Sammy Hagan And The Viscounts, "Wild Bird" c/w "Don't Cry," Capitol F3818 (rel. 9/1957)
This group got its start as The Premiers (one of several musical entities with that name) and were taken under the wing of Greek-American bandleader and connoisseur of Black American culture Johnny Otis. Perhaps inspired by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who created an independent label with Spark Records in 1954, Otis ran his own Dig imprint from his LA home. He had a small recording studio in a spare bedroom. Until Capitol Records signed his band, The Johnny Otis Show, to a long-term contract in 1957, Otis released two score-plus singles and a handful of LPs.
Ever the promoter of worthy causes, he talked The Premiers up with the Capitol brass; with a name change, they were signed later that year. Capitol released three singles on Sammy Hagan and The Viscounts, with studio bandleader Jack Marshall. The results are far better than one might expect. They have a touch of pop, but not too much; the uncredited producer lets the quartet's earthy vocals do their thing.
"Wild Bird" has a cha-cha beat with Latin percussion. Hagan's expressive vocal makes a plea to a tearabout lover who won't settle down and focus on him. His li'l male ego is bruised and he can't have that. The other group members [Donald Frierson (tenor), Daniel Fields (baritone), Charles Taggart (bass)] provide solid support on this slice of exotica r&b, with a fine sax solo by Plas Johnson, a Capitol stalwart of the era.
Cash Box disapproved of this side, as seen in their testy write-up below; they liken it to Charlie Gracie's early 1957 hit "Butterfly," which is a dumber version of this song. They did approve of the fine ballad, which they deemed the topside of this single, Perhaps they're right.
"Don't Cry" is a Platters-esque r&b ballad with the Viscounts as solid vocal backup. A lonesome twangy guitar does an obbligato to Sammy's passionate vocal on this slow-dance item. What might be pop schlock is redeemed by Hagan's spot-on performance and that guitarist, who makes a good record great.
Three Capitol singles and these guys were out. Like RCA-Victor, Capitol liked the concept of Black music, but were clueless in how to best market it. Funny: they had no such problems with all the white music they produced and released. One can draw conclusions from all this, but I'll let it speak for itself. At least they recognized Black talent, gave performers excellent-sounding records and accorded them the prestige of being an artist on the biggest label of the West Coast. In the 1960s, Capitol wised up: they had to. But they had the two biggest Bs in music: Beatles and Beach Boys, plus a retinue of hit-making country artists. The 1970s saw the label's embrace of Black music expand; younger executives understood the audience and did a better job of marketing and spotlighting their Black groups and vocalists.
Sammy Hagan/Yates continued recording into the late 1960s; he was a fine pianist and led an instrumental soul-funk band as Count Yates.
Tomorrow: teen harmony returns with the forward-looking Tune Tones. One member became an editor for Record World later on. Two haunting items on a 1959 Herald Records platter.
Two lovely songs!.What a great voice Hagan had. That 'Don't cry' falsetto at 1.00 is astonishing and a total surprise. I wish that song had repeated that long don't cry plea at least one more time.
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