The Spaniels, the Beatles, and the Rise and Fall of Vee-Jay Records
(8 downloads)Monday, Jan 14, 2008
(Pictured from left to right: James Bracken, Ewart Abner, Vivian Carter, and Calvin Carter)“Don’cha Go”: this offering from Do Wop pioneers, the Spaniels, was apparently recorded on February 19, 1955 but there’s some question about this because of missing information from Vee Jay Records’ studio log. Tenor saxophonist, Red Holloway, led the house band on this date instead of Al Smith who normally filled this duty. Another well storied vocal group, the Dells, also recorded on this date, producing two tracks of their own. When “Don’cha Go” was released, it was issued as the B side to “Do Wah” which was actually recorded two years earlier but withheld, presumably due to low expectations.
In addition to Pookie Hudson’s incredible voice as the lead, one thing you’ve got to love about any Spaniels recording is Gerald Gregory’s innovative bass vocals, which while threading a counter-melody to Hudson’s lead serve up an additional, vocalized, instrumental part: like an extra string bass or a baritone sax.
Vee Jay records was founded in 1953 in Gary, IN by Vivian Carter and her future husband James C. Bracken; the name of the label was taken from their first initials. Vee Jay was the largest, most successful black owned record label prior to Motown. Vivian Carter initially got into the radio business in 1948 after winning a talent contest which awarded a DJ spot on Chicago radio station WGES. She eventually came back to her hometown of Gary and landed spots with the local stations WWCA and then WGRY. By 1950, she and Bracken had opened up a record store called ‘Vivian’s’ where they specialized in the same black audience material that Vivian was spinning on the radio. Well aware by now of the promotional strength behind Vivian’s influence over the airwaves, the couple (it seems like they have been a couple for several years at this point) established Vee Jay records in 1953 signing as their first acts, the Spaniels and blues guitarist Jimmy Reed. A third name in the Vee Jay administration was Vivian’s bother Calvin Carter who served as the labels A&R man.
From here until the mid-60s, Vivian, James, Calvin and later Sid McCoy and Ewart Abner (who would eventually become president of the company) proceeded to assemble one of the most unbelievable catalogs ever held by an independently owned record label. Actually, it’s Calvin who was the real engine behind their talent surplus which extended across a wide range of genres. In gospel he was responsible for signing the Staple Singers and the Original Five Blind Boys. In blues he got Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker. R&B: Gene Chandler (Duke of Earl), Jerry Butler, the Spaniels and the Dells. Curtis Mayfield, as a member of the Impressions, did his first recordings with Vee Jay. In 1961 Carter, signed the Four Seasons as a very successful white act working with Vee Jay. In 1958, Sid McCoy would join the label handling A&R for their jazz division. He would go on to sign: Gene Ammons, Wynton Kelly, Lee Morgan, Paul Chambers and Wayne Shorter to name a few.
The biggest deal, as it turns out, was in 1962 after the British label EMI approached its US interest, Capitol Records, with a few acts that it wished to introduce to the American market. Though owned by EMI, Capitol acted fairly autonomously in its business decisions and had the option to refuse material from the parent company. Among the acts that Capitol turned down was the Beatles. Thus, the opportunity to introduce the Fab Four to the US was passed on to Vee Jay, which was by now getting noticed as an important entity in the American music industry. They released the singles: “Love Me Do”; “Please Please Me”; and “From Me to You”. Unfortunately this was the beginning of the end. Vee Jay was experiencing an explosion of sales independent of, but simultaneous to their signing the Beatles, and it doesn’t look like they were prepared to make the jump.
It’s not completely clear what caused Vee Jay’s collapse but a certain amount of blame has been directed at Ewart Abner, who at this time was acting as the president. Amid complaints from the Four Seasons thir royalty payments, word got out that Vee Jay was in financial straits. at Vee Jay was not keeping up with theTaking this as their cue, EMI sought to retract all of their contracts from Vee Jay. Obviously prompted by the unforeseen success of the Beatles, EMI wanted to redirect US control of this profitable act back to their subsidiary, Capitol. Abner, under fire from accusations of shoddy bookkeeping and mismanagement resigned and the Brackens returned to the helm of Vee Jay’s day to day management. This wasn’t enough, if it made any difference at all. It seems like Vee Jay was an organization which always operated as a small business, whether under the guidance of Abner or the Brackens, and did not have the wherewithal to make the transition from a small business to a big business. They were also in no position to defend themselves against a powerful company like EMI's decision that it had had a change of heart. In late 1963, when Vivian and James released the LP ‘Introducing the Beatles’, culled from material that they may have felt some legal entitlement to (though pretty similar in scope to Capitol's ‘Meet the Beatles’) they were issued a cease and desist order from the EMI lawyers.
Vee Jay filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1966 amid a torrent of litigation and after hemorrhaging much of their most lucrative talent to bigger players.
And there you have it, a brief synopsis of another lost legend. What about the Spaniels?-the first of the many impressive jewels in the crown worn by one of the great stories in American pop music. Besides, we gave them a discussion in the last post about side-A.
Check this site for a more in depth look at the Vee Jay legacy and to get a better understanding of all the great shit this little record company from Gary was responsible for:
http://www.vee-jay.net/
For something even more in depth, check this:
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/veejay.html
Vee-Jay 131, 1955