We know that King Records’ single releases often appeared on Billboard‘s Country, as well as Rhythm & Blues and Soul charts, but what about those times when King and its affiliated labels “crossed over” into Billboard‘s Hot 100 Pop chart?
When Billboard debuted its Top 100 singles chart in the music trade journal’s November 12, 1955 issue, would it surprise you to know that King came leaping out of the gate with three singles in the Top 50 (below)? How curious to discover that King Records would enjoy “pop” sales after the label no longer maintained a Pop division, which began in 1949 and quietly dissolved in 1954.
Zero to 180, in fact, has scrutinized over 25 years of Pop chart listings in order to provide – as a public service – every known Hot 100 appearance of a King-affiliated single from 1955 until Starday-King’s closure in 1973.
King’s Pop Dalliances in Billboard‘s Hot 100
1955 – 1965
Billboard‘s “new” Top 100 chart from late 1955 shows three King singles in its first six weeks of publication, with a total of four sides reaching the Top 40 by year’s end. Eight-year-old Joe Ward — “perhaps the youngest singer in the history of the recording industry,” according to the biographical text on King’s promo 45 — enjoyed three weeks in the Pop Top 40 in the last part of December with the novelty single, “Nuttin’ For Christmas,” a song that soon ceded the stage to “That’s Your Mistake,” the third 45 release by Otis Williams and “His New Group” on King subsidiary label, DeLuxe, following the defection of the original Charms to Henry Stone’s Chart Records (as detailed in Zero to 180’s 2025 piece).
Recorded in NYC – flip side written by Louis Innis
An impressive fifteen weeks on the Top 100 chart for Bonnie Lou‘s “Daddy-O” would soon be surpassed by “Ivory Tower” by Otis Williams And His Charms — the first million-selling doo-wop single, according to Williams.
In mid-February, The Hi-Fi Four would also appear briefly in the Hot 100’s lower reaches with “Band Of Gold.”
“Originally from Toronto“
From the end of March through mid-August of 1956, The Charms‘ version of “Ivory Tower” engaged in extended combat with Cathy Carr‘s original recording of the same song for Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records. Meanwhile, during this same time period, three versions of “Blue Suede Shoes” (Boyd Bennett, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins) would duke it out on Billboard‘s pop chart. How curious that Boyd Bennett’s version leaves the Top 100 list for two weeks on June 2 and June 9 only to reappear nine notches below his previous position and somehow hang onto the chart for three more weeks.
The week of July 14, 1956 is noteworthy for being the second time King and its affiliated labels had two simultaneous singles (“Ivory Tower” and “Fever“) in Billboard‘s Top 40 pop chart.
“Ivory Tower” at #12
Billboard‘s Top 100
May 12, 1956
After the giddy pop success of “Ivory Tower” came Little Willie John‘s crossover classic “Fever,” which spent fifteen weeks in the Top 100, while waiting in the wings gearing up for a mighty run on the pop chart would be Bill Doggett‘s “Honky Tonk” — all three songs, it should be noted, produced under the supervision of Henry Glover. Cruelly, Elvis Presley would forestall “Honky Tonk” from reaching the top of the Pop chart with his monster hit, Don’t Be Cruel,” a #1 hit for eleven consecutive weeks that also included piano contributions from former King recording artist and session musician, Shorty Long.
“Fever” & “Ivory Tower” in the Top 40
Billboard‘s Top 100
Jul. 21, 1956
“Pop All The Way” announced King’s full-page ad for “Honky Tonk” and “Fever” that accompanied the Top 100 chart in Billboard‘s September 1, 1956 issue. The cover for Cash Box‘s November 24, 1956 issue shows The Bill Doggett Group, along with Syd Nathan, holding a pair of gold platters, with the accompanying text noting that “King officials considered it only right that he receive two gold records, one for each part, on his million-selling disk.”
While “Honky Tonk” was still ensconced in the Pop Top Ten, Bill Doggett‘s “Slow Walk,” made its entry in Billboard‘s Top 100 in late November and ended up staying a respectable twelve weeks. The last three weeks of 1956 are notable for King having two Top 40 pop hits for three consecutive weeks (this Top 40 momentum would continue into the first two weeks of the new year, as well).
