No, Not David Rockefeller

Artist: The Rock-Fellers
Song: Orange Peel (b-side) (a-side is Ours)
Label: Valor Records
Number: 45-VA-007
Songwriters: Bachelor-Stevens
Time: 2:15
Released: December 1958

This is one of those groups where I couldn't find out anything about them on the internet.  Apparently, they were a Rockabilly group and released a couple singles that I could find.  This particular record is a real upbeat rocker with lots of screaming saxophone and backup singers.  Other than that, that's all I know.  Their group name is what I thought was catchy and when I tried to look them up, about all I could find were things about this guy named David Rockefeller; whoever he was.  (Nudge nudge, wink wink.)  I don't think he was their sax player, either.  But, enjoy this rockin' little tune anyway!  Here's The Rock-Fellers singing "Orange Peel".  At least it wasn't a banana peel.

Record Sleeves

Some of you might remember that back in the day when you bought the latest hit single, they came incased in a paper sleeve.  Some had pictures of the artists on the front, while others were just basically promotional pieces for other current hits on the label.  This was a Decca promotional sleeve that featured artists such as Victor Young, Jimmie Lunceford, Bill Haley and His Comets, (!) The Four Aces, Billy Ward And The Dominoes, Bobby Helms, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Carmen Cavallaro.  This is the sleeve pictured below:

What you might also have noticed is that this particular record sleeve features some artwork in the top left corner that might look a little familiar.  Yes, it is the Music For Every Mood woman!  I used her as the basis for my blog title banner and came across it recently and thought I'd share the whole sleeve for you here.  The record inside the sleeve is one you might also be familiar with - Kitty Kallen singing I Never Was The One, which is a song I featured in this post right here:  I Never Was The One.  Kitty was also spotlighted in another article I featured here:  Kitty Kallen - Raining In My Heart.

It is my intent to start posting some more records.  The biggest problem I've had with a lot of the sides I have in my collection is that the artists were not real big and there isn't much or, in some cases, anything to be found out about them on the internet.  But, maybe it won't detract too much from the music itself.  That's what it's really about, though, isn't it?  The music for every mood?

Kitty Kallen, 1921-2016

I just found out that Kitty Kallen has died.  She had such a smooth voice and was spotlighted here on Music For Every Mood in this post.  Born Katie Kallen on May 25, 1921, she passed away at her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico last Thursday, January 7th, 2016.  If you happen upon a recording of hers, don't pass it by.  Her singing was wonderful!

And a special treat for her fans out there - here's one of the last songs she recorded - Raining In My Heart.  It had been a posthumous hit for Buddy Holly in 1959 and Kitty's version is from 1961, the year I was born.  Here then is Kitty Kallen doing the lush big band sound of "Raining In My Heart."

April Stevens' Autobiography

I've just been alerted by April herself that her autobiography, "Teach Me Tiger," has been published.  As you know, here on Music For Every Mood, we've spotlighted April and her fabulous voice before with a post, Teach Me Tiger, and it's appropriate seeing as how that's also the title she's chosen for her book.  I'm sure you'll be interested in reading all about her life - from the beginning.  Or as she put it best - "My life from a little girl in Niagara Falls, N.Y. to the present is “between the covers,” as they say, including 26 photos."  So, be sure and get your copy today!  Congratulations, April - I hope you have even more success with this endeavor!

Patti Page R.I.P.

I just learned today that the great American singer and performer Patti Page died on January 1st, 2013.  As you may know, I provided regular updates for her here, here and here, and she was also active on the concert circuit as well.  Her manager would always post me with updates of where she would be performing.  From a recent news article about her:  She sold more than 100 million records and since her first hit in 1947, the singer never stopped touring and singing.

I have to say that she will be greatly missed and my condolences go out to her family and friends.  She was a great lady.

They Work Out Of A Ramada Inn In Kansas City

Artist: Four Jacks And A Jill
Song: Master Jack (a-side) (b-side is I Looked Back)
Label: RCA Victor
Number: 47-9473
Songwriters: David Marks
Time: 2:46
Released: January 5th, 1968

I don't normally post anything this new, but a friend reminded me of this group today and so I thought I'd better get this up. Four Jacks And A Jill were formed by four young men in South Africa under a different name, The Nevadas. The lineup on today's record consisted of Glenys Lynne on vocals, Clive Harding on bass, Till Hanneman on guitar, Bruce Bark on guitar and Tony Hughes on the drums. They had several hits in their native South Africa before they finally broke into the American charts with a #8 Billboard single called Master Jack.

Some of their other hits included, Timothy, Mr. Nico, I Looked Back and Poor Lucy. They appeared on television variety shows, in motion pictures and even had their own tv show for awhile. On June 1st, 1968, Clive Harding and Glenys Hughes were married. In 1983, they became born-again Christians and broke the band up. They continued, but recording gospel music instead. They are referred to in the 1984 motion picture This Is Spinal Tap.

Today's song features a repetitive, droning guitar part that sets the foundation for Glenys' beautiful voice. Glenys herself relates the story of Master Jack: “In certain mines, the foreman is called ‘Master Jack,’ and the song tells the story of a labourer who works diligently for this master for years and years and then decides to go out on his own and exercise his desires and aspirations as an individual to be something other than a labourer.” They were an extremely popular group in their native South Africa and in many other countries all over the world, so please be sure to give a listen to Four Jacks And A Jill singing their classic Master Jack. It's a whole lot easier than fetching a pail of water down from a hill.

Lifeguard On Duty

Artist: Diane Ray
Song: That's All I Want From You (b-side) (a-side is Please Don't Talk To The Lifeguard)
Label: Mercury 72117
Number: YW27051
Songwriters: F. Rotter-H. Rotha
Time: 2:32
Released: 1963

Diane Ray was born September 1st, 1942 in Gastonia, North Carolina. She was considered a rock and roll singer in the early 1960's and is best known for her 1963 hit single, Please Don't Talk To The Lifeguard, which was the flipside of today's record. It was her only hit, (so far), and she is known as a "one-hit wonder" because of it.

Her hit record was a good example of the early 1960's solo girl sound of rock and roll, but her voice shows more promise than mere top-40 radio. She recorded several more singles in that vein, but they were not hits. Songs such as Slow Dancin' With Don, My Summer Love, You'd Be So Proud Of Me, That Boy's Gonna Be Mine, Just So Bobby Can See and No Other Arms are some of her other recordings. There is a collection that gathers up her non-charting songs, the lp album called The Exciting Years.

The b-side of her only hit, That's All I Want From You, however, reminds me more of the pop sound than rock and roll. It features an orchestra driven by a wailing saxophone and is a nice number for playing on your hi-fi stereo system on warm Summer days. So, put on your suntan lotion and please enjoy Diane Ray as she delivers That's All I Want From You. And remember: Walk, don't run at the pool! The lifeguard is watching you.