The J's with Jamie Sing and Sell

Not long ago, a reader asked me to reup a Nelson Riddle promotional record made for the Schlitz Brewing Company in the late 1950s. That contained the Schlitz ad, "The Real Joy of Good Living," as sung by Jamie Silvia of the group the J's with Jamie. (You can read more about the record on the original post.)

After working on that reup, I decided to pull out my collection of J's with Jamie records. The group was along the most successful specialists in commercial work of the day, for good reason - they were superb. Comprising Jamie and Joe Silvia, Don Shelton (or Marshall Gill) and Len Dresslar, the group recorded hundreds of ads, and several LPs.

This present album presents their "two sides" - one side of the commercials of the day (early 1960s), most of which I remember, and one of their recordings for Columbia.

If I prefer the ads, it may be for nostalgic reasons, but there is no denying that their craftsmanship was remarkable. Listen, for example, to their dead-on hootenanny routine during the Alka-Seltzer spot. You will hear ads for vanished products (Plymouth, Valiant and Corvair cars, Northwest Orient Airlines), items that are no longer advertised in this way (three different cigarette brands), and a number of brands that are still around 50 years later.

The ads are knit together by a clunky Dragnet-style narration. I believe the anonymous narrator may be Ken Nordine. The LP was probably made for distribution to both advertising agencies and clubs.

The Columbia selections are drawn from the group's two albums and handful of singles. The best cut is probably the single "Everybody Says Don't," from the contemporaneous Stephen Sondheim musical flop Anyone Can Whistle. The ensemble also recorded two LPs for ABC records under the name Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers.

The J's with Jamie went out of business in 1968. Thereafter, the Silvias concentrated on production work. Shelton (who had been in the Hi-Lo's) went on to form the Singers Unlimited with Dresslar, fellow Hi-Lo's alum Gene Puerling, and Bonnie Herman, another vocalist who specialized in commercial work.