THE GALLAHADS "SILENTLY / BARRACUDA" (1958) [featuring VINNIE BELL on guitar]

Recently I took care about Vinnie Bell's debut single and album, both released in 1960. Before I proceed with his following solo releases, I think it's worth exploring a few singles released by other groups on which he guested during the previous years.

These records feature Bell's guitar mastery - sometimes also crediting him as a composer - and are important because they present the first recorded evidences of his tricks and effects.

The first post in this mini-series is dedicated to The Gallahads "Silently b/w Barracuda", a single released in 1958, which - as far as I know - is the earliest record featuring Vinnie Bell - credited as Vincent Gambella, his birth name - on guitar.

For a detailed biography of Vinnie Bell, I suggest that you read this other post of mine.

The Gallahads biography is available here on the great White Doo-wop Collector blog.

The Gallahads, circa 1956

Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. Silently (2:11)
02. Barracuda (2:26)

Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in March 2017 and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the original item.

Please have a look at the comments section for the download link.



Produced by Lee Schapiro and featuring an orchestra conducted by Billy Mure, "Silently b/w Barracuda" was released by Vik, then a subsidiary of RCA, with catalogue number 4X-0332 sometimes during the summer of 1958. Unfortunately the copy in my possession is housed in a plain white sleeve, but at the time of release it was probably offered in a company sleeve similar to the one that I tried to faithfully reconstruct as the opening image of this post.

In France, the two songs were included on the first side of a four tracks EP entitled "Barracuda", released in 1959 by RCA with catalogue number 75.467. The tracks on the flipside, namely "Steady Man" and "Best Wishes", were both culled from this other single. It is interesting to note that the Bell-driven instrumental track "Barracuda" - which didn't feature any vocals from The Gallahads - was given more prominence than their Doo-wop numbers.



Side A features "Silently", a song composed by Dick Wolf and Billy Mure;this catalog of copyright entries returns a "26 June 1958" as registration date. The song was briefly reviewed in the August 9, 1958, issue of The Cash Box magazine: «The boys work vocally on this end as they present a shuffle beat ballad with Jack Vincent in the lead. Gal chorus accompanies the group's hushed vocal technique.»

Side B offers "Barracuda", which according to the same catalog mentioned above, was written by Marilyn Christina, Arlene Davis and Grace Brown and was copyrighted on "3 July 1958". The center label includes a "Featuring Vincent Gambella" credit but doesn't mention his instrument. The following short review is taken, once again, from The Cash Box magazine; it praises Bell's guitar work but wrongly assigns its merit to the group: «The Gallalads display their instrumental talents on an excellent cha cha item that could take off. Side has a number of fascinating instrumental gimmicks and a wonderful dance beat.»

Vinnie Bell in the early '60s

The following clips offer a complete preview of the remastered single, enjoy!

More information about The Gallahads and Vinnie Bell is available here:

http://whitedoowopcollector.blogspot.com/2009/02/gallahadsthe-morning-mail.html

http://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursg/gallahads.htm

http://doo-wop.blogg.org/the-gallahads-1-a116516180

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3790300-The-Gallahads-2

http://www.vinniebell.com/

http://www.spaceagepop.com/bell.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinnie_Bell

http://www.danguitars.com/VINCENT_BELL.html

https://www.discogs.com/artist/353572-Vinnie-Bell

If you have any other useful information about this post or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

LANCE CURTIS & THE UNIQUES "LEAHI / SYMPATHY" (1960)

Aia Le'ahi, 'uhe'uhene
Kaimana Hila, 'uhe'uhene
Hoku kau 'ale kai a'o Mamala
'Uhe'uhene

Malama pono 'oe, uheuhene
I ka poe pele, 'uhe'uhene
'O ili kaua la ilaila
'O ili kaua i ka puko'a
'Uhe'uhene

'O ka po'e kaulana, 'uhe'uhene
Kau i ka nuku, 'uhe'uhene
Nana a'o ho'owale nei i ka moana
'Uhe'uhene

Ha'awi ke aloha, 'uhe'uhene
Lulu lima, 'uhe'uhene
Me na huapala maka onaona
'Uhe'uhene

Kau aku 'oe, 'uhe'uhene
I ke ka'api'o, 'uhe'uhene
Pa ana ka uwepa kiani
'Uhe'uhene

Kupaianaha, 'uhe'uhene
Kahi kalaiwa, 'uhe'uhene
Ka lawe no a kiki'i pau
'Uhe'uhene

Ha'ina 'ia, 'uhe'uhene
Mai ka puana, 'uhe'uhene
O ka poe kaulana kau i ka nuku
'Uhe'uhene

Ha'ina 'ia, 'uhe'uhene
Mai ka puana, 'uhe'uhene
Goodbye kaua e ke aloha
'Uhe'uhene

[From the lyrics of "Leahi"]



Dick Jensen was a live musical performer of the Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Gospel genres; a native Hawaiian athletic song stylist and a prime mover of nightclub shows. For a more detailed biography about him, I suggest that you have a look at this other post available here on Stereo Candies.

Born Richard Hiram Jensen in 1942, he first became interested in music through the numerous luaus his family would attend. When the family was back from the barbecue, his mother would often play the guitar and Dick, along with his five brothers and sisters, would sing, and play along on the ukulele, or a nearby spoon and ladle, or whatever might be handy. His first experience on stage was in the fourth grade when he put together a group for a teacher's show.

