Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Zip-A-Dee Doo Dah (1963)

Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans' funky, modern update of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the Disney feature Song of the South landed the group in the Top Ten in 1962. The Phil Spector-produced group, comprised of Robert Sheen and two-thirds of the Blossoms (Darlene Love & Fanita James), scored two more hits the following year with songs Spector co-wrote: "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts?" and "Not Too Young to Get Married." All three hits are included on the group's sole album, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, a 12-song platter consisting of a number of high-quality girl group recordings and a few odd departures like the rock & roll instrumental "Dr. Kaplan's Office" and an inexplicable cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Curiously, Sheen (aka Bob B. Soxx) is the nominal head of the group, but is hardly in evidence except on the bluesy "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and "Dear (Here Comes My Baby)," the latter of which highlights his vocal resemblance to Clyde McPhatter. "Baby (I Love You)" became a hit for the Ronettes in 1963, and the cover of "The White Cliffs of Dover" is either album filler, a rehash of the "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" formula, or both. Listeners with a pointed interest in girl groups shouldn't be discouraged by the group's name, since Sheen/"Soxx" is mostly inaudible and Spector's production and songwriting contributions dominate.

1963 LP Zip-A-Dee-Doo (US Phillis PHILP-4002)

A1. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
A2. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts
A3. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Let The Good Times Roll
A4. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - My Heart Beat A Little Bit Faster
A5. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Jimmy Baby
A6. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Baby (I Love You)

B1. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - White Cliffs Of Dover
B2. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - This Land Is Your Land
B3. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Dear (Here Comes My Baby)
B4. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - I Shook The World
B5. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Everything's Gonna Be Allright
B6. Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans - Dr. Kaplan's Office

Ben E. King

From the groundbreaking orchestrated productions of the Drifters to his own solo hits, Ben E. King was the definition of R&B elegance. King's plaintive baritone had all the passion of gospel, but the settings in which it was displayed were tailored more for his honey smooth phrasing and crisp enunciation, proving for perhaps the first time that R&B could be sophisticated and accessible to straight pop audiences. King's approach influenced countless smooth soul singers in his wake and his records were key forerunners of the Motown sound.

King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, NC, in 1938, and sang with his church choir before the family moved to Harlem in 1947. In junior high, he began performing with a street corner doo wop group called the Four B's, which won second place in an Apollo Theater talent contest. While still in high school, he was offered a chance to join the Moonglows, but was simply too young and inexperienced to stick. He subsequently worked at his father's restaurant as a singing waiter, which led to an invitation to become the baritone singer in a doo wop outfit called the Five Crowns in 1958. The Five Crowns performed several gigs at the Apollo Theater along with the Drifters, whose career had begun to flounder in the years since original lead singer Clyde McPhatter departed. Drifters manager George Treadwell, dissatisfied with the group members' unreliability and lack of success, fired them all in the summer of 1958 and hired the Five Crowns to assume the name of the Drifters (which he owned). Read on +/-

The new Drifters toured for about a year, playing to often hostile audiences who knew they were a completely different group. In early 1959, they went into the studio with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to cut their first records. A song Nelson (still performing under his given name) co-wrote called "There Goes My Baby" became his first lead vocal and the lush backing arrangement made highly unorthodox (in fact, virtually unheard-of) use of a string section. "There Goes My Baby" became a massive hit, laying the groundwork for virtually every smooth/uptown soul production that followed. Over the next two years, Nelson sang lead on several other Drifters classics, including "Dance With Me," "This Magic Moment," "Save the Last Dance for Me," and "I Count the Tears."

In 1960, Nelson approached Treadwell about a salary increase and a fairer share of the group's royalties. Treadwell rebuffed him and Nelson quit the group, at this point assuming the more memorable stage name Ben E. King in preparation for a solo career. Remaining on Atlantic, King scored his first solo hit with the stylish, Latin-tinged ballad "Spanish Harlem," a Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector composition that hit the Top Ten in early 1961. The follow-up, "Stand By Me," a heartfelt ode to friendship and devotion co-written by King, became his signature song and an enduring R&B classic; it was also his biggest hit, topping the R&B charts and reaching the pop Top Five. King scored a few more chart singles through 1963, including velvety smooth pop-soul productions like "Amor," "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)," and the Italian tune "I (Who Have Nothing)." In the post-British Invasion years, King had a rough go of it on the pop charts but continued to score R&B hits. 1967's Southern-fried "What Is Soul?" was one of his last singles for Atco; seeking to revive his commercial fortunes, King departed in 1969.

