Bird & Animal Names In Rock & Roll History

Part XI

 

 

As we continue our series about “bird” and “animal” groups and artists in rock and roll, let us again focus on bird names.

 

A clean-cut vocal group from Brooklyn, New York called “Jay & the Americans” scored several Billboard Top 40 hits throughout the sixties.  Interestingly, neither lead singers’ John Traynor nor David Blatt was named Jay, but their names were changed to fit the band billing.

 

The group scored a Top 40 hit in 1962 called “She Cried,” with John “Jay” Traynor as the lead vocalist.  Produced by the team of Leiber and Stroller, the song was full of booming percussion and lush string arrangements and peaked at number five on the Billboard Top 40 charts.  Traynor left the group shortly thereafter, and he was replaced by David Blatt, who would be known as “Jay” Black.

 

In 1963, a song called “Only In America” (Jay Black’s first with his new group) hit the charts, peaking at number twenty-five on the Billboard Top 40.  Interestingly, the song was originally recorded by the Drifters, but when their record label decided not to release the song, their vocals were erased and Jay and the American’s vocals were added to it.

 

With the upper-register vocals of Jay Black, the group had their biggest hit in 1964 with a song called “Just A Little Bit Closer.”  In 1965, the vocal group peaked at number four on the charts with the Mexican-flavored “Cara Mia,” with Jay Black’s impeccable and legendary high vocals shining with authority.

 

The group went on to score several more Billboard Top 40 hits including “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Sunday And Me” (a 1965 song that was Neil Diamond’s first hit as a song writer) and “Crying” (1966).  After a long break from the Top 40, Jay & the Americans hit pay dirt again with a million-selling cover of the Drifters’ 1960 hit single called “This Magic Moment.”  Their last hit was a remake of the Ronette’s tune called “Walkin’ In The Rain.” 

 

Mired in a contractual dispute with United Artists over publishing rights stopped the group from recording for several years.  But Jay Black kept the name alive by touring on the “oldie’s circuit” well into the 90's.  The legendary group reunited in the 90’s for special performances and in 2001, Jay was featured in the PBS doo wop series as “Jay Black & the Americans.”  They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.  ( Did you know that future founding members of “Steely Dan,” Donald Fagen and Walter Becker played in the back up band for Jay & the American’s for a time in the early 1970's?)

 

A relentless touring band hailing from Austin, Texas called the “Fabulous Thunderbirds” helped popularize “roadhouse Texas-blues” and released several critically acclaimed albums in the 1980's.  During the group’s heyday in the early 80's, the Fabulous Thunderbirds were star attractions on the blues bar circuit, playing compelling blues-rock blended with smart rhythms and genre defining guitars.

 

Formed in 1974 by guitarist Jimmy Vaughan (older brother of the legendary blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan), bassist Keith Ferguson (who had declined an invitation to join up with the stalwart rockers ZZ Top), drummer Mike Buck and singer/harmonica player Kim Wilson, the band built up a strong fan base and gained notoriety as the house band at Antone’s (a popular Austin nightclub/bar).  They soon attracted the attention of a local record label named Takoma Records.  After their self-titled album was released in 1979, they gained overseas exposure and a new fan base by opening for the new-wave rocker’s Rockpile (member Nick Lowe would go on and produce the group’s forth album).  The release proved popular enough to attract attention from major record labels and the group signed on with Chrysalis Records in 1980.

 

The band’s debut release on their new label called “What’s The Word” was filled with powerful, zesty guitar rock.  They followed this album with two more, 1981's “Butt Rockin’” and 1982's    album called “T Bird Rhythm” (with Fran Christina now on drums).  Although the albums were very well-received by the critics, they did not sell very well.  But, the group gained the respect and admiration of fellow musicians, even opening for the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.  However, with sluggish album sales, Chrysalis dropped the band and they were without a recording contract until they were signed by Epic Records in 1985.

 

With Dave Edmunds (band mate of Nick Lowe) producing the band, the Fabulous Thunderbirds cut their breakthrough fifth album, entitled “Tuff Enuff.”  The album became a crossover success and the title track was released as a single, and buoyed by repetitive MTV air play, the song broke into the Billboard Top 40, peaking at number ten.  The subsequent success of the single propelled the album to number thirteen on the album charts, eventually going platinum.  The group also relied on covers of soul music, with cuts like “Wrap It Up,” which is a cover of an old Sam and Dave song and it was released as the second single.

 

But, success was fleeting, the next album “Hot Number” (1987), did very well at first, even producing the Top Ten Album Rock hit “Stand Back,” but the album quickly fell off the charts.  The commercialism and radio-ready sound alienated long time fans.  A single called “Powerful Stuff” was included in the soundtrack for the Tom Cruise movie “Cocktail” and it is also included on the disappointing album release of the same name (1989).  This particular release spent only seven weeks on the charts.

 

Jimmy Vaughan left the band after the “Powerful Stuff” lp to team up with his now famous sibling and was replaced by Duke Robillard and Kid Bangham.  With a new line up, the band released the album “Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk” in the winter of 1991.  Though the band returns to their roots, playing straightforward blues rock; it was bland in comparison to the band’s sound when Jimmy Vaughan was playing with the band.  They were dropped by their record label, shortly after its release.

 

With the group in limbo in the nineties, Wilson released a couple of solo efforts (1993 and 1994) before reassembling the group in late 1994 for the album “Roll The Dice.”  It was certainly a much better album that its predecessor, and the group followed the release with the album “High Water” in 1997 and a “live” album in 2001, but the magic that was the Fabulous Thunderbirds was gone.

 

 

---

Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates http://www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting."  Contact Robert at robert@collectingvinylrecords.com

---