JAD & the Pittsburgh / New York Connection

[Roburt]

JAD Records was a record label that was co-owned by Johnny Nash, producer Arthur Jenkins, and businessman Danny Sims, whose initials formed its logo.
JAD Records Co. Inc. was located 221 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019. They cut lots of their tracks @ Broadway Recording Studio (1697 Broadway, NY).

Johnny Nash had been in the recording biz a long time; his 1st US 45 escaping in 1956, with his 1st UK release following in 1957 (Ladder Of Love on HMV). He went through lots of style changes & had releases on many US labels (ABC, Warners, Groove, Argo, Cadet, Atlantic, MGM, Epic). He first started Joda in 65 with Jad following in 68 (they also used the Jomada & Jocida label names).

You'd think with a long musical pedigree, his big hits around the world, his connections in the biz (Lloyd Price, Howard Tate, Kim Weston, Don Covay & many more) + his links with reggae / Bob Marley from 1968, that everything would be known about his career / his recording work. BUT there a large gaps in knowledge right thru his time in the biz -- 1953 thru to 2006. He was born in Houston & initially made his name on a TV show in 1953. He was recording from 1957 and also made a name for himself as an actor.

The period I'm focusing on here are his Joda & Jad days; 1965 to 1970. He was working out of New York & (then) Jamaica / New York in that period, collaborating with the likes of Arthur Jenkins, Gerry Thomas (of the Fatback Band) and others. For Jocida, he signed & recorded Pittsburgh based (white) jazz organist Gene Ludwig. How that connection came about I'm totally in the dark about. He also signed better known names to his labels' Lloyd Price, Howard Tate, Kim Weston, Gloria Gaynor, Rosco Gordon, Larry Santos, Johnny Daye, Sam & Bill, Bill Johnson (half of Sam & Bill), the Jamaican artists, etc. But lots of 'unknowns' also had releases on his labels -- Vic & Joe, Joe Richardson (Groundhog), the Jodarettes & the Joda Orchestra (both probably just studio based outfits). 

Before being signed to Jocida, Gene Ludwig had been a constant on the Pittsburgh club / recording scene (mainly on the jazz side of things. But he must have collaborated with some of the other acts that recorded for the same local labels as himself -- acts such as Curtis & the Showstoppers for instance.

Anyone here shed light on some of the lesser known details from this period ?   

Edited Tuesday at 10:10 by Roburt

[Blackpoolsoul]

"JAD Records for decades was Joe Armone, head of one of the biggest crime families in America" 

"Sims and Johnny Nash left America for Jamaica in 1966, reputedly to escape the FBI."

https://nelsongeorge.substack.com/p/rhythm-and-gangster-4

A story in Pittsburgh Courier 15 Oct 1966 page 8A indicates this is Curtis Davis who lived in the Pittsburgh neighborhood Beltzhoover. The story says that he and three friends were asked by Odell Bailey to record Sad Girl in 1965, and it was a hit in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. The story does not indicate which label first released the song, but it was probably Victan.
 

Edited Tuesday at 11:29 by Blackpoolsoul

[Roburt]

A couple of the tracks shown above ... 

 

[Roburt]

What Sir Shambling has to say about Vic & Joe .... no bio info ... but the arranger on their track was Arthur Jenkins, so it must have been cut in New York ... Arthur Jenkins was a jazz based keys player, so he might have brought Gene Ludwig to Jocida.

Arthur Jenkins was (later) in the group Cousin Ice that had lots of releases (they cut a house version of "Can I Get A Witness" among other things).

https://sirshambling.com/artists_2012/V/vic_joe/index.php

Edited Tuesday at 11:45 by Roburt

[Roburt]

2 hours ago, Blackpoolsoul said:

A story in Pittsburgh Courier 15 Oct 1966 page 8A indicates this is Curtis Davis who lived in the Pittsburgh neighborhood Beltzhoover. The story says that he and three friends were asked by Odell Bailey to record Sad Girl in 1965, and it was a hit in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. The story does not indicate which label first released the song, but it was probably Victan.
 

It was Odell Bailey who sent Chuck Corby & his then group (Four Plus One) to Golden World in Detroit to cut the songs Chuck had written  -- “Man Loves Two” & “Happy Go Lucky”. 

Edited Tuesday at 13:29 by Roburt

[Roburt]

Chuck (Corby) has got back to me to say that one of the guys in Curtis & the Showstoppers (Rodney Allen) was with him as a member of his backing group, the Entrees. Rodney now lives in LA.

Chuck also knew Gene Ludwig really well.

Edited Tuesday at 13:33 by Roburt

[Blackpoolsoul]

10 minutes ago, Roburt said:

Chuck (Corby) has got back to me to say that one of the guys in Curtis & the Showstoppers (Rodney Allen) was with him as a member of his backing group, the Entrees.

Can you ask who Phillip and Martin (surnames as writer credits) were please and were they part of The Entrees

[Roburt]

1 hour ago, Blackpoolsoul said:

Can you ask who Phillip and Martin (surnames as writer credits) were please and were they part of The Entrees

Phillips & Martin were the guys who wrote the song originally. The song was 're-worded' & used again by Chuck & the Entrees (as using the original backing track & just adding the new vocals was a much cheaper option to cutting a whole new track) -- I'll still ask Chuck who they were though.

BTW, Curtis sang with the Arketts too (the group comprising Argie Lyerly, Marian Lyerly and Pat Hendricks) for Ronnie Records ... AND this is Curtis yet again on another expensive Pittsburgh 45 (below) ... 

Edited Tuesday at 14:54 by Roburt

[Roburt]

More info on one of the other Jad acts ...

