Jay and the Americans was a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (né Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (né Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (né Yaguda), though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Early years 1.2 Career pinnacle 1.3 Decline 1.4 Sale of the band name and "reunion" 2 Awards and recognition 3 Discography w/Billboard (BB) and Cashbox (CB) chart peak positions 3.1 Hit Singles 3.2 Albums 4 References 5 External links
[edit] Biography [edit] Early years
They were discovered while performing in student venues at New York University in the late 1950s. They auditioned for Leiber and Stoller, who gave the group its name. In the manner of the time, Leiber and Stoller wanted to extend this to "Binky Jones and the Americans," but Traynor declined to be known as Binky Jones his whole career. He instead offered up "Jay," a family nickname, and it suited everyone. [edit] Career pinnacle
With Jay Traynor singing lead, they first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune "She Cried," which reached #5 (later covered by The Shangri-Las, Aerosmith, and others). The next two singles didn't fare nearly as well, and Traynor left the group. David Black (né Blatt) of "The Empires" took his place (after first agreeing to adopt the name Jay Black), and Empires' guitarist Marty Sanders (né Kupersmith) also joined. Black sang lead for the rest of the group's major hits.
They returned to the charts in 1963 with "Only In America," a song originally meant for The Drifters. Other notable hits for Jay and the Americans were "Come a Little Bit Closer" in 1964, which hit #3, and "Cara Mia" in 1965, which hit #4. They also recorded a commercial for H.I.S. Slacks and a public service announcement for the Ad Council, featuring a backing track by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector.
In 1968, they recorded an album of their favorite oldies called Sands of Time, which included "This Magic Moment," which was originally done by the Drifters. The single went to #9 in January 1969. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in May 1969.[1] "This Magic Moment" was the last top ten record for Jay and the Americans, although a follow-up album, Wax Museum, in January 1970, did yield the #19 hit single "Walkin' In The Rain," first recorded by The Ronettes. Their next singles failed to chart, and the band grew apart, but the demand for appearances remained. (Around the same time the band recorded "This Magic Moment," Jay and the Americans member Sandy Yaguda produced a Long Island teen sextet called The Tuneful Trolley. Their late-1968 Capitol LP, Island In The Sky — a hybrid of Beach Boys and Beatlesque psych-pop—was reissued in 2008 in the UK on Now Sounds.) [edit] Decline
The group split in 1973.[2] All of the members moved on to solo musical careers, with the exception of Jay Black, who continued to perform as "Jay and the Americans." Black continued until the 1980s with a variety of musicians, at one point briefly including the young Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (of later Steely Dan fame) on backup bass guitar and electric organ. Black did not get along with Becker and Fagen, referring to them as "Starkweather and Manson" (Charles Starkweather and Charles Manson) The original core group reunited in the 1990s for special performances, most notably the 45 Years of Motown special on PBS. Jay was featured in the PBS special Rock, Rhythm, and Doo Wop as "Jay Black & The Americans" in 2001. [edit] Sale of the band name and "reunion"
In 2006, Jay Black filed for bankruptcy due to gambling debts, and his ownership of the name "Jay & The Americans" was sold by the bankruptcy trustee to Sandy Deanne (Yaguda), Black's former band mate and original member of Jay & The Americans for $100,000 to pay Black's debts. With the name purchase, former members Deanne, Howard Kane, and Marty Sanders reunited, and recruited a sound-alike singer from Chicago, coincidentally nicknamed "Jay." Thus, John "Jay" Reincke became the third "Jay" and the band returned to playing both national and international music venues. Their show covers the history of Jay and The Americans, acknowledging all three Jays and featuring all of the top hits in their original arrangements.
Black still tours under his stage name, "Jay Black."[2] Kenny Vance is currently the lead singer of Kenny Vance and the Planotones, a neo-doo wop band that he formed in the 1970s. After leaving the group, John Traynor recorded a handful of songs on the Coral label, including "I Rise, I Fall" in 1964. None were hits, but "I Rise, I Fall" became a minor hit for Johnny Tillotson. The label billed Traynor as "JAY formerly of Jay and the Americans." Traynor now tours with Jay Siegel's Tokens.
