Jerry Cole
Encyclopedia
Jerry Cole born Jerald Kolbrack (September 23, 1939-May 28, 2008) was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonym
s and as an uncredited session musician
.
, Cole first entered the pop music scene as one of The Champs
along with Glen Campbell
. Campbell and Cole formed the Gee Cee's after they left the Champs and released one single called "Buzzsaw Twist". Cole increased his income and recordings by playing for various budget albums with a variety of credits. In an interview with Psychotronic Video issue #31, Cole explained his dealings with Crown Records
. Crown would request five surf albums, five country and western albums and five easy listening albums. Cole would write nine different songs for each album to back one cover version
of a hit of the time, organize a band, arrange and record the music for master tapes that he would deliver to Crown in about three weeks time; doing an album or two in a day. Impressed by his playing as a session musician, Bobby Darin
recommended him to Capitol Records
where he led an instrumental surf guitar group called "Jerry Cole and his Spacemen". Capitol tried Cole as a vocalist but found his voice wasn't strong enough.
Throughout the '60s, Cole was a highly sought-after session player, working with The Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man"/"I Knew I'd Want You"), Nancy Sinatra
("These Boots Are Made for Walking"), The Beach Boys ("Pet Sounds
" LP) and Paul Revere & the Raiders
(“Kicks”) among others. He recorded as one of "The Wrecking Crew
" for Phil Spector
and as a writer, arranger and conductor for numerous pop groups and performers and performed on many American television shows of the time. He led the pit bands of the teenage music shows Hullabaloo
and Shindig!
. His bandleader abilities were also tapped by Frank Sinatra
, Dean Martin
, Roger Miller
, and Rick Nelson and he was a first-call guitarist on TV show bands for Andy Williams
, Sonny & Cher
, The Smothers Brothers
, Laugh In, and Dick Van Dyke
.
Cole pulled together some L.A. session colleagues and cut his own psychedelic album: "The Inner Sounds of the Id" by 'The Id', recorded between 1965 and '66 according to drummer Don Dexter. The musicians were: Jerry Cole (lead guitar, lead vocals, sitar), Don Dexter (drums, backing vocals), Glenn Cass (bass, backing vocals) and his brother Norman Cass (rhythm guitar, backing vocals). A massive collection of tracks was paired down to ten cuts and released by RCA in January 1967. The Animated Egg's self-titled album was released on the Alshire label in 1967 under the auspices of producer/manager Paul Arnold, who reportedtly absconded with the unreleased Id material. However, shortly before his death, Cole determined that the Animated Egg tracks were probably recorded at a different session, and may have involved different musicians working with Cole. Either way, the Id and Animated Egg tapes were both subsequently recycled by Arnold for a series of releases including and 'The 101 String's orchestral-overdubbed "Astro-Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000". Cashing in on Jimi Hendrix
's untimely death, many of the same tracks were also given new titles and released as a tribute album credited to 'The Black Diamonds'. On October 15,2006, Jerry performed, as a lead guitarist, with his friend, Dick Burns, of the original Dartells, as a "New Dartell" in the KVEN "Boomer Blast" oldies concert at the Oxnard Performing Arts Plaza, though he was not included in the then still uncompleted album Mo' Pastrami, which did include Freddy Cannon, Donny Brooks and Jewel Akens.
Jerry Cole started Happy Tiger Records
with producer/manager Ray Ruff in 1969. As one of Ruff's acts - a post-Van Morrison
line-up of Them
- had just broken up, Cole joined the band for their self-titled 1970 hard rock album for the label, credited as lead vocalist, guitarist and drummer alongside uncredited musicians Ry Cooder
, Johnny Stark, Jack Nitzsche
and Billy Preston
.
Cole teamed up with Roger McGuinn
again in 1972 for the Byrds' debut solo record; while session work with Roger Miller, Chuck Howard and Susie Allanson sent him in a country-rock direction. He backed up Elvis Presley
in 1974. The list of stellar names Cole worked with as guitarist, vocalist, writer, arranger, producer, or bandleader is endless: Jerry Lee Lewis
, Roy Orbison
, Aretha Franklin
, The Righteous Brothers
, Little Richard
, Dean Martin
, Merle Haggard
, Ray Charles
, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Lou Rawls
, Johnny Rivers
, Gregg Allman
, Lee Hazelwood, Blood Sweat & Tears, Kenny Rogers
, Neil Diamond
, Steely Dan
, Isaac Hayes
...
