Category Archives: San Antonio

The various Satin Records labels

There are two garage 45s in these lists, Shep & The Downbeats “Girl, Girl” / “You’re Never There” on the Roulette-distributed Satin label from NY, and Gary & Kyle “Stay With Me” / Smaller Than You” from San Antonio.

Any help with completing these discographies would be appreciated.

I could also use good quality scans of the San Antonio label 45s, and of the Adophus Bell

Annabelle Fox Satin 45 Getting Through to Me Roulette
1st pressing distributed by Roulette
Annabelle Fox Satin 45 Getting Through to Me Roulette
later West Coast pressing

New York:

All labels read “Exclusively distributed by Roulette Records” except for a green label with plain black text version of S-400, Annabelle Fox’s “Getting Through to Me”, which Mike Markesich states is a West Coast pressing and not the first issue.

The first three releases come in promo white label and two-tone green labels. 402 and 403 only seem to exist with promo white labels.

Satin S-400 – Annabelle Fox – “Too Good to Be Forgotten (Bell 40,004) / “Getting Through to Me” (mastered at Bell Sound 40,002)
Satin S-401 – Al Hibbler – “Good for a Lifetime” / “Once Before” (Bell Sound 40,005)
Satin S-402 – Annabelle Fox “Lonely Girl” / “Humor Me” (Bell Sound 40,003)
Satin S-403 – Shep & The Downbeats – “Girl, Girl” / “You’re Never There” (both by Ted Kobran) (produced by Rama Wilson Associates, Bell Sound 40,009/10)

All except Shep & the Downbeats produced by Teddy Rendazzo, and published through South Mountain Music, BMI.

Most of the Rendazzo produced 45s have song writing credits to some combination of Rendazzo, Bobby Weinstein, R. Allison and L. Stallman.

Kurt L. sent me the scan of Shep and the Downbeats. Kurt remembers hearing that the band won the WABC Battle of the Bands, with a recording contract with Satin being the prize. The group played at Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, and likely were students at that school. The only name I can find in connection with the group is Ted Kobran.

Teen Beat Mayhem says the band was from Union City, New Jersey and gives a release date of August, 1966. Although “You’re Never There” rates higher than the flip in TBM, I think “Girl, Girl” is the better song.

Shep & the Downbeats has a “Rama Wilson Associates” production credit. This should read Ramal-Wilson, as in Bill Ramal and Marty Wilson. They had previously produced singles for Diamond.

A notice from Billboard’s October 22, 1966 issue states”new artists added to Ramal-Wilson Associates are Shep and the Downbeats, the Upper Crust, Gary Criss, Bruce Bruno and Carole Colby.”

Another Billboard notice from May 21, 1966 mentions Ramal-Wilson Associates producing the Ramblers on Red Bird and the Perfect Strangers on Capitol. “All sides were arranged by Joe Scott, staff arranger for Ramal-Wilson.” However, I’m not aware of any releases by these other artists.

New York
(probably no connection to the later Satin label, above):

Satin 921 – Rhythm Rockers featuring Johnny Serrano – “Oh Boy!” / “We Belong Together” (Norvojak Music BMI) (October 1960)

New Orleans:

Satin 2-100 – Tammy McKnight – “What’s Her Name” (E. Darder – Allen Orange) / ? (SoN 1591, Chavis Music BMI, A Hi-Liter Production)
Satin 2-101 – Al White & The Hi-Liters – “Johnny B Goode” / “Let That Guitar Roll”
Satin 2-102 – Alex Spearman – “Mama-ka-toko-laka-poo-poo-yay” (L. Bonds) / “On Our Wedding Day” (Emelda Music BMI, SoN1561))

Satin Kings Satin 45 Let's Go Let's GoSan Antonio, Texas:

Owned by Emil Henke, who also owned Warrior and part of Harlem. Mr. Henke passed away on February 22, 2002.

