Jay And The Americans, Brooklyn Bridge, and Bobby Brooks Wilson

Originally fronted by John “Jay” Traynor, the band cut their teeth performing around several student venues at the University of New York during the late 1950’s. After several of these shows the band felt that they were ready to hit the big time, and auditioned for pop songwriting legends Leiber and Stoller. The “Hound Dog” hit makers saw potential in the group and got them signed to United Artists Records, however their first effort, 1961’s “Tonight”, stalled at number 120 on the Billboard Charts. However, the fickle nature of pop stardom actually worked in the band’s favour, and their follow up single, 1962’s “She Cried”, was a top five hit on the very same chart a matter of months later.

Unfortunately, the band couldn’t replicate the success of “She Cried”, try as they might, and after three dud singles Traynor left the group. Normally that would be the end of Jay And The Americans’ story, but it’s at this point that two members of The Empires joined the band to fill the void left by Traynor, guitarist Marty Sanders and singer David Black. Black agreed to change his stage name to Jay Black for the sake of the band’s name, and the first single they released with their new line-up, 1963’s “Only In America”, stormed into the charts at number 25, saving their career in the nick of time. Over the next two years they scored a further two top five hit singles in the form of 1964’s number three hit “Come A Little Closer” and 1965’s “Cara Mia”, which hit number four.

With a back catalogue made up of some of the finest pop hits of the 1960’s the band spent the rest of their career as a must-see live act, even though their singles were failing to chart. The band eventually split in 1973, but in 2006 its founding members reunited fronted by a third “Jay” by the name of John “Jay” Reincke. They are as good as any band with over half a century’s worth of performing experience would be, and with a back catalogue like theirs, they come highly recommended.