“Honky Tonk“
“Thanks DJs for your part in making this my greatest year”
snippet of full-page ad
Billboard‘s Nov. 10, 1956 issue
“Honky Tonk” would finally loosen its grip on the Top 100 chart after a staggering twenty-nine-week run (including twenty-two uninterrupted weeks in the Top 40) that concluded in March of 1957. As “Honky Tonk” was winding down, Tommy Dorsey‘s “So Rare” on King’s Cincinnati rival, Fraternity, was revving up for a spectacular chart run that would see the song peak at #2 Pop and (surprisingly, perhaps) #4 R&B.
Bill Doggett‘s next single release “Ram-Bunk-Shush” – after a short stint that began and ended at the #83 position – would drop off the charts for three weeks only to reappear mysteriously at #94 (Billboard‘s April 20, 1957 edition) before dropping off the Top 100 altogether.
“Honky Tonk” & Slow Walk“
“2 Big Hits!“
Billboard ad snippet
“Ram-Bunk-Shush“
Billboard
Beginning in April, King would take a near three-month sabbatical from the Top 100 until the simultaneous appearance in July of Annie Laurie‘s “It Hurts To Be In Love” and Donnie Elbert‘s “What Can I Do,” both released on DeLuxe. But what are we to make of “Think” by The ‘5’ Royales, dropping off the Top 100 chart for six weeks, after getting no higher than #82, and then magically reappearing for a sustained six-week run in which the single would reach #66? “Think” would then fake a “premature death” – hopping on and off the Top 100 chart two additional times – before departing for good towards the end of 1957 (see chart for Sep. – Dec. 1957).
“What Can I Do“
“Breaking for a hit“
Cash Box ad snippet
Bill Doggett‘s updated arrangement of the Tiny Bradshaw instrumental “Soft” sure caused a mighty ripple effect within the music industry.
Q: What triggered all the excitement?
A: The flute.
Bob Rolontz, in his think piece for Billboard‘s Feb. 3, 1958 issue — “New Sounds Keep A&R Ears Alert for Switch in Trend” — highlighted the current trend at the time to spotlight “flute leads, fem groups, [and] instrumentals”:
EXCERPT
Any new trend is created, obviously, by a record out of the usual routine that breaks that for a hit. The flute kick started with Bill Doggett‘s “Soft” last fall and again with “The Swinging Shepherd’s Blues,’ by Moe Koffman this winter. As soon as this hot flutist’s dulce tone slanted to be heard on radio and juke boxes, other diskeries cut instrumentals with flute leads. Just last week, for example, a Bill Doggett record of the old standard, “Flyin’ Home,” was issued featuring a flute lead. And the first Tiny Bradshaw record in two years, a tender effort titled “Bushes.” is embellished with a swinging flute lead. There haven’t been so many flutes about since Pan played the first flute solo, sans backing, in a mythical pastoral setting aeons ago.
“Soft” + “Swinging Shepherd Blues“
Two flute-driven instrumental hits
Billboard ad snippet
Amusingly enough, King was able to cash in on the success of “Swinging Shepherd Blues” — itself an attempt to cash in on the flute-driven “Soft” — with Johnny Pate Quintet‘s version, which spent 11 weeks on Billboard‘s Top 100 chart, peaking at #44 on March 3, 1958.
“Swinging Shepherd Blues“
#43 Best-Selling Pop Single in Stores
Billboard
Just before dropping off the chart, Johnny Pate‘s “Swinging Shepherd Blues” would, indeed, go out swinging, leaping twenty-five notches to #62 in a dramatic final flourish before disappearing from the Top 100 altogether. Little Willie John‘s “Talk To Me, Talk To Me” would then take the baton and begin its ascent — seventeen weeks on the Top 100 chart, peaking at #20 for two weeks during May’s transition to June.
“Talk To Me, Talk To Me“
#23 position – “The Honor Roll Of Hits“
Billboard
During the peak of its Top 100 run, Little Willie John‘s “Talk To Me, Talk To Me” found itself tied, interestingly enough, with Link Wray‘s “Rumble,” the guitar instrumental dangerous enough to be banned from New York City radio (as affirmed by the Library of Congress). Follow-up single “You’re A Sweetheart” would keep Little Willie John nearly without interruption for a few more weeks on the Top 100 – now renamed Billboard‘s Hot 100 – while Bill Doggett‘s next release “Blip Blop” also made a brief appearance, reaching #82 in the first week of August.