1961 LP Spanish Harlem (US ATCO SD 33-133)

A close look at this album reveals just how ambitious Atlantic Records could be in the early 1960s, in generating LPs. Technically speaking, Ben E. King's debut long-player is a concept album — or, at least, a thematic album. Put together in the wake of his first solo hit, "Spanish Harlem," a Latin flavor and beat run all the way through this 12-song platter, which, at times, is really more of a pop record than a soul record. The dense, busy string section that characterized most of King's work of this era is present, and a lot of his singing may recall more the work of Sammy Davis, Jr. than that of any R&B artist one might think of from this period. And apart from the Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector co-authored title hit, most of what is here dates from a decade or more (sometimes several) earlier — "Frenesi," "Besame Mucho," and "Perfidia" were standards during the big-band era, and most of the rest is of similar or even older vintage. All of which doesn't mean that it is bad — King's version of "Besame Mucho" is a very successful reinterpretation in a Latin soul vein, and "Perfidia" never sounded better than it does in his hands, even if it and a lot of the rest is a long way from what most of us define as "soul." And for better or worse, the production is first-rate within the context of King's established sound, with a phenomenal string section and a percussion section to die for.

A1. Ben E. King - Amor
A2. Ben E. King - Sway
A3. Ben E. King - Come Closer To Me
A4. Ben E. King - Perfidia
A5. Ben E. King - Grenada
A6. Ben E. King - Sweet And Gentle

B1. Ben E. King - Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps)
B2. Ben E. King - Frenesi
B3. Ben E. King - Souvenir Of Mexico
B4. Ben E. King - Besame Mucho
B5. Ben E. King - Love Me, Love Me
B6. Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem

1962 LP Ben E. King Sings For Soulful Lovers (US ATCO SD 33-137)

After parting ways with the Drifters in 1960, Ben E. King wasted no time establishing himself as a solo star with chart-toppers like "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand by Me," in which he made the most of his strong and expressive vocal style. Having scored on the R&B and pop charts, King's third album for Atco, Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers, plays like a bid to cross over to more mature listeners after scoring big with the teens, much in the manner of Sam Cooke; the album is dominated by songs already made famous by other artists, featuring a blend of soulful chestnuts and classic standards, and the production and arrangements are polished and classy while still retaining the influence of the "rhythm & blues with strings" style that had become his hallmark. While "He Will Break Your Heart," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," and "It's All in the Game" seem tailor-made for King, some of the other cuts are a bit of a creative stretch, especially "Moon River" and "On the Street Where You Live," both of which sound rather clumsy in this context despite the struggle to make them swing. But King never gives less than his level best on these sessions, no matter what the material happens to be, and he effortlessly walks a line between supper-club polish and passionate sweet soul. If Ben E. King didn't become a regular in Las Vegas or at the Copacabana like Sam Cooke or Lou Rawls, it's certainly not because he lacked the style or the chops, and if the song selection sometimes lets him down on Sings for Soulful Lovers, his voice and his phrasing are spot-on on all 12 tracks.

A1. Ben E. King - My Heart Cries For You
A2. Ben E. King - He Will Break Your Heart
A3. Ben E. King - Dream Lover
A4. Ben E. King - Will You Love Me Tomorrow
A5. Ben E. King - My Foolish Heart
A6. Ben E. King - Fever

B1. Ben E. King - Moon River
B2. Ben E. King - What A Difference A Day Made
B3. Ben E. King - Because Of You
B4. Ben E. King - At Last
B5. Ben E. King - On The Street Where You Live
B6. Ben E. King - It's All In The Game

1962 LP Don't Play That Song (US ATCO SD 33-142)

Ben E. King's third album is a little short in running time but very high in quality, in terms of the dozen songs here. The title track was the selling point, but couldn't help but be seduced by the exquisite production of "Ecstasy" and "On the Horizon," the latter making about as fine use of harps and an ethereal chorus as one imagines possible — and when the strings come in, violins and cellos alternately, the sheer beauty of the track just overflows. "Show Me the Way to Your Heart" isn't too far behind, and then "Stand by Me" shores up the opening of the second side — not that anything here needed shoring up, but it's good that they got the single onto a long-player so it didn't go to waste. Even the lesser material, like "Here Comes the Night" and "First Taste of Love" (the latter a Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector song that bears an uncanny resemblance to Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On"), is interesting to hear for the lively production. This album, like its predecessors, dates from a period in which producers and engineers were figuring out what one could do with soul and R&B in terms of engineering, and the sound separation and textures are nothing if not vibrant and alluring in their own right, separate from the music.

