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KIT CARSON
Band Of Gold
(Bob Musel, Jack Taylor)
Capitol 3283
No. 11 January 7, 1956
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The “REAL” Kit Carson–the American frontiersman and Union general–died in 1868. This Kit, a fair-
haired female, was born and raised under the name Liza Morrow. In the ’40s, she and Alan Dale
were vocalists with George Paxton’s big band. George’s many platters for Guild, Major, and MGM
never caught on. Discouraged, Paxton shut the show down late in the decade. He went on to arrange
for Vaughn Monroe and Charlie Spivak, then formed the Coed record label in 1958. Thanks to George’s
musical and business abilities, the Crests, the Duprees, and Adam Wade became hot recording artists.
Alan Dale had a few big-selling duet disks in the early ’50s, and in 1955 clicked twice with “Sweet and
Gentle” (#10) and “Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White” (#11), the latter from the Jane Russell-
Jayne Mansfield film frolic Underwater! (1955).
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Kit’s recording career, however, proved to be less successful. Except for her providing the vocals to
Benny Goodman’s “Symphony” (#2, 1946), Carson’s waxings went largely without notice. Capitol
Records offered her a catchy number by Bob Musel and Jack Taylor–“Band of Gold”–and although it
did well, a cover version by Don Cherry out-distanced her effort. Musel and Taylor returned the
following year with another Billboard-bound tune called “Earthbound.” Kit didn’t cover it, but Sammy
Davis, Jr., did, and charted with it. By year’s end, Carson was off the label and out of sight.