“You’re A Sweetheart“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
For the remainder of 1958, King would find itself only intermittently in Billboard‘s Hot 100, and even then — “Itchy Twitchy Feeling” by The Swallows (peak position – #100) and Bill Doggett‘s “Hold It” (peak position – #92) — only in the chart’s lower reaches.
“Itchy Twitchy Feeling“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
Things would remain relatively quiet sales-wise at King into December of 1958 — until, that is, the entry of “Try Me” on the December 15th chart, the first pop hit for James Brown And The Famous Flames, and one that remained in the Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, three of those weeks at #50, reaching its peak position at #48 on January 12, 1958.
“Try Me“
one notch above Patti Page on the Hot 100 chart
Billboard
Hank Ballard And The Midnighters would make their first Hot 100 chart appearance in March of 1959 with “Teardrops On Your Letter,” and then again five weeks later with their version of “Kansas City.” The first week of May saw the inaugural Hot 100 appearance of Ruby Wright, ever so briefly, with “Three Stars” (#99) — one of King’s early stereo single releases we now know, thanks to Mike Callahan and Thomas Reed‘s Stereo Singles Project – Early Stereo 45s Discography.
“Kansas City” & “Three Stars“
New additions to the Hot 100 chart
Billboard
Beginning in June of 1959, Billboard would augment the Hot 100 with a new “Bubbling Under” chart designed to track potential pop hits waiting in the wings. Two King single releases in the June/July period — “I Know It’s Hard But Fair” by The ‘5’ Royales and “Let Nobody Love You” by Little Willie John — ended up unable to break break out of their “bubbling under” status [see “King 45s That Bubbled Under” from 2020].
However, beginning in August, Nina Simone would provide King a much needed shot in the arm with an unexpected Top 20 pop hit. Unexpected, since “I Loves You Porgy” managed to succeed, despite Syd Nathan’s steadfast refusal to release any of Simone’s recordings for Bethlehem during her short time on the label, even when told that “Porgy” was creating a buzz in the Philadelphia market [see “Nina Simone (vs. Syd Nathan) at Bethlehem Records” from 2023].
“Let Nobody Love You“
Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart at #111
As Summer turned to Autumn, Nina Simone‘s “Porgy” spent two-thirds of its fifteen-week Hot 100 chart run in the Top 40, impressively. Little Willie John would also have a modest hit with “Leave My Kitten Alone,” while Hank Ballard‘s “Cute Little Ways” proved unable, unfortunately, to emerge from its “Bubbling Under” status. The last two months of 1959, meanwhile, would see Henry Glover — now the owner of his own Glover Records — hitting the Hot 100 with the label’s second single release, “We Told You Not To Marry,” an A-side penned by Glover for Titus Turner
“I Loves You Porgy“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
The early months of 1960 found King looking longingly at the Hot 100 chart, while Henry Glover – now at Old Town Records – had reached the pop Top 10 with Billy Bland‘s “Let The Little Girl Dance,” a song authored by Glover that stayed in Billboard‘s Top 40 for thirteen consecutive weeks.
In the first two weeks of 1960, King managed to scrape the bottom reaches of the Hot 100 with Bill Doggett‘s “Smokie (Pt. 2).” In mid-February, Little Willie John‘s “Let Them Talk similarly peaked at #100.
“Let Them Talk“
Two notches below “Alvin’s Orchestra“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
Things heated up considerably beginning in May with a handful of single releases that all started to break around the same period of time, including Hank Ballard And The Midnighters‘ “Finger Poppin’ Time,” Charlie Ryan‘s “Hot Rod Lincoln” (issued on the King-distributed 4 Star label) and two from Little Willie John — “Cottage For Sale” and “Heartbreak.”
Milestone moment = Five King-affiliated singles in the Hot 100 for the two weeks straddling May/June in which James Brown And The Famous Flames also happened to earn their first Top 40 pop hit with their take on “Think,” a Top 100 hit for The ‘5’ Royales three years earlier.
FYI – background information about King’s connection to Bill McCall‘s West Coast-based 4 Star Records, as noted by Colin Escott on Bear Family’s website:
As releases on 4 Star slowly wound down, McCall made a deal with King to release some vintage masters by Webb Pierce, T. Texas Tyler, the Maddox Brothers and Rose, and others as well as distribute the trickle of new single recordings still being released.
