The J's with Jamie - Hey, Look Us Over! Plus Their Columbia Singles

So far this blog's slow-motion look at the career and recordings of the J's with Jamie hasn't included that group's best LP - their first, Hey, Look Us Over! That's because I owned only a mono copy until recently. Now, with a good stereo pressing in hand and digitized, I am presenting it along with a significant bonus - all the 14 single sides that weren't included on their second and final Columbia LP, The Remarkable J's with Jamie.

Hey, Look Us Over!

The title Hey, Look Us Over comes from the song "Hey, Look Me Over," which Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh wrote for the 1960 musical Wildcat, where it was introduced by Lucille Ball, of all people. This was one of a spate of show tune marches that may have been kicked off by Meredith Willson and The Music Man's "76 Trombones" in 1957. Its high spirits also may have spawned such songs as "I Ain't Down Yet" (The Unsinkable Molly Brown) and "If They Could See Me Now" (Sweet Charity).

The idea of using "Hey, Look Me Over" or its plural cousin as an album title appealed to any number of artists - including Jerry Vale, Vicki Carr, Julius LaRosa, Susan Maugham, the Pete King Chorale and even Stan Freberg.

On the J's with Jamie LP, "Hey, Look Me Over" is followed by a nice blend of old songs ("The Touch of Your Hand," "But Not for Me," "Smile") and recent pop or show tunes ("A Lot of Livin' to Do," "Fly Me to the Moon," "The Second Time Around"). The set closes with the wonderful Matt Dennis-Tom Adair "Will You Still Me Mine," which is perfectly suited to this group's sunny virtuosity.

The album's imaginative orchestrations were by Hoyt Jones, a Chicago-based arranger who later arranged the 1977 Art Van Damme/Singers Unlimited LP Invitation. Len Dresslar and Gene Shelton of the J's with Jamie were charter members of the Singers Unlimited. Jones also contributed charts for the local rock groups the New Colony Six and the Ides of March during the 60s.

The Columbia Singles

The J's with Jamie's two Columbia LPs both date from 1963, but the group released singles for the company from 1962-64. These were mainly show tunes, although not the most popular of the species. Even so, their choices make for good listening from lesser-heard sources.

The group's first single came out in April 1962 and coupled two songs from Harold Rome's I Can Get It for You Wholesale: "The Sound of Money" and "Momma, Momma, Momma." The former is distinctly superior to the latter, and was included on The Remarkable J's with Jamie. The latter is in this set.

The next single, from June, led with a good Cahn/Van Heusen song, "Let's Not Be Sensible," from The Road to Hong Kong. The 45 also had a Milton Schafer-Ronny Graham song, "One Little World Apart," from their short-lived musical Bravo Giovanni. Both are fine songs sympathetically handled.

The group's next effort was "Nowhere to Go But Up," which was introduced by Dorothy Loudon in the show of the same name. The J's issued their worthy version in September 1962; the James Lipton-Sol Berkowitz musical opened and closed in mid-November. The flip side of this 45 was "Laugh It Up," which also is on The Remarkable J's with Jamie. It came from the Irving Berlin show Mr. President.

Another show tune, Cahn and Van Heusen's "Come on Strong," was featured in the short-lived Garson Kanin production of the same name. The show Come on Strong was not a musical; however, the song was heard as incidental music in the second act, via a Lena Horne recording. It's a characterful number that fits Jamie as well as Lena. 

Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh followed Wildcat with the Sid Caesar showcase Little Me. It had a impressive score, but the J's chose the title song rather than "I've Got Your Number" or "The Other Side of the Tracks." "Little Me" does suit their upbeat, skillful style, admittedly. Both Little Me and Come on Strong date from late 1962.

"Your Dog" promo picture sleeve

The group's next single wasn't until August 1963, and represented a break from the parade of show tunes. Columbia matched the J's with Chicago-based arranger Dick Marx, who likely had done commercial work with them. The pick side was "Your Dog," is a rhythm song done to a turn. The other original was "For the Last Time," a compose-by-numbers pop song characteristic of its era.

The record label showcased the group during the September Music Operators of America convention, and they serenaded the crowd with a special version of "Wimoweh" called "MOA." Columbia issued it on a promotional copy of the "Your Dog"/"For the Last Time" single, and it's included in the download. Most enjoyable material, even with contrived lyrics.