pink label with ribbon “S” in Satin. 411 S.W. Military Dr., San Antonio and “Emil J. Henke Production”:

Satin SA-100 – Doug Sahm – “Crazy Daisy” (Sahm, Warner) / “Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave” (1959)

Satin SA-001 – The Satin Kings – “Let’s Go, Let’s Go” (Ballard)/ “Matilda”
Satin SA-002 – Charlene – “Rock Bottom”/ “Let’s Try Once Again”
Satin SA-003 – The Mavericks, vocal: Moe Bandy – “Lonely Girl” / “Too Many Times Before”
Satin SA-004 – The Trochais –  “Give Me An Answer” / “Phantom”  (both by Francis Akeroyd, 1966, B-side is a surf instr)
Satin SA-005 – The Mavericks, vocal: Moe Bandy – “What Would You Do” / “As Long As There’s A Chance”
Satin SA-006 – Satin Kings – “Mil Veces” / “Echale un cinco al piano”
Satin SA-007 – Gary & Kyle – “Stay With Me” / “Smaller Than You” (both by Gary Young, Satin Music Pub SESAC, June ’66, duo from Poteet, TX)
Satin SA-008 – Bailey Anderson – “Folsom Prison Blues” / “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me” (6-66 1)
Satin SA-009 – Moe Bandy & the Mavericks – “You’re Part of Me” / “Hey There My Friend”
Satin SA-010 – Paul & Chuck – “House Of Blue Lovers ” / ?
Satin SA-011 – Playboys – “Dame Licencia” (Hazme El Milagro) / “Nomas Por Quererte” (7-66-2)
Satin SA-012 – ?
Satin SA-013 – Playboys – “All I Do Is Cry” / “Little Playgirl” (Robert Suarez) 8-66 PB-3/4

pink label with a script “Satin” and no ribbon:

Satin SA-014 – Bailey Anderson & the Satin Gentlemen – “What Will The Answer Be” (Dayton Smith) / “The Satin Gentlemen” (1066 BA 4)
Satin SA-015 – Playboys – “Falling In Love With You” / “Let Them Talk” (Joe Seneca) (LH-2836/7, December 1966)
Satin SA-016 – Conjunto Los Navegantes – “Te Fuiste” (Rosendo Torres) / “Navegando” (Adolf Garcia) (167-CLN-1/2, LH-2876/7 “Spanish Series” Satin Music Pub)

stylized Satin logo on left with two lines above and below:

Satin SA-021 – The Ones – “Sure Gonna Miss You” (often marked up to read “Sure Gonna Miss Me”) / “What’s It Like To Be In Love” (LH-3299, 1967)

Satin SA-024 – Jimmy Payne, The Country Boys – “Standing at the End of My World” / “A Wound Time Can’t Erase”

two-tone label with Satin Records in box (except for SA-028 which reverts to the original ribbon S):

Satin SA-025 – The Lively Set – “Soul Diggin'” / “Blues Get Off My Shoulder” (vocal by Earl Adams)

Satin SA-027 – Jim Faber – “Just for a Moment” / ? (country)
Satin SA-028 – The Casino Royal – “Don’t Mistake Me for a Fool” (D. Cruz, T. Zamudio) / “Return Of The Prodigal Son”

Satin SA-030 – The Three Dudes – “Sad Little Boy” / “I’m Beggin’ You” (Jan 1968, group aka Four Dudes, Images)
Satin SA-031 – Michael Lord – “(Life’s a Ball) Lovin’ It All” (H.M. Byron) / “Its Only Make Believe” (Twitty)

Satin SA-033 – Nat y Los Music Makers – “Una Eternidad” / “Por Ultima Vez”

Satin SA-035 – Bailey Anderson – “The World’s Youngest Naughty Old Man” / “There Goes My Everything” (1969)

Satin SA-037 – The Satin Souls (vocal by Madison Mitchell) – “Gimme Some Lovin'” / “I’d Rather Go Blind”

