Sad, Sad News - Final Janice Harper Update

Artist: Janice Harper
Song: That's Why I Was Born (a-side) (b-side is Moonlit Sea)
Label: Prep F 123 (Capitol subsidiary)
Number: 45-21768
Songwriters: Merritt-Roddie
Time: 2:07
Released: 1957

I have sad news to relate about my search for Janice Harper. She's still alive, but has been in a New York nursing home for 3 years with Alzheimer's. I don't know what else to say except to post an e-mail I received this morning, (August 22nd, 2009) from one of her relatives. Here is that message in it's entirety:

Update: The same relative which e-mailed said that I wasn't supposed to tell anybody else. Obviously, this person doesn't know what I'm doing here by posting facts about my favorite artists, and that I'm doing it for the fans of these same artists. But, she asked me take down her actual words and the things she had told me. I informed her that most of what she told me was already known by me and my readers through various fans telling me some of the information and me finding the rest on the internet. So, I will remove her e-mail, but you already knew Janice was in a home. Now, pretend you don't know that she has a relative in Florida and a son in England. I was told by this relative that the information she sent me was privileged information for my eyes only. That relative doesn't have to tell me or her fans that Janice was a beautiful person. We already knew that. And we already knew about all her belongings being auctioned off on the street, so that wasn't news. So, as I told the relative, the only thing I would be removing that wasn't already known by me and my readers here, by taking down her e-mail was that Janice had a relative in Florida and a son in England. Since I have removed the personal e-mail, pretend I didn't tell you that and that you don't know that I did. This relative wouldn't even tell me their name!

The relative's e-mail has now been removed, but we fans can still care about one of our idols. And now, back to the regularly scheduled post.

I don't know what else I can add but to say that her music will live on as long as her fans continue playing it. This probably won't be my last post featuring Janice Harper's music, but I don't know that I will be be able to update her life story any further. Please download this powerful song of hers that displays her amazing range and talent. Janice Harper singing That's Why I Was Born is a great way to get acquainted with this lady who possessed the remarkable voice. This is for you, Janice.

Fortune Smiles On Mary Magdelene

Artist: Jeanie Johnson
Song: Next Thing To Paradise (b-side) (a-side is My Jimmie)
Label: RCA Victor 47-7163
Number: J2WW-0335
Songwriters: James Joiner-Kelso Herston
Time: 2:14
Released: 1958

Today's artist was born in Canada as Mary Elizabeth Lee, but was known professionally by several other names. First billed as Jeanie Johnson, she caught the attention of country star Chet Atkins who helped her score a contract with RCA Victor and produced her first three singles. The single which featured the song Next Thing To Paradise was the very first record they worked on together. Neither of the three singles they cut did anything chartwise, so she changed her name in 1965 to Jeanie Fortune and cut a few other singles for RCA, in a more current pop style. Among them were Once More With Feeling, Keep Me and Angry Eyes. The latter is quite catchy and was promoted as "Northern Soul."

During this phase of her career, when she was doing a lot of session work as a back-up singer at Chips Moman's American Studios and using the name of Jeanie Greene, she worked with stars such as Elvis Presley. The resulting publicity got her to take another stab at her solo career. She was signed to the Atco label and recorded one single in 1968, Sure As Sin, which didn't take off, either. Two years later, when signed to the Cotillion label, she recorded a one-shot record with fellow singers Mary Holliday, Ginger Holliday and Donna Thatcher, who went on to join The Grateful Dead where she was known as Donna Godchaux. They were billed as Southern Comfort and the song was called Milk And Honey, b/w Don't Take Your Sweet Love Away, released in 1970. It, too, saw no chart action.

With such a strong voice, her talent couldn't go unnoticed and she was signed to Elektra Records in 1971 where she recorded her one and only album, Mary Called Jeanie Greene, a mixture of Southern soul, Gospel and rock. Describing her during this period, Ron Miller provided an interesting description of Greene: "She was white, but she sang black; she heard voices and truly believed she was the reincarnation of Mary Magdalene." Despite critical approval, her album did not sell well and she has not recorded since. She did continue to work as a back-up vocalist and in fact, sang at George Harrison's Concert For The Bangla Desh. She continued to work as a singer into the 1980's. As to whether or not she's still working or even alive, I haven't been able to find any further information about her.

