Carl Dobkins Jr.
Carl Dobkins, Jr. (born January 13, 1941 in Cincinnati , Ohio - † April 8, 2020 ) was an American pop singer in the 1950s and 1960s.
Music career
Dobkins came from a music-loving Appalachian family and learned to play musical instruments at an early age. He started writing his own songs during high school . He gave a demo tape of his work to a disc jockey named Gil Sheppard, who agreed to look after Dobkins' music career. This first appeared at dance events and caught the talent scouts of the record company Fraternity Records , which was based in Dobkin's hometown of Cincinnati.
In November 1957, Fraternity Dobkins produced the first single , the title Take Hold Of My Hand / That's Why I'm Asking he had written. Since the single received little attention, Sheppard arranged for another production on the more renowned King Records label , also from Cincinnati. Two master recordings were made in the King Studios , again with the songs If You Don't Want My Lovin ' and Love Is Everything, written by Dobkin himself . In the meantime, Sheppard had established contacts with Decca Records in Nashville , where he hoped for even better marketing opportunities. In May 1958, Decca finally released the single with the pre-produced Masters, but Dobkin's second record initially did not get beyond regional reactions.
In late 1958, Decca released another single. This included the title My Heart Is an Open Book, written by the successful duo Hal David and Lee Pockriss . After some delay, the US music magazine Billbord added the song to the Hot 100 in April 1959 , where the song finally rose to number three. Then Decca took on a long-playing record under his name with Dobkins. Singles with the successful title also appeared in several English-speaking countries as well as in Germany (Brunswick 12178). The two following singles in the USA were also able to place in the Hot 100 with the titles Lucky Devil (25th) and Exclusively Yours (62nd). The Decca debut track If You Don't Want My Lovin ' also made it onto the Hot 100 (67th) in October 1959, 17 months late .
After nine singles, Decca ended the record deal with Dobkins in late 1961. After a two-year hiatus, he recorded a single each with the Atco and Colpix record companies in 1964 . Another three years later, two singles appeared on Chalet Records in 1969. Since all of these records were unsuccessful, Dobkins ended his recording career in 1970 and began as an employee in a shipping company, later to work in the industry. Carl Dobkins owes his successful years in 1959 and 1960 to the fact that he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his hometown of Cincinnati, as well as the US-wide Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
US discography
LPs
| Carl Dobkins, Jr., Decca 8938, 1959 |
|
Tracks A: 1 My Heart Is an Open Book / 2 True Love / 3 Three Little Piggies / 4 Raining in My Heart / 5 Class Ring / 6 Love Is Everything B: 1 For Your Love / 2 If You Don't Want My Lovin '/ 3 Open Up Your Arms / 4 I'm Sorry / 5 My Pledge to You / 6 A Fool Such As I |
Vinlyl singles
| From page | Catalog no. | published |
|---|---|---|
| Fraternity | ||
| Take Hold of My Hand / That's Why I'm Asking | 794 | February 1958 |
| Decca | ||
| If You Don't Want My Lovin '/ Love Is Everything | 30656 | May 1958 |
| My Heart Is an Open Book / My Pledge to You | 30803 | December 1958 |
| Lucky Devil / (There's A Little Song A-Singing) In My Heart | 31020 | November 1959 |
| Exclusively Yours / One Little Girl | 31088 | April 1960 |
| Genie / A Different Kind of Love | 31143 | September 1960 |
| Lovelight / Take Time Out | 31182 | November 1960 |
| Pretty Little Girl in the Yellow Dress / That's What I Call True Love | 31260 | May 1961 |
| Sawdust Dolly / A Chance to Belong | 31301 | September 1961 |
| Promise Me / Ask Me No Questions | 31353 | January 1962 |
| Atco | ||
| If Teardrops Were Diamonds / I'm So Sorry Little Girl | 6283 | January 1964 |
| Colpix | ||
| His Loss Is My Gain / A Little Bit Later on Down The Line | 762 | February 1965 |
| chalet | ||
| Days of Sand and Shovel / Linda the Motel Maid | 1053 | 1969 |
| Pictures / My Heart Is an Open Book | 1056 | 1969 |
Single chart placements
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1959 | My Heart Is an Open Book | - |
US3 (24 weeks) US |
|
| If You Don't Want My Lovin ' | - |
US67 (3 weeks) US |
||
| Lucky Devil |
UK44 (1 week) UK |
US25 (17 weeks) US |
||
| 1960 | Exclusively Yours | - |
US62 (8 weeks) US |
|
literature
- Frank Laufenberg : Rock & Pop Lexicon . Econ Taschenbuch Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-612-26206-8 , Volume 1, p. 413.
- Martin Popoff : Standard Catalog of American Records 1948–1991 . Krause Publications, Iola 2010, ISBN 978-1-4402-1131-7 , p. 352.
swell
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dobkins, Carl Jr. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dobkins, Carl |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pop singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 13, 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cincinnati , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 8, 2020 |