Satin SA-041 – Michael Lord & the Romainaires – “St.James Infirmary” / “Take Five” (1969)

Satin SA-047 – Clique Camarilla – “The Ride” (Donny Leavitt) / “The Hello Song” (Prod. by M. Montgomery for Sabra Prod., Riviera Music BMI, 4-69-1)

Satin SA-061 – Ty Lemley – “Ramblin’ Ways” / “One Day at a Time” (country 45)

Satin SA-102 – J.D. Williamson – “You’re Something Else for Me” (Fender, Duncan) / “I’m Getting Better” (Luella Lewis, Arthur Vosgein) 1979

The Casino Royal is the same group as the Casino Royale on Key-Loc.

Pennsylvania (?):

Satin SAT-1111 – Adolphus Bell & the Up Starts – “Black Eye Peas” (C.A. Bott, W. Hutchingson, Joy Boy BMI) / “Lafin Gas” (C.W. Powell, D. Bell, S. Godfrey, Cevet BMI) (1031-45-SAT1111)

Blues Art Journal has an article on Adolphus Bell but the author seems unaware of this recording.

Plainview, Texas:

Satin RHB-1120 – Harry Bray & the Wheels – “I Lost My Love” b/w “Way Down South in San Antonio” (SoN 84892) country with drum machine!

Ogdensburg, NY:

Satin SR-561 – The Four Satins – “Drop Off” (Larry Costigan) / “Hip Hop”, possibly Jimmy Massia lead vocals (see this post on Utica entertainment for a little more info)

There was also a Satin label out of Washington state in the 1970s that had a 45 by the Main Attraction.

Thank you to Max Waller, Kent Chatellier, Michael Recendez, and Martin Hancock for their additions to this discography, and to Max for the Gary and Kyle scans.

Pa-Go-Go Discography

Story of how Cameo acquired “96 Tears”, Billboard, October 1, 1966 note “Bago Records” (sic)

Any help with the discography or info on Pa-Go-Go in general would be appreciated!

Lillian Gonzales and her husband Joe “Pato” Gonzales owned the El Pato grocery store in Saginaw, Michigan, and also ran the Gonzales & Gonzales artist management company. Joe, whose name I’ve seen in print as Jose Gonzales or Victor Gonzales, owned half of Bego Records with Paulino Bernal, which had been releasing conjunto records in McAllen, Texas since the early ’60s.

Joe started the Pa-Go-Go record with brothers Rudy “Tee” Gonzales and Manuel Gonzales (apparently no relation to Joe – see comment from Cisco below), basing the label out of San Antonio where Rudy Gonzales had his group, Rudy & the Reno Bops. Pa-Go-Go’s focus would be less specialized than Bego’s, with rock, soul and r&b releases.

Lillie Gonzales brought ? & the Mysterians to Art Schiell’s Recording Studio in Bay City, Michigan in April, 1966 to record a version of “Midnight Hour” and their original song, “96 Tears”, with Rudy Gonzales producing. The first pressing was 750 copies, but there were additional pressings as the single broke out on stations in Saginaw, Flint, Windsor and Detroit.

According to Billboard, Neil Bogart, a twenty-three year old sales manager at Cameo-Parkway flew to McAllen, Texas to purchase the master of “96 Tears” from Bego, winning out over a verbal agreement with Roulette’s Morris Levy.

Although Pa-Go-Go’s address of 408 Hazel St. San Antonio, Texas was on the labels of every release, about half the acts were from Michigan. A Billboard item from October, 1967 even mentions the label being headquartered in Saginaw. Pa-Go-Go only existed for about a year and a half, but released some fine music in that time, with the last single I can find mention of, Count & the Colony’s “Say What You Think” being sold to SSS International.