A1. Ben E. King - Don't Play That Song
A2. Ben E. King - Ecstasy
A3. Ben E. King - On The Horizon
A4. Ben E. King - Show Me The Way
A5. Ben E. King - Here Comes The Night
A6. Ben E. King - First Taste Of Love

B1. Ben E. King - Stand By Me
B2. Ben E. King - Yes
B3. Ben E. King - Young Boy Blues
B4. Ben E. King - The Hermit Of Misty Mountain
B5. Ben E. King - I Promise Love
B6. Ben E. King - Brace Yourself

1965 LP Seven Letters (US ATCO SD 33-174)

The original notes to the Seven Letters album indicate that it is the most diverse album of material that Ben E. King had ever recorded, and they're right. The range of material here, cut over a period of more than two years, included some impassioned soul music -- "River of Tears," "I'm Standing By," "It's All Over," "In the Middle of the Night," and the title track -- as well as some very personal pop ("Jamaica") and novelty ("Si Senor") tunes, and towering performances throughout. The requisite string-laden orchestral backings are present, courtesy of producers Leiber & Stoller, Jerry Wexler, Ahmet Ertegun, and the various arrangers, but there are also some nicely stripped down, more basic soul numbers. Interestingly, "Jamaica" was written by King in the wake of his 1961 tour of the island (soon to be island-nation), an event that helped spark a boom in local ska and reggae performers who were inspired by the presence of American soul stars like King on tour -- the song practically chronicles the spawning of the seed that led to the ska and reggae booms (which Atlantic would grab a piece of, not only by signing Byron Lee and securing a distribution agreement with him for the Cayman Islands, but also through Eric Clapton's efforts on Bob Marley's behalf less than a decade later). The album has not a single weak spot, and boasts some strong contributions by several outside songwriters including Carole King and Gerry Goffin, whose gorgeous "Down Home" provided the vehicle for King's best singing on the entire record. Not that it did much for him at the time of its release -- it had no weak spots, but also no major hits (even "I'm Standing By" was a failed follow-up to "Stand By Me," and this was the last of four Ben E. King albums issued by Atlantic in the United States. Like two of its predecessors, it disappeared without reaching any but King's hardcore audience, thus making it a choice collector's item. It lacked the hook of a massive hit single like a "Stand By Me" or a "Spanish Harlem" for a wider audience to grab onto.

A1. Ben E. King - Seven Letters
A2. Ben E. King - River Of Tears
A3. Ben E. King - I'm Standing By
A4. Ben E. King - Jamaica
A5. Ben E. King - Down Home
A6. Ben E. King - Si Senor

B1. Ben E. King - It's All Over
B2. Ben E. King - Let The Water Run Down
B3. Ben E. King - This Is My Dream
B4. Ben E. King - It's No Good For Me
B5. Ben E. King - In The Middle Of The Night
B6. Ben E. King - Don't Drive Me Away

1964 LP Greatest Hits (US ATCO SD 33-165)

1A. Ben E. King - Amor
2A. Ben E. King - Around The Corner
3A. Ben E. King - Auf Wiedersehen My Dear
4A. Ben E. King - Don't Play That Song (You Lied)
5A. Ben E. King - How Can I Forget
6A. Ben E. King - I (Who Have Nothing)

1B. Ben E. King - I Could Have Danced All Night
2B. Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem
3B. Ben E. King - Stand By Me
4B. Ben E. King - That's When It Hurts
5B. Ben E. King - What Now My Love
6B. Ben E. King - Young Boy Blues

Bobby Vee - 30 Big Hits of the 60's Volume 1 & 2 (1964-1966)

As many other artists in the early sixties, Bobby Vee also made some albums with hits from others. Even as Bobby himself had a string of almost 40 hits of his own, he didn't step back for some extra commercial success with chart busters of other artists. Results of his interpretation of those classics you can find on two original releases from 1964 and 1966. Bobby Vee compiled the songs to several medleys who can't compete with the originals, but I think that wasn't really his intention. Both LP's are examples of uncomplicated 'party' music for his fans -- and he had a lot. Listen to Bobby's versions of Beatle hits as "Do You Want To Know A Secret," "P.S. I Love You," and "Love Me Do," place them back in 1964 and you can only hope that John Lennon and Paul McCartney never heard them at that time. But what the hell.., cheek to cheek on the dance floor you had other things to think about.