Today's song, Next Thing To Paradise has that slightly recognizable Countrypolitan sound that was popularised by Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves, who was also produced by Chet Atkins. But, it is a good song and she sings it well. She has a deeper, bassier-sounding voice and even on this, her first record, uses it with much conviction and strength. I feel that, like a previous artist here on Music For Every Mood, Janice Harper, Jeanie Johnson had the skills to be a very popular artist. She played piano and wrote songs and had a very pleasing voice, which she used to sing many different styles of music. If only the breaks had gone her way, she might have been more well known. Despite that, we still have her modest output of musical treasures so please listen to another artist who almost made it big, Jeanie Johnson as she sings Next Thing To Paradise. I think you'll find it quite charming!

One Small Post For Mankind

Artist: William Allen and Orchestra
Song: Space Flight Freedom 7 (a-side) (b-side is Theme From Freedom 7)
Label: Laurie 3100
Number: ZTSP 68811
Songwriters: P. Aleuia
Time: 3:20
Released: June 1961 (?)

I had hoped to post this particular record about a week ago or so, on the actual 40th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon back in 1969. But, Blogger had other ideas. I finally got it working today and have been making a mad scramble to post some things and get caught up. This is one of those posts.

As to today's artist, I couldn't find a thing about him other than he released at least 2 albums and this single on the Laurie label. As to the single, it was released just after Alan B. Shepard became the first American into space, in May 1961. The record features recreations of the tower to astronaut communications spoken over an instrumental background. The flipside is an abbreviated version of just the instrumental by itself. To make up for the lack of information and artist picture I usually provide, here is a little bit about the actual flight the record commemorates and an image of the astronaut alongside the actual Freedom 7 space capsule. Be sure to download William Allen and Orchestra so you can listen to Space Flight Freedom 7 while you read the story below!

Mercury Freedom 7

Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
Mission Objective: The main scientific objective of project Mercury was to determine man's capabilities in a space environment and in those environments to which he will be subject upon going into and returning from space. A few of the basic flight problems included: The development of an automatic escape system, vehicle control during insertion, behavior of space systems, evaluation of pilots capabilities in space, in flight monitoring, retrofire and reentry maneuvers and landing and recovery.
Launch:May 5, 1961 9:34 a.m. EST The formal countdown for the preparation for launching MR-3 started on the day previous to launch day. The countdown was actually split into two parts because previous experience had shown that it was preferable to run the countdown in two shorter segments and allow the launch crew of both the spacecraft and the launch vehicle to obtain some rest before starting the final preparation. The countdown started at 8:30 a.m. EST on May 4, 1961. All operations proceeded normally and were completed ahead of schedule. A build-in hold of approximately 15 hours was called at T-6 hours 30 minutes. During this time the various pyrotechnics were installed in the spacecraft and the hydrogen peroxide system was serviced. The countdown was resumed at T-6 hours 30 minutes at 11:30 p.m. EST on May 4, 1961. A built-in hold of 1 hour had been previously agreed upon at T-2 hours 20 minutes. This hold was to assure that spacecraft preparations had been completed before the astronaut was transported to the pad. The countdown proceeded with only minor delays until T-2 hours 20 minutes. At this time, final preparation of the spacecraft was conducted and the astronaut was apprised of the continuance of the countdown and transported to the Pad. The countdown was continued after the hold at T-2 hours 20 minutes and, except for some minor holds, the countdown continued until T-15 minutes. At this time it was determined that photographic coverage of the launch and flight could not be obtained because of low clouds near the launch area. Weather forecasters predicted that visibility would improve rapidly within 20 to 45 minutes. During this time, one of the 400 hertz power inverters to the launch vehicle had regulation problems. The count was recycled to the T-35 minute and holding mark and the count picked up 86 minutes later after the replacement of the inverter.
Again at T-15 minutes it was necessary to hold the count again to make a final check of the real-time trajectory computer. The countdown then picked up and proceeded until liftoff at 9:34 a.m. EST on 5/5/1961. Landing: May 5, 1961. 75deg 53min longitude, 27deg 13.7min latitude in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Oklahoma Sweetheart

Artist: Jean Dee
Song: Day By Day Your Love Grows Sweeter (b-side) (a-side is Sweethearts On Parade)
Label: Decca 9-30927 (Pink Label Sample Copy Not For Sale)
Number: 107,435
Songwriters: Jean Dee
Time: 2:14
Released: ?