The group's follow-up single was the title song from Meredith Willson's show Here's Love, which appeared on the second album. It's backing was "Au Revoir," a Gilbert Bécaud composition. It's not one of his best songs and not particularly suited to the J's style.

Late in 1963, Columbia came out with a coupling of Stuart Hamblen's "This Ole House," which was featured on the second album. It was backed with the non-album track "London (Is a Little Bit of All Right)," a Noël Coward song from The Girl Who Came to Supper. The noisy Tessie O'Shea introduced the latter number. You have to enjoy cod-English accents to like this one.

At the end of the year, the J's won an award for "Most Played Vocal Group," which they celebrated via the Billboard ad above.

March 1964 saw a release of "Yoshiko" coupled with Stephen Sondheim's "Everybody Says Don't" from Anyone Can Whistle. The latter is the group's most successful show tune recording, and can be found on their second LP. The former is, as far as I can tell, an attempt to follow up on the success of Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue o Muite Arukō," which had been nonsensically retitled "Sukiyaki" for the US market. The "Yoshiko" composer was Elijah Whitney, Jr. It's actually one of the catchiest items in this collection.

The J's final Columbia single is one of their best. The A-side is a vocal version of the "Theme from A Summer Place," which had been an instrumental hit for Percy Faith in 1960. The reverse is Bock and Harnick's "Popsicles in Paris." This came from the 1964 New York World's Fair show To Broadway with Love, and seems tailor made for the group.

Hey, Look Us Over! comes from my collection. I am indebted to a very old series of posts on the WFMU site for the single transfers. These were lossy originals in the strident and boomy sound that Columbia favored for its singles of the time, but have been suitably tamed and pitch-corrected in this remastering.

Despite my occasional complaints about the material, this is a highly enjoyable collection that finished the group's best period. The British Invasion had arrived by the time the J's with Jamie switched to ABC Paramount records late in 1964 and changed their name to Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers. Beatles songs and the like were much less well suited to them than show tunes. Even so, I plan to present the second and final release by the successor group before too long.

The J's with Jamie Return, Plus Who Wants to Be Happy? (and More)

Today we celebrate the return of favored vocal group the J's with Jamie (although under another name) and we offer two other items, both courtesy of old friend David Federman - his compilation of "I Want to Be Happy" recordings and a pioneering album of the music of Silvestre Revueltas.

The J's with Jamie = Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers

The J's with Jamie vocal group have made periodic appearances here, plus there have been a few other sides that featured their lead singer Jamie Silvia. 

The group had a busy schedule recording commercial spots, while also cutting a few LPs for Columbia in the early 60s. My previously uploaded J's with Jamie material (including some of their commercial work) can be found here.

By 1966, they had changed their name to Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers. This could have been done to put Jamie out front (she was the star of the group), or to work the name of her husband (Joe Silvia) into the title. Or it could have been to avoid confusion with the Jamies, who had a hit in 1958 with "Summertime, Summertime."

Whatever the reason for the name change, Jamie's photo dominates the cover of this, the first of the group's two recordings for ABC-Paramount.

Music was changing at the time, and the group tried to change with the times. Some of the LP's material was similar to what it would have performed in earlier years: recent movie songs ("The Shadow of Your Smile," "The Days of Wine and Roses," "A Taste of Honey"), relatively recent traditional pop ballads ("This Is All I Ask," "Softly, as I Leave You"), older songs ("Lost in the Stars," "Nature Boy"), and a novelty (Dick Hyman's setting of "It Was a Lover and His Lass," similar to the Peter Warlock setting available here).

Added to this was the ration of Beatles songs that was mandatory at the time ("Yesterday," "Eight Days a Week," "We Can Work It Out"), also the schlock of "It's Not Unusual." Predictably, the group did not handle this material as well. Some of it was dependent on the talents of the original artists: only John Lennon and mates could put over "Eight Days a Week," and "It's Not Unusual" is only suited for the bombast of Tom Jones, which is far away from the J's with Jamie sound. Meanwhile, "Yesterday" was overexposed, at the time being emoted by every singer in every lounge in the land, and this version is not distinctive. 

