The “Golden Hits Of The 50s” 

Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After

JAYHAWKS

“STRANDED IN THE JUNGLE”

(James Johnson, Ernest Smith)

Flash 109

No. 18    July 28, 1956

/

..

Carver Bunkum (bass), Carl Fisher (tenor), Dave Govan (baritone),and Jimmy Johnson (lead) met each

 other while serving time in their local L.A. high school, and soon became the jumpin’, jivin’ Jayhawks.

With tunes in each of their heads and the urge for bread, the guys drifted over one afternoon to the Flash

Record Store on Vernon Avenue.  The store’s owner liked their vocal vibrations, in particular something

called “Counting My Teardrops,” and took the Jayhawks into a nearby garage/studio, where a half-dozen

sides were recorded.

.

“Stranded in the Jungle,” the group’s second disk on the Flash label, was a big seller and burned its way

into rock’n’roll history as one of the decade’s finest R & B novelty numbers. Unfortunately for the

fellows, a quickly constructed but similar-sounding cover version by another local group, THE CADETS,

surpassed the Jay­ hawks’ original in record sales. Follow-ups like “Love Train” and the honkin”‘Johnny’s

House Party” failed to catch much of a listen.

.

Fist Aaron Collins, second tenor Willie Davis, bass Will “Dub” Jones,and first tenor Austin “Ted”Taylor

shifted to secular singing. As the jacks, they approached the Bihari brothers at Modern/RPM/Flair.

Joe Bihari was impressed with their abilities, and in April of 1955, he walked the group into Modern’s

stu­ dios in Culver City, California. Joe had heard and picked NAPPY BROWN’s “Don’t Be Angry” for the

group to record. In an effort to capture some action on the tune, Bihari had McCraw and his music

movers cover the tune as “The Cadets.””Angry” did not chart for the unit, but a cover of the Feathers

‘”Why Don’t You Write Me?” (#82), released just weeks later under the Jacks name, did.

.

For the next year and a half, the public-and, more importantly, the nation’s radio programmers-had

no idea that the very same group was issuing disks under two different names. Cadets records were

pressed on the Modern label; according to music researchers Donn Fileti and Marv Goldberg, these

usually featured either Aaron Collins or “Dub” Jones on lead vocals. Smooth­ ies and jumpers by The

Jacks were issued on RPM, and usually featured Willie Davis.

.

The Cadets/Jacks then became Bihari’s house band and started cutting ballads, jump tunes, or calypsos.

They accompanied other Modern acts such as Donna Hightower, Young Jessie, and possibly even Paul

Anka.  As  “Kings of the Covers,”  they rerecorded happening disks by Elvis (“Heartbreak Hotel”),

Peppermint Harris (“I Got Loaded”), JoHNNIE & JoE (((1111 Be Spinning”), the Marigolds (“Rollin’ Stone’),

the Willows (“Church Bells May Ring”), and, for their most publicly known pinching, THE JAYHAWKS

(“Stranded in the Jungle”). After “Stranded;’ not one of the group’s fine records ever managed to regain a

spot on the nation’s pop or R & B listings. The Jacks name was shelved in mid-’56 when McCraw and

Taylor left the group. Thomas “Pete” Fox and sometime member Prentice Moreland were brought in as

their respective replacements. Shortly after, ]umpin’ With the Jacks, one of the very first albums by an

R & B group, was released.With this line-up, the Cadets continued on for another half­ dozen singles and

a highly sought-after album, Rock and Rollin’ With the Cadets.

.

By 1958, the Modern Record Company complex was in financial difficulties. McCraw,Jones, and Collins

formed their short-lived NUC label and issued one sin­ gle as the Rocketeers. Minus Collins, the dwindling

group (with George Hollis and Tommy Miller of the FLARES) recorded as the Cadets for the Sherwood

(“Lookin’ for a Job”) and Jan-Lar (“Car Crash”) labels. In 1962, they cut two singles as the Thor-Abies for

McCraw’s own Titantic label.

.

Ted Taylor went on to solo success; before his death in an auto accident on November 22, 1987, a number

of his hard-soul singles-“Stay Away From My Baby” (#14,1965),”Its’ Too Late”(#30, 1969), and “Something

Strange Is Goin’ on in My House” (#26, 1970)-placed quite well on the R & B charts.”Dub” Jones joined

the Coasters in 1958, remaining with the classic comedians until 1968. In 1961, Buck Ram, the Platters’

producer and manager, asked Collins and Davis to write some tunes, and he eventually invited them to

join his Flairs/Flares group. One interesting footnote: Aaron Collins’s sisters, Betty and Rose, gained

their own spot on the charts as THE TEEN QUEENS with the original take on “Eddie My Love:’