Johnny & The Jays/Joys, "Baby Do" c/w "Lugene" (Fairbanks 1002, 1959 or 1960)
Guess
what? No information whatsoever on today’s record! It was the only rockin’
release by the short-lived Fairbanks Records, owned by one “Tiny” Fairbanks,
who released two singles of his feeble white spirituals in 1955, shuttered the label,
and then revived it at decade’s end.
Perhaps
Johnny and The Jays (or The Joys, depending on which copy you might find) were
Fairbanks’ students or neighborhood kids who impressed him as having top-of-the-pops
potential. If so, Fairbanks dropped the ball once the record was released. He
did nothing to promote it and remained a regional issue that I would imagine
sold some copies on the band’s local turf.
The Jays, or Joys, are a solid teen rock ‘n’ toll combo, with fervent guitar and juicy sax, heavy bass and semi-audible percussion. Over this bed of hormonal racket, Johnny (X) belts out a lead vocal, and he sounds like he’s 14 or 15 and full of enthusiasm. His phrasing is peculiar (a decided plus) and he often struggles to be heard about the high-impact fray of The Joys (or Jays). A great studio sound adds to the allure of this seldom-seen record, which I acquired five years ago and am just now getting to playing here!
Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<
“Lugene”
is the fish-beat rockaballad, and an ode to a girl with an unusual name. I
wonder if he meant “Lou-Jean?” We shall never know. Predictable at every turn,
the song is lifted by its sincere performance by all parties involved. Producer
Fairbanks must have had the drummer record in an adjacent building, with a mike
out an open window. He’s there, but not there.
This side is dedicated to the memory of artist-filmmaker David Lynch, whom I think might have liked the intense sound of this forgotten teen epic. You will be missed, as will democracy, which is set to expire on Tuesday. Large sigh.
Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<
Tomorrow: A Maxine Brown Northern Soul favorite—another of those records I never thought I’d find for a reasonable price. Yet I did. A NYC epic from 1966.
As is my habit, I listen to the two sides BEFORE reading the Jukebox history. Listening to "Baby Do" I thought this was a Brenda Lee wanna-be until "Johnny" mentions the word wife in the lyrics. Boy, WAS I surprised. Then I read the history. Two great songs that should have gone somewhere for somebody.
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