Charlie Ryan
World War II vet with the Hot 100 hit
Billboard
“Hot Rod Lincoln“
“distributed by King Records“
Starting in mid-July, “Finger Poppin’ Time” by Hank Ballard And The Midnighters had lodged itself in the Pop Top 40 for thirteen consecutive weeks, while three more single releases — Charlie Ryan‘s “Hot Rod Lincoln“; Hank Ballard‘s “The Twist“; and Bobby Freeman‘s “Shimmy Shimmy” — all reached the Top 40 between July and October of 1960.
Milestone moment = Seven King-affiliated singles in the Hot 100 chart for the last two weeks of September, 1960.
The ‘5’ Royales‘ “I’m With You” and Annie Laurie‘s “If You’re Lonely” would both “bubble under” briefly in July/August, while in August/September, James Brown And The Famous Flame‘s “This Old Heart” made a little bit of noise in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 chart. October would see two new singles – Little Willie John‘s “Sleep” and “Hank Ballard‘s “The Twist” – begin preparations for take off.
“Finger Poppin’ Time“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
For the last three weeks of October, King would have six singles in the Hot 100, including Charlie Ryan‘s “Side Car Cycle” and Ricky Lyons‘ “Shim Sham Shuffle.” King was no doubt buoyed by the chart run of Little Willie John‘s “Sleep” – ten consecutive weeks in the Top 40 – while Hank Ballard And The Midnighters‘ “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go” during this same time period similarly sustained eleven straight weeks in the Top 40.
James Brown, meanwhile, had established enough sales clout to have “graduated” from Federal to the King label for his next single release, “The Bells,” the first 45 credited solely to James Brown. Around this same time in November, King also reissued James Brown And The Famous Flames‘ debut Federal single, “Please Please Please.” According to comments posted on 45Cat, this would be the first of several reissues over the years, and only the 1956 Federal 45 release features the original recording unencumbered by overdubbed “live” crowd sounds. Even though the 1960 reissue only spent three weeks on Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart, this is the first appearance of “Please Please Please” on Billboard‘s Pop singles chart.
Finally, King would finish the year with a Top 50 hit by Little Willie John (“Walk Slow“), as well as a Top 25 hit in the making by Hank Ballard And The Midnighters (“Hoochi Coochi Coo“), and also the first Pop chart appearance by master blues guitarist, Freddy King (“You’ve Got To Love Her With A Feeling“).
“Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go“
2nd Top Ten Pop hit for Hank Ballard
Billboard’s Hot 100 chart
Hank Ballard‘s “Hoochi Coochi Coo” helped usher in the new year with a Top 40 hit into February, briefly, before handing off the baton to Etta Jones, who scored eight straight weeks in the Hot 100 chart with “When I Fall In Love,” in what must be her first Hot 100 appearance In late January, King would also issue the flip side of its highest-charting hit, “Honky Tonk (Pt. 2),” at the end of January and watch it peak at #57 after a nine-week run on the Hot 100. That same month, curiously enough, both King and Scepter would reissue “Dedicated To The One I Love,” the Lowman Pauling composition that had previously been recorded by The ‘5’ Royales and The Shirelles. Unfortunately for King, the 1961 reissue only lasted four weeks on the Hot 100, while The Shirelles found their rereleased version this time reaching #3.
January would also see King reissue Little Willie John‘s “Leave My Kitten Alone” (a Top 60 Pop single in 1959) in order to compete with Johnny Preston‘s hit cover version. Two months later, James Brown And The Famous Flames would be on the verge of scoring their second Top 40 Pop hit with “Bewildered,” while an instrumental by The James Brown Band released at the same time – “Hold It” – pretty much held steady at #111 (plus or minus two notches) for five weeks on Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart. March would also find Freddy King‘s next single “Hideaway” on the verge of hitting the Top 40. Released in the UK as King’s debut 45, “Hideaway” was hailed by British television producer, Jack Good, in the 13 May 1961 edition of Disc as “the best record of 1961.”
