Jay & the Americans
Jay & the Americans was an American doo-wop singing group originally formed in New York in 1959 as Harbor Lites . They were discovered and promoted by the writing team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and had numerous hits in the USA from 1962 to 1970, including four top 10 hits. Her greatest success, Cara mia , was also able to reach the charts in Germany in 1965.
Band history
When the Mystics showed signs of disintegration around 1960, John "Jay" Traynor was there for a short time as a singer. After the end, he formed a vocal quartet with Sandy Yaguda, Kenny Rosenberg and Howie Kirshenbaum. They submitted a recording of Wisdom of a Fool from the Five Keys to a label and were then signed by producers and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for United Artists Records (a subsidiary of the film company United Artists ) in 1961 . Leiber and Stoller also named them Americans and made Jay Traynor the lead singer. In the same year they released a debut single under the name Jay & the Americans, a recording of Tonight , a composition by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim from the West Side Story . It made them known locally, but nationally they did not compete with the version by Ferrante & Teicher that was successful at the same time . The second single Dawning also threatened to be a flop, but then a radio DJ in San Francisco discovered the B-side She Cried and made it known. The song spread throughout the States and eventually peaked at number 5 on the US charts .
Attempts to build on the success failed and the following singles flopped again. Then Traynor fell out with Yaguda and left the band. Leiber and Stoller brought in David Blatt as the new lead singer and also the guitarist Marty Kupersmith. In order to keep the band name, Blatt called itself "Jay Black". The other four members had also adopted stage names: Yaguda was called Sandy Deane, Kirshenbaum became Howie Kane, Rosenberg became known as Kenny Vance and Kupersmith took the name Marty Sanders. Even in the new formation they needed several attempts for another hit. Only in America got them on the Hot 100 for the second time in 1963. It was the band's only hit that Leiber and Stoller had co-written. The song was originally written for the Drifters , but it was found that it suited the Americans better than the black singing group. The following year they reached their highest chart position with Come a Little Bit Closer : The song came to number 3.
From then on they could regularly place themselves in the charts. Mantovani's pop classic Cara mia from the 1950s was actually not a typical song for them, but got them their third top 10 placement in 1965. It was only due to audience mail after they sang it on a television appearance that it was even released as a single and at first only as a B-side. The song even made the quintet known in Europe and brought them to the charts in Germany and the Netherlands, among others. In 1980 the popular DJ Frits Spits rediscovered the song and helped the " oldie " to post number one in the Dutch and Belgian charts through his program Avondspits .
In addition, they had a number of other hits, some cover versions, some of their own songs. Sunday and Me , which reached number 18 in 1965, was written for her by Neil Diamond and was its first success before becoming a well-known singer himself. Livin 'Above Your Head was written by three band members and reached number 76 in 1966. The musical song Some Enchanted Evening and the Roy Orbison Cover Crying brought them two more top 40 placements. During this time, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen , who became known as Steely Dan in the 1970s , were there as studio and tour musicians.
In the second half of the 60s they tried to keep up with musical developments such as psychedelic rock , but had little success and for over a year they did not succeed a single chart hit. Only with the album Sands of Time , their most successful studio album, which they produced entirely themselves, and the return to cover versions and earlier sounds, things started to pick up again. At the end of 1968 they released This Magic Moment , originally by the Drifters , and reached the top 10 for the fourth time. Their recording sold twice as many copies as the 8-year-old original and became their only million seller ( gold record ). Hushabye , the biggest hit of the Mystics, the old band of namesake Jay Traynor, brought another chart position. Both songs were written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman . With the Phil Spector song Walkin 'in the Rain they had a top 20 hit in 1969 and Capture the Moment , the second chart hit, in which two band members were at least involved as co-authors, ended their series of 18 chart hits in 1970 in the Hot 100.
The United Artists label remained loyal to them for a good 10 years, but they reoriented themselves and cut the budget and Jay & the Americans lost their record deal. They performed together until 1974, when the band split up. Jay Black continued under the band name and later also solo and released other recordings. Kenny Vance also became a solo musician and was among other things musical director for Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. He was also active musically and in smaller roles as an actor in the film business. Marty Sanders continued as a guitarist and songwriter and was involved in Joan Jett's million-seller Bad Reputation (known from Shrek ) and with Sandy Deane on the lyrics of Words by FR David . Deane also worked as a music producer.
In 2002 Jay & the Americans were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame .
In 2006 Jay Black had to file for bankruptcy due to high gambling debts and therefore sold the rights to the band name to Sandy Deane. He found a new singer in John Reincke and, together with Kane and Sanders, revived Jay & the Americans for appearances at oldies events.