You might not recognize the name Jean Dee, but you still might have heard her voice. She was born Yvonne McGowan on Christmas Day in Oklahoma and has recorded and performed under a variety of many different names and genres. Some of the different names she has used include Yvonne O'Day, Vonnie Taylor, Vonnie Mack, Jean Dee and Yvonne DeVaney, which she still uses today. At the age of two, she began singing and yodelling, and by 11 she won a contest playing classical piano. She also played guitar and bass. While still in high school, she teamed up with her sister Mary, with Yvonne playing guitar and Mary on accordion, and had a duet song and tap dancing act. They performed with Roy Rogers and Trigger once!
Some of the labels she's worked with include Capitol Records, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Phillips Records, Spar Records, King Records, Chart Records, Compo Records and for her own YMD Music Group, which she founded. If that sounds like she really gets around, she does! But, by recording for all those different labels, she got to perform with a variety of artists. Some of those include Merle Lindsay's Western Swing Band, Red Foley, Pee Wee King, Minnie Pearl, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Tommy Duncan, The Anita Kerr Singers and a former featured artist here on Music For Every Mood, The Jordanaires, who back her on today's song. If you listen closely, you can tell it's their trademark sound!
Her biggest claim to fame would probably be her songwriting talents. She's written songs that have been recorded by Dean Martin, Vic Dana, Pat Boone, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Wanda Jackson, Bonnie Guitar, Hank Snow, The Hardin Trio, Carl and Pearl Butler, The Wilburn Brothers and The Cheltenham Singers, out of England.

Some of the many songs she's recorded herself, under different names, include Snowflakes, I Just Want To Be With You, Love Is A Gamble, Does It Hurt You To Remember, I Live For You, Please Forgive Me, Blue Mountain Waltz, Slowly I'm Losing You, Open Arms, If You Don't Somebody Else Will, Sweethearts On Parade, My Greatest Hurt, Open Arms, Step Into My World, Dim The Car Lights, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down, Teach Me To Live Without You and Tell Me A Lie, among countless others. She's enjoyed a very full recording career!

She has received a BMI Citation of Achievement Award for her writing and holds the honorary Comission Rank of Commodore in the Oklahoma Navy. Some of her latest releases include The Yvonne DeVaney Collection of 2003.

Today's song, Day By Day Your Love Grows Sweeter, is a song that was recorded during her "Pop" period. In it she sounds like a cross between Patti Page and Patsy Cline, not a bad thing at all! The arrangement fits the mid- to late-1950's era, so that's when I would place the recording. It's a pleasant uptempo song about a love which grows stronger day by day. She has such a strong and confident voice while delivering the lyrics of which she herself wrote, that the song's theme becomes something very believable and likable. She interprets it perfectly! But, don't let me influence you on this delightful song, download it for your yourself and see if Jean Dee doesn't have an irresistably catchy voice while singing her own song Day By Day Your Love Grows Sweeter! She's such a treat to hear, it's too bad she didn't stick with the Jean Dee name and sing more songs like this!

There's Gonna Be A Catfight!

Artist: Nancy Sinatra
Song: Leave My Dog Alone (b-side) (a-side is In Our Time)
Label: Reprise 0514
Number: J 4470
Songwriters: Lee Hazelwood
Time: 2:06
Released: 1966

And now for Part 2 of my special Cats and Dogs themed posts.

I'm sure most everybody has heard of Nancy Sinatra. Born the first daughter of Frank and Nancy Sinatra in Jersey City, New Jersey, on June 8th, 1940, she went on to have a stellar career of her own. Most known for her big smash hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin', she also performed in motion pictures, television, night clubs and on records.

For her fourth birthday, Phil Silvers and Jimmy Van Heusen wrote the song Nancy (With the Laughing Face), which her father recorded. But, she began her own career as a singer and an actress in the early 1960's. At first, not achieving much success, although popular in Europe and Japan, she perservered and finally recorded the trans-atlantic smash pop hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin'. It was such a huge number that she performed the song, wearing white go-go boots, in front of our troops during the Vietnam War. In 1967, she paired with her father, Frank, for her second number one hit, Something Stupid. Other hits of hers include How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?; You Only Live Twice, from the James Bond film of the same name; Sugar Town, Friday's Child, Love Eyes and Lightning's Girl, among others.