“Let’s Go Again,” Hank Ballard‘s attempt to cash in on the Top Ten success of “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go,” produced yet another Pop Top 40 hit for The Midnighters in March, while three other King releases around this same time period would register in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 — “Little Turtle Dove” by Otis Williams And His Charms, “The Very Thought of You” by Little Willie John, and “Sweethearts On Parade” by Etta Jones.
“Bewildered” & “Hideaway“
Best Buys in Pop
Billboard
For the two weeks straddling April/May, King enjoyed two simultaneous Top 40 hits — Freddy King‘s “Hideaway” and Hank Ballard And The Midnighters‘ “Continental Walk.” But then things really started to heat up towards the end of May, when a single released on Beltone, a new label distributed nationally by King, quickly climbed into the Top 40 — “Tossin’ And Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis would become a Pop Ten Ten just three weeks later and threaten to break wide open by June’s end.
King would also have a handful of other singles in the lower rungs of Billboard‘s Pop chart in the weeks straddling May/June, including, “Lonesome Whistle Blues” (Freddy King), “Spring Fever” (Little Willie John), “I Don’t Mind” (James Brown And The Famous Flames), and “Every Beat Of My Heart” (Henry Booth & The Midnighters). One modest hit, unexpectedly perhaps, was King’s only Hot 100 entry sung entirely in German — “Ein Schiff Wird Kommen (A Ship Will Come)” by Lale Anderson — King’s famously broad stylistic tent, thus expands to encompass Schlager.
Two other low-simmering hits, “Matador” by George Scott and “Brother-In-Law” by Paul Peek, would be the first two releases respectively on Fairlane, another label (like Beltone and 4 Star) distributed nationally by King. Cash Box‘s May 6, 1961 edition reported that “D.L. “Boots” Woodall [steel guitarist/bandleader and one-time King recording artist], formerly veep of the national Recording Corp. (NRC), has announced the first release on his new Fairlane label, a master purchase from the Margo label tagged ‘Matador.'”
Also that June, King released a pair of A-sides by Hank Ballard And The Midnighters, “The Float” and “The Switch-A-Roo,” with the latter track later picking up steam in July.
“Ein Schiff Wird Kommen“
Spotlight Winner of the Week
Billboard
“King has latched on to a German thrush with a solid sound here.”
In July, King Records enjoyed the (proximate) thrill of having a #1 pop hit when “Tossin’ And Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis — a Beltone single distributed coast to coast via King Records — reached the top spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and remained there for seven consecutive weeks. That same month, Hank Ballard‘s “The Switch-A-Roo” also reached the Top 40, while “No, No, No” by The Enchanters hit the Top 50 during this same time period.
Milestone moment = For the two weeks straddling July/August, King and its affiliated labels enjoyed four hits in the Top 50: “Tossin’ And Turnin’“; “The Switch-A-Roo“; “No, No, No“; and “My Story” by The Jive Five, the next Beltone Top Ten pop hit later that September.
Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for the last week of August shows that the King labels had repeated its previous feat of four simultaneous Top 50 hits. As August turned to September,”Nothing But Good” by Hank Ballard And The Midnighters, “Baby, You’re Right” by James Brown And The Famous Flames, and “San-Ho-Zay” by Freddy King all reached the Top 50.
During the Summer of 1961, the King labels would also have a handful of other appearances among the lower reaches of the Hot 100 — Hank Ballard‘s “The Float” (flip side of “The Switch-A-Roo”) “Now You Know” by Little Willie John; “Wishin’ On A Rainbow” by Phill Wilson (released on Dayton’s Huron Records, a label pressed by Royal Plastics and distributed nationally by King), “The Bells Are Ringing” by The Van Dykes (on DeLuxe), and an early single by future sixties hitmaker, Joe South (“You’re The Reason“), released on the King-distributed Fairlane label. “Keep On Dancing,” another Hank Ballard flip side (“Nothing But Good”) also proved to be a modest hit.
Waiting in the wings in early September were Bobby Lewis‘ next Beltone hit (“One Track Mind“), as well as Mickey & Sylvia‘s “Baby You’re Fine” — a single released on Willow, a King-distributed label established by the recording duo, who originally hit it big with “Love Is Strange” (on RCA Victor) in 1957. “Baby You’re Fine” would be Mickey & Sylvia’s biggest charting hit on Willow (celebrated in Zero to 180’s 2019 history piece, “Bernard Purdie at King Records“).
