Jay and the Americans
| Jay and the Americans | |
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Jay and the Americans in 1965
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Chapter Four |
| Origin | Belle Harbor, Queens, New York, United States |
| Genres | Rock, blue-eyed soul |
| Years active | 1960–1973, 2006–present |
| Labels | United Artists |
| Associated acts | Kenny Vance and The Planotones, Steely Dan, The Tuneful Trolley |
| Website | jayandtheamericans.net |
| Members | |
| Past members | |
Jay and the Americans were a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial line-up 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.
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.
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. Jay's solo singles made little impression, but one, "Up And Over" issued on ABC in 1966 became a Northern Soul classic. Empires' guitarist Marty Sanders (né Kupersmith) joined the group. He brought David Black (né Blatt) of "The Empires" in to take Traynor's place (after David first agreed to adopt the name Jay Black), and 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. Two tracks from this era later found favour with the Northern Soul crowd: "Got Hung Up Along The Way" and "Living Above Your Head".
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