The Blue Jays, "Tree Tall Len" c/w "Tears Are Falling," Milestone 2009 (rel. 10/1961)
Who were these guys? How did they get on record? It involves another visitor to the Jukebox, rockabilly Werly Fairburn. He spotted the group, led by Leon Peels, at a Venice talent show and invited them onto his Milestone label. Fairburn had just experienced a hit with "DIamonds and Pearls" and wanted to get some extra mileage from the new interest in doo-wop. "Lover's Island" delivered the retro goods; if you heard it without knowing what it was, you might guess it was from 1955.
This worked for the group; the single went into the Top 40 in the summer of 1961. Despite the solid retro sound of that record, The Blue Jays had a hint of the future of Black music in them. Today we'll hear the unsuccessful follow-up to the hit with the stronger B-side first.
"Tree Tall Len" was the nickname of bass singer Leonard Davidson. The song, credited to Rikk (Richard Hughes, according to Library of Congress song copyrights, where it was registered on 10/16/61), is sung by Alex Manigo in a grungy lo-fi setting exaggerated by inferior styrene. Len provides the humorous spoken asides on this celebration of a sky-high swinger that smacks of sounds soon to come. This earthier, more playful approach has some roots in the records of The Coasters, whose producers/songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller contributed to the change from r&b to soul via their work. The group also resembles The Rivingtons, who recorded for Liberty Records with a blend of hard-edged novelties and deep soul ballads.
While derivative, the recording has a rustic edge that is more appealing than one might imagine. This was "just the B-side" so it didn't matter what was on it, but a little rough nugget like this is always welcome 'round these parts.
Cash Box saw a promising future for this follow-up to a Top 40 hit, but the public had moved on to the next novelty by the fall of 1961 when this single appeared.
"Tears are Falling" has Leon Peels as lead single on a chonky doo-wop ballad that evokes the past and future of Black music. Peel's soulful voice gives a luster to this intense performance that poor styrene can't quite contain.
So many great Black music performances are thwarted by cheap manufacture. None of this music was intended to last beyond a few weeks of airplay and retail. I appreciate the labels that released their records on vinyl and I fear that all the styrene records may yet decompose; it hasn't yet happened but it's a genuine concern.
Frank Zappa might have liked this lowrider-style ballad, if he heard it in his travels.
The Blue Jays shared a 1962 album with another LA group, Little Caesar and The Romans and released five singles, some which share tracks. The group split up in 1962 and lead singer Leon Peels pursued a solo career; on an early podcast episode you can hear his humorous story-song "Cotton-Head Joe" from 1964, where he's backed by The Hi-Tensions. Their records...talk about spendy! The stuff that dreams are made of...
Tomorrow: TV personality Connie Stevens goes all Lesley Gore on us with a powerful twin-spin girl-group angst-fest, via a 1963 Warner Brothers 45.
'Yeah, man. Was I a dope?" Priceless lyrics. "Tears Are Falling" is more than a nod to Lil' Anthony and the Imperials' 1958 hit "Tears On My Pillow" but a good doo-wopper in its own right.
ReplyDeleteLove the raw, edgy quality of the lead vocal on the first track in particular...a little like the lead vocal in the Rivingtons' "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow." And one of those songs where the structure is reminiscent of others of the era..."Peanut Butter", "Bony Moronie", "New Orleans", etc. Nice!
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