Joined:
May 2005
Posts: 486
Location: North Carolina | I was listening to Joey Reynolds out of New York this morning, and when I turned it on someone was playing "She Cried" with one guitar and voices, and damn if it didn't sound just like the original by Jay and the Americans. That's because it's exactly who it was. Well, the Americans anyway, all original but with a new Jay who sounded exactly like the old Jay. What I learned during the interview was that there were actually two old Jays: Jay Traynor who did "She Cried" then left, and Jay Black (David Blatt) who did everything else. The current Jay, Jay Reincke, was recruited from a tribute band out of Chicago.
OK, so what? What I found interesting was the business structure. I tend to think of the back up singers as being guys who sing oohs and ahs and probably hate the front guy, and are essentially along for the ride. In this case, however, they are the guys who put the band together, pushed for the deals, and hired the Jays.
Another interesting tidbit: two guys in their backup band, Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, teamed up and later had some degree of success. |
OT: Interesting Music Biz Stuff