“Tossin’ And Turnin’“
Beltone ad
Cash Box
“Distributed Nationally By King Records”
Milestone moment = Three King-affiliated Top 20 pop hits for the week of September 18, 1961 — all of them on Beltone.
Despite September’s strong start, the last quarter of 1961 showed King to be in a relative sales slow-down following what had been a particularly robust couple of years for the label. As with “The Bells Are Ringing” by The Van Dykes, “Panic” by Otis Williams And His Charms held big pop potential but suffered a low chart position (#99 – both cases) that could perhaps be attributed to insufficient promotion by King. Things would stay fairly quiet until December, when two new Beltone singles – “Never Never” by The Jive Five and “What A Walk” by Bobby Lewis – began to make a little noise on the lower reaches of the Hot 100, as November turned to December.
“My True Story“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
“Never Never” & “What A Walk“
Beltone ad
Cash Box
“Distributed Nationally By King Records”
As 1961 transitioned into 1962, the one bright spot on the sales front for King Records would be “Lost Someone” by James Brown And The Famous Flames, a Top 50 pop hit. King’s other 45 releases – Hank Ballard‘s “Do You Know How To Twist” plus Bobby Lewis‘s “Mamie In The Afternoon” (on Beltone) – hovered briefly near the bottom of the Hot 100 before disappearing altogether.
“Lost Someone“
Cash Box Top 100 Pop Chart
Even though The Jive Five‘s “Hully Gully Callin’ Time” (on Beltone) managed to ‘bubble under’ ever so briefly at #116, four weeks passed in the March/April period with no King-related activity on the Hot 100 chart until “Night Train” by James Brown And The Famous Flames began an eleven-week run in mid-April that culminated in four straight weeks in the Pop Top 40.
“Night Train“
Billboard ad
Two releases by James Brown And The Famous Flames helped carry King through June, July, and August of 1962 — “Night Train” and “Shout And Shimmy.” Little Willie John‘s “I Wish I Could Cry” and Bobby Lewis‘s “Tossin’ And Turnin’ Again” (on Beltone) both appeared briefly in the basement of Billboard‘s Pop chart before jumping ship.
By 1962, Beltone’s relationship, however, had soured with King. Cash Box‘s August 18, 1962 edition announced that Syd Nathan was stepping down as Director of Beltone Records. Two months later, Cash Box reported that Beltone had filed suit against King for $3 million, claiming that King “charged large and excessive sums of monies” for manufacturing of records; that King pressed Beltone discs “far in excess of the demand” and charged these unnecessary expenses to Beltone; and that King “and its president” gave away large quantities or “sold for sums much lower than the actual cost, while also selling remaining inventory “for scrap,” among other allegations.
“I Wish I Could Cry“
Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” the Hot 100 chart
Between August and November of 1962, the majority of King’s appearances on Billboard‘s Pop chart would be in the “Bubbling Under” section — The Jive Five‘s “What Time Is It” (peak position – #69), James Brown And The Famous Flames‘ “Mashed Potatoes USA” (peak position – #82), and The Shondells‘ “Wonderful One” (peak position – #116).
“Mashed Potatoes USA“
Billboard ad
King ended 1962 with just two single releases in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 — “Three Hearts In A Tangle” by James Brown And The Famous Flames and “Please Come Home For Christmas” by Charles Brown, the latter track also identified as a “regional breakout” single in New Orleans, as reported in Billboard‘s December 22, 1962 edition.
“Please Come Home For Christmas“
Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” the Hot 100 chart
King single releases during the February-March-April 1963 period — “Every Beat Of My Heart” by James Brown And The Famous Flames; “Bossa Nova Watusi Twist” by Freddy King; and “Lonesome 7-7203” by Hawkshaw Hawkins — camped out primarily in Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart.
“Seagreen” by The Viceroys, first released by Bethlehem in November of 1962 under the title “Seagrams,” sparked a bit of controversy under its original title. Written by Sonny Thompson, along with guitarist, Rick Emerson, Bethlehem reissued the single as “Seagreen” the following March, after King had realized “belatedly” that the guitar instrumental named for the prominent whiskey manufacturer could cause legal and/or trademark complications. Billboard posted this ‘winking’ news item in their March 23, 1963 edition:
Just Call This a Real Loaded Idea
SAN FRANCISCO— A novel record promotion originated by Bob Earl, San Francisco branch manager for King Records, has been picked up by the national record distributor and will be repeated in Cincinnati, Chicago and New York.
