Jett Powers, “Go, Girl, Go” (Design, 1958): Today’s NY Night Train YouTube Party Platter
NY Night Train’s Daily Party Platter YouTube just kicked into gear! Visit the playlist every day to see what’s cookin’…
What ever happened to Jett Powers?
Houston teenager James Marcus Smith, motored west to L.A. to make it as an actor and musician in 1957. Hollywood agents Gabey, Lutz, Heller and Loeb signed him up and christened him “Jett Powers”. The showbizzy name makes sense when you consider that they were also the managers of Liberace, Kay Star, Frankie Laine, etc. Next they proceeded to record “Go Girl Go” and another 45 “Loud Perfume” for the budget label Design. Despite really ripping music (no pun intended PJ) by, in this case Vince Parlo and The Raunch Hands, and on the “Loud Perfume” by thee legendary Bumps Blackwell Orchestra, neither got off the ground. You may notice from the label that Design is a division of a Pickwick – another budget indie best known today as where Lou Reed got his start as a songwriter, recorded “The Ostrich” and “Sneaky Pete,” and met John Cale to start the Velvet Underground..
In 1961 Sharon Sheely (who wrote “Poor Little Fool” for Ricky Nelson, got Jett Powers a contract with Liberty Records where she changed his name to P.J. Proby. So the legendary saga of P.J. Proby, an illustrious music career that continues to this very day, was sparked here with this steller teen rockabilly bopper… “Go, Girl, Go”
