The “Golden Hits Of The 60s” 

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

 

 CAPITALS 

“COOL JERK“

(Donald Storball)

Karen 1524

No. 7    July 2, 1966

,

,

,

Each of the guys had been singing for as long as they could remember.   In 1962, lead vocalist/drummer

Samuel George, guitarist Donald Storball, and three others got their act together  and presented Detroit

producer Ollie Mclaughlin–the man responsble for producing initial hits for DEON JACKSON, Barbara

Lewis and Del Shannon–with a number called  “Dog And Cat.”   Mclaughlin liked the ditty, and cut it for his

Karen label.   It flopped, and the Capitols- -originally billed The Three Caps–returned to their workaday

worlds.   Four years later, George, Storball,  and a new Capitol–pianist Richard McDougall–returned to

Mclaughlin’s little label with an up-tempo dance number called “Cool Jerk.”   Again, Ollie liked what he

heard and cut the track for his label.   Like never before and never since, the Capitols danced into the

nation’s top 10.

@

The group returned to Mclaughlin’s offices on many more occasions with fast numbers and dance disks

like the  “Afro Twist” and the “Patty Cake,” but America wasn’t buying it.  While tracks from their lone

album indicate that the Capitols were quite capable of fine ballads as well as get-down bluesy bits, the

group got pegged as an upbeat rug-cuttin’ group.   Mclaughlin believed in the Capitols–only after eight

failed singles did the guys  and Ollie call it quits.

@

Donald Storball is currently a Detroit policeman.   Richard McDougall’s whereabouts  and activities are

unknown.    Samuel George died in an “altercation” on March 17, 1982.