The Jay Hawkers came out of Bay City, Michigan and were led by Jay Walker, who was later a DJ on WKNX (1210 AM) in Saginaw, Michigan and WGRD, eventually changing his name as Sonny Fox.
Discographies tend to list the Jayhawkers as the backing band for a single by Dwight Douglas and the Jayhawkers on Astra 3008 – “Interstate ’45′” (L. Drake, J. Stokes) / “Mr. Big” (Lenny Drake). This is a pseudonym for Lenny & the Thundertones, who were based out of Detroit. Certainly the songs were cut several years prior to the Deltron records, so I have to believe this is a different band.
I’ve sometimes seen them listed as a Grand Rapids band, but the promo photo above comes from Delta Promotions in Bay City, which also (I believe) ran Deltron records label. Bill Kehoe and Jim Atherton owned Delta Promotions, which managed Question Mark and the Mysterians, and was the company that created several fraudulent bands to tour the US, including a bogus Zombies featuring two future members of ZZ Top and a made-up Archies group that led to a devastating lawsuit from Don Kirshner.
Deltron 21 (1227) – The Jayhawkers – “Dawn Of Instruction” (Trusdale Music, BMI) / “Searchin'”
As I wrote in an article about certain topical songs of the mid-60s, the Jayhawkers’ “Dawn of Instruction” is a straightforward inversion of P.F. Sloan’s “Eve of Destruction”. With over-the-top lyrics like “even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’ … my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin”, “Eve of Destruction” was an easy target. The Jayhawkers made the most of the hyperbole in their answer song, singing lines like “step aside, Mister Doom Peddler” and “[we’re] not old enough to vote, but ain’t young enough for runnin”.
The Jayhawkers version came out in October 1965, just a month after Barry McGuire’s recording hit #1 in Billboard. Interestingly there’s no song writing credit for this side, only Trusdale Music publishing, which, as Max Waller pointed out, is probably a dig at “Eve of Destruction” publisher Trousdale.
The Jayhawkers opened for Simon and Garfunkel on Wednesday, December 29, 1965 at the Saginaw YMCA.
Deltron 1228 – The Jay Hawkers – “To Have A Love (As Sweet As You)” (T. Saputo, B. Kirener) / “Send Her Back” (Walker, Huntleigh)
Their second single came out in April, 1966, this time Jay Hawkers listed as two separate words. Both sides show a very different side to the band, and for me this is the best of their singles. “To Have A Love (As Sweet As You)” is catchy and very commercial. The song seems to be original to the band, though I don’t think the writers were members of the group.
“Send Her Back” is a slow and very affecting ballad. It may be the only song they recorded that was written by people in the band, namely Walker and Huntleigh.
The Jay Hawkers continued with two more singles, all cover songs in different styles:
Lucky Eleven 232 – “Come On (Children)” / “A Certain Girl” (produced by “Terry Nnight” aka Terry Knight, October 1966)
Lyke Til 4147 – “Love Have Mercy” / “Baby Blue” (Produced by Jay Walker, June, 1967)
The Deltron label
I can find three, maybe four, additional releases on this Deltron label out of Bay City:
Deltron 812 – The One Way Pedestrians – “I’d Like to Say (I Love You)” (Rod Clowthier) / “Hey Miss Sally” (I haven’t heard either side yet)
Deltron 813 – The Bed of Roses – “Hate” / “I Don’t Believe You” (August 1967)
Deltron AR895 – Dick Rabbit “Take Me to L.A.” / “You Come on Like a Train” (both by The Thayber Brothers, produced by James Atherton, Package Music BMI)
Dick Rabbit also had “Love” (Phil Gordon, Rich Thayer) / “Trip” (Donavan) on Great Lakes GL-103, both published by Rabbit Music Co.
See my follow-up post for more detail on the Bed of Roses.
Deltron SS-6518 – The Deltrons (Craig, Bob, Dan, Greg) – “I Found My Baby in Bad Axe” / “Tonya” (Dan Richards, Greg Young) from April 1966
The Deltrons single is crude and great garage single on “Tonya”. I doubted it was related to the Deltron label from Bay City but the group recorded in nearby Sebewaing, so it likely is. I cover the Deltrons in more depth here.
Photo at top from the West Michigan Music Hysterical Society.
Thank you to Gary Rappaport for providing detailed background on the Simon and Garfunkel appearance with the Jayhawkers.
I picked up a phenomenal box of 45s at a flea market in Oregon a few years ago and most of the singles were promos from Michigan/Midwest labels. There are several unique Deltron 45s– a test press of The One Way Pedestrians single, a white label promo of Dick Rabbit, and my favorite, a copy of the Bed of Roses single with a black and white promo photo of the band pasted to the B-side. They wrote “Please spin us. Thank you. Bed of Roses” on the picture. I was bummed about the B-side but after a year of working up the courage, I managed to carefully remove the photo and used wood glue to remove the old paste in the grooves revealing unplayed vinyl beneath! Where should I send pics?
Hi Stephan:
The Michigan Rock and Roll Legends site would love to see what you found. Deltron Records was associated with Delta Promotions of Bay City, Michigan.
Thanks for posting this page! The song “To Have a Love (As Sweet as You)” was played a lot on WKNX Saginaw and WTAC Flint in the spring of 1966. I was born and raised in nearby Midland. I could not get the riff/melody out of my mind for all these years but did not know any words or the title. I did know it was by the Jay Hawkers, and I have the “Come on Children” single on Lucky Eleven. After searching for more than fifty years, I have finally found out what this song is, and have found a copy to order online. Thanks again!
I could have sworn that “Come on Children came out a year later, in 1967. But it would be plausible that it came in ’66, because it would still be after the Beatles “Rain” single, which it heavily imitates with the backwards track at the end. In that case though, it would seem strange that they went back to a local label and self-production, after being on a Cameo-Parkway subsidiary with national distribution and production by the famous Terry Knight. Another thing that seems strange (of course this was a long time ago) is the “Lyke Til” label on “Love Have Mercy.” I borrowed a copy of this once, and it had a yellow label all right, but I thought the name was “Dicto,” which I had an impression was connected with Dick Wagner. Did I make that up in my head?
Dick Wagner was the owner of DICTO. My band “The Bells of Rhymny” later to become “The Cherry Slush” had a release on DICTO called “She’ll Be Back” B/W “The Wicked Old Witch” The Jayhawkers never released anything on DICTO.
One more thing. In the spring of ’67, after their Dunhill hit “Who Do you Love,” I remember The Woolies having out a song called “Love Words.” Do you know anything about that?