Pa-Go-Go Discography:

101 – Danny & the Tejanos – “Mi otra movida” (Polka) / “Con esta copa” (Ranchera)
102 – Question Mark & the Mysterians – “96 Tears” / “Midnight Hour” (April, 1966)
103 – Sir David & His Knights – “Shotgun” / “All My Love” (David Camarillo, published by Ed Arguello Pub.)
104 – Fernando Y Juan – “Se te llego tu dia” / “Vuela vuela Palomita”
105 – Chavez & the Chevelles – “Buscando Una Estrella” / “El Trenesito (The Train)” (D.A.R.)
106 – Danny & The Tejanos – “Confecion” / “Mundo raro”
107 – Little Henry & His Band – “No soy tu arroz con pollo” (Isidrio Lopez) / “Amor sin medida” (Jose A. Jimenez)
108 – Sonny Ace- “Ya volvio la Palomia” (Lonnie Guerrero) / “Sandra” (Martin Linan)
109 – ?
110 – Al Pinckney & the Exclusives – “Coasting” / “La-Hai”
111 – Chavez & the Chevelles – “Pido” / “Angelitos Negros”
112 – Danny & the Tejanos – “Listen, Sweet Thing” / “What’s the Word” (Danny Martinez)
113 – Conjunto Los Galantes de Manuel Gutierrez – “Contestaction a ‘Me Voy Lejos'” / “Ellas”
114 – ?
115 – Freddie Fender & His All Stars – “Cool Mary Lou” / “You Are My Sunshine”
116 – ?
117 – ?
118 – Staffs – “Another Love” / “I Just Can’t Go to Sleep”
119 – ?
120 – ?
121 – Count and the Colony – “Can’t You See” (Dick Brown, Butch Burden) / “That’s the Way” (Larry Wheatley, Butch Burden)
201 – Count and the Colony – “Say What You Think” / “Symptoms of Love” (October, 1967)

Billboard, July 1, 1967
Billboard, July 1, 1967
#101 shows only “Go-Go” on the label.
Little Henry Pa-Go-Go 45 No Soy Tu Arroz Con Pollo

See the entry on the Staffs for more about that band.

At this point I’m not sure if the missing numbers were actually issued, as I haven’t found any evidence of them, nor has Davie Gordon (see his comment below) or Mike Markesich.

? & the Mysterians, Sir David and His Knights, and Count and the Colony were all Michigan acts. Danny & the Tejanos, the Staffs and Al Pinckney & the Exclusives were from Texas (see comment from Robert Villarreal below).

Sources: background on Bego from Wikipedia, most complete account of the early days of ? & the Mysterians I could find was at MichiganRockandRollLegends.com, with further background from the ChicagoReader.com, Fredric Dannen’s Hit Men, and info on Danny & the Tejanos and Sir David & His Knights from I’m Shakin’.

Thank you to Martin Hancock for info on the Little Henry 45 and to Antonio of La Plebe for his contributions to the discography. Thanks also to Francisco Candia, Shane, Alfonso, and Josh (jollyrarestuff) for their help with the discography.

Sonny Ace Pa-Go-Go 45 Ya Volvio La Palomita

Robb London and the Rogues

Robb London, San Antonio Express and News, July 9, 1966
Robb London profile in the San Antonio Express and News, July 9, 1966

Bobby Jenkins and the Jades

Bobby Jenkins and the Jades Beckingham 45 Hey ManThis band started out as Bobby Jenkins and the Jades with a 45 from January 1964, “Jeanne Be Good” / “The Gods Were Angry With Me” on Astro followed by one on Beckingham 1080, “You Mean Everything To Me” / “Hey Man”. Other members included Danny Jenkins on bass and Jerry Tagel on guitar. I didn’t know the full lineup until someone with the email moniker “NT” wrote in with some more information:

The members of the Bobby Jenkins and the Jades band:

Bobby Jenkins – vocals, guitar, keys
Danny Jenkins – drums
Bubba Woods – bass
Gerry Tagle – guitar
Jesse James Adams – tenor sax
Ben Fur – tenor sax

During the transition to Rob London and the Rogues, Danny Jenkins moved to the bass guitar seat.. don’t recall who took the drums position.

