The Short Story of The Buccaneers ©2001 JCMarion
In the north side of the city of
Philadelphia in the early fifties a new vocal group began to take shape. The
lead singer of the group was Ernest Smith, the bass singer was Don Marshall,
Julius Robinson was the baritone and Richard Gregory was on tenor. The group
featured pianist and musical arranger Sam Johnson and together they were known
as The Buccaneers. The group was heard by a couple of would be record producers
who were students at Temple University, Jerry Halpern and Ed Krensel. In a few
short days in November of 1952 a recording session was set up in a studio located
in an aging movie theater in central Philadelphia. The group had practiced a
tune written by Halpern called "Dear Ruth". A local instrumental group
known as the Joe Whelan Trio was hired as backup for The Buccaneers on this
tune. The new recording label headed by Halpern and Krensel was called Southern
Records. Soon "Dear Ruth" was issued on Southern #101 during the first
few days of 1953. The tune is a catchy love ballad with interesting chord changes,
but what makes the recording so memorable is the short interlude featuring the
mighty Wurlitzer organ during the transition break into the final chorus. The
flip side called "Fine Brown Frame" featured The Buccaneers backed
up by Matt Child & The Drifters, and the combination sides certainly made
for a unique recording.
Southern Records now located in Philadelphia began as best they could, to support
their new record by making the rounds of all the local R & B programmers
in Philadelphia, and soon expanded to include New York and Baltimore-Washington.
Their efforts resulted in some success as the Buccaneers began to sell in these
areas. New York based Rainbow Records liked what they heard and soon took over
national distribution for the record and re-released it on Rainbow #211. Soon
after Ed Krensel was drafted into the army and Jerry Halpern decided to carry
on alone, The Buccaneers were offered to George Goldner and he signed them to
his Rama Records label in September of 1953. Soon in the recording studio for
Rama, The Buccaneers recorded the pop song "In The Mission of St. Augustine"
on Rama #24. A typical jump tune of the time "You Did Me Wrong" was
put on the flip side. The record did not do much on the sales charts and so
Rama tried again with "The Stars Will Remember" and "Come Back
My Love" on Rama #21 (released later despite the numbering system). The
third and last single by The Buccaneers was also a failure in sales and airplay.
This ended the recording career of the group and oddly enough the records that
didn't sell are today worth a small fortune among record collectors.
The recording on Southern is certainly a reminder of those heady days when the
sound of the many R & B vocal groups was developing into a musical style
that would sweep the country in a couple of years. "Dear Ruth" is
one of those songs that have a sound, a feel, that can never be duplicated today.
It is a snippet of sound that will live as long as there are people who look
forward to discovering the sound of a lifetime.