1964 LP 30 Big Hits Of The 60's (US Liberty LST-7385)

1. Bobby Vee - A Fool Never Learns/Do You Want To Know A Secret?/Goodbye Cruel World/Blame It On The Bossa Nova/Dawn
2. Bobby Vee - Memphis/Love Me Do/Twist And Shout/Hey! Baby/P.S. I Love You
3. Bobby Vee - Can't Get Used To Losing You/Spanish Harlem/Hey Girl/Blue On Blue/Everybody's Somebody's Fool
4. Bobby Vee - I Remember You/Venus In Blue Jeans/Save The Last Dance For Me/Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen/Danke Schoen
5. Bobby Vee - Breaking Up Is Hard to Do/Please Help Me I'm Falling/Nadine/Ruby Baby/Needles And Pins
6. Bobby Vee - Moon River/Crying In The Rain/Sukiyaki/Sealed With A Kiss/My Dad

1966 LP 30 Big Hits Of The 60's Vol. 2 (US Liberty LST-7448)

1. Bobby Vee - A Hundred Pounds Of Clay/Elusive Butterfly.mp3
2. Bobby Vee - A Taste of Honey/Wives and Lovers.mp3
3. Bobby Vee - These Boots Are Made For Walking/Sha La La.mp3
4. Bobby Vee - Tower Of Strength/The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.mp3
5. Bobby Vee - When You Walk In The Room/The 'In' Crowd.mp3
6. Bobby Vee - Pony Time/You Can Have Her.mp3
7. Bobby Vee - Lies/Count Me In.mp3
8. Bobby Vee - Love is All We Need/Call Me Irresponsible.mp3
9. Bobby Vee - Bad to Me/I'm A Fool.mp3
10. Bobby Vee - Save Your Heart for Me/In The Misty Moonlight.mp3
11. Bobby Vee - The Story of My Life/Travelin' Man.mp3
12. Bobby Vee - Mr. Blue/Come Stay With Me.mp3
13. Bobby Vee - Sandy/For Your Love.mp3
14. Bobby Vee - Houston/You're Sixteen.mp3

Bobby Hebb - Sunny (1966)

Produced by Jerry Ross and arranged by Joe Renzetti, "Sunny" emerged from a twelve-song disc released on the Phillips label, a division of Mercury records. Although Bobby Hebb is known as "the song a day man," he only composed three of the dozen titles included on this collection. The title track, of course, which was the song of the summer of 1966, "Yes or No or Maybe Not," and "Crazy Baby." The follow-up, "A Satisfied Mind," was also a Top 40 hit that year, but it wasn't until 1971, when Lou Rawls had a Top 20 hit with "Natural Man," did Hebb get another smash. A pity, and a definite statement about the music industry when a man as prolific and talented as Robert Von Hebb constructs and delivers pop tunes with a voice and feeling that crosses genres and ethnic boundaries. Kal Rudman himself penned the liner notes on the back of the disc (at the time he was R&B Editor of Record World Magazine, a publication still missed by the industry). Rudman reports that "Sunny" hit number one in Detroit and the surrounding area on the R&B, pop, and country & western charts. A monster smash, with covers by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington, Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy, there is no doubt this is Hebb's signature tune, but according to Marty Balin of The Jefferson Airplane he has "a pocketful of Miracles," implying the author/singer who gave us "Sunny" has mountains of songs that the world needs to hear. The producer/arranger team of Ross/Renzetti also penned "Bread," the flip side of the first 45, and "Love Love Love" on this album. Ross and Gamble co-authored "You Don't Know What You've Got Until You Lose It," McCoy's "For You," and there's even Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil's "Good Good Lovin'." All in all, this is a very pleasant pop album that remains an important snapshot of an important artist at the peak of his powers. As Rudman notes in the liners, in 1950 Hebb was hired by Roy Acuff at the age of 12 to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, as one of the first black artists.

