#717 (Week of 7/2/11 - 7/8/11)

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE FLASH LABEL

"Counting My Teardrops"/"The Devil's Cousin"
by The Jayhawks
on Flash CR-105-A/B
released in 1955

[Both above right photos are from Relic #5049 LP album cover.]

Above Left: Clipping from The Billboard dated 9/15/56.

Above Right: (Top) Flash Record Shop located in Los Angeles. (Bottom) Charlie "Flash" Reynolds, who owned the record store and set up Flash Records in the back room.

Above: (Left) Column from The Billboard dated 4/28/56 and (Right) clipping from The Billboard dated 5/5/58. Flash Records was formed in June 1955 and existed until 1959. Al Curry, a friend of Reynolds, was The Jayhawks' manager for about a year.

News Release:

• (February 1956) New r&b label on the market is Flash Records, whose first release of "Counting My Teardrops" by the Jayhawks is already going great guns in L.A....
  (Actually, there were at least three releases on Flash before this one.)

Above: The Jayhawks from late 1955, (Top) Carver Bunkum (bass), (Bottom L-R) Carl Fisher (2nd tenor), Dave Govan (baritone) and James Johnson (1st tenor). The members for their first two records (Flash 105 & 109) had René Beard (baritone) and Cleo White (tenor). Govan came in afterward.

News Releases:

• (May 1956) The Jayhawks will appear on the Johnny Otis TV show to perform their smash "Stranded in the Jungle"....
• (June 1956) The Jayhawks, via their recording of "Stranded in the Jungle," go into the Apollo Theater, New York, June 29 for one week....
• (October 1956) Flash Rec­ords' group, the Jayhawks, back in town after their successful eastern tour. Boys have a new one out titled "Don't Mind Dyin" and "Love Train"....

Click HERE for an article about The Jayhawks by Marv Goldberg.
(Will open in a separate window)

Above: Clipping from June 1956 for The Jayhawks' original version of "Stranded In The Jungle," initially intended as the "B" side.

News Releases:

• (June 1956) Flash Records is giving away lapel pins made in the form of a diamond studded record as a promotion for their "Stranded in the Jungle" with the Jay-hawks. The side is already big in the LA. area and is beginning to show up around the country....
• (July 1956) Al Curry and Charlie Reynolds, Flash Records, accepted a check from Murray Deutsch of Southern Music for their hit song "Stranded In The Jungle." Tune started out via the Flash recording by the Jayhawks, and has since broken wide open with versions by the Cadets on Modern and the Gadabouts on Mercury. Deutsch made a special one-day trip to the Coast to snag the rights to the song....

Above: Label image of Flash CR-105 recorded on October 2, 1955 and released about two weeks later. Less than one thousand were sold. Carl Fisher sings lead on "Counting..." while he shares the honor with James Johnson on the flip side. This is the first of three releases by The Jayhawks on Flash (1955-56). They followed with two records (one backing Earl Palmer) on Aladdin (1957). Later releases (1958-63) were as The Vibes, The Vibrations and The Marathons (as well as one more record as The Jayhawks).

Listen to this week's selections by The Jayhawks on Flash CR-105-A/B from 1955:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

A. Stream RealAudio...             1. Counting My Teardrops           2. The Devil's Cousin             BOTH played in sequence      B. Download RealAudio...             1. Counting My Teardrops           2. The Devil's Cousin      C. Stream/Download Media Player...             1. Counting My Teardrops           2. The Devil's Cousin

     [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]

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