The Birmingham Record Collectors
Monthly Newsletter
www.birminghamrecord.com
P.O. BOX 59533 Birmingham, AL 35209
Our Monthly Club Meeting will be this Sunday,
April 1st at the Homewood Public Library.
2:00 PM
Be sure to bring 45’s, LP’s and CD’s to the meeting to sell or trade. Come and eat lunch with your friends at the BRC Club Meeting. Call another music lover and bring them with you to this meeting.

NEXT CLUB MEETING WILL BE MAY 6th THE 1st SUNDAY
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CLUB MEETINGS FOR APRIL & MAY WILL BE ON THE 1ST SUNDAY INSTEAD OF THE 2nd.

We’re just 4 months away from our record & cd show. Your help will be needed to help make it another successful show. Ten people can’t do it all. Even 20 people can’t cover all the areas adequately. Can you cover the door for 1-2 hours? Can you help in the kitchen 1-2 hours? Every little bit helps. Thanks.

Again let me remind those club members that plan on having a table at the show, get your name on the list as soon as possible. Tables are already being requested from dealers and you don’t want to wait to long.

More BRC Internet Radio CD’s. Copies of Volume 22 & 23 will be available this Sunday for $5 each. Take this great music with you anywhere.
Sing along with me, “Thank heaven for little girls, because without them there would not have been the Crystals, Chiffons, Angles, Shirelles, Ronettes, Shangri Las or Supremes.” Isn’t that the way it went? Well anyway, what a great time we had listening to the girl group sounds of the late 50’s & 60’s. Their songs played an important part in music history and the number of websites remembering them testifies to that.
Did you know there were over 1500 girl groups recorded and that between 1960-66 over 750 girl groups had a song on the US & UK charts? Of course years before these groups there were girl groups like The Lennon Sisters, The McGuire Sisters and the Andrews Sisters but the sound and energy changed in the late 50’s with groups like The Bobbettes and The Chantels. Two other girl groups had recorded earlier with some success and can be credited as having the first girl group tunes. These groups were The Hearts which recorded “Lonely Nights” and Shirley Gunter & The Queens which did “Oop Shoop”. One of the members of The Hearts was “Baby” Washington. This group, after a few personnel changes, evolved into The Jaynetts.

These teenage girls made a big splash on the music scene and inspired many of the girl groups of the 60’s. Here are some other groups you probably remember.
Martha & The Vandellas

The Cookies
The Marvelettes

The Jelly Beans
The Ikettes
The Poni-Tails

The Paris Sisters
The Toys

Here are some more that did have some success you may never have heard of or forgotten.
Dixie Cups….One you probably remember. Did you go to the “Chapel Of Love” because of this one? These girls were from New Orleans and started out as Little Miss & The Muffets. They were discovered by Joe Jones of “You Talk Too Much” fame. Their hit, Chapel Of Love” was a Barry, Greenwich, Spector song that was already recorded by The Crystals and The Ronnets but not released until The Dixie Cups recorded their version. Enjoy.

Goldie & The Gingerbreads…The first all female band to hit the charts. They were an American band that were in some minds as famous in the UK as the Beatles were in the US. While in the UK they toured with the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Kinks and The Hollies. Their first recording, “Can’t You Hear My Heart Beat?” stayed on the charts for weeks in the UK before Herman’s Hermits version was recorded for the US.

The Beattle-Ettes….Where did that name come from? I wonder. In fact does anyone know who these girls were? Some people have suggested they were the Shagri-Las due to the fact that both had the same producer. But most say they were not the same girls. They had a record on the Jubilee label entitled “Only Seventeen.” Here it is for your enjoyment.

Reparata & The Delrons….Another US group that had more success in the UK. The girls formed The Del-rons in 1962 while in high school in honor of the Dell-Vikings. As with most groups there were many changes in personnel over the years. They had a #60 hit with “Whenever A Teenager Cries” in the states but hit
#18 with “Captain Of Your Ship” in the UK. Here’s a clip of it for you to enjoy.

The Honeys….A group formed by The Beach Boy’s Brian Wilson. They were the first all girl surf music group. Brian’s girlfriend and future wife, her sister and their cousin were the members. The groups’ name came from a line in the Beach Boys song, Surfin’ Safari…."Early in the morning we'll be startin' out, some Honeys will be comin' along…”

http://www.amazon.com/Honeys-Collection/dp/B00005J6ZD

Murmaids….Another group that had sisters in the line-up. The Fischer sisters and a neighbor were a one hit wonder with “Popsicles & Icicles” in 1964. The song was written by David Gates that later would have many hits with his group, Bread. The group has been on the oldies tour recently and even released a new CD in 2002.
http://www.amazon.com/Popsicles-Icicles-Murmaids/dp/B0000008VS/ref=sr_1_...

Jaynetts…..One of many groups that no one really knew who would be members from recording to recording. Their big hit was the dark sounding “Sally Go ‘Round The Roses.” Reading about the personnel changes makes a person dizzy. Some music historians say as many as 8 girls took part in the recording.

