyd Wilson

Baby, Baby, Baby

(You're Too Young For Me)

RCA Victor 47-6188

1955

From his second recording session at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville, in March 1955.

Floyd Fisher Wilson was born in 1925. Tennessee songwriter and performer whose name is mentioned in print between 1953 and 1956, and then nothing...

Floyd Wilson penned one of Darrell Glenn's best recordings,"I Think I'm Falling In Love With You" (Valley Publishers) and Carl Smith had a hit with his song "Go, Boy, Go". Other well known artists such as Martha Carson, Cowboy Copas, Homer and Jethro recorded his songs.

I wonder if he also the same Floyd Wilson who later produced records in Nashville for Omar Records in the late sixties (recording artists : Bobby Parrish, Carroll Dyer, Linda Cassady)

A Floyd Wilson discography can be found here Not listed by Praguefrank is a record issued as by Babs (Barbara Cross?) And Floyd on RCA in 1956. (Do You Love Me?)

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Staten Island Baby

October 10, 2016, 6:45 am

≫ Next: Gran'Ma Doing The Bird

≪ Previous: Baby, Baby, Baby (You're Too Young For Me)

Don Roberts & The Islanders

Staten Island Baby
Roberts, Island Music BMI

Plaza Records 103
Distr by Island Music
1964

Don't expect exotic tropical rhythms from these Islanders. These Islanders called home Staten Island, the New York City less populated borough.

Leader was probably this Donald Roberts who died in 2008.

He was VP of Construction for Shearson Lehman Hutton and Macy's NYC, and was Director of Construction for Consentini Associates. He managed and oversaw construction for many Hi Tech buildings all over the world.

He was also a successful leader and musician in the Don Roberts Orchestra, where he sang and played guitar in many of the Metropolitan area establishments. Later, he played with his son, Willy, as the Continental Duo/Don & Willy.

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Gran'Ma Doing The Bird

October 11, 2016, 12:49 pm

≫ Next: Christmas In Frogville

≪ Previous: Staten Island Baby

Four Roses And A Thorn

Gran'Ma Doing The Bird (part 1)

Gran'Ma Doing The Bird (part 2)

O-Job-Co Records 001/002
1964

Composers are Oletha and Benny Curtis. The song was published by Titanic Music, a publishing company owned by Rudy Harvey, Los Angeles disk jockey (KGFJ and KDAY)

Born in Dover, Oklahoma in 1929, Oletha Jane House married Curtis B. Oliver in 1951. They came from Wichita, Kansas to Los Angeles in 1957 . She was a florist and was working as the secretary of the All American Youth Foundation of which she was co-founder. She died in 1985.

Curtis B. Oliver, also known as Benjamin Curtis Oliver, recorded as Benny Curtis for Bridges, Soul Galore, Dynamite and Resist, and as Benny C. Oliver with The Mellow Men on his own Ojobco label.

Lead vocalist on this record is possibly Oletha.

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