Johnny Cymbal born 3 February 1945

Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a multi-talented individual who assumed various roles in the music industry, and recorded records for a variety of labels over a number of years. Two of his records, which he recorded under different names, became big hits in the 60's.

Johnny Blair adopted the surname of his mother’s second husband (Nick Cymbal) at an early age. In 1952 he and his family moved to Canada (Goderich, Ontario) and in 1960 to Cleveland, Ohio. Johnny started singing at 13 and taught himself to play guitar. MGM Records signed Cymbal when he was 15. They sent him to Nashville, where he cut two singles that flopped, ending the brief association. The first MGM single coupled an uptempo number (the Jerry Lee Lewis B-side “It‘ll Be Me”) with an attractive teen ballad, “Always, Always”.

Managed by Jack Gale, Cymbal cut more singles for different labels, almost having an unexpected hit from a demo entitled "Bachelor Man." He did score in 1963 on Kapp Records with "Mr. Bass Man," which featured Ronnie Bright (Valentines, Cadillacs) responding in bass to Cymbal's high-pitched questions.

                            

The follow-up, "Teenage Heaven," stalled outside Billboard's pop Top 40 at number 58. He switched labels, but nothing clicked at DCP, Columbia, Musicor, or Amaret, but you can't say he didn't try or get opportunities. Labels gave Cymbal shots because he hit once and could write and produce (if necessary); five tool recording artists were rar in the '60s.

Mike Rashkow, Ellie Greenwich and Johnny Cymbal .

Labels began using his skills on other artists, but Cymbal still sought the limelight and began recording under various pseudonyms which included "Brother John", "The Eye-Full Tower", "Dallas" and "The Non-Conformists", among many others.

His Milk sides for Buddah Records didn't fly, but as Derek he had better luck. Derek, Cymbal's brother, played in his band, but the recording voice was Johnny's. As Derek, Johnny cut "Cinnamon" on Bang Records and watched it soar to number 11, eclipsing the success of "Mr. Bass Man." This was a very successful period for Cymbal; he also wrote "Mary in the Morning," for Elvis Presley and was writing for Gene Pitney, Terri Gibbs, Mae West, the Partridge Family, and others. Derek's follow-up, "Back Door Man," braked at number 59, and successors fared even worse. Johnny's brother Derek toured as Derek while he engrossed himself in studio work, but soon Derek played out.

Cymbal became Taurus in 1969 on Tower Records, and later Brother John on A&M. The recordings didn't sell well and Cymbal hooked up with Peggy Clinger and waxed duets as Cymbal & Clinger. He moved to Nashville and recorded occasional singles until the late '80s. Songwriting became his most gainful occupation during these times and Cymbal's compositions regularly graced the country charts.

In his career and his personal life, Johnny Cymbal encountered both fame and misfortune. He had success as a youngster, but struggled through difficult dry periods between hits. He was married and divorced three times. With his first wife Carol (known as "Cubby") whom he married in his late teens, he fathered two children: a girl, Kimberly, and a son, John, Jr. He maintained a close relationship with both throughout his life. In the 1970s, he lost his soul-mate and writing/performing partner, Peggy Clinger, to a drug overdose. Shaken by that tragedy, he conquered his own addictions and rediscovered his Christianity.

Starting over, he left the West Coast and soon established himself as a writer of consequence in Nashville. Then, with ten solid years of creativity in Nashville, he suddenly died of a heart attack on March 16, 1993, almost 6 weeks past his 48th birthday. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes were spread at Lake Radnor in Nashville.

Only 5 days before, looking well and happy, Cymbal played a few of his biggest hits in flawless renditions, to a closed group at an informal writers' conference. Playing all alone as a solo performer, this last show was video-recorded and here’s a clip of Johnny singing “Mary in the Morning.”