Chantels…..I know I have already mentioned this group and most of you probably have a 45 by them but I am always amazed at lead singer Arlene Smith’s voice knowing she is 15-16 years old. Give a listen to “Maybe.

For more info on this music try the following sites.
http://www.girl-groups.com
http://www.geocities.com/williamstos/main.htm
http://www.history-of-rock.com/girl-groups.htm
http://www.spectropop.com/gg/hgirlgroups.html

Also if you want to hear more of the girl group sound try Spectropop’s Girl Pop on live365.com radio. Girl groups 24/7.
http://www.live365.com/stations/50132

Yes, “Thank Heaven For Little Girls…..” and the music they gave us. Even with names like Three Blond Mice, The Tran-Sisters, The Bootles, Eight Feet and Jessica James & The Outlaws they did their best to have fun and entertain us. And don’t forget girl groups that had one or more guys in them. Groups like The
Essex, The Sapphries and The Orlons. Thanks girls, and guys, for all the fun.

Trivia questions. Answers at this month’s meeting and in next month’s newsletter.

1) What was the first girl group song that hit # 1 on the US charts?

2) What girl group was Dusty Springfield the lead singer for?

3) What girl group recorded “Candy Kisses” and had a 9 year old lead singer?

Try these. Match the girl group with another name used to record under. In some cases personnel may be slightly different.

1.Charlettes a. Cookies
2.Clickettes b. Martha Reeves & Vandellas
3.Masterettes c. Jaynetts
4.Mirettes d. Chiffons
5.Primettes e. Toys
6.Cinderellas f. Supremes
7.Ginger & The Snaps g. Exciters
8.Ronnie & The Relatives h. Honeys
9. Darnells i. Ikettes
10. Del-Phis j. Marvelettes
11 Four Pennies k.Ronettes

CLUB MEMBER PRESENTATION AT THIS SUNDAY’S MEETING
To keep with the “girl” theme, at this month’s meeting club member Doug Roberts will bring some of his “cheesecake” & “cheesecake plus” LP’s (I hear tell he’s the “KING OF CHEESECAKE”). What are “cheesecake” LP’s? These are LP’s that have glamorous ladies on the cover. This is a type of LP cover art that many people collect. If the covers of LP’s are something that attracts you, I think you will enjoy Doug’s presentation.
Here is this month’s article from Jerry Grammer

“A True Fishing Tale”

I spent a lot of weird times with Jerry Woodard (Long Tall Texan).
And this tale is straight from the fishes Mouth!

We were playing at a late night club in Atlanta, Ga. Woodard had a snoot full of scotch and kept insisting that I go fishing after we finished the nights gig. I had been suffering all night with a tooth ache and kept saying no! You didn’t say no to a jug of Cutty Sark.

Finally I gave in and we proceeded to a bridge over some river around the Atlanta area. By the time we got to “The Spot” I was really hurting. To appease Woodard I leaned against the rail and helped him bait the hook. I finally fell asleep and awoke when the bright, morning sun, was hitting me in the face. Have you caught anything? No, but I am getting a lot of bites! I have used about all of my bait.

Looking over the bridge, I discovered that his line wasn’t long enough to reach the water! It had been birds eating his bait!
Needless to say, I got a lot of mileage from that incident, and he never asked me to go fishing again!

“Another Fish Story”

During the middle 1960’s I was Averaging 3 to 4 shows daily, days a week. I eventually became very fatigued. It was no less tiresome on 2 other entertainers: Bill Burnette and Zeke “The Hayseed” Phillips. We decided to go to Panama City for a few days of relaxation and “Deep Sea Fishing“. After arriving in P.C. and checking into a large Hotel Room we called for reservations on a Charter Boat. We were to be there at 4:00AM the following morning. We eventually found a nice restaurant and ate.

Later we decided to sit around, shoot the bull, have a toddy and watch TV. Bad mistake! The front desk called at 3:00 AM for wake up and one of us answered and went back to sleep. At 12:00 noon we awoke and was mad as could be. We had missed our Charter. I called the office to find out why we wasn’t given a 3:00 wake up. Mr. Grammer someone answered and said thank you. We had to reschedule the charter, for the following morning.

Déjà Vu! (Same routine same result.) This time I personally went to the front desk and enquired as to why we had no wake up call. Mr. Grammer I called and someone answered, saying who cares (expletive) if it’s 3:00!

Third day! Same Song! The lady at the front desk thought this was hilarious and so did I! This time we decided we had better go home. Zeke said; My wife will kill me if I go home with this story! We stopped at a seafood market and purchased several whole fish, iced them down and headed for Birmingham. I couldn’t believe how excited Zeke’s wife was, over the fish we had caught. (chuckle)

No one ever told Zeke’s wife. Bill, Zeke and his wife have long passed on to that great fishing boat, but I still have an occasional smile over the adventure!

Here is a snippet of the road to Hoyt Johnson!
Memories sometimes takes me to my music days. I oft times think of the Group "The Dixie Travelers", I started in high school. We did a demo "Train To No where" and "Ditto". After driving to Nashville we were allowed to visit Ralph Emory while on the air. We were hoping to get a record deal. Ralph was kind enough to play the tape for 2 weeks on his show, but, no record deal was ever offered. We played numerous gigs at school auditoriums, Musgrove Country Club and other jobs and parties.
This led me to meet Hoyt Johnson, at the Musgrove Country Club in Jasper, Al.
This fellow came to the bandstand, sat a guitar case down, opened it and said: I am sitting in. I stated we don’t allow sit ins. He says: I am sitting in. He began playing and singing. We had no choice but to follow. When time came for a break he packed his guitar and I followed him to the door, Telling him I loved his voice and style. He stretched out a hand for a handshake and said; I am Hoyt Johnson, call me and we will record some country with horns. I did keep up with him and we started performing together for a short period. Hoyt and I later went to Memphis and laid down some tracks. I was paid and didn’t see Hoyt for a few years, later discovering the songs were released with The Four recorders as credit for backup. I do know for sure I played drums.
(More about Hoyt next month)

Doo Wop Show in Birmingham at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Saturday, July 14, 2007. Show times are 2:30 & 7:00. Acts include The Drifters featuring Charlie Thomas, The Crystals, Jay Siegel (Tokens), Larry Chance (Earls) and The Toys featuring Barbara Harris. Ticket prices range from $40 - $300. 1-800-239-4000

Doo Wop show at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, April 14, 2007. Performers include Gene Chandler, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, The Crystals, The Original Spaniels, Jack Scott, The Contours, The Reflections, The Soul Stirrers and The Rama Lama Big Band. Show starts at 7:00 pm (eastern time). Tickets are $39.95, $49.95 & $59.95. Go to www.foxtheatre.org or call ticketmaster at 404-817-8700.

Upcoming record/cd shows
ARCA………Friday, April 13, 4 pm-9 pm & Saturday, April 14
9 am- 5 pm.
$3 admission or free with BRC membership card
Early Admission Friday 2 pm-4 pm $10 (no free BRC admission)
Bessemer Civic Center

For sale:

Local husband and wife want to sell their "record collection." It consists of 341 Albums (33 1/3 rpm) and 239 45s and 4 song EP 45s. They also want to sell two walnut record cabinets as part of the "deal." They prefer to sell the collection and the cabinets together as a group, and not individually. Terrell Lindsey will bring a copy of the list of records for sale to the meeting, along with pictures of the record cabinets, for those interested in contacting the sellers. From what he understands, all of the records are in excellent condition. Contact him if you are interested.

Walter Ward, the founder and lead singer for the black American vocal group the Olympics, died after a seizure on December 11, 2006. He was 66 years old.
The Olympics will long be remembered for their best selling novelty hit " Western Movies” in the 1950s. Against the sound of gunfire and ricocheting bullets, and with references to many of the popular TV westerns of the day in the lyrics, the record caught on with DJs on both sides of the pond and quickly climbed the charts, reaching number 8 in the US and No 12 in the UK. Ironically, Olympics group member Charles Fizer was killed by a ricocheting stray bullet in 1965 during the Watts riots in Los Angeles.
The Olympics' first release was on the tiny Melatone label in 1956, " I Can Tell ". This record caught the ear of L.A. singer and talent spotter Jesse Belvin. Belvin brought the Olympics to producer-songwriters Fred Smith and Cliff Goldsmith, who had just written " Western Movies ".
Following the success of " Western Movies " the Olympics released several novelty records including " Dance With the Teacher ", " Private Eye ", and " Big Boy Pete ". Before Charles Fizers' death in 1965 the group released the original version of " Good Lovin' " on Loma Records. While the Olympics' version stalled at No 81 in the charts, a cover version by the Young Rascals went all the way to No 1 one year later.
The group, with Mr. Ward still in place as lead singer, carried on recording until 1973. After that they found an enduring niche on the Oldies circuit. Ward, who had been ill for some time, continued to perform with them, last appearing at a Doo Wop spectacular on Long Island, NY on November 12. He is survived by a son.

BRC Record Show

2007 Record & CD Show
Date/Time: Saturday, August 18, 2007 (9AM-5PM) and Sunday, August 19, 2007 (10AM-4PM)
Location: The Cedars Club, 301 Green Springs Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35205 Admission: $3.00
Dealer Information
Dealer Set-Up is Friday, August 17, 2007 ... 12:00 NOON and Limited early admission (MEMBERS ONLY) 2:00 p.m. . For info on reserving dealer table(s), contact Ben Saxon.
Don’t forget to go to the BRC website and see what’s new. www.birminghamrecord.com

Questions, comments, ideals???? Send them to me. cbailey@bsc.edu

See Ya,
Charlie

The websites mentioned in this newsletter are intended for you to be able to click on them and be taken to the site. I realize that some of you might not be able to do so due to how some email servers receive such items. I also add pictures in the newsletter that some are not getting either. I apologize to those members and hope one day I can become computer literate enough to work out the bugs.