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Jay & The Americans
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Jay and the Americans were a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of Howard Kane (born Kirschenbaum), John (J.T.) Traynor, Kenny Vance (born Rosenberg), and Sandy Yaguda.
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.
They first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune “She Cried”; its highest charting was #5. The next two singles didn’t fare nearly as well, and John Traynor left the group. David Black (né David Blatt) of The Empires took his place (after first agreeing to adopt the name Jay Black), and Empires guitarist Marty Sanders also joined. Black sang lead for the rest of the group’s existence.
They returned to the charts in 1963 with “Only In America”, a song originally meant for The Drifters. Other notable hits for the Americans were “Come a Little Bit Closer” in 1964, which hit #3, and “Cara Mia” in 1965, which hit #4. The Americans 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 remade fresh, called Sands of Time, and its single was “This Magic Moment”, which also came through the Drifters. This was the last Top Ten record for the Americans, although a follow-up album, Wax Museum, did yield the #19 hit “Walkin’ In The Rain”, first recorded by The Ronettes.
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.
They first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune “She Cried”; its highest charting was #5. The next two singles didn’t fare nearly as well, and John Traynor left the group. David Black (né David Blatt) of The Empires took his place (after first agreeing to adopt the name Jay Black), and Empires guitarist Marty Sanders also joined. Black sang lead for the rest of the group’s existence.
They returned to the charts in 1963 with “Only In America”, a song originally meant for The Drifters. Other notable hits for the Americans were “Come a Little Bit Closer” in 1964, which hit #3, and “Cara Mia” in 1965, which hit #4. The Americans 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 remade fresh, called Sands of Time, and its single was “This Magic Moment”, which also came through the Drifters. This was the last Top Ten record for the Americans, although a follow-up album, Wax Museum, did yield the #19 hit “Walkin’ In The Rain”, first recorded by The Ronettes.
Top Albums
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Come A Little Bit Closer
Jay & The Americans
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Sands of Time
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Greatest Hits
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Sands Of Time & Wax Museum
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Top Tracks
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Come A Little Bit Closer
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This Magic Moment
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She Cried
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Only In America
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Some Enchanted Evening
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Hushabye
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Walkin' In The Rain
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Cara, Mia
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Think Of The Good Times
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Crying
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Sunday And Me
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Why Can't You Bring Me Home
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Tomorrow
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Shoutbox
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gizmospal wrote:
Walkin in the Rain.
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rosebudz wrote:
she cried....
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onememphisdude wrote:
God, how I miss horns in music!!! (Yes..I hear the flat trombone.) Great song. Just wish I had an old tube-type amplifier to really bring out the percussion.
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Chiaroscurist wrote:
You're my kind of man... so big and so strong.
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Don_Diego wrote:
They've got the Steely Dan T-shirt.
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PappaWheelie wrote:
Capture the Moment
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Udoboy wrote:
Jay Black had a great voice.
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gary_lankford wrote:
Hey, vote for the proposed image. Only one more 'Yes' vote necessary for adoption. :)
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Recent Activity
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tomwashburn, deespinrut, tbarker7004 and 2 other people added Jay & The Americans to their libraries. 12 hours ago
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themodcafe wrote about Jay & The Americans in Recommendations from the last 3 months music played. Tuesday afternoon
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Rissacakes wrote about Jay & The Americans in How varied is your musical taste?. 9 days ago
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SibylleVance tagged Jay & The Americans with ‘classic pop’. 9 days ago
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otto48, hdouble-u, supersoldier79 and 15 other people added Jay & The Americans to their libraries. 9 days ago
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stevenwolf1 tagged Jay & The Americans with rock, pop and 60s. 22 days ago
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sfredbern, ModularSeadog, slimbob101 and 7 other people added Jay & The Americans to their libraries. 22 days ago
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prawnlogic456, bwert and kpakuma added Jay & The Americans to their libraries. last month
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prawnlogic456 tagged Jay & The Americans with ‘1960’. last month
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