 
(Edited from Wikipedia but mainly from a bio by Andrew Hamilton@ AllMusic)

Mimi Perrin born 2 February 1926

Jeannine "Mimi" Perrin (February 2, 1926 – November 16, 2010) was a French jazz pianist and singer, and translator.

Perrin received private musical instruction, including piano as a child and pursued English studies at Sorbonne. In 1949, she contracted tuberculosis and was treated at a sanatorium. She recovered and hit the French jazz scene in the cabarets of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, coming to prominence in jazz clubs as a pianist in her own trio. She met her husband, an amateur guitar and bass player.

Between 1956 and 1958, she was a member of Blossom Dearie's vocal group Blue Stars of France, but worked mostly in studios as a background singer to yé-yé singers and bands.

Jean-Claude Briodin, Louis Aldebert, Mimi Perrin, Monique (Guérin) Aldebert

In 1959, she formed the vocal sextet Les Double Six, which included, among others, Louis and Monique Aldebert, Roger Guérin, Christiane Legrand, Ward Swingle, Eddy Louiss and Bernard Lubat. The band name alluded to the fact that the group used overdubbing in the studio to sing twelve-part songs. The group oriented itself to the vocalese of King Pleasure on one side, and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross on the other, and was quite successful in the early 1960s.

                           

Les Double Six completed several European tours and also travelled to North America, recording with Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles. Perrin was the leader and principal soloist in the group and established herself solo with John Coltrane's song "Naima" "as one of the great jazz singers." From 
her ensemble eventually emerged the Swingle Singers, led by Ward Swingle after he left the Double Six. A later group, founded in 1966 by Perrin, did not achieve her previous success, and she abandoned music after another bout of tuberculosis.

From 1972 onwards, she worked as a translator of science-fiction and fantasy stories by Roger Zelazny, Robert Sheckley, James Blish, and Dean Koontz, among others. In the 1980s and 1990, she translated more mainstream novels (including Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Louise Erdrich's Tracks and Love Medicine) as well as biographies of Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg. She was also known for her French rendition of the novels by John le Carré since 1989, and later by Ha Jin, with her daughter Isabelle.

She died on November 16, 2010 in Paris, at the age of 84 years.

Jack Huddle born 1 February 1928

Jack Huddle (1 February 1928–3 January 1973) was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. He performed and recorded with Buddy Holly early in Holly's career.

Huddle was born in Paris, Texas into the family of Adrian and Velma Huddle in 1928. Twelve years later he was joined by his only sister, Judith. Even at a young age, Jack loved to sing and play the guitar. Sometimes he played on the air on radio KPLT. At age 16, Jack got married. Soon after, he joined the Navy to serve for three years in WWII.

After his return to Paris, Jack started playing the bass fiddle in dance bands. His marriage soon broke up and his wife left with their newly born son. Jack was drafted to do his duty in Korea for ten months.

In 1952 he enrols in the Foods and Nutrition department at Texas Tech University and moves to Lubbock. He also moves there for the love of his new girl Dolores. His parents and his sister soon follow him to Lubbock. His father starts working as a grocery store clerk and his sister starts working in a biscuit factory together with Peggy Sue Gerron.

In 1953, he started working for the brand-new KDUB TV Channel 13, the local branch of CBS. He had a friendly manner and a way with children. He hosted the children's program Children's Theatre every weekday.

On an evening show once a week called Circle 13 Roundup; Jack was accompanied by a combo and sang popular western hits of the day. On this show he sometimes teamed up with Charlene Hancock, the wife of Tommy Hancock. Tommy was the owner of the infamous Cotton Club in Lubbock where Elvis and Little Richard performed. Also Clyde Hankins was asked by Jack to join him now and then. Clyde worked at the Adair music store in Lubbock and was known for selling Buddy Holly his first Fender Stratocaster. 

He also taught Buddy how to play the guitar and widened Buddy's view into musical styles other than country, especially jazz.

