Fact #103181
When:
Short story:
Jay And The Americans record Come A Little Bit Closer for United Artists Records at Bell Sound Studios, New York City, USA. It will peak at No3 in the Billboard singles chart.
Full article:
Walter Becker (Steely Dan) : We got involved with Jay And The Americans via one of the more forward-looking members of the group, who had actually noticed that the '60s had happened - Jay never did - for Jay it was still Blackboard Jungle. He had made the leap from juvenile delinquency to organised crime fandom, so to suddenly find two guys like me and Donald in his band was a little baffling to him. But he was extremely tolerant, and I liked him a lot.
Some of Jay's friends were the same guys from Good Fellas - they were not all fictional characters. I think what his life was like - he was married to the niece of one of the guys, which I think was a survival move. He was levering himself up into a position where he could be forgiven some debts. We would see them once in a while around the office. Some guys would come in and say, 'Hey Jay! Whyn't you get these guys to take a fuckin' haircut?' Or they'd come backstage after show and say, 'Hey Jay, your voice sounded beautiful, but that drum, that fuckin' drum's givin' me a headache! Can you tell 'em to turn down that fuckin' drum?!'
Jay Black (Jay And The Americans] : When we recorded Come A Little Bit Closer I read the lyrics off a sheet of newspaper. I sang it once and then we ran out of studio time. They said, 'You can come back after your tour and finish it.' When I was coming back after the tour, I was listening to the radio in the car, and there it was. I stopped at a payphone on the highway, called them up and started screaming at them, 'How dare you release this?'
'You're on the charts already,' they replied.
I said, 'Then disregard this call.'
Source : Steve Kolanjian's sleeve notes to the 1990 CD compilation Come A Little Bit Closer
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Some of Jay's friends were the same guys from Good Fellas - they were not all fictional characters. I think what his life was like - he was married to the niece of one of the guys, which I think was a survival move. He was levering himself up into a position where he could be forgiven some debts. We would see them once in a while around the office. Some guys would come in and say, 'Hey Jay! Whyn't you get these guys to take a fuckin' haircut?' Or they'd come backstage after show and say, 'Hey Jay, your voice sounded beautiful, but that drum, that fuckin' drum's givin' me a headache! Can you tell 'em to turn down that fuckin' drum?!'
Jay Black (Jay And The Americans] : When we recorded Come A Little Bit Closer I read the lyrics off a sheet of newspaper. I sang it once and then we ran out of studio time. They said, 'You can come back after your tour and finish it.' When I was coming back after the tour, I was listening to the radio in the car, and there it was. I stopped at a payphone on the highway, called them up and started screaming at them, 'How dare you release this?'
'You're on the charts already,' they replied.
I said, 'Then disregard this call.'
Source : Steve Kolanjian's sleeve notes to the 1990 CD compilation Come A Little Bit Closer