Jerry Cole

Jerry Cole born Jerald Kolbrack (September 23, 1939-May 28, 2008) was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.

Biography

Raised in Chicago, Cole first entered the pop music scene as one of The Champs along with Glen Campbell. Campbell and Cole formed the Gee Cee's after they left the Champs and released one single called "Buzzsaw Twist". Cole increased his income and recordings by playing for various budget albums with a variety of credits.^[1] In an interview with Psychotronic Video issue #31, Cole explained his dealings with Crown Records. Crown would request five surf albums, five country and western albums and five easy listening albums. Cole would write nine different songs for each album to back one cover version of a hit of the time, organize a band, arrange and record the music for master tapes that he would deliver to Crown in about three weeks time; doing an album or two in a day.^[2] Impressed by his playing as a session musician, Bobby Darin recommended him to Capitol Records where he led an instrumental surf guitar group called "Jerry Cole and his Spacemen". Capitol tried Cole as a vocalist but found his voice wasn't strong enough.^[3]

Throughout the '60s, Cole was a highly sought-after session player, working with The Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man"/"I Knew I'd Want You"), Nancy Sinatra ("These Boots Are Made for Walking"), The Beach Boys ("Pet Sounds" LP) and Paul Revere & the Raiders (“Kicks”) among others. He recorded as one of "The Wrecking Crew" for Phil Spector and as a writer, arranger and conductor for numerous pop groups and performers and performed on many American television shows of the time. He led the pit bands of the teenage music shows Hullabaloo and Shindig!.^[4] His bandleader abilities were also tapped by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Roger Miller, and Rick Nelson and he was a first-call guitarist on TV show bands for Andy Williams, Sonny & Cher, The Smothers Brothers, Laugh In, and Dick Van Dyke.

Cole pulled together some L.A. session colleagues and cut his own psychedelic album: "The Inner Sounds of the Id" by 'The Id', recorded between 1965 and '66 according to drummer Don Dexter. The musicians were: Jerry Cole (lead guitar, lead vocals, sitar), Don Dexter (drums, backing vocals), Glenn Cass (bass, backing vocals) and his brother Norman Cass (rhythm guitar, backing vocals). A massive collection of tracks was paired down to ten cuts and released by RCA in January 1967.^[5] The Animated Egg's self-titled album was released on the Alshire label in 1967 under the auspices of producer/manager Paul Arnold, who reportedtly absconded with the unreleased Id material. However, shortly before his death, Cole determined that the Animated Egg tracks were probably recorded at a different session, and may have involved different musicians working with Cole. Either way, the Id and Animated Egg tapes were both subsequently recycled by Arnold for a series of releases including and 'The 101 String's orchestral-overdubbed "Astro-Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000". Cashing in on Jimi Hendrix's untimely death, many of the same tracks were also given new titles and released as a tribute album credited to 'The Black Diamonds'.^[6] On October 15,2006, Jerry performed, as a lead guitarist, with his friend, Dick Burns, of the original Dartells, as a "New Dartell" in the KVEN "Boomer Blast" oldies concert at the Oxnard Performing Arts Plaza, though he was not included in the then still uncompleted album Mo' Pastrami, which did include Freddy Cannon, Donny Brooks and Jewel Akens.

Jerry Cole started Happy Tiger Records with producer/manager Ray Ruff in 1969. As one of Ruff's acts - a post-Van Morrison line-up of Them - had just broken up, Cole joined the band for their self-titled 1970 hard rock album for the label, credited as lead vocalist, guitarist and drummer alongside uncredited musicians Ry Cooder, Johnny Stark, Jack Nitzsche and Billy Preston.

Cole teamed up with Roger McGuinn again in 1972 for the Byrds' debut solo record; while session work with Roger Miller, Chuck Howard and Susie Allanson sent him in a country-rock direction. He backed up Elvis Presley in 1974. The list of stellar names Cole worked with as guitarist, vocalist, writer, arranger, producer, or bandleader is endless: Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Aretha Franklin, The Righteous Brothers, Little Richard, Dean Martin, Merle Haggard, Ray Charles, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Lou Rawls, Johnny Rivers, Gregg Allman, Lee Hazelwood, Blood Sweat & Tears, Kenny Rogers, Neil Diamond, Steely Dan, Isaac Hayes...

Discography

Pseudonymous albums recorded for Crown Records:

• Billy Boyd - "Twangy Guitars" LP (Crown CST-196), 1960
  • Don and Eddie - "Rock and Roll Party" (Modern, - same as the 'Billy Boyd' LP above)
• The Hot Rodders - "Big Hot Rod" LP (Crown CST-378), 1963
• The Scramblers - "Cycle Psychos" LP (Crown CST-384), 1963
• Jerry Kole and the Strokers - "Hot Rod Alley" LP (Crown CST-385), 1963
• The Blasters - "Sounds of the Drags" LP (Crown CST-392), 1963
• The Deuce Coupes - "The Shut Downs" LP (Crown CST-393), 1963
• The Winners - "Checkered Flag" LP (Crown CST-394), 1963
• Johnny Rivers and Jerry Cole - "Johnny Rivers and Jerry Cole" LP (Crown CLP-5475), 1964
• The Stingers - "Guitars a Go Go" LP (Crown CST-476), 1964
• Jerry Cole and the Country Boys - "Crazy Arms and Other Country & Western Instrumental Favorites" LP (Crown CST-518), 1964?
• Jerry Cole & The Stingers - "Guitars a Go-Go Vol. 2" LP (Crown CST-553), 1966
  • Jerry Cole - "Hot Rod Twangin' - The 1960s Crown Recordings" (Ace Records CD), 2006

Albums recorded for Capitol Records (1963-64):

• Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Surf Age"
• Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Hot Rod Dance Party"
• Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Outer Limits"
  • Jerry Cole and His Spacemen - "Power Surf! The Best of Jerry Cole & His Spacemen" (Sundazed CD), 1999

Other pseudonymous recordings attributed to Jerry Cole:

• Billy Baker - "Country Guuitar" (Viking, UK)
• The Super Stocks - "Thunder Road"
• Mike Adams & The Red Jackets - "Surfers Beat"
• Eddy Wayne - "The Ping Pong Sounds of Guitars in Percussion"
• The Knights - "Hot Rod High"
• Billy J. Tyler
• The Palomino Boys

• The Id - "The Inner Sounds of the Id" (RCA Victor LSP 3805), 1967
• The Animated Egg - "The Animated Egg" (Alshire 5104), 1967

Recordings from the Id & Animated Egg album sessions were repackaged/remixed many times, including:

• • The Projection Company - "Give Me Some Lovin'" (Custom CS-1113), 1967
  • T. Swift & The Electric Bag - "Are You Experienced?" (Custom CS-1115), 1968
  • The Generation Gap - "Up Up and Away" (Custom CS-1121)
  • The Stone Canyon Rock Group - "MacArthur Park" (Custom CS-1124), 1968
  • Various Artists - "Young Sound '68" (Somerset SF-31500), 1968
  • The Haircuts & The Impossibles - "Call It Soul!" (Somerset SF-33400), 1969
  • 101 Strings - "Astro-Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000" (Alshire 5119), 1969
  • The Black Diamonds - "A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix" (Alshire 5220), 1971
  • Bebe Bardon & 101 Strings - "The "Exotic" Sounds of Love" (Alshire 201), 1972
  • The Animated Egg - "Guitar Freakout" (Sundazed CD reissue, adding out-takes which were unique to the cash-in releases), 2008

• The Mustang - "Organ Freakout!" (Somerset SF-28600), 1968 (apparently The Id backing keyboardist Paul “The Mustang” Griffin)

• Them - "Them" (Happy Tiger), 1970 (Fallout Records CD issue, 2008)

References

1. ^ "RAB Hall of Fame: Jerry Cole". Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JerryCole.html. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
2. ^ "(exotica) More recent finds on a Weds". xmission.com. 1999-12-30. http://www.xmission.com/pub/lists/exotica/archive/v02.n577. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
3. ^ "Jerry Cole: Surf guitarist". The Independent. 2008-07-03. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jerry-cole-surf-guitarist-859049.html. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
4. ^ "Jerry Cole, '60s guitarist and surf songwriter; at 68". The Boston Globe. 2