In 1953 Jack gave a young Buddy Holly a break when he let him perform with his friend Jack Neal as the Buddy & Jack duo on the talent show "Around Lubbock." For a short stint Jack even hosted a Grand Ole Opry-style show called the "G.E. Jamboree." In those years at KDUB Jack became widely known in the West Texas area and played lots of gigs.

On April 28, 1957, Jack made the trip to Clovis, New Mexico, together with his friend and writing partner Jim Robinson. Buddy Holly was also there or was asked by Jack to go with him. Buddy played lead guitar on the recordings made that day: "Starlight" and "Believe Me". The instrumental break on "Starlight" was often considered as one of the catchiest guitar breaks by Buddy on a non-Buddy or non-Crickets record.

                          

The session was kicked off by Jim Robinson (Jimmie Zed Robinson) singing "Whole Lot of Lovin'" and "It's a Wonderful Feeling." After that it was Huddle's turn. Jack and Jim recorded two other songs in Clovis in 1959 which were "Midnight Monsters Hop" and "Tarzan and Jane". Buddy didn't play on them. Jack and 

Jim also wrote "Frankie Frankenstein" that was recorded in Clovis and sung by Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly's drummer.

Around 1959 Jack has seen enough of Lubbock for unknown reasons and leaves for Houston. There he kept playing gigs and started working as a sales manager for the Chronister Valve Company. He was still in their employment when he died of a heart attack at the age of 45. His grave is located in Paris, Texas

(Edited mainly from Buddy Holly – The Complete Works)

Roosevelt Sykes born 31 January 1906

Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906 – July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "The Honeydripper".

Sykes was born in Elmar, Arkansas, and grew up near Helena. At age 15, he went on the road playing piano in a barrelhouse style of blues. Like many bluesmen of his time, he travelled around playing to all-male audiences in sawmill, turpentine and levee camps along the Mississippi River, gathering a repertoire of raw, sexually explicit material. His wanderings eventually brought him to St. Louis, Missouri, where he met St. Louis Jimmy Oden, the writer of the blues standard "Goin' Down Slow".

In 1929 he was spotted by a talent scout and sent to New York City to record for Okeh Records. His first release was "44 Blues" which became a blues standard and his signature song. He soon began recording for different labels under various names, including Easy Papa Johnson, Dobby Bragg, and Willie Kelly (for Victor Records from 1930 to 1933).

During this period he befriended another blues musician, the singer Charlie "Specks" McFadden, and accompanied him on half of the McFadden's recordings. After he and Oden moved to Chicago, Sykes found his first period of fame when he signed a contract with Decca Records in 1934. In 1943, he signed with Bluebird Records and recorded with the Honeydrippers,. scoring a pair of R&B hits in 1945 (covers of Cecil Gant's "I Wonder" and Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper").

                             

The following year, he scored one more national chart item for the parent Victor logo, the lowdown blues "Sunny Road." He also often toured and recorded with singer St. Louis Jimmy Oden, the originator of the classic "Going Down Slow."Sykes and Oden continued their musical friendship into the 1960s.

In Chicago, Sykes began to display an increasing urbanity in his songwriting, using an eight-bar blues pop gospel structure instead of the traditional twelve-bar blues. Despite the growing urbanity of his style, he gradually became less competitive in the post–World War II music scene. After his contract with RCA Victor expired, he recorded for smaller labels, such as United, until his opportunities ran out in the mid-1950s.

Sykes left Chicago in 1954 for New Orleans as electric blues was taking over the Chicago blues clubs. When he returned to recording in the 1960s, it was for labels such as Delmark, Bluesville, Storyville and Folkways, which were documenting the quickly passing blues history. He lived out his final years in New Orleans, where he died from a heart attack on July 17, 1983.

Sykes had a long career, spanning the pre-war and post-war eras. His pounding piano boogies and risqué lyrics characterize his contributions to the blues. He was responsible for influential blues songs such as "44 Blues", "Driving Wheel", and "Night Time Is the Right Time".