1966 LP Sunny (US Philips PHS 200-212)

A1. Bobby Hebb - Sunny (1966-US#2)
A2. Bobby Hebb - Where Are You
A3. Bobby Hebb - Got You On My Mind
A4. Bobby Hebb - Yes Or No Or Maybe Not
A5. Bobby Hebb - Good Good Lovin'
A6. Bobby Hebb - Love, Love, Love

B1. Bobby Hebb - A Satisfied Mind (1966-US#39)
B2. Bobby Hebb - You Don't Know What You Got Until You Lose It
B3. Bobby Hebb - I Am Your Man
B4. Bobby Hebb - Crazy Baby
B5. Bobby Hebb - Bread
B6. Bobby Hebb - For You

The Hunters (UK)

As The Shadows were pursuing a dual career as backing musicians and instrumentalists in their own right, there seemed to be no reason why The Hunters, as British backing group for Bobby Rydell, Jimmy Jones and UK stars The Allisons, Frank Ifield, The Avons, Mark Wynter, Kenny Lynch, Michael Cox and off course Dave Sampson, should not do the same. They cut their first single “Teen Scene” -- A Teddy Randazzo composition -- in about four takes and the result was an undoubted classic. On the flip was Brian Parker’s first ever composition “Santa Monica Flyer” -- named after the famed American train. “Teen Scene” didn’t chart, even so the next single “Golden Earrings” with “Taay Ho!” on the backside. But, although there was no charting, they sell sufficiently well for Fontana to grant their first LP release.

At the end of ’61 “Teen Scene” had been selected by Radio Luxembourg for a new show and that was enough reason for Fontana to rush in for a re-release -- with the moaning voices of a male vocal group dubbed in. The dubbing came as a complete and unpleasant surprise for the group. Also another album saw daylight, but lack of time found its echo in the quality. Even the cover was terrible cause there was no time for a sleeve photograph. But now, almost 50 years later, the two records have found their place in time. Not as spectacular milestones, but as evidence of how well The Hunters were as instrumentalists.

1961 LP Teen Scene The Hunters Play The Big Hits (UK Fontana TFL-5140)

A1. The Hunters - I Beg Of You
A2. The Hunters - Someone's Else's Baby
A3. The Hunters - Theme For A Dream
A4. The Hunters - Lipstick On Your Collar
A5. The Hunters - Pepe
A6. The Hunters - Teen Scene

B1. The Hunters - Golden Earrings
B2. The Hunters - Poor Me
B3. The Hunters - It Doesn't Matter Anymore
B4. The Hunters - A Voice In The Wilderness
B5. The Hunters - Theme From A Summer Place
B6. The Hunters - Tally Ho

1962 LP Hits From The Hunters (UK Fontana TFL-5175)

A1. Runaway
A2. All I Have To Do Is Dream
A3. All Shook Up
A4. Petite Fleur
A5. Misty
A6. The Storm

B1. Love Me Tender
B2. Walk Right Back
B3. A Girl Like You
B4. Hound Dog
B5. Portrait Of My Love
B6. How's 'm Chicks

Chad & Jeremy

Of the many British Invasion acts that stormed the charts in the wake of the Beatles, Chad & Jeremy possessed a subtlety and sophistication unmatched among their contemporaries, essentially creating the template for the kind of lush, sensitive folk-pop embraced by followers from Nick Drake to Belle & Sebastian. Chad Stuart (born in Windemere, England, on December 10, 1941) and Jeremy Clyde (born March 22, 1941, in Buckinghamshire, England) met while attending London's Central School of Speech and Drama. The two became fast friends, and after Stuart taught Clyde to play guitar, they formed a folk duo as well as a rock & roll group, the Jerks. Because he graduated a year ahead of his bandmates, Clyde relocated to Scotland and performed with the Dundee Repertory Theatre.

When the Jerks dissolved, Stuart dropped out of school, studied arranging, and wrote songs with composer Russell Franks. Clyde returned to London soon after, but in the face of an actors' strike, he resumed his music career, reunited with Stuart, and the duo landed a residency at the local coffeehouse, Tina's. Chad & Jeremy quickly earned a fan following, and in mid-1963 composer and producer John Berry signed the duo to the small independent label Ember Records. They released their debut single, "Yesterday's Gone," that autumn and it entered the U.K. Top 40. Remarkably, it would prove their only British hit of any real substance. Read on +/-