Note: Bobby was/is an accomplished guitarist but rarely played in live performance after bringing-in another lead guitarist. He then mostly played keyboard (Hammond).

By 1965 they had changed their name to Robb London and the Rogues, releasing three 45s in the next couple years:

Standing Under Big Ben / Bitter Tears (Beckingham 1083)
Who’ll Be the One / It Should’ve Been Me (Beckingham 1085)
Crazy Baby / Mary Jane (Beckingham 1086)

Beckingham 1084 features soul vocalist Billy Sol with songs written by Robb London, “Have You Ever Told Her”, backed with “The Bells”.

“Standing Under Big Ben” is a droning ballad, full of echo, credited to London and Beckingham (the only time I see his name show up as a writer). More interesting to me is the folk-rock flip, “Bitter Tears”, a Robb London original with good vocals, nice edgy guitar work and just a tambourine for percussion.

The second on Beckingham is better still, with two upbeat numbers written by London. “Who’ll Be the One” on the top side alternates between the galloping intro and smoother verses and bridge. The bluesy “It Should Have Been Me” has farfisa reminiscent of “She’s About a Mover”. “Who’ll Be the One” hit the lower rungs of San Antonio AM station KTSA’s charts in December of 1965. I was surprised to see the song was covered by the Crossfires on Tower 278 in 1966.

The third 45 has another two London originals, “Crazy Baby” / “Mary Jane”. “Crazy Baby” gets repetitious, but has a cool, brief second section that first kicks in around 50 seconds into the song. The flip “Mary Jane” is one of London’s best cuts, a tough rocker from start to finish about a girl “who’ll put you down”: “if you see her comin’, you better step aside, a lot of men didn’t, a lot of men died!”.

They recorded these at Abe Epstein’s tiny two-track studio on Gen. McMullen Drive. Epstein, who recorded as Al Epp, owned the Jox, Cobra and Dynamic labels, among others, and is a legend of San Antonio music. Among the hundreds of soul, latin and doo wop records he recorded are some fine garage releases, including the 12 A.M.’s “The Way I Feel” on his Groovy label, and the Argyles / the Minds Eye, the Sixth Edition and the Kings on Jox.

Robb London’s manager was Mel Adcock of Swingtime Productions (who also managed the Five Canadians and the Frantics). They played shows around San Antonio, including the Knights of Columbus Hall on the east side of the city, and had a reputation as both a soul cover group and for British Invasion sounds.

In 1967 the name of his backing band changed to Soul Unlimited, with one release, “Funny Situation” / “Gloria” on the Suzuki label, also produced by Epstein Enterprises:

“Funny Situation” has some interesting UK influences, the light psychedelia with hypnotic guitar lines on the verses segueing to full horn charts on the choruses. Despite good production the parts might be too different to make this song work on a commercial level. This time the songwriting credit goes to Robert Jenkins instead of his stage name.

The flip is a great, slow version of “Gloria” with Robb’s best vocal performance, the band encouraging him with shouts. Most remarkable is the arrangement that dispenses with the repetitive chords and syncopated build-up of Them’s version in favor of a relaxed pace that suits the lyrics. The opening guitar riff works well with the horns; it was probably a favorite live song for the group.

For the next couple years Robb London produced records for other groups, until about 1969 or ’70 when he came back with the Robb London Company, with a Ted Nugent cover “Good Natured Emma” on one side and a hippie-country tune “The Children” (AVI 1065). The story ends there, for now.

Billy Sol would have two 45s on the Domar label, DM-1122 “Doggin’ Around” / “Danger Signals”, and Domar DM-1124: “When You’re Alone” / “Time, Time” (written by Robert Merrill and P. Beckingham).

Does anyone know what the artist and titles on Beckingham 1081 and 1082 are?