Bethlehem’s new recording of “Seagram,” sung by the Viceroys, prompted Earl to include a half pint of Seagram’s VO whiskey and a package of Viceroy cigarettes when delivery [sic] the disk, all wrapped up in gay “Mardi Gras” gift paper. Uniformed messenger delivery personnel called upon local deejays in the four top r & b and rock and roll stations in San Francisco and Oakland — KSAN, KEWB, KDIA and KYA.
King’s mea culpa (below) published in Billboard‘s March 23, 1963 issue:
“We missed the possible legal conflict with the Seagram’s trademark“
“Lonesome 7-7203” – a “regional breakout” single for Hawkshaw Hawkins in the Nashville-Memphis region — ended up spending nine weeks exclusively on Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart in posthumous recognition, sadly, for Hawkshaw Hawkins, who lost his life on March 5th in the same tragic airplane accident that also claimed Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas.
During this same May/June 1963 time period, “Prisoner of Love” by James Brown And The Famous Flames stayed seven straight weeks in the Pop Top 40. “I Cried” by Tammy Montgomery (mis-identified as “Tina” Montgomery in Billboard‘s August 17, 1963 edition) appears to be the only release on James Brown‘s King-affiliated Try Me label to have charted nationally (#99 peak position), all the more remarkable of a feat given how, in the preceding weeks, the single first appeared near the bottom of the “bubbling under” chart two straight weeks before leaving the chart entirely for another two weeks. One other Try Me release — “Devil’s Den” by The Poets, an organ-led soul instrumental — was a “regional breakout single” in Seattle, as reported in Billboard‘s August 10, 1963 edition.
“Lonesome 7-7203“
Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” the Hot 100 chart
“On The Charts Both C&W & Pop
Breaking Fast for Biggest Pop-C&W Hit of Year“
In August/September of 1963, “It Won’t Be This Way (Always)” by The King Pins (also issued in Jamaica) earned the vocal group their first Hot 100 appearance (#89 – peak position), while around this same time, “These Foolish Times” by James Brown And The Famous Flames made the Pop Top 60.
In mid-September, the debut release by Patti LaBelle And The Blue Belles, “Down The Aisle” — after creating a buzz in Baltimore and Philadelphia and then “bubbling under” for three weeks — managed to hit Billboard‘s Hot 100 for two weeks, peaking at #91.
Mid-to-late 1963 was also an exciting period for “the Cincinnati sound” when two Lonnie Mack guitar instrumentals that were both recorded at King Studios – “Memphis” and “Wham” (the latter track would inspire the electric guitar’s tremolo arm to be renamed the “whammy bar“) – peaked at #5 and #24, respectively, on Billboard‘s Hot 100 Pop chart, with both songs appearing simultaneously for the last two weeks of August.
“It Won’t Be This Way (Always)”
“regional breakout” single in Detroit, New Orleans & Atlanta
Billboard‘s Jul. 27, 1963 edition
For the remainder of 1963, King’s one bright spot on the national pop charts was “Signed, Sealed, And Delivered” by James Brown And The Famous Flames, a single that peaked at #77 in early November.
“Signed, Sealed, And Delivered“
Billboard ad
In January of 1964, Hank Marr‘s organ-led instrumental “Greasy Spoon” made a modest splash in Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart, perhaps as a prelude to the ascendance of “Oh Baby Don’t You Weep” by James Brown And The Famous Flames, which spent five weeks in the Pop Top 40 in the April/May period. James Brown‘s “Please Please Please” “bubbled under” the Hot 100 once again toward the end of February, while Lonnie Mack‘s “Lonnie On The Move” — the rollicking instrumental distinguished by its irrepressible “super hooligan” drumming — likewise appeared on the “bubbling under” chart. Released on Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records, “Lonnie On The Move” would directly factor into preparations for Led Zeppelin‘s first-ever rehearsal in 1968 (as detailed in “King Records Trivia: Maxi-Tweets“) a mere four years later.
As Jon Hartley Fox explains in King of the Queen City, the 1964 reissue of “Please Please Please” with added fake applause and crowd sounds signaled a growing impasse between Syd Nathan and James Brown, who was beginning to withhold new material until Nathan renegotiated his King contract.
