The Caper Brothers, "Give Me Soul" c/w "Ain't Got The Nerve," Roulette R-4637 (rel. 7/1965)
Here's a soul obscurity: the second and final single by The Caper Brothers, who exemplify the median of mid-decade Black music. Jonathan Capers had a long career in Black music. The Bronx-born singer began as a trumpeter, but switched to vocals. He had many siblings who all shared an interest in music. Only one of the siblings heard on today's record was present as other brothers and sisters made a pair of singles for Chicago’s Vee-Jay label in their pre-teens. The 1958 and ‘59 releases rode on the coat-tails of the youthful sound of Frankie Lymon and made little impact on the world.
Despite the freak-show attitude towards pre-teen singers in early rock 'n' roll, these were talented kids. There’s a large gap in their activity which suggests a hitch in the military or high school/college. When they resurfaced in 1965 for another two singles on Roulette Records, they were probably in their early 20s but they'd found their voices and were simpatico with production team Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. The two produced some of Sam Cooke's material for RCA-Victor, among a welter of pop, r&b, rock and novelty sides for that top-dog record label.
I'm a big fan of the Caper Brothers' first single, "I Ain't Gonna Write You" c/w "There Goes My Heart." Since I found that record, I'd wanted their follow-up, which proved much harder to track down. It showed up in a Washington state record store in the middle of nowhere last year, to my delight. It's not as strong as that prior record, and at the time I felt just "meh" about it: glad to have it, but hot really into it.
I'm coming around to its charms. "I Ain't Got the Nerve," a song by Leo McCorkle, is the story of a shy guy who can't get up the gumption to approach a women he's fond of. I think I've hit on what falls short for me: the brothers' voices are mixed lower than proper. Teacho Wiltshire's arrangement and band makes a strong, vibrant sound and it tends to overpower the siblings, whose solid leads combined with their backup vocals. They trade off lines with impressive ease. But it's all lost in the sauce, as they say. Thus, it all goes by in a blur unless you do some serious concentration on what's being sung.
It's a surprise move for Hugo and Luigi, whose productions are the soul of clarity (check out Sam Cooke's version of "Summertime" for a fine example). Whomever mixed this misjudged the balance. There's a solid pop-soul record here, but it's imbalanced.
Neither of these 1965 singles got much notice; they weren't reviewed (perhaps due to emnity with Roulette's mob-friendly Morris Levy) and this second single didn't get a retail pressing.
Neither of these 1965 singles got much notice; they weren't reviewed (perhaps due to emnity with Roulette's mob-friendly Morris Levy) and this second single didn't get a retail pressing.
"Give Me Soul," a co-write by George Weiss and the two producers, is a potential anthem for this still-new outlet for Black music. It's a classy show-tune kind of number and here the mix is much improved. The three brothers (Arnie, Alfie and Johnny) sing in impressive, expressive harmony that well sells the point of this ambitious and optimistic piece. This was the intended A-side and might have done well, had enough disc jockeys taken to it. (I imagine modern-day club DJs could do something with it.)
Johnny Capers, a gifted trumpeter, pursued that instrument after the failure of these two releases. He did well for himself: he played at presidential inaugurals and alongside a long list of showbiz giants without ever getting famous. And, as ‘Jonathan Capree,’ he made a 1970 single for Ox Bow Records that has traded hands for four figures in the soul-snob community.
Some musicians are fine with this scenario: they have steady work, are well-regarded and entertain many people without the baggage of stardom. It's not the worst thing that could happen to a musician! Johnny Capers appears to still be with us and still making music, and bravo for him!
Tomorrow: rough-edged teen rock 'n' roll (with an accordion!) from Bobby and His Orbits, via the first release of their 1958 single on Seeco Records. It's somewhere between the Sun Records sound and that of Hispanic rock icon Ritchie Valens.
Never heard these before--thanks, Frank! Nice harmonies! That first track reminds me of The Larks' "The Jerk."
ReplyDeleteI feel both these songs could have been mixed better. "Ain't Got The Nerve" has a decent Box Tops flavor to it but "Give Me Soul" is one of those recordings where the singers were in some room down the hallway and/or mic-ed improperly. "Give Me Soul" has a funky beat and had the vocals been better mixed, it would be a really cool song. Both feel very 1965.
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