What a revelation to learn that The Coasters, along with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, collaborated with Fania recording legend, Larry Harlow, on five tracks that were recorded in Autumn, 1971 – the highlight being a fresh boogaloo take on “Cool Jerk“:
“Cool Jerk”
The Coasters (1971)
The recording session info below – thanks to Claus Röhnisch‘s excellent Coasters website – seems to be saying that tracks recorded at the Starday-King studios were then mixed and edited in NYC:
Marty Sheller, arranger; Larry Harlow, director; Mike Stoller, possibly on piano; Taco Meza, flute; probably Thomas Palmer, guitar; unknown second guitar; unknown orchestration. Dave Palmer, engineer; Leiber & Stoller, producers. Mixed & edited at Electric Lady Studios, New York City, late 1971.(Starday) Studios, probably. New York City – Autumn, 1971
K-13959 Cool Jerk 2:56 King LP 1146; King 6389
K-14176 Good Lovin´ ?:?? (unissued – only instrumental track exists)
K-14177 Mustang Sally 3:38 King LP 1146
K-14178 On Broadway 2:30 King LP 1146
K-14179 The In Crowd 2:55 King LP 1146
Note: “In Crowd” is essentially a ‘dub’ version of “Cool Jerk” that features Taco Meza‘s flute playing.
“Cool Jerk” would also be issued in the UK in 1972.
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Starday-King in the Leiber-Stoller Era
In the autumn of 1971 Leiber and Stoller purchased and remastered all Date/Columbia tracks. They overdubbed and edited some tracks from the 1968 session, produced the new recordings above, and reissued all Date singles (with K-master numbers used) on Starday-King, newly bought up by Leiber, Stoller, Freddy Bienstock, and company president, Hal Neely.
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Music History Snapshot:
Leiber & Stoller Buy King Records!
As Billboard reported in its October 2, 1971 edition (under the headline, “Starday-King Pubs Sold for $1.4 Mil“) —
NASHVILLE — The Starday-King label and its publishing firms have been sold by Lin Broadcasting Co. to a group of music executives including one of its former officers.
Hal Neely, President of Starday-King and an offical of Lin until the time of purchase, leads the purchasers. Sale price was listed at $1.4 million. Offices will remain here, under the new name of Tennessee Recording and Publishing Co., Inc.
Other purchasers were the songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and Fred Bienstock, a former executive with Hill & Range.
Neely and his associates will receive all of the Lin Music division’s “current and fixed assets, to include receivables, copyrights, and publishing interests, recorded masters, inventory, contracts, real estate, studios in Nashville, Cincinnati, and Macon, Ga., and the pressing and printing plant in Cincinnati.”
Lin had indicated some time ago it was interested in selling its music division. It had acquired Starday-King shortly after the two firms, Starday here and King in Cincinnati, had merged.
Starday, formed as a country music label by Pappy Daily and Jack Starnes, was later acquired by Don Pierce, who was its president for a number of years. After the Lin purchase, Hal Neely became president, and Pierce moved into an advisory capacity.
King, too, was originally a country label, but later became deeply involved in the development of rhythm and blues. One of its top performers, James Brown, recently moved to Polydor in a contract sale. Starday, too, divested itself of some of its leading talent, many of whom moved to Chart Records. However, the company retains artists with both labels.
There will be immediate releases with the existing artists, who are listed as The Coasters, J. David Sloan, The Manhattans, Jack(y) Ward, Gloria Walker, Max Powell, and White Cloud. Additionally, there will be product release on Red Sovine, who has moved to Chart.
Tennessee Recording and Publishing will continue to release and distribute the King, Starday, Deluxe, Nashville, Agape and Federal labels.
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