Search - Steve Gibson & Red Caps :: It's So Good: 1943-1951

43 Selections And They Leave Off Some Significant Cuts

07/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're searching for all the hits of The 5 Red Caps, an LA-based vocal group led by Steve Gibson, the search is still on.



This 2-CD set with the full title of "It's So Good ... Steve Gibson and The Red Caps featuring Damita Jo ... 1943 to 1951," has 43 tracks, and of the five hit singles they had in that span [four of them in 1944 and one in 1948], they give you four. Not only that, they only provide two of the B-sides and one of those was the backing record of the omitted hit. What kind of approach is that?



The vocal/instrumental quintet - Steve Gibson [bass vocal and guitar born October 17, 1914], Emmett Mathews [tenor vocal and saxophonist born around 1902], Jimmy Springs [tenor vocals and drummer born September 5, 1911], along with Romaine Brown [pianist] and Dave Patillo [bass player and vocals whose birth details are unknown], started out as The Four Toppers in 1938 before changing their name to The 5 Red Caps in 1942.



After signing with Joe Davis and his Beacon Records company in 1943 they made an immediate splash when I Learned A Lesson, I'll Never Forget rose to # 3 on what then passed for the R&B charts in March/April 1944. Soon it also began to be heard on Hillbilly stations and eventually made it to # 2 on the pre-Billboard Country charts, and in late July it peaked at # 14 on the Pop charts. Quite an achievement at that time for a black group from the west coast. Unfortunately, the producers of this CD did not feel that the flipside of this historical record, Words Can't Explain, was worthy of inclusion.



In March, Boogie Woogie Ball [also released that year by the Gennett label] made it to # 10 R&B b/w Lennox Avenue Jump, both of which are included here, but for the follow-up hit in April, Just For You [# 10 R&B] they leave out the B-side, I'm Going To Live My Life Alone. Their final hit then came in November when No One Else Will Do also peaked at # 10 R&B, but while this is omitted they include the uncharted flipside, I'm Crazy 'Bout You.



A switch to the major Mercury label in 1946, where they were recorded under the billing Steve Gibson & The Red Caps, produced one minor hit, Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine which, b/w Love To Live A Lifetime With You [not included], reached # 21 Pop in 1948.



1950 found them with RCA Victor and with the addition of a sixth member, Damita Jo DuBlanc, born August 5, 1930. None of the records she was involved in as lead vocal that year or in 1951 charted. In 1952, however, she was lead on I Went To Your Wedding, which peaked at # 20 Pop in October 1952 billed to Steve Gibson and the Original Red Caps featuring Damita Jo, losing out to the # 1 Patti Page version.



No further hits ensued, but the group did stay together right up to the dawning of the R&R era. However, unable to cope with the new sound [like many in that period] they parted ways in 1956. Damita Jo, who was married to Gibson twice, from 1951 to 1953 and again in 1959-1960, went on to have a successful nightclub career, and in the 1960s put four songs into the Billboard Hot 100.



In 1957, meanwhile, Gibson put together a new group of Red Caps, bringing back Mathews from the original bunch and adding the brothers Peck and Joe Furness, and with ABC-Paramount they had a # 63 Billboard Top 100 with Silhouettes, finishing well back of the versions by The Rays and The Diamonds. They were simply too old to fit the image of R&R stars, ironic in light of the staying power of the present-day Rolling Stones.



Not a bad collection of songs, but either that missing hit and B-sides are simply not available or, someone didn't do their homework. Also, why not go to 1952 and include the RCA Victor hit and the only hit on which Damita Jo participated?"

Poor audio; where's Damita Jo?

Thomas Bumbera | Maplewood, NJ USA | 02/01/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I understand that post-WW2 independent labels used, shall we say, slightly substandard pressing materials; however, that is no excuse for the truly poor sound "restoration" that has been done (or not) to the tracks on this reissue, some of which provide a painful listening experience. "Featuring Damita Jo" is misleading since she only appears on backing vocals on a handful of tracks - none of her significant solo vocals with the group are included. To top it off, one of the two discs in this set was defective, with annoying static. All in all, a poor reissue."