By the time their sophomore effort, "Like I Love You Today," was released in early 1964, Chad & Jeremy were headlining the West End landmark Hatchett's. Despite the increased exposure, the record flopped, and Berry bought out his Ember contract, relegating the duo's planned LP to producer Shel Talmy in the process. Soon after the release of Chad & Jeremy Sing for You, the Daily Express published a photo of a young Clyde (a graduate of the prestigious private school Eton and a descendent of the famed Duke of Wellington) in royal garb at the 1952 coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

Given the credibility afforded the working-class backgrounds of rockers like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the publicity proved a near-fatal blow, effectively branding Chad & Jeremy upper-crust nancy-boys merely pretending at careers in music. But, as the album tanked at home, Chad & Jeremy's U.S. label, World Artists, scored a Top 20 American hit with "Yesterday's Gone," followed in August of 1964 by "A Summer Song," a gorgeously nuanced and pastoral folk-pop masterpiece that cracked the Billboard Top Five. When "Willow Weep for Me" also charted in the U.S., Chad & Jeremy relocated to California and signed with the infamous manager Allen Klein, who negotiated a buyout of their World Artists contract and landed the duo a new deal with Columbia.

In late 1964, Chad & Jeremy made their American television debut on The Hollywood Palace. William Morris agent John Hartman was so impressed with their performance that he offered his representation, which resulted in appearances on the sitcoms The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Patty Duke Show. Chad & Jeremy were television fixtures for years to come, additionally appearing on The Danny Kaye Show, Shindig, and Hullabaloo. Between tour stops and studio dates, the pace was relentless and, in the spring of 1965, Stuart was leveled by mononucleosis. When Clyde accepted a role in the London musical Passion Flower Hotel (a nine-month commitment), he and Stuart quickly recorded an LP, I Don't Want to Lose You Baby, while the latter continued his rehabilitation.

The duo maintained they were not breaking up, but rumors reached a fever pitch when Clyde failed to return to the U.S. for a scheduled Chicago performance and forced Stuart to take the stage alone with a cardboard cutout of his partner under his arm. Stuart next released a record called "The Cruel War" with his wife, Jill, while Clyde cut a John Barry-produced solo single, "I Love My Love." Neither earned much attention, and at year's end Chad & Jeremy reunited to make a new album, Distant Shores, and film a proposed pilot for NBC. The show was rejected (in favor of another project with a rock & roll theme, The Monkees) and Chad & Jeremy instead guested on two episodes of the blockbuster Batman.

Chad & Jeremy spent close to a year in the studio with producer Gary Usher to create 1967's Of Cabbages and Kings, a dense, ambitious record dubbed "a soundtrack without the film" by Clyde. The album served to alienate much of the duo's core fan base, however, and sales proved dismal. Usher nevertheless produced the follow-up single, "Painted Dayglow Smile," followed in early 1968 by "Sister Marie." Tensions between Chad & Jeremy continued, prompted in large part by the latter's burgeoning acting career, and after completing The Ark -- a project so expensive it led Columbia to terminate Usher's contract -- the duo split, although the soundtrack to the film Three in the Attic, essentially a Stuart solo effort, appeared in 1969 under the Chad & Jeremy aegis.

Clyde turned to acting full-time and appeared alongside Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones in the long-running stage production Conduct Unbecoming. Stuart, meanwhile, signed on as music director for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, followed by a stint as a staff producer with A&M Records. Chad & Jeremy reunited in 1977 to record a handful of unreleased demos, and five years later, they signed to RCA's Rocshire subsidiary to release a comeback LP, Chad Stuart & Jeremy Clyde. The record went nowhere, but their partnership continued, first in a London production of Pump Boys and Dinettes and then as part of the 1986 "British Invasion II" package tour. Chad & Jeremy continued touring intermittently well into the 21st century.

1964 LP Yesterday's Gone (US World Artists WAM-2002)

Chad & Jeremy's debut U.S. album took its title from their first Top 40 hit, which combined two currently popular trends: folk music and British Merseybeat rock & roll. The album, which also contained their sole Top Ten hit, "A Summer Song," and a third Top 40 hit in "Willow Weep for Me," suggested that they were closer to folk than rock. The two sang calmly and carefully over restrained arrangements usually pegged to an acoustic guitar, with pleasant strings and a reined-in rhythm section. As such, the duo seemed less a true British Invasion act than a middle-of-the-road pop team effectively using the "Invasion" tag to get across.
By William Ruhlmann