:
Albums recorded for Capitol Records
(1963-64):
Other pseudonymous recordings attributed to Jerry Cole:
Recordings from the Id & Animated Egg album sessions were repackaged/remixed many times, including:
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s and as an uncredited session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
.
Biography
Raised in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Cole first entered the pop music scene as one of The Champs
The Champs
The Champs were an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged instrumental "Tequila". Formed by studio executives at Gene Autry's Challenge Records to record a B-Side for the Dave Burgess single, the intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-Side, "Train to...
along with Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
. Campbell and Cole formed the Gee Cee's after they left the Champs and released one single called "Buzzsaw Twist". Cole increased his income and recordings by playing for various budget albums with a variety of credits. In an interview with Psychotronic Video issue #31, Cole explained his dealings with Crown Records
Crown Records
-Modern Records subsidiary:One Crown Records was a Budget Albums record label founded as a subsidiary of Modern Records.-Singles:* 19??: "Musso's Boogie" b/w "Sing Sing Sing" * 19??: "???" b/w "???" * 19??: "???" b/w "???"...
. Crown would request five surf albums, five country and western albums and five easy listening albums. Cole would write nine different songs for each album to back one cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a hit of the time, organize a band, arrange and record the music for master tapes that he would deliver to Crown in about three weeks time; doing an album or two in a day. Impressed by his playing as a session musician, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
recommended him to Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
where he led an instrumental surf guitar group called "Jerry Cole and his Spacemen". Capitol tried Cole as a vocalist but found his voice wasn't strong enough.
Throughout the '60s, Cole was a highly sought-after session player, working with The Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man"/"I Knew I'd Want You"), Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
("These Boots Are Made for Walking"), The Beach Boys ("Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
" LP) and Paul Revere & the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s with hits such as "Kicks" , "Hungry" , "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" and the 1971 No...
(“Kicks”) among others. He recorded as one of "The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (music)
The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
" for Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
and as a writer, arranger and conductor for numerous pop groups and performers and performed on many American television shows of the time. He led the pit bands of the teenage music shows Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo (TV series)
Hullabaloo is an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. Similar to Shindig! it ran in prime time in contrast to ABC's American Bandstand.-Overview:...
and Shindig!
Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
. His bandleader abilities were also tapped by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
, and Rick Nelson and he was a first-call guitarist on TV show bands for Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, Sonny & Cher
Sonny & Cher
Sonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....
, The Smothers Brothers
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard , American singers, musicians, comedians and folk heroes. The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs , which usually led to arguments between the siblings...
, Laugh In, and Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
.
Cole pulled together some L.A. session colleagues and cut his own psychedelic album: "The Inner Sounds of the Id" by 'The Id', recorded between 1965 and '66 according to drummer Don Dexter. The musicians were: Jerry Cole (lead guitar, lead vocals, sitar), Don Dexter (drums, backing vocals), Glenn Cass (bass, backing vocals) and his brother Norman Cass (rhythm guitar, backing vocals). A massive collection of tracks was paired down to ten cuts and released by RCA in January 1967. The Animated Egg's self-titled album was released on the Alshire label in 1967 under the auspices of producer/manager Paul Arnold, who reportedtly absconded with the unreleased Id material. However, shortly before his death, Cole determined that the Animated Egg tracks were probably recorded at a different session, and may have involved different musicians working with Cole. Either way, the Id and Animated Egg tapes were both subsequently recycled by Arnold for a series of releases including and 'The 101 String's orchestral-overdubbed "Astro-Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000". Cashing in on Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's untimely death, many of the same tracks were also given new titles and released as a tribute album credited to 'The Black Diamonds'. On October 15,2006, Jerry performed, as a lead guitarist, with his friend, Dick Burns, of the original Dartells, as a "New Dartell" in the KVEN "Boomer Blast" oldies concert at the Oxnard Performing Arts Plaza, though he was not included in the then still uncompleted album Mo' Pastrami, which did include Freddy Cannon, Donny Brooks and Jewel Akens.
Jerry Cole started Happy Tiger Records
Happy Tiger Records
Happy Tiger Records was an independent American record label that was owned by the Flying Tiger Line air freight company. Happy Tiger only operated from 1969 to 1971, but during this time managed to produce more than two dozen albums by such notable artists as Count Basie, Mason Proffit, Red...
with producer/manager Ray Ruff in 1969. As one of Ruff's acts - a post-Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
line-up of Them
Them (band)
Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
- had just broken up, Cole joined the band for their self-titled 1970 hard rock album for the label, credited as lead vocalist, guitarist and drummer alongside uncredited musicians Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Johnny Stark, Jack Nitzsche
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others...
and Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
.
