By the early 1960s, the popularity of '50s-style jazz-pop vocal groups like the Hi-Lo's, the Axidentals, the Four Freshmen and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fell out of favor as music tastes shifted. There was Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, of course, and a few other groups, but most vocal harmonizing on the pop charts was done by ensembles such as the Fifth Dimension and the Mamas and the Papas.
When jazz-pop vocal groups hit the skids, singers who could handle the rigors of the recording studio slipped into the lucrative world of TV and radio advertising, especially if they could write jingles and artfully arrange the vocal parts.
One of the most successful jingle groups of the '60s was the J's With Jamie. Their vocals can be heard on dozens of the decade's ads for products such as Mr. Clean, Green Giant, Wrigley's Spearmint Gum and Alka-Seltzer to name a few. The quartet from Chicago featured three male singers and one female. At the heart of the group was Joe Silvia and his wife Jamie. The other two slots were filled by a rotating group of male singers, including Len Dressler and Don Shelton. Shelton had been in the Hi-Lo's, and both would help found the Singers Unlimited in the late 1960s with Bonnie Herman and Gene Puerling.
The J's With Jamie also recorded albums for Columbia and ABC-Paramount (with arrangements by Don Costa). The also nearly won two Grammys in 1964 but lost out in the "Best Performance By a Vocal Group" category to Peter, Paul & Mary (Blowin' in the Wind) and in the "Best New Artist" category to Ward Swingle of the Swingle Signers.
Jamie's voice was special. There was an upbeat warmth and polished perfection to her intonation that came with an Eydie Gormé feel. The more you listen to her voice and the group's vocal arrangements, the more remarkable they become. Jamie belonged to a corner of the jazz-pop field rarely explored or celebrated in books or articles.
Frankly, I knew nothing about the J's With Jamie until Mattias Nilsson sent along a link last week to an interview with Gene Puerling of the Hi-Lo's. Deep in the interview, he mentioned that when the Hi-Lo's broke up in '64, Shelton went to Chicago to join the J's With Jamie. When Jamie and Joe Silvia decided to relocate to New York in the late '60s, Shelton remained in Chicago and called Puerling. Bonnie Herman joined along with Dressler. Modeled after the J's With Jamie, the Singers Unlimited recorded ads for a few years until they began making albums as a group in 1971. Here's the Puerlng interview...
Here's a demo reel by the J's With Jamie...
JazzWax tracks: While the albums by the J's With Jamie as well as Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers with Don Costa are super rare, you can listen to all of them and the group's singles at WFMU.org. The best way to access is to go to Google and type in "WFMU.org + the J's and Jamie" (or go here). You'll have to dip in and out of the posts and click on links to listen. There's even a holiday album by the group from 1962 along with their singles. These are the voices that made a generation of parents buy stuff. Quite remarkable.
from JazzWax http://ift.tt/2mVMduX
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