“Greasy Spoon“
Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” the Hot 100 chart
Three single releases – all recorded by James Brown And The Famous Flames – accounted for King’s mere handful of appearances on Billboard‘s Pop chart in the Spring of 1964. “Again“; “In The Wee Wee Hours (Of The Nite)”; and “How Long Darling” would all remain confined to Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” in the months of April, May, and June.
“Oh Baby Don’t You Weep (Pts. 1 & 2)”
Billboard ad
Feb. 1, 1964
Summer of 1964 was a quiet one for King from a Pop sales perspective, as rumors of a potential deal by Columbia to purchase King’s record catalog and publishing firms were leaked by Bob Rolontz in the August 15, 1964 issue of Music Business. Only one King release made Billboard‘s national pop chart during this period — a single appearance of “So Long” by James Brown And The Famous Flames near the bottom of the “Bubbling Under” chart at the end of June.
“So Long“
Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” the Hot 100 chart
In the three months between August and October, the emerging funk sound of James Brown And “His Orchestra” propelled their next national radio hit, “Out Of Sight,” a Top 25 Pop seller that was recorded for Smash Records, not King, with whom James Brown was locked in a labor dispute. As Jon Hartley Fox explains in King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records —
Though he was contractually bound to King, Brown and Ben Bart [of booking agent/manager with Universal Attractions] formed an independent production company in 1963, pointedly named Fair Deal Productions. At first, Fair Deal was a vehicle through which Brown’s production efforts with other artists were placed with Smash, a subsidiary of Mercury. By April 1964, Brown himself was recording for Smash. As expected, Nathan sued.
“Out Of Sight“
Billboard
Five months would pass before King’s next Hot 100 appearance in mid-December — James Brown And The Famous Flames‘ “Have Mercy Baby” (below). King, at this point, was facing an uncertain future, as Billboard announced in its dramatic headline for the December 26, 1964 headline, “Mercury, Handelman Making Bid for King-Lois.”
The following February, James Brown and his all-star ensemble would travel to Arthur Smith‘s sound studio in Charlotte, North Carolina to record landmark funk single “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.” Unfortunately for King, Syd Nathan was still in the middle of his protracted battle with James Brown, the label’s biggest-selling artist, who was dividing his musical energies by recording simultaneously for Mercury’s Smash subsidiary label. Compounding matters for Syd Nathan, Billboard would announce alarmingly (though, ultimately, in error) “Mercury Buys King; Nathan To Keep Plant” on the front page of the trade journal’s March 27, 1965 edition.
Litigation prompted by the release of “Out Of Sight” on Smash produced a subsequent court ruling on behalf of King mandating that all future recording activity by James Brown for Smash be restricted to instrumental compositions. But despite the massive breakthrough success of James Brown’s lauded performance on The T*A*M*I Show, which played in over 1,000 theaters throughout the US and 1,200 more overseas, things would remain pretty quiet at King sales-wise until the release of “Brand New Bag” (pointedly not recorded at Cincinnati’s King Studios) in July of 1965.
“Have Mercy Baby“
Billboard Hot 100 chart
While Hank Marr‘s organ instrumental “Silver Spoon” managed to appear near the bottom of Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” at the end of March the following year, “Have Mercy Baby” would be King’s last Hot 100 appearance until “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” trumpeted its arrival in July of 1965.
During this intervening period, “Devil’s Hideaway,” James Brown‘s organ instrumental release for Smash Records — a “Regional Breakout” single in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Miami — “bubbled under” the Hot 100 the last week of April.
“Silver Spoon“
Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” the Hot 100 chart
James Brown –
Smash Singles in the Billboard Pop Charts
“Out Of Sight“
chart peak:
Sep. 26, 1964 – #24
“Maybe The Last Time“
chart peak:
Oct. 17, 1964 – #107
“Devil’s Hideaway“
chart peak:
Apr. 24, 1965 – #114
“Try Me“
chart peak:
Dec. 25, 1965 – #63
“The New Breed“
chart peak:
May 7, 1966 – #102
NEXT MONTH
King Records:
Pop Dalliances in Billboard‘s Hot 100 –
Part Two: The James Brown Era
(1965-1973)
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