Thanks to a highly celebrated appearance in Playboy Magazine, in 1995, she has kept her name in front of the public. She continues to record and perform and in fact, had a recent hit called Let Me Kiss You, in 2004.

Today's song was not a hit, but it's a-side was, #46 in 1966. This tune is a catchy little number where Nancy pleads for people to leave her dog alone. It's not about a pet dog, but is symbolic for her man, like the song Leave My Kitten Alone was about the singer's girl, so taken that way, it makes more sense. Despite the misleading title, though, it's the kind of song that has you bobbing your head up and down before you even realize the song has drawn you in. So, please go for this innocuous little ditty entitled Leave My Dog Along, by Nancy Sinatra and be sure listen to it. You'd better not mess with this girl!

Going To The Dogs

Artist: Little Willie John
Song: Leave My Kitten Alone (a-side) (b-side is Let Nobody Love You)
Label: King 5219 (White Label Complimentary Dee Jay Special)
Number: 45-K14045
Songwriters: John-Turner-McDougal
Time: 2:32
Released: 1959

I figured since Blogger is working as of this very moment, I'd better post some things while I had the chance. I'll start out with a little double post I've been meaning to do featuring songs about cats and dogs. The first one is called Leave My Kitten Alone, and the second one to follow will be Leave My Dog Alone. The titles were so similar in theme, the double post just suggested itself to me!

Little Willie John was born William Edward John, in Cullendale, Arkansas, on November 15th, 1937. His family moved to Detroit when he was four. Finding out that he had musical ability at a young age, he was signed to local King Records where he had a string of R&B hits, starting with the soulful All Around The World, in 1955. Other hits to follow were Suffering With The Blues, Need Your Love So Bad, Sleep and Talk To Me, as well as today's song. But his biggest hit was called Fever, a song which was covered by another fellow artist here on Music For Every Mood, Peggy Lee, who had a huge hit with it and who's version is probably more well known than any other artist's.

As was typical with recording stars of that day, he turned to alcohol and it affected his career. In 1966, he was convicted of manslaughter and sent to Washington State Prison for a fatal knifing incident following a show in Seattle. He appealed his conviction and was temporarily released from prison. While waiting for the appeal to be acted upon, he recorded what was to be his comeback album, but by losing his appeal and being sent back to prison and contractual obligations, the album wasn't released until 2008. By this time, however, Little Willie John was dead. In 1968, he had a heart attack while in prison and passed away. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have even known about Little Willie John were it not for one little fact. His career started before I was born, had peaked and was winding down about the time I entered the world. But, a few years later, in 1964, a little band from Liverpool, England, known as The Beatles, recorded one of his songs which had been very influential to them. That song was called Leave My Kitten Alone. Although it wasn't officially released until 1995, it had been floating around on bootleg albums for nearly 20 years. That's how I became cognizant of it and the fact that it was a cover tune. But, the original version, written and performed by Little Willie John has a certain flair to it. It features him, backed with a chorus of voices and is pretty upbeat. It might lean more heavily towards R&B than Pop, like the music normally featured here, but the following song is by the daughter of Frank Sinatra, so how much more Pop can you get? It's a themed post, so as such, I hope you enjoy this song for it's own attractions. It's a catchy little number that features "Miaow" backups, so please download and listen to the original version of Leave My Kitten Alone, by Little Willie John. Let's just say you better get it or you'll get pounded on the top of your head! Oh, wait a minute.... that's what will happen if you don't leave his kitten alone. Enjoy!

Janice Harper Update

If you can see this, that means I fixed Blogger myself.

This is a Janice Harper follow-up, or sorts. Somebody was nice enough to send me scans of a promotional picture Janice was using in the mid-1960's and I have included one of the three images that was on it, below. The party that sent it to me was a husband and wife musical team that used to work in the same Pocono Pennsylvania resort clubs as Janice. The husband led a band that used to back up Janice and other artists that came through such as Bob Hope, Robert Goulet and others. Buddy Hackett played there, as well as the other big stars of the mid- to late-'60's. This couple also told me that the promo photo of her had her booking agent contact information on the back of it - address and telephone number. I tried calling the telephone number, but it just keeps ringing and nobody picks up. I don't know what this means. Obviously somebody still has that number, but it could be a new person or the same person who's had it for years. But, by nobody picking it up, I can't tell for sure which it is. But, I'm still trying to see if she can be traced, so I haven't given up yet!