Members
- John "Jay" Traynor (born March 30, 1943 in Albany, New York, † January 2, 2014 in Tampa / Florida from liver cancer), lead singer (until 1962)
- Jay Black (actually David Blatt, born November 2, 1938 in New York), lead singer (from 1962)
- Sandy Deane (actually Louis S. Yaguda, born January 31, 1940 in New York), singer
- Howie Kane (actually Howard Kirshenbaum, born June 6, 1940 in New York), singer
- Kenny Vance (actually Kenny Rosenberg, born December 9, 1943 in New York), singer
- Marty Sanders (actually Martin Joe Kupersmith, born February 28, 1940 in New York), guitarist (from 1962)
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
|||
| 1964 | Come a little bit closer |
US131 (4 weeks) US |
Producers: Jerry Leiber , Mike Stoller , Artie Ripp
|
| 1965 | Blockbusters |
US113 (17 weeks) US |
Producer: Gerry Granahan; Artie Ripp
|
| Jay & the Americans Greatest Hits! |
US21 (20 weeks) US |
||
| 1966 | Sunday and Me |
US141 (4 weeks) US |
Producer: Gerry Granahan
|
| 1969 | Sands of Time |
US51 (21 weeks) US |
Producer: Jay & the Americans
|
| 1970 | Wax Museum |
US105 (11 weeks) US |
Producers: Jay & the Americans, Thomas Kaye
|
More albums
- She Cried (1962)
- Livin 'Above Your Head (1966)
- Try Some of This! (1967)
- Wax Museum Vol. 2 (1970)
- Capture the Moment (1970)
Singles
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
US
|
|||
| 1962 | She Cried She Cried |
- |
US5 (14 weeks) US |
only chart hit with Jay Traynor as singer
Authors: Greg Richards, Ted Daryll |
| 1963 | Only in America Come a Little Bit Closer |
- |
US25 (11 weeks) US |
|
| Come Dance with Me Come a Little Bit Closer |
- |
US76 (8 weeks) US |
Authors: Tony Powers , Matt Maurer
|
|
| 1964 | Come a Little Bit Closer Come a Little Bit Closer |
- |
US3 (15 weeks) US |
|
| Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key) Blockbusters |
- |
US11 (10 weeks) US |
Authors: Roy Alfred, Wes Farrell
|
|
| 1965 | Think of the Good Times Blockbusters |
- |
US57 (8 weeks) US |
Authors: Roy Alfred, Wes Farrell
|
| Cara mia blockbusters |
DE30 (1 week) DE |
US4 (13 weeks) US |
||
| Some Enchanted Evening Jay & the Americans Greatest Hits! |
- |
US13 (10 weeks) US |
||
| Sunday and Me Sunday and Me |
- |
US18 (8 weeks) US |
Author: Neil Diamond (his first success as a songwriter)
|
|
| 1966 | Why Can't You Bring Me Home Sunday and Me |
- |
US63 (6 weeks) US |
Authors: Al Kasha , Joel Hirschhorn , Wes Farrell
|
| Crying Sunday and Me |
- |
US25 (6 weeks) US |
||
| Livin 'Above Your Head Livin' Above Your Head |
- |
US76 (5 weeks) US |
first chart hit written by the band itself
: Marty Sanders, Kenny Vance, Jay Black |
|
| (He's) Raining in My Sunshine Try Some of This! |
- |
US90 (4 weeks) US |
Authors: Gene Allan, Ron Dante
|
|
| 1968 | This Magic Moment Sands of Time |
- |
US6th  (14 weeks)US |
|
| 1969 | When You Dance Sands of Time |
- |
US70 (5 weeks) US |
Author: Andrew Jones
|
| Hushabye Sands of Time |
- |
US62 (7 weeks) US |
1959 top 20 hit for the Mystics
writers: Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman |
|
| Walkin 'in the Rain Wax Museum |
- |
US19 (15 weeks) US |
Authors: Phil Spector , Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil
|
|
| 1970 | Capture the moment Capture the moment |
- |
US57 (6 weeks) US |
Authors: Richard Reicheg, Kenny Vance, Martin Kupersmith
|
More singles
- Tonight (1961, from the musical West Side Story )
- This Is It (1962)
- Yes (1962)
- What's the Use (1963)
- To Wait for Love (1964)
- You Ain't As Hip As All That Baby (1967)
- (We'll Meet in The) Yellow Forest (1967)
- French Provincial (1967)
- No Other Love (1968, from the musical Me and Juliet )
- You Ain't Gonna Wake Up Cryin ' (1968)
- (I'd Kill) For the Love of a Lady (1969)
- Do I Love You? (1970)
- There Goes My Baby (1971)
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 327f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
- Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 399-401.
swell
- ↑ Cara mia (Jay & the Americans) in the Nederlandse Top 40 and the Belgian Ultratop Charts , accessed on May 23, 2019
- ↑ 20 Years Ago Today: 584-589 , Gerrit Louwsma, Soul-Xotica, December 7, 2011
- ↑ a b Jay & the Americans in the RIAA gold / platinum database (USA)
- ↑ Martin Kupersmith (Credits) at austriancharts.at, accessed on May 23, 2019
- ↑ Jay And The Americans at ClassicBands.com, accessed May 23, 2019
- ↑ a b Chart sources: Germany / USA
- ↑ a b US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7
Web links
- Official band homepage (English)
- Jay & the Americans at Allmusic (English)
- Jay & the Americans at Music VF
- Jay & the Americans at Discogs (English)
- Jay and The Americans on history-of-rock.com