More Singles from Jerri Adams

Those of you who enjoyed the Jerri Adams post of a few months back will want to have this one. It consists of the rest of Jerri Adams' Columbia singles-only recordings, along with her only release on the Fraternity label.

These are fine outings, showing her ability to be convincing at all tempos and in a variety of genres, along her beautiful voice and excellent intonation. The quality of the material is variable, as usual with singles of this vintage.

"Why Tell a Lie," from September 1953, is the flipside to the "Moonlight in Vermont" (which was in the earlier post).

"Two's a Crowd" and "Alone Together" come from May 1954. On the latter, Percy Faith cooks up an accompaniment that sounds like a rhumba band playing through a hurricane. Faith backs her on all the Columbia sides where a conductor is indicated, except for the late Ray Conniff date.

"Snow Dreams" and "Guess I Had Too Much to Dream" feature her former vocal group, the Tattle Tales."Take My Hand" is the flip of the 1955 release of "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe," which was in my earlier post. ("Happiness" was also released in 54.)

"Walk Fast" and "If I Forget You" (an excellent record) are from 1956.

"I'm All Right Now" and "Looking for Someone to Love" are with Ray Conniff, circa 1958.

Finally, her only release on Fraternity Records from her home town, Cincinnati, dating from 1961. "Ivory Tower" was an effective, if pointless remake of a 1957 hit. It is backed by "All Around This Heart," written by arranger Edward H. Labonski.

All of these are from unplayed promos or store stock, except for the Fraternity single. The sound is exceptionally good.

Early Singles from Jerri Adams

Singer Jerri Adams had a relatively brief career, but everything she recorded is worth hearing. Her two Columbia LPs have been reissued on CD, but not, to my knowledge, some of these early singles.

Adams' early career was spent as a band singer in her hometown of Cincinnati. Her first record, from about 1952, was for the Dee Gee label, owned by Dizzy Gillespie, as a member of the Tattletales vocal group. She solos on "What Else Is There to Do," a song that makes "Gloomy Sunday" sound like "On the Sunny Side of the Street." That said, her vocal is very fine, with perfect control and intonation, and total involvement with the despairing lyrics. The other side is a chipper group outing on "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street." Dee Gee also issued another Tattletales single, but it doesn't appear to have an Adams solo. (I don't have the record.)

Frankie Laine heard the group and brought it to the attention of Mitch Miller, his producer at Columbia. Miller had no need for the group, but engaged Adams as a single. Her first Columbia session was in September 1953, with an orchestra led by Percy Faith. It produced two songs on the EP above, "Moonlight in Vermont" (her first Columbia single) and "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe" (her second). The other two songs on the EP appear on Adams' first LP, "It's Cool Inside." "Love for Sale" was apparently a specialty of hers, but it sounds even more melodramatic than usual here.

The final item for today is her 1957 single of "Suddenly (The Meeting)," sounding much like Eydie Gorme, and "A Little Bit of Kindness." The backing here is my Ray Conniff, and is very much of its time. She handles this material very well.

Adams made only a few more records before retiring. The download includes a podcast interview with her produced several years ago by a family friend, Josh Burker.