1. Chad & Jeremy - A Summer Song • 1964 US#7
   
2. Chad & Jeremy - Now And Forever
3. Chad & Jeremy - Dirty Old Town
4. Chad & Jeremy - Like I Love You Today
5. Chad & Jeremy - September In The Rain
6. Chad & Jeremy - Yesterday's Gone • 1964 US#21
   
7. Chad & Jeremy - If She Was Mine
8. Chad & Jeremy - Willow Weep For Me • 1964 US#15
   
9. Chad & Jeremy - Only For The Young
   
10. Chad & Jeremy - Too Soon My Love
11. Chad & Jeremy - The Truth Often Hurts The Heart
12. Chad & Jeremy - No Tears For Johnny
    

1965 LP Sing For You (US World Artists WAM-2005)

1. Chad & Jeremy - My Colouring Book
2. Chad & Jeremy - What Do You Want With Me? • 1965 US#51
   
3. Chad & Jeremy - From A Window • 1965 US#97
   
4. Chad & Jeremy - If You've Got A Heart
5. Chad & Jeremy - No Other Baby
6. Chad & Jeremy - Donna Donna
7. Chad & Jeremy - The Girl From Ipanema
8. Chad & Jeremy - Four Strong Winds
9. Chad & Jeremy - Only Those In Love
10. Chad & Jeremy - You Know What
11. Chad & Jeremy - Sleep Little Boy
12. Chad & Jeremy - My How The Time Goes By
    

1965 LP Before And After (US CBS CS-9174)

1. Chad & Jeremy - Before And After • 1965 US#17
   
2. Chad & Jeremy - Why Should I Care
3. Chad & Jeremy - For Lovin' Me
4. Chad & Jeremy - I'm In Love Again
5. Chad & Jeremy - Little Does She Know
6. Chad & Jeremy - Tell Me Baby
7. Chad & Jeremy - What Do You Want With Me
8. Chad & Jeremy - Say It Isn't True
9. Chad & Jeremy - Fare Thee Well (I Must Be Gone)
10. Chad & Jeremy - Evil-Hearted Me
11. Chad & Jeremy - Can't Get Used To Losing You
    

1965 LP I Don't Want To Loose You Baby (US CBS CS-9398)

1. Chad & Jeremy - I Don't Want To Lose You Baby • 1965 US#35
   
2. Chad & Jeremy - Should I
3. Chad & Jeremy - The Girl Who Sang The Blues
4. Chad & Jeremy - Funny How Love Can Be
5. Chad & Jeremy - The Woman In You
6. Chad & Jeremy - Mr. Chad & Jeremy - Tambourine Man
7. Chad & Jeremy - I Have Dreamed • 1965 US#91
   
8. Chad & Jeremy - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
9. Chad & Jeremy - Baby Don't Go
10. Chad & Jeremy - There But For Fortune
11. Chad & Jeremy - These Things You Don't Forget
12. Chad & Jeremy - I Don't Want To Lose You Baby
    

1966 LP Distant Shores (US CBS CS-9364)

1. Chad & Jeremy - Distant Shores • 1966 US#30
   
2. Chad & Jeremy - Ain't It Nice
3. Chad & Jeremy - When Your Love Has Gone
4. Chad & Jeremy - Homeward Bound
5. Chad & Jeremy - The Way You Look Tonight
6. Chad & Jeremy - Morning
7. Chad & Jeremy - You Are She • 1966 US#87
   
8. Chad & Jeremy - Everyone's Gone To The Moon
9. Chad & Jeremy - I Won't Cry
10. Chad & Jeremy - Early Mornin' Rain
11. Chad & Jeremy - Don't Make Me Do It
    

1967 LP Of Cabbages And Kings (US CBS CS-9471)

1. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Reat In Peace
2. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - The Gentle Cold Of Down
3. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Busmans Holiday
4. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Can I See You
5. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Family Way
6. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Ill Get Around To It When And If I Can
7. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Prologue
8. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Decline
9. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Editorial
10. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Fall
11. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Epilogue
    

1968 LP The Ark (US CBS CS-9699)

1. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - The Emancipation of Mr.X
2. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Sunstroke
3. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - The Ark
4. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - The Raven
5. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Imagination
6. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Painted Dayglow Smile
7. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Pipe Dream
8. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Transatlantic Trauma 1966
9. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Sidewalk Requiem, Los Angeles, June 5th and 6th
10. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Pantheistic Study for Guitar and Large Bird
11. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - Paxton Quigley's Had the Course
12. Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde - You Need Feet