Jay and the Americans

Jay and the Americans, a group that crossed theatrical pomp, an operatic tenor, doo-wop and Leiber and Stoller rock and roll (f. 1961). Membership: John “Jay” Traynor, voc; Kenny Vance (real name, Kenneth Rosenberg), voc. (b. Queens, N.Y., Dec. 9, 1943); Sandy Dean (real name, Yaguda), voc. (b. Jan. 31, 1940); Marty Sanders, voc. (b. Feb. 28, 1941); Howard Kane (real name, Kirchenbaum), voc. (b. June 6, 1942); Jay Black (real name, David Blatt), voc. (b. Nov. 2, 1938). Starting as a doo-wop group called the Harbor Lites at N.Y.U. in the late 1950s, they auditioned for Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who signed them to United Artists. With Traynor as the lead vocalist, they first charted with “She Cried” which went to #5 in the spring of 1962. Traynor got into an argument with one of the other band members and left. David Blatt, a friend of Sanders, replaced him, taking on the mantle of Jay and becoming Jay Black. He started off with another Lieber and Stoller composition called “Only in America.” Originally a track for The Drifters, they never released their version and Jay and the Americans recorded their vocals over The Drifters’ track. It earned them a #25 hit in the fall of 1963. Their next hit was with Boyce and Hart’s “Come a Little Bit Closer,” given a semi-mariachi arrangement, which went to #3 in the fall of 1964. The show tunish “Let’s Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key)” started off 1965 with a #11 hit. Five months later, they took on the semi-operatic “Cara Mia,” a European hit for Montavani and vocalist David Whitfield 11 years earlier. They gave the old South Pacific chestnut “Some Enchanted Evening” a slightly beat upgrade, taking it to #13 that fall, and gave Neil Diamond his first hit as a songwriter with “Sunday and Me,” which they took to #18 just around the holiday season in 1965. They had a minor hit in 1966 with “Crying” (#25) and then dropped off the charts for three years before resurfacing with a cover of The Drifters’ “This Magic Moment,” which they took to #6 and gold. Their final Top 40 hit came in early 1970 with a #19 cover of The Ronettes’ “Walkin’ in the Rain.”

David Blatt continues to perform as Jay at oldies shows. Kenny Vance became a producer, and cut several albums including 32, which featured an astounding version of “Looking for an Echo” that became a minor local hit in N.Y. Traynor became a road manager (one of his clients was Mountain) and publisher. He occasionally sings with a big band, mostly doing Sinatra. Two of the backing musicians from the later version of The Americans, known to the band by the nicknames of Speck and Manson, were Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, who became Steely Dan. They worked on a post-Americans soundtrack with Vance.

Discography

She Cried (1962); At the Cafe Wha? (1963); Livin’ above Your Head (1966); Sunday and Me (1966); Try Some of This (1967); Sand of Time (1969); Wax Museum, Vol. 2 (1970); Wax Museum, Vol.1 (1970); N.Y. City Rock & Roll (1971); Capture the Moment (1975); Sands of Time/Wax Museum (1993); Live & Unreleased (1995).

—Hank Bordowitz