Dick continued to sing through his formative years and began to gain a local reputation. While he was at Honolulu's Farrington High School, he entered a local talent contest, winning first place, and adopted the stage name of Lance Curtis at the suggestion of Tom Moffatt and Earl Finch, both active as promoters in the local Hawaii scene; the name was choosen for its illusory Hollywoodian qualities.

The award gained Jensen a spot on one of Hawaii's major television shows and led to his first single recording Bye Bye Baby / Lover's Paradise published by Teen Records in 1959, which was the subject of a previous post.

Sympathy / Leahi, credited to Lance Curtis & The Uniques, was released on the same label the following year.



On side A we find "Leahi", which is reported to be the first Hawaiian song ever recorded with a rock beat. On the label the song is credited to a certain Owens, which I easily guess is Harry Owens, but other Internet sources credit the song to Johnny Noble and Mary Pula'a Robins... A version recorded in the early 70s by Gabby Pahinui was included in the soundtrack of "The Descendants" in 2011. Leahi is a 760-foot tuff crater and one of Hawaii's most famous landmarks. More information about the song and a translation of the lyrics are available here.

The flip side offers "Sympathy", a simple Doo-wop number which was penned by Jensen himself. The song features the usual vocal harmonies that this style implies and unobtrusive musical accompaniment.

The Uniques, exact date unknown, probably taken in 1959-1960

Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. Leahi (1:56)
02. Sympathy (2:07)

Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in April 2013 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include scans of the original item in PDF format. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.

The following video offers a preview of the remastered single; the original vinyl was pretty worn, especially the flip side, it was a particularly difficult task this time so don't expect miracles... Anyway, I hope you will enjoy "Leahi"!

More information about Dick Jensen is available here:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/06/22/news/story02.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/22/il/FP606220304.html

http://www.oahuislandnews.com/May05/Home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jensen

I'm currently compiling a Dick Jensen biography, the first part of this work-in-progress covers the period 1942-1972 and is available here.

I'm also trying to compile a Dick Jensen exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

Last but not least, I'm also trying to build a collection of Dick Jensen pictures and memorabilia, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Dick Jensen on this blog are available here.

I will post more Dick Jensen stuff in the next weeks, if you have any other useful information about him and his releases or if you spot any dead links, just get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

LANCE CURTIS "BYE BYE BABY / LOVER'S PARADISE" (1959)

I stopped by your door, waited outside
couldn't forget what happened last night
for loving you is a lover's paradise

I walked to your door, wanting just you
found you were gone with someone new
oh, loving you is a lover's paradise

I left your home and searched for you
but couldn't find you left no clue
out of my head and in sorrow here
it was because of you

Now that you've found somebody new
guess I'm a fool for loving you
oh, loving you is a lover's paradise

[From the lyrics of "Lover's Paradise"]



Dick Jensen was a live musical performer of the Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Gospel genres; a native Hawaiian athletic song stylist and a prime mover of nightclub shows. For a more detailed biography about him, I suggest that you have a look at this other post available here on Stereo Candies.

Born Richard Hiram Jensen in 1942, he first became interested in music through the numerous luaus his family would attend. When the family was back from the barbecue, his mother would often play the guitar and Dick, along with his five brothers and sisters, would sing, and play along on the ukulele, or a nearby spoon and ladle, or whatever might be handy. His first experience on stage was in the fourth grade when he put together a group for a teacher's show.

Dick continued to sing through his formative years and began to gain a local reputation. While he was at Honolulu's Farrington High School, he entered a local talent contest, winning first place, and adopted the stage name of Lance Curtis at the suggestion of Tom Moffatt and Earl Finch, both active as promoters in the local Hawaii scene; the name was choosen for its illusory Hollywoodian qualities.

The award gained Jensen a spot on one of Hawaii's major television shows and led to his first single recording Bye Bye Baby / Lover's Paradise published by Teen Records in 1959, which is the subject of this post.



Side A offers "Bye Bye Baby", a sober Rock'n'Roll number written by Frank McNulty, which is infused with Doo-wop and Rhythm'n'n Blues, and is mostly notable for its high-pitched vibraphone sound. A very nice debut for Mr. Jensen!

On the flip side we find "Lover's Paradise", which was penned by Jensen himself. This is a more straight Doo-wop piece, with minimal accompaniment and the usual vocal harmonies that this style implies.

Dick Jensen as Lance Curtis, circa 1959

Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. Bye Bye Baby (2:15)
02. Lover's Paradise (2:33)

Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in February 2013 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include scans of the original item in PDF format. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.

The following video offers a preview of the remastered single; the original vinyl was pretty worn, so don't expect miracles... Anyway, I hope you will enjoy "Bye Bye Baby"!

More information about Dick Jensen is available here:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/06/22/news/story02.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/22/il/FP606220304.html

http://www.oahuislandnews.com/May05/Home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jensen

I'm currently compiling a Dick Jensen biography, the first part of this work-in-progress covers the period 1942-1972 and is available here.

I'm also trying to compile a Dick Jensen exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

Last but not least, I'm also trying to build a collection of Dick Jensen pictures and memorabilia, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Dick Jensen on this blog are available here.

I will post more Dick Jensen stuff in the next weeks, if you have any other useful information about him and his releases or if you spot any dead links, just get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!