J's with Jamie aficionados believe the ABC-Paramount recordings are not as good as the Columbia records, and it's hard to disagree, although there are some good moments. Jamie and her associates were to make only one more LP, which I will transfer later on.

'I Want to Be Happy' x 21

Speaking of the Beatles, that group was indirectly the impetus behind David F.'s latest compilation. He had run into a young Beatles fanatic who believed "there was no greater music than that made by the Fab Four 20 years before she was born." So David put together a 20-version medley of 1925's "I Want to Be Happy," with the thought that "as good as McCartney's 'Yesterday' is, I can't imagine it inspiring the diversity of performances you will find here."

The first recording in David's collection comes from June 1924, even before "I Want to Be Happy" made its Broadway debut in the Youmans-Caesar-Harbach show No, No Nanette. It was likely recorded during the musical's successful Chicago run before moving to the West End and then Broadway. This initial recording is from industry figure Gus Haenschen, under his disc pseudonym Carl Fenton.

Many of the subsequent interpretations are from the jazz realm, running from the swing styles of Chick Webb and Benny Goodman on to the bop inflections of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. There also are several famous vocalists, including June Christy, whom I added at David's suggestion. It's the first version that popped into my head when he mentioned his compilation.

The Music of Silvestre Revueltas

David's other contribution is a vintage LP of the music of Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940). This M-G-M LP is one of the first of the composer's music, being preceded only by albums from Argeo Quadri and Luis Herrera de la Fuente a few years earlier.

David comments, "The late novelist and poet Jim Harrison wrote that whenever he thinks of Spain he thinks of Federico Garcia Lorca, and his assassination as a homosexual by a Franco firing squad in August 1936. Silvestre Revueltas wrote a three-movement homage to the poet in 1937 whose slow movement always moves me to tears. It's a highlight on this long out-of-print 1956 MGM LP devoted to the Mexican composer's music conducted by Carlos Surinach. Revueltas wrote this in Spain where he was sent as part of a cultural delegation by his government in support of the Spanish Republic in 1937."

Thanks as always to David for his generosity.

Silvestre Revueltas

Sing a Song of Stainless Steel

I couldn't resist the alliteration in the headline above, but in truth there aren't any vocals on this record - although it does "sing the praises" of stainless steel.

What we have here is a 1960 promotional LP issued by Republic Steel. It spends 15 minutes telling the listener about the glories and many uses of stainless steel. Republic  thought that manufacturers were sleeping on the potential of its product - and thereby on its potential for steel company profits.

On one side, the LP presents the soundtrack of a Republic film called "The New World of Stainless Steel." The other has the score from the film sans narration and sound effects. Presumably the promo flick would be projected at trade shows and other sales events, and the LP given away at the same time. I imagine the records also found their way into the hands of Republic's personnel.

By the way, I have no idea what the object on the cover above is supposed to represent. Looks like a rocket-powered snail.

Republic's film showed how stainless steel could be used to make boxy office buildings and dangerous sculptures

The Chicago Film Archive has rescued the film from obscurity; you can see it via Internet Archive or the Film Archive's Facebook page.

The movie and LP came from Wilding Studios, a major, Chicago-based producer of industrial films, shows, exhibits and ads. Wilding is no longer in business, but at the time was cranking out dozens of such industrial productions every year.

Lloyd Norlin

One of Wilding's leading lights was composer Lloyd Norlin, who was its music director from 1950-58. Norlin contributed the music to this film and many others. I suspect that the music heard on this LP was actually a stock music bed that Norlin penned for Wilding's library.

If you have seen any promotional films from the period, you will know what kind of music to expect - peppy, upbeat sounds rooted in the big band era. Much if not all of it involves a brass choir and rhythm section. (Expect to hear a lot of trombones.) Even though the music was not intended to be an end in itself, it does make for pleasant listening.

Norlin was a very good tunesmith. I've been able to locate a few other pieces by him to include in the download, as described below.