He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in 2011.

(edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)

Bernie Leighton born 30 January 1921

Bernie Leighton (January 30, 1921 – September 16, 1994) was an American jazz pianist. He was a very active studio musician and a sideman to many great stars.

Bernie Leighton was born in West Haven, Connecticut, as Delroy Lazeroff.  He studied piano privately with Samuel Yaffe from 1926 to 1930, Florence Morrison from 1930 to 1937 in Connecticut, and with Bruce Simonds from 1937 to 1941 at the Yale School of Music in new Haven. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree.

His amateur performing experience included a three year stint from 1934 to 1937 throughout Connecticut with Harry Berman and Sy Dyers. He moved to New York City in 1938 where he adopted the

professional name Bernie Leighton while working with Red Stanley, Enric Madriguera and the Milt Herth Trio.  

He also played with Bud Freeman, Leo Reisman, Raymond Scott (1940) and Benny Goodman (1940-41) before serving in the Army. Following his discharge, he found much work as a studio sideman, with Dave Tough (1946), Billie Holiday (1949), Neal Hefti (1951), Goodman again, Artie Shaw (1953), John Serry, Sr. (1956), James Moody (1963) and Bob Wilber (1969).

                            

Although he never became that well-known, the value of Bernie Leighton's playing was well-known to his fellow musicians. As a leader he recorded six titles for Keynote in 1946, four for Mecury in 1950, an album for Columbia in 1950, four swing titles for Brunswick in 1951, mood music LPs for Disneyland and Capitol

(both in 1957). He also recorded for Cameo and EmArcy. His instrumental cover of Connie Francis' "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You" on the Colpix label in 1962 reached #101 on Billboard's listing. He also recorded a Duke Ellington tribute for Monmouth/Evergreen (1974).

Leighton did a tour with Tony Bennett in 1972-73. He is known for his work on the films Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) in which he also has a cameo role, Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and New York Stories (1989).

He died on September 16, 1994 in Coconut Creek, Florida.

(Info scarce but edited from Wikipedia, IMDb  & People In Jazz.)

Felice Taylor born 29 January 1944

Felice Taylor (born Florain Corella Flanagan, January 29, 1944 – June 12, 2017) was an American soul and pop singer, best known for her recordings in the late 1960s.

Born in Richmond, California, United States, Taylor began singing with her sisters Norma and Darlene Flanagan in a trio, The Sweets, who only recorded one single, "The Richest Girl", for the Valiant label in 1965.

                           

Taylor's first solo recording in 1966, "Think About Me" on the Groovy label, was credited to Florain Taylor. Her greatest success came after signing for Bob Keane's Mustang label, a subsidiary of Bronco Records. There she was teamed with the songwriters and record producers, Barry White and Paul Politi, who co-wrote "It 

May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)", a minor hit reaching No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 44 on the R&B chart in early 1967, and its follow-up "I'm Under the Influence of Love". A third single, "I Feel Love Comin' On", also written and produced by White and Politi was not released in the US, but reached No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart, when leased to President Records later in 1967.

She visited the UK and appeared at the Saville Theatre in London in the series of Sunday evening concerts put on by Brian Epstein.

After leaving Bronco, Taylor recorded for Kent Records, and later in the UK with Eddy Grant and Derv Gordon of the Equals. In 1973, White's protégées Love Unlimited recorded new versions of "It May Be Winter Outside" and "Under the Influence of Love" and Barry White recorded "I Feel Love Comin' On" on The Love Unlimited Orchestra's top ten album Rhapsody in White.

Sing Me A Love Song however, is one that got away. Penned by Richie Adams and Irwin Levine, it was recorded but never released until much later. Taylor herself seems not to have recorded after the early 1970s.

She was married to Johnny B Taylor and had four children.

