Brian's Music Musings: Crescendos,Roy Tan,Tune Weavers

Sunday, January 18, 2009

 

Crescendos,Roy Tan,Tune Weavers

One of my last web page updates was for the Crescendos page. I still feel there is at least one more 78 out there that I don't have. Still, true, even after finding the latest one. That "latest one" is their second release called "Crazy Hop" backed with "School Girl" on the Canadian Sparton label. I had seen it once before, so I knew they were issued, but finally bought one. Now, the questions still remain: Was there a US 78 for "Young And In Love on Nasco 6021?I know for sure that the Monorays "It's Love Baby" on Nasco 6020 was pressed. Was it issued on Reo as a 78? My page has the Reo 45. The related Janice Green was issued on a Reo 45, I wonder if it was also on a 78? Too many questions, not enough answers. I suppose it's just the usual for me!



Here's a 78 that I hope to add to my website in the next week or so. Roy Tan had his first regional hit with Isabella. It originally was issued on the Tan label in 1957. Though I really don't have much information on Roy Tan, I can just imagine it was pressed by him out of frustration that no record companies would sign him. Back then, it was not a bad alternative. Then all you had to do is flash a little cash at a few DJ's, and WALA! You're on the air. It was picked up by Dot and had good sales in certain regions, but not enough to get on the Billboard charts. Incidentally, it was paired with "Hey Sugar" and issued again in 1964 by Dot. The original 1957 flip was "I Don't Like It". His second release for Dot was "Hot Rod Queen"/Acapulco, and finally on Dot, "Your Drivers License Please, with the first release of Hey Sugar. You can find a CD with Isabella on it from the fine folks at Ace. You can't find too much information on Roy Tan, however.

Another scheduled update on my site is the 78 RPM of Checker 880. That is the copy of the Tune Weavers "Old Man River", the fabulous flip of "Happy Happy Birthday Baby", paired with the Paul Gayten instrumental 'Tough Enough". I love the fact that it lists the Tone Weavers on the label. Check out my Tune Weavers page for a good visual history of their record labels.

One additional note concerning a previous blog and the value of the 78 by Johnny Dee on Colonial. "Sittin In The Balcony" I mentioned was up on Ebay for 69 bucks, for the 78 in nice shape. I thought it was terribly over priced and the second release would be more valuable. The same seller listed it yet again, but not before another seller listed it for 14.99 just before him. It didn't sell either. You have to do your research on Ebay, or you will unknowingly help to support our economy, without monetary benefits for yourself.

Comments:
Brian -

RE "Roy Tan" - I'm pretty sure it's a pseudonym and a play on words for the Roi-Tan cigar.

Gino
 
Roy Tann is really black rockabilly star Eddie Daniels, who recorded for Ebb and for Starla and with Jewel Akens as Jewel & Eddie.
 
This is total crap! Roy Tan & Eddie Daniels don't even look remotely alike. In a pic I have of Roy Tan, from a live appearance at the Alamo Mission Twin, in San Antonio in 1957, he looks like someone in his late 30s/early 40s, at least 10 years older than Daniels. Even their singing voices are totally different.
 
As Gino said, I'm pretty sure too that Roy Tan(n)'s name is false. As the name "Johnnie Getz" appears on many of his releases as a writer credit, it is likely that's his real name.
 
Unfortunately, no cigar Anonymous. Stuart Colman in his interview with Plas Johnson (who played sax on the Tann sessions) elicited the fact from Plas that Johnnie Getz was Roy's manager. So the mystery of the Tan man remains.
 
I have now solved the mystery of Roy Tan(n). That is not his real name, however I cannot reveal his true identity at this point. My story unmasking his identity is due for publication in the October 2015 issue of "Now Dig This" magazine. All I will say here is that he was born in Texas in 1920 and his first recordings were made in the 1940s after World War II ended.
 
Roy Tann is a pseudonym for Willis Threats Jr, born in Texas on June 24, 1920. He recorded for many different labels under his real name, and also as vocalist for other bands including The Four Kings, commencing with his first release on Aladdin in 1946. He died in LA on August 16, 1998 aged 78 and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery, California. Read my full story on Willis in the October 2015 issue of 'Now Dig This' magazine (UK).
 
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