Kent,
I saw recently you had a post
about the upcoming Happy Together Tour scheduled for next summer and
you mentioned that it is a shame that most of these bands do not have
many original members left. And that is definitely true due to many
reasons but mostly old age and health.
But I wanted to mention that just
last week I saw Jay & The Americans here in Largo, Florida, and even
though Jay himself was not the original (in fact, he is Jay No. 3), the
two backup singers were, in fact, the originals from back in the Jay &
The Americans hit-making heyday.
Sandy Deanne has been with the band
since the very beginning in the late 1950's and Marty Sanders joined
at the same time that Jay No. 2 (Jay Black) became a member in 1963, so
they were both part of all the 60's hits that we came to know and love.
The show was quite entertaining as they sang all the hits plus a few
other 50's and 60's favorites. Jay explained to the audience that we got
the long show because they were the only band on the bill and 22 songs
and one hour and 45 minutes later the crowd was thoroughly entertained
by the magic of their still great voices and showmanship. They had a
crack six-piece band playing behind them, who also helped out some on the
vocals.
They opened with "Only In America" and "Let's Lock The Door And
Throw Away The Key" and they kept right on going with the crowd
favorites "She Cried," "Cara Mia," "Walking In The Rain" and "Come A Little
Bit Closer," among many others, ending with "This Magic Moment."
They actually played two shows that day as we attended the afternoon
show. My girl and I probably wouldn't have gone at all but my 80 year
old neighbor Bob (who is a huge fan) convinced us to attend with him and
we are delighted we did. Needless to say, Bob was blown away! And, after
the show, we got to meet the band as that came out to shake some hands
and pose for pictures and attempted to sell some merchandise.
I actually
got to speak to Jay No. 3 (Jay Reincke), and he told me that it's really John
Reincke because let's face it, when you become the lead singer of Jay
& The Americans, you become a Jay. Jay told me the condensed version
of the story as to how he became a member 17 years ago. His voice is
almost as good as Jay Black's as far as I'm concerned and the audience
roared their approval with every song.
I can't wait to see them again on
the Happy Together tour, which I have already bought tickets for again! I
sent in a few pictures taken by my girl friend Alice.
Rich Turner
Largo, Florida
Jay and the Americans put on a very entertaining show and will be a welcome addition to The Happy Together Tour next year."New" lead singer ... he's already been with them for SEVENTEEN YEARS!!! ... John Reincke ... is a Chicago guy who entertained folks here for decades with his own band. (Sadly, we just recently lost original American Howie Kane.)
None of their lead singers were actually named "Jay" ... before Reincke took over the role, it was filled for forty years by David Blatt, performing as Jay Black. He took over for Jay #1 (real name John Traynor) after the band had their first hit, "She Cried," in 1962.
In all, Jay and the Americans had nearly a dozen National Top 40 Hits, including the Top 10's "She Cried" (#4, 1962), "Come A Little Bit Closer" (#3, 1964), "Let's Lock The Door" (#10, 1965), "Cara Mia" (#3, 1965), "This Magic Moment" (#4, 1969) and "Walkin' In The Rain" (#10, 1970) kk
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
11/28/63 – President Johnson
officially renames Cape Canaveral in Florida “Cape Kennedy” in honor of our
fallen president ... later The Kennedy Space Center