She died in June 2017, aged 73. She was interred at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.  (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)

Phil Flowers born 28 February 1934

Phil Flowers (28 January 1934 - 22 January 2001) was a Washington area singer and composer who performed in the United States and abroad since the 1950's. He was sometimes described as "The Black Elvis" and "Skip Manning."

Phil Flowers was primarily a soul singer, but he has recorded in a wide variety of styles: rock ’n’ roll, gospel, R&B, blues, ballads and sixties pop. Rock and roll fans will remember him most of all for his frantic rocker “No Kissin’ At the Hop” from 1958. Although he never had a national hit, Flowers managed to sustain a career in music for four decades.

Born Philip James Flowers on a small farm in Longwood County, North Carolina, Flowers was taught how to pick a guitar by his father, Phil senior. By the time he was fourteen, Phil decided that picking a guitar was a lot easier than picking cotton, so he joined a travelling combo that played in his town. Phil played with various groups until he got a letter from Uncle Sam and was enlisted into the U.S. Air Force. During his service he starred with the successful “Tops in Blue” Air Force show and played camps all around the country.

After his return to civilian life, Phil began singing professionally in the Washington D.C. area. He made his first record for the Hollywood label in 1956, “Honey Chile” (not the Fats Domino number). The other side was performed by a different artist. Two more releases on Hollywood followed before Phil was signed by Mercury in 1958. Only one single was issued, on the Wing subsidiary, “No Kissin’ At the Hop”/“Walking At Night” (Wing 2100).

                           

Both sides were written by Phil himself, in partnership with Cindy Davis, a pseudonym for Kay Adelman, whose husband Ben Adelman ran the Empire label between 1959 and 1962. Phil would have two releases on Empire in 1960, “Sadie From Haiti” and “Ham ’n’ Eggs”. The latter record was credited to the pseudonym “Skip Manning”. The Adelmans formed a joint publishing venture with Phil Flowers and Lillian Claiborne, called Lil-Phil-Ben.

The Wing single failed to catch on and Mercury did not release any further recordings by Phil. There followed a long period of label-hopping, with releases on United Artists, Empire, Honey, Sway, Domino, Josie, Almanac and Columbia. During the early 1960s Flowers recorded mostly twist and other dance records, as well as a gospel album in 1963. After the dance crazes went out of fashion in the Beatles era, he switched to soul music.

In the 1960s, Flowers had a great band, the nucleus of which consisted of Melvin Lee (guitar), Willie Melvin (bass), Harold Blair (sax) and T.N.T. Tribble (drums). Tribble is credited on several of Phil’s recordings and he also recorded in his own right.

Things finally began to happen for Flowers in late 1967. His second Dot single, “Cry On My Shoulder”, sold well on the East Coast and Phil was invited to sing on the nationally televised Dick Clark Show. An album for Dot ("Our Man In Washington”) was well received. 

In 1968, Flowers performed at the White House, during the Johnson administration. That same year, at the request of the mayor of Washington, D.C., Flowers and his backing group (The Flower Shop) were dispatched to sing in neighbourhoods where riots had broken out after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

From 1969 until 1973 Flowers recorded for A&M, Bell and Epic.

His covers of “Like A Rolling Stone”and “Every Day I Have To Cry” (A&M, 1970) were also released in the UK, his first releases there. He appeared in Las Vegas and was a regular at Washington hotels and clubs, often performing with his siblings and children as backup singers. Much of his repertoire consisted of self-composed songs (Phil was a prolific songwriter) and he did impressions of a wide range of other singers, including Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. In the late 1970s he was the lead singer of the rock group Jebediah, with whom he recorded an album of Jagger-Richards compositions for Epic in 1978. 

During the later years of his life, Phil performed mostly on cruise ships, as well as in Bermuda, Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico and some European countries.

Phil Flowers died of cancer in 2001, six days before his 67th birthday. He collapsed at his home in Gaithersburg, Maryland and was taken to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, where he died the next day.

( Edited from Black cat Rockabilly Europe)