The Originals [New York], "Gimme" A Little Kiss Will "Ya" Huh? c/w At Times Like This, Diamond D-102 (rel. 11/1961)

 

Dorian Burton was a successful songwriter in the 1950s and '60s. He made seven solo singles and had many hits, with his songs recorded by everyone from Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin to Don Gibson. Not one photograph seems to exist of him. Nor of today's talented but unoriginally-named group, The Originals. (There are so many Originals in music history; as with Ramblers, it seems a name borne of desperation and convenience.)
     These Originals, names unknown, made two singles for Diamond Records, a label that never changed its design; thus, it's hard to tell when an unknown single is from without reference texts to consult. This one was easy: it had to be the label's second or third release, given the low catalog number. This might be a studio-only group who waited to see if either Diamond single did well enough to warrant live performances. 
   Though this single performed well in some major markets, including Chicago, it was lost in the shuffle. Too bad; for good ol' fun, this release delivers in bucketloads.

    The A-side revived  "'Gimme' A Little Kiss Will 'Ya' Huh?," a typesetter's nightmare title. Penned in 1926 by Maceo Pinkard, Jack Smith and Roy Turk, this much-recorded pop standard was due for a bit of rocking up, and I'm glad these guys made the effort. There are plenty of dreadful white pop renditions of this 'moldy fig' and enough is enough.
    It's such an innocent song; one pictures an early 1930s cartoon character shuffling their feet as they do a bashful rendition. The swaggering rhythm well-supports an excellent lead vocalist with impressive range; from low notes to falsetto, this singer has it goin' on. The other Originals haven't much to do, but do their bet well on a winning revival of a real oldie.

        Since we have the Cash Box review on today's marquee, there's no reason to repeat it here. But since some of you read this on your phones, we will show it in larger size:

"The ancient" is an odd way to indicate 'pop standard' or 'old favorite;' that's our Cash Box!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mftm3fffyfcs5fig28ld9/2079a.mp3?rlkey=oyl4kl5mabm6e95sxvb417ue8&st=3c08m098&dl=0

Producer Dorian Burton (who, it occurs to me, might be a member of these anonymous Originals) contributed his elegant doo-wop ballad "At Times Like This," which is a superb slow-burn emotional, as Cash Box might have described it. (It is not a "busy R&B-pop display," which indicates the reviewer paid scant attention to the B-side before they dropped the record in the trash can.)
        The group's harmonies shine on this side, which resembles the contemporary ballads of The Flamingos in a flattering way. This is make-out music at its finest, and those teens who heard it might have been inspired to steam up some car windows on long-gone Lover's Lanes across America.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5zvc4howba8vjap5dnccs/2079b.mp3?rlkey=hjm7px61ysgc9qjc32r6egyyl&st=flb77y3p&dl=0

The group's second single is extremely scarce; it seems worth the trouble to look at all Diamond 45s I encounter in the future.

Tomorrow: The Cadillacs in disguise offer a 'break-in' novelty coupled with a solid vocal group bopper as 'The Missles' (sic) on a 1960 Novel Records release.