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| The 'Last Kiss' Sessions Collectables
0112
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| Texas has a long history of
great singers. Janis Joplin from Port Arthur, Johnny
Winter from Beaumont, Buddy Holly from Lubbock, and Roy
Orbison from Wink are the best known. One singer
overlooked for years and sometimes relegated to minor one
hit wonder pop status was J. Frank Wilson. However, this
reveals that his roots were in a rocking sound that was
prevalent among some of the aforementioned Texas singers
from the 50's and 60's. |
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| J. (John) Frank Wilson was from Lufkin, Texas.
He was born there on December 11, 1941. His father was a
railroad engineer. When J. Frank was growing up in the
fifties the sounds of Buddy Holly and Elvis were
reverberating over the airwaves and would influence his
style of singing. |
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J. Frank was in the U.S. Air Force till 1962. He was
stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. He knew
about The Cavaliers since they were one of the finest bands in town.
They needed a new lead singer and J. Frank wanted to enlist. He passed
the audition. Sonley Roush was a record producer from Midland, Texas.
One day he was at The Blue Note club in Big Springs, Texas
when he saw J. Frank and The Cavaliers perform. |
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The band at this time included Sid
Holmes, Lewis Elliot, and Ray Smith. This meeting would have
repercussions in the future. J. Frank would leave The Cavaliers and
return to Lufkin a few months later.
However, a rare live tape of a J. Frank Wilson and The Cavaliers show exists, the only known live tape
of the group. Sid Holmes would also subsequently leave the band. Sid had
been the leader of The Cavaliers and after he left the void was filled
by Lewis Elliott. Lewis would form a new Cavaliers. John Mayberry would
fill the vocal spot for J. Frank.
J. Frank missing his spot as lead vocalist
decided he wanted to return to The Cavaliers. He was
accepted back into the band and for awhile shared vocals
with John Mayberry. John eventually stepped out of the
band and the lead vocals became J. Frank's sole domain
once again. The band was doing great around San Angelo
and played all the local hops and clubs. It was at this
period of time that Sonley Roush came to San Angelo with
a single that was about to change the world forever for J. Frank and The Cavaliers. During this same period. Ron
Newdoll had a new studio and recording facility on 14
Tyler Ave. in San Angelo, called Accurate Sound Recording
Company. Ron also had a production company called Askel
Productions. Sonley stopped by and spoke with Ron about a
single called "Last Kiss". It was written and
recorded by Wayne Cochran and released on the Gala
Records label. The lyrics foretold a story that was based
on a real life incident. In the early 60's six teenagers
were driving on a highway in Georgia. One of them a,
Jeanette Clark, was going on her first date. She sat in
the front of the car with her date. That night the
weather was foggy and the car she was in crashed into a
truck that had stopped on the road. The resulting
accident caused Jeanette's untimely death.
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| Ron Newdoll worked out a deal with J. Frank and The Cavaliers and
Sonley. He would produce,
engineer, and allow endless use of the studio for
ownership in the masters as producer. The Cavaliers at
this time were Lewis Elliot-leader of the group, Snake
Atkinson-drums, Gene (Buddy) Croyle-lead-guitar, Mike
Hodges-piano. |
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| At Accurate Sound "Last Kiss"
and numerous other recordings were done, many with the
theme of romance and tragedy, "Tell Laura I Love
Her", "A Kiss", "Kiss and Run
Away", "Young Love", "Ding Go The
Chimes", "Day Before Our Wedding", and
"Sea Of Love". Other recordings such as
"Summertime" and "Wine, Wine, Wine"
were done in a louder rock and roll vein, true to the
spirit of J.Frank Wilson and The Cavaliers. |
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When Ron Newdoll was done recording
"Last Kiss", he shopped it around to labels
with Sonley Roush, and Major Bill Smith (of Ft. Worth,
Texas). Major Bill was able to find Josie Records. In
June of 1964 "Last Kiss" was released among the
madness and excitement of Beatlemania and the British
Invasion. By October the song had cracked the top ten
charts of both Billboard and Cashbox. Not bad for a song
that was recorded in one evening, over a period of tour
to five hours. The Cavaliers were booked by the Morris
Booking Agency as "Last Kiss" climbed to the
top of the charts. The Cavaliers tour was with The
Animals and The Royaleftes. |
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The tour went through
Nashville, New York City, Utica, Rochester, and many
other cities. The Cavaliers opened the show, backing The Royalettes. Then J.Frank took the stage with The
Cavaliers. Finally, The Animals would take the stage
riding high on the charts with their first American hit
"The House of The Rising Sun". The Cavaliers
and The Animals had a friendly rivalry (the bands both
shared the same tour bus) as "Last Kiss" and
"Rising Sun" were baffling each other for the
top of the charts. After this tour ended Lewis Elliott
and Roland Atkinson would fly back from New York through
Chicago to San Angelo.
Sonley was to set up another tour. He
went to Nashville and told Lewis and Roland that when the
band got to Oklahoma City they would pick up the tour.
However this was not to be. "Last Kiss" was #3
the last week of October when tragedy struck. In the
early morning hours of October 23, J. Frank Wilson and The
Cavaliers (at this time-Buddy Croyle-guitar, Jerry
Graham-drums, Phil Trunzo-bass and Bobby Wood-a Memphis
recording artist for Joy Records) and Sonley Roush were
travelling from Parksburg, West Virginia to Lima, Ohio.
The band had performed in Parksburg on October 22 and was
due to perform in Lima on the evening of the 23rd. Sonley
was driving the station wagon on Route 31, south of
Kenton, Ohio. He fell asleep at the wheel and at 5:15
A.M. the car drifted left of the center plowing head on
into a tractor trailer truck. Sonley was killed instantly
and J. Frank was severely injured with head lacerations,
broken ribs, and a fractured ankle.
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The press had a field day linking the
tragedy with the lyrics in "Last Kiss" about a
teen-age girl who dies from a car accident in the arms of
her boyfriend. A week after the accident the record was
number 2 and then number one the week of November 7.
Amazingly, J. Frank would be back on the tour circuit
within a week of the accident. Producer Ron Newdoll
(left) and J. Frank Wilson receiving their gold records
for "Last Kiss". J. Frank would come onto the
stage with his crutches and cast and still perform with
the professionalism that made him so famous. Josie would
release an album of songs featuring J. Frank on the cover
clutching a dying girl, a la "Last Kiss".
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album would sell over 100,000 copies the first few
months. Although 1964 is best remembered for the year the
British invaded the U.S. charts, five singers or groups
from West Texas were also quite successful on the charts
that year: J. Frank Wilson (San Angelo), Roy Orbison (Wink), The
Newbeats (Midland), Terry Stafford (Amarillo), and Jimmy Gilmer (Amarillo).
While J. Frank and The Cavaliers would
earn a gold record for "Last Kiss", they never
received much money from royalties. In fact Ron Newdoll
had to travel to New York City with his lawyer to sue
Josie Records in order to receive their royalties. In the
end after all the lawyers and expenses were paid, J. Frank
ended up with around $3,000.00 as well as the other
Cavaliers. Subsequent singles were released on Josie,
"Hey Little One" and "Summertime" but
none of them would ever reach the heights that "Last
Kiss" did. By the end of the 60's J. Frank was a
forgotten figure of the music scene, falling info the
dreaded one hit wonder class. In 1969 he re-recorded
"Last Kiss" for Major Bill but it failed to
recapture the success in 1964.
The 70's would find J. Frank in his hometown of
Lufkin. On the tenth year anniversary of "Last Kiss' reign
on the charts J. Frank Wilson was working in Lufkin as a Nursing
Home Orderly, earning $250.00 weekly. J. Frank was quoted as
saying "They took a little country boy and put him in a big
city with big money and he didn't know how to act, I had a hard
life, but I learned, I learned." |
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Sadly, on October 4, 1991, J. Frank Wilson
passed away. Hopefully this CD will change rock
historian's perception about his talent to reveal the
unique flair and great style J. Frank had when the world
was waiting to be conquered by him and The Cavaliers.
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