Joe 'Groundhog' Richardson ... who also had stuff out on other labels (including Turbo, so Steve G might know more about him) ... 

[Roburt]

Johnny Nash's 2nd UK 45 -- issued here in late 57 or very early 1958 ... it was the HMV single released just ahead of Danny & the Jnr's "At The Hop".

[Roburt]

Arthur Jenkins (part owner of Jad) wasn't an official member of the Latin Jazz Quintet but he did play on many of their tracks between 1961 & 1965, here's one of them ... "Mambo Bobbie"

the album this comes from was reissued in the UK & Japan in the 90's (& twice more since in Japan)

 

Edited Tuesday at 18:43 by Roburt

[Roburt]

Gene Ludwig gets a few mentions in this thread. Here's a run down on his career ...

Gene Ludwig was born in Twin Rocks, Pennsylvania on September 4, 1937. Four years later his family moved to Swissvale where Gene spent most of his youth and graduated from Swissvale High in 1955. His mother had Gene take piano lessons from first grade and his musical growth began there. His mother wanted him to become a concert pianist but he soon realized that his musical preference lay in Rhythm & Blues. After a series of early jobs, Gene was ready to make a life long commitment to music. He had spent time listening to musicians like Ramsey Lewis, Horace Silver, Ahmad Jamal and Ray Bryant at The Crawford Grill and the Hi-Hat in Pittsburgh but when he got to see Jimmy Smith for the first time (at the famous Hurricane Lounge) his mind was fully made up. "Around '57 I met Jimmy Smith and heard the Hammond...and I knew that's what I wanted to be: a Hammond organ player". Around 1949 or 1950, he had heard the likes of Bill Doggett's music, but that hadn't tempted him to quit the piano. But when he heard Jimmy Smith playing the Hammond it was so awesome, he was ready to change instruments. Gene's first Jazz Organ Combo was led by tenor saxophonist, Sonny Stanton. They gigged around Pittsburgh & even travelled to Cleveland before Gene made the switch to another quartet led by Gene Barr. This group played further afield (St. Louis, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Buffalo). Gene's musical change (to an organ) started around 1958 and by 1962, he was playing rooms like the Hurricane Lounge himself.

He had first met Jimmy Smith and then he got to see Milt Buckner... he soon got to see Groove Holmes Jimmy McGriff & Jack McDuff... not much later he was playing the same club as them for eight weeks out of the year (with his own trio). This continued from 1962 until the club had to close because of the '68 riots. His group included drummer Randy Gillespie and sometimes Jerry Byrd. The trio first recorded for the local LaVere label (“Gospel Goodness”). Gene got a new manager & this change resulted in even better gigs. One night while playing in Newark, Nesuhi Ertegun from Atlantic Records stopped by to hear Gene's trio and wound up offering them a recording deal. The resulting track, “Sticks and Stones” (1963) got favourable air play in Pittsburgh. An album followed on the Mainstream label titled 'Organ Out Loud' (#6032; 1965) and this also escaped (as 'The Hot Organ') on Time Records. This album included his take on “Coming Home Baby”). In 1966, 'Mother Blues' was released on the Jo-Da label. Another recording of his from this period came out on Travis & Gene was also doing a little work for his own label; Ge-Lu Records ('This is Gene Ludwig', GL-1415).

Gene had by then been leading his own trio for some years. Up in New York, Gene had a 45 out on Jocida in 1967. But his trio's guitar player went off with Jack McDuff's group, Gene then hooked up with Wilbert Longmire. Then Wilbert quit the band (he would record in his own right in 69) and Pat Martino replaced him. Gene co-led the group with Pat and they worked up and down the East Coast. But in 1969, Gene got the chance to record with Sonny Stitt. This was the start of a valuable new musical relationship for Gene. Sonny took Gene under his wing and taught him a lot (Gene growing as an organist during that period). Pat Martino decided to leave when Gene started to work with Sonny Stitt. Pat did, however, appear with the group on Sonny Stitt's 'Night Letter' LP (Prestige #7759; 1969). Gene only worked with Sonny Stitt for a year but it was one of the fondest times of my whole career. Returning to Pittsburgh, Gene hooked up with Bill Easley and then Walt Maddox before placing one of his own productions with Steel City Records. Next he went on the road with Arthur Prysock (in 1974 and then again in 1979). During the same period, he'd play support for local groups / vocalists back in Pittsburgh when he was home. Soon after, Gene got to record again. For Muse Records, he cut 'Now's The Time' (MR-5164; 1980) which featured a strong mix of jazz organ grooves (at that time jazz organ tracks were a bit out of favour). His musical career continued & eventually he got to record again, as well as appearing at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In 2000 his album 'Soul Serenade' was released by Loose Leaf, the title track being his take on the old 60's soul standard tune.

 

[Roburt]

Gene's version of SOUL SERENADE ... he was recorded playing this live @ the Blue Note Club, New York ... 

and a clip of Gene & his trio playing live back in 1969 .. 

 

Edited yesterday at 19:51 by Roburt

[Roburt]

Pittsburgh had quite a few good blue-eyed soul singers (Chuck Corby, Jimmy Beaumont, etc.) and up there as one of their best was Johnny Daye. Johnny had 2 x 45 released on Jomada, so he was part of the Pittsburgh / New York connection. However his best outings were on the local Blue Star label (the tracks being cut @ Gateway Studios) and his later efforts for Stax.

At Stax, he cut "Stay Baby Stay" ....

 

[Roburt]

It wasn't just Johhny Nash & Jad that used Broadway Recording Studios back then ...