The Young Adults (Hamm's Beer)

Norlin wrote his song "The Young Adults" for the 1965 Hamm's Beer centennial meeting, memorialized on an elusive souvenir LP  - "Hamm's '65 - Bursting with freshness!" - that I would love to own. Since I don't, we'll have to make do with this highly enjoyable number, which is courtesy of a long-ago post on WFMU's site. It exhorts Hamm's distributors and sales people to get out there and sell more to young people, who apparently weren't drinking enough beer.

The J's with Jamie

The artists are unidentified, but it's virtually certain that they are the J's with Jamie. That group was active in Chicago at that time, and the lead voice of Jamie Silvia is all but unmistakable. Checking the back cover of the LP, the J's (there called the Jays) and Jamie were given as the vocalists on several of the ad tracks, although not this piece, which was intended for the distributors' ears, not the consumers'.

The J's with Jamie are favorites of mine - they have appeared on two LPs that are available here. Jamie with her previous group, the Mello-Larks, was featured in this post.

An Academy Award Nominee

One of Lloyd Norlin's greatest successes was his first - he wrote a song called "Out of the Silence" that somehow made it into the 1941 film All-American Co-Ed, where it was introduced by Frances Langford. The tune was nominated for an Academy Award that year.

It's a good song, even though it never was commercially recorded to my knowledge. I've included the audio from Langford's film performance in the download. It's derived from a YouTube clip.

It's not clear why Norlin didn't get more opportunities in Hollywood. He spent almost all his working career in Evanston, IL, where he had a piano studio and where he was an instructor at Northwestern University, in addition to his commercial work.

Northwestern and 'To the Memories'

Students at Northwestern have been mounting a musical or musical review annually since 1929. Norlin was involved with the show during his time on campus; his notable contribution was the song "To the Memories," which traditionally concludes the program, and has become a well-known school song.

The Waa-Mu Show, as it is called (it was founded by the Women's Athletic Association and the Men's Union), has a remarkable roster of alumni. The 1945 show, for instance, featured Paul Lynde, Charlotte Rae and Cloris Leachman.

The download includes a 1954 recording of "To the Memories" by the Northwestern Band. This was cleaned up from a noisy transfer on YouTube.

This post is the latest in a very occasional series presenting industrial promotional records - the most recent involved Les Baxter selling AC Spark Plugs; other posts have included records extolling the products of Budweiser, Schlitz, Westinghouse, Ford, Edsel, Yolande lingerie and Warner bras.

The J's with Jamie Return, Plus Reups

Several years ago I posted a promo LP put out by the vocal group the J's with Jamie, half commercials and half songs from their two Columbia LPs. Now here is a nice stereo copy of their second Columbia album, The Remarkable J's with Jamie, from 1963.

As you can read in the previous post, the J's with Jamie made their living singing on commercials, but also had a repertoire of pop songs. The group's lead voice was Jamie Silvia, who often sang solo, but the other vocalists - Joe Silvia, Len Dresslar and Marshall Gill - were talented as well.

Jamie Silvia, an extraordinary singer, had previously been a member of the Mello-Larks and Jamie, who also have made an appearance on this blog.

1963 trade ad

The repertoire on this LP includes some elements of what might have been the group's club set list, including a tricky version of Stuart Hamblen's "This Ole House" and the maudlin "Little Boy Blue." in truth, neither are to my taste, but things brighten when they turn to contemporary show tunes - "the Sound of Money" from I Can Get It for You Wholesale, and "Love Come Take Me Again" and the title tune from Here's Love. The standouts are "My Cigarette and I" and "Ya Turned Me On, Baby," the latter of which apparently came from an American Airlines promotional film.

It was a group that truly could sing anything - I'd advise you to check out their LP that includes their commercial work, which is dazzling in its own way. I've reupped it along with a Schlitz Beer promotional EP that featured Jamie and Nelson Riddle.

Reups

Speaking of reups, here are a few remastered LPs that readers have recently requested. The links below lead to the original posts.

Henri René - Listen to Henri René. A compilation of 1949-52 singles from one of the unsung masters of American easy listening music. The craftsmanship and musicianship on display are striking, and the sound is excellent.

Miklós Rózsa - The Red House (EP). Rózsa made a suite from the music he wrote for the 1947 Edward G. Robinson potboiler The Red House, and recorded it for release on Capitol 78s and then this EP in 1951. I've now corrected the seriously off-pitch originals.

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.