[edit] Awards and recognition
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002. [edit] Discography w/Billboard (BB) and Cashbox (CB) chart peak positions This section may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help by adding relevant internal links, or by improving the section's layout. (April 2010)
[edit] Hit Singles She Cried (BB #5, CB #4)/ Dawning -- United Artists 415 -- 1962 Only In America (BB #25, CB #28) / My Clair De Lune -- United Artists 626 -- 1963 Come Dance With Me (BB #76, CB #82) / Look In My Eyes Maria -- United Artists 669 -- 1963 Come A Little Bit Closer (BB #3, CB #4) / Goodbye Boys, Goodbye -- United Artists 759 -- 1964 Let's Lock The Door (And Throw Away The Key) (BB #11, CB #10) / I'll Remember You -- United Artists 805 -- 1965 Think Of The Good Times (BB #57, CB #54) / If You Were Mine, Girl -- United Artists 845 -- 1965 Cara Mia (BB #4, CB #4) / When It's All Over -- United Artists 881 -- 1965 Some Enchanted Evening (BB #13, CB #15) / Girl -- United Artists 919 -- 1965 Sunday and Me (BB #18, CB #20) / Through This Doorway -- United Artists 948 -- 1965 Why Can't You Bring Me Home (BB #63, CB #55) / Baby Stop Your Cryin' -- United Artists 992 -- 1966 Crying (BB #25, CB #32) / I Don't Need A Friend -- United Artists 50016 -- 1966 Livin' Above Your Head (BB #76, CB #78) / Look At Me, What Do You See -- United Artists 50046 -- 1966 (He's) Raining In My Sunshine (BB #90, CB #62) / The Reason For Living (For You My Darling) -- United Artists 50094 -- 1966 (We'll Meet In The) Yellow Forest (BB #131, CB #93) / Got Hung Up Along The Way -- United Artists 50196 -- 1967 No Other Love (BB #114) / No, I Don't Know Her -- United Artists 50510 -- 50282 -- 1968 This Magic Moment (BB #6, CB #5) / Since I Don't Have You -- United Artists 50475 -- 1969 When You Dance (BB #70, CB #41) / No, I Don't Know Her -- United Artists 50510 -- 1969 Walkin' In The Rain (BB #19, CB #14) / For The Love Of A Lady -- United Artists 50605 -- 1969 Capture The Moment (BB #57, CB #45) / Do You Ever Think Of Me -- United Artists 50654 -- 1970 Do I Love You / Tricia (Tell Your Daddy) (BB #93, CB #81) -- United Artists 50683 -- 1970 There Goes My Baby (BB #90, CB #88) / Solitary Man -- United Artists 50858 -- 1971 [edit] Albums She Cried -- United Artists UAL-3222 (Mono)/UAS-6222 (Stereo) -- 1962 At the Cafe Wha? -- United Artists UAL-3300/UAS-6300 -- 1963 Come A Little Bit Closer (BB #131, CB #88) -- United Artists UAL-3407 (CB #84)/UAS-6407 -- 1964 Peaked at #84 on Cashbox Mono albums chart, dropped to #88 the following week when the Mono and Stereo album charts were merged in January 1965 Blockbusters (BB #113, CB #73) -- United Artists UAL-3417/UAS-6417 -- 1965 Jay & The Americans Greatest Hits (BB #21, CB #58) -- United Artists UAL-3453/UAS-6453 -- 1965 Sunday and Me (BB #141) -- United Artists UAL-3474/UAS-6474 -- 1966 Livin' Above Your Head -- United Artists UAL-3534/UAS-6534 -- 1966 Jay & The Americans Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (CB #79) -- United Artists UAL-3555/UAS-6555 -- 1966 Try Some Of This! -- United Artists UAL-3562/UAS-6562 -- 1967 Jay & The Americans!! -- Sunset SUS-5252 -- 1968 Sands Of Time (BB #51, CB #30) -- United Artists UAS-6671 -- 1969 Early American Hits -- Sunset SUS-5278 -- 1969 Wax Museum (BB #105, CB #68) -- United Artists UAS-6719 -- 1970 Wax Museum, Volume 2 -- United Artists UAS-6751 -- 1970 Capture The Moment -- United Artists UAS-6762 -- 1970 The Very Best of Jay & The Americans -- United Artists UA-LA357-E -- 1975 Jay & The Americans Greatest Hits -- United Artists LM-1010 -- 1980 Reissue of original 1965 compilation, also released in 1981 on Liberty with same catalogue number Sweeter than Wine recorded and released in 2009 'Til the End of Time recorded and released in 2009