Cole teamed up with Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
again in 1972 for the Byrds' debut solo record; while session work with Roger Miller, Chuck Howard and Susie Allanson sent him in a country-rock direction. He backed up Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
in 1974. The list of stellar names Cole worked with as guitarist, vocalist, writer, arranger, producer, or bandleader is endless: Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
, Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
, Lee Hazelwood, Blood Sweat & Tears, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
...
Discography
Pseudonymous albums recorded for Crown RecordsCrown Records
-Modern Records subsidiary:One Crown Records was a Budget Albums record label founded as a subsidiary of Modern Records.-Singles:* 19??: "Musso's Boogie" b/w "Sing Sing Sing" * 19??: "???" b/w "???" * 19??: "???" b/w "???"...
:
- Billy Boyd - "Twangy Guitars" LP (Crown CST-196), 1960
- Don and Eddie - "Rock and Roll Party" (Modern, - same as the 'Billy Boyd' LP above)
- The Hot Rodders - "Big Hot Rod" LP (Crown CST-378), 1963
- The Scramblers - "Cycle Psychos" LP (Crown CST-384), 1963
- Jerry Kole and the Strokers - "Hot Rod Alley" LP (Crown CST-385), 1963
- The Blasters - "Sounds of the Drags" LP (Crown CST-392), 1963
- The Deuce Coupes - "The Shut Downs" LP (Crown CST-393), 1963
- The Winners - "Checkered Flag" LP (Crown CST-394), 1963
- Johnny Rivers and Jerry Cole - "Johnny Rivers and Jerry Cole" LP (Crown CLP-5475), 1964
- The Stingers - "Guitars a Go Go" LP (Crown CST-476), 1964
- Jerry Cole and the Country Boys - "Crazy Arms and Other Country & Western Instrumental Favorites" LP (Crown CST-518), 1964?
- Jerry Cole & The Stingers - "Guitars a Go-Go Vol. 2" LP (Crown CST-553), 1966
- Jerry Cole - "Hot Rod Twangin' - The 1960s Crown Recordings" (Ace Records CD), 2006
Albums recorded for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
(1963-64):
- Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Surf Age"
- Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Hot Rod Dance Party"
- Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Outer Limits"
- Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Power Surf! The Best of Jerry Cole & His Spacemen" (Sundazed CD), 1999
Other pseudonymous recordings attributed to Jerry Cole:
- Billy Baker - "Country Guuitar" (Viking, UK)
- The Super Stocks - "Thunder Road"
- Mike Adams & The Red Jackets - "Surfers Beat"
- Eddy Wayne - "The Ping Pong Sounds of Guitars in Percussion"
- The Knights - "Hot Rod High"
- Billy J. Tyler
- The Palomino Boys
- The Id - "The Inner Sounds of the Id" (RCA Victor LSP 3805), 1967
- The Animated Egg - "The Animated Egg" (Alshire 5104), 1967
Recordings from the Id & Animated Egg album sessions were repackaged/remixed many times, including:
-
- The Projection Company - "Give Me Some Lovin'" (Custom CS-1113), 1967
- T. Swift & The Electric Bag - "Are You Experienced?" (Custom CS-1115), 1968
- The Generation Gap - "Up Up and Away" (Custom CS-1121)
- The Stone Canyon Rock Group - "MacArthur Park" (Custom CS-1124), 1968
- Various Artists - "Young Sound '68" (Somerset SF-31500), 1968
- The Haircuts & The Impossibles - "Call It Soul!" (Somerset SF-33400), 1969
- 101 Strings - "Astro-Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000" (Alshire 5119), 1969
- The Black Diamonds - "A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix" (Alshire 5220), 1971
- Bebe Bardon & 101 Strings - "The "Exotic" Sounds of Love" (Alshire 201), 1972
- The Animated Egg - "Guitar Freakout" (Sundazed CD reissue, adding out-takes which were unique to the cash-in releases), 2008
- The Mustang - "Organ Freakout!" (Somerset SF-28600), 1968 (apparently The Id backing keyboardist Paul “The Mustang” Griffin)
- ThemThem (band)Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
- "Them" (Happy TigerHappy Tiger RecordsHappy Tiger Records was an independent American record label that was owned by the Flying Tiger Line air freight company. Happy Tiger only operated from 1969 to 1971, but during this time managed to produce more than two dozen albums by such notable artists as Count Basie, Mason Proffit, Red...
), 1970 (Fallout Records CD issue, 2008)