The Savoys - Say You're Mine 78 rpm!

Savoy Records. A Direct Recording! Jimmy Jones singing lead!

He first sang with The Sparks Of Rhythm, which only lasted a few months. Unhappy with this group, Jones left to form his own group. Through the efforts of their manager, Cliff Martinez (who also managed the Sparks of Rhythm), the guys signed with Herman Lubinsky's Savoy label (for which, of course, they were named). The signing of the Savoys was announced in February 1956.

There was a single session, on February 2, 1956, at which four tunes were recorded: "You," "Say You're Mine," "With All My Heart," and "We Made A Vow." In April, Savoy released "You" and "Say You're Mine."

This is the story behind "Say You're Mine." When William Walker and Melvin Walton joined the group, they brought along a tune called "You're Fine," written by Joe Duncan (lead of the Vocaleers). The Vocaleers themselves had recorded it in March of 1953, although it remained unreleased. Well they (whoever "they" may have been) reworked it, and the Savoys recorded it. It was re-titled "Say You're Mine," and when Joe Duncan saw the label, the only writer credit was Jimmy Jones. However, by the time that it was released, Joe had joined the service and there was little he could do about it.

Within a month, however, the Savoys had met George Goldner, owner of Rama Records. He was impressed with the group and paid off Lubinsky to get their release from Savoy. While Lubinsky was willing to let the guys go, he held on to the name, just in case. Thus they ended up becoming the Pretenders, from the Platters' "The Great Pretender."

Jimmy Jones was also heavily into songwriting, writing much of. the Pretenders' material. He also wrote for others. For example, with Bobby Moore, he wrote "Peppermint Stick (Will You Be My Chick)" for Butchie Saunders and the Elchords.

Then, Jimmy got together again with veteran songwriter/producer (and whistler) Otis Blackwell. In June of l959, they recorded a demo of Jimmy's "Handy Man," with Otis again doing the whistling (the flute player hadn't shown up) for Moe Gale's Shalimar Music. (Gale, owner of the famous Gale Agency, had once managed the Ink Spots and owned the Savoy Ballroom.) The demo was sold to M-G-M, which released it on its Cub subsidiary in September. It catapulted to #2 on The Billboard charts and had a run of eighteen weeks.

Paraphrased from Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebook.