The Jewels [California, 1950s], "Angel In My Life" c/w "Hearts Can Be Broken," Imperial X5351 (rel. 5/1955)

The last of our Dollar Bin Doozies for now is a 1955 single by LA Black vocal group The Jewels. They're one of dozens of groups to use that name. They made a string of excellent singles for various California labels, got some decent airplay. Their biggest record got pilfered from them. They were the first to record "Hearts of Stone," a powerful song penned by Johnny Torrence and group friend Eddie Ray. It was the B-side to their debut 45 on the R&B label in 1954.

        The obvious hit potential of this song was overlooked by all parties involved, and bigger acts swooped in on it. The Charms, with leader Otis Williams, nailed it in their hit version for DeLuxe Records: nine weeks at the #1 spot. In pop, the white Fontane Sisters took it to the top of the charts in 1955. It's been recorded many times since, including a Top 40 rendition by John Fogerty in 1973.

        The regular royalty payments may have eased the chagrin the group felt at this missed opportunity; eager to hitch their wagon to a possible star group, Imperial Records scooped them up in 1955 for four terrific singles that sold well, but not well enough to sustain a career. We've heard from these Jewels before, years back. Here is their first Imperial platter; the B-side is a sequel to the hit they almost had. Both sides are fast-paced--a rarity with Black vocal groups but a welcome deviation from the usual bopper/ballad combo.

        The title of "Angel in My Life," penned by group member Rudy Jackson, suggests a soppy ballad, but ain't such a beast. To a gripping "new kind of mambo" rhythm, discordant piano and eerie background chanting by most of The Jewels, lead singer Torrence tears it up with a surreal lyric that I still haven't unpacked. I think some of it's just nonsense, but that's fine; it works.

        This side represents the thousands of excellent vocal group recordings of this era; all the elements are just right and the sound of the voices and instruments is fascinating. Only a handful of those thousands of sides got into the mainstream, and fewer become chart hits. There's an underground of Black vocal group music in the mid-1950s that most people might dismiss as corny and out-dated. Listen with an open mind and you'll discover earthy, dense, powerful performances, killer songs and an overall vibe that's welcoming, forbidding and enticing all at once. Seventy years later, "Angel in My Life" sounds real and human.

"Hearts Can Be Broken" is a sequel to "Hearts of Stone." With an insistent guitar figure, Torrence's terrific, soaring lead vocal and the tribal chants of the other Jewels deliver the goods on this satisfying follow-up to their biggest song. The sax man on both sides is excellent; the group can be forgiven as they lost their pitch at record's end--they all go sharp together, at least!

        Fun fact: the head honchos at Imperial heard this song the day of the recording session and were so impressed they rushed DJ copies to local radio stations the next day!

Imperial let The Jewels go after four singles failed to chart. Members came and went. They changed their name to The Rollers and made three singles for Liberty Records. Minus Johnny Torrence, the group was adopted by songwriter Dallas Frazier, who sam in them another Coasters and produced them in that vein. 

        None of the vocalists heard on this record remained; it was a vestigial tie to the original Jewels. The group called it a day in the early 1960s, though Roller Al Davis had a #1 pop hit in 1973 with "Show & Tell;" that is another story outside the purview of this blog.

Tomorrow: Earl Sinks, friend of Buddy Holly and a lead singer of his group The Crickets for a spell, delivers two haunting pop items for Hickory Records in an early 1964 release. One side is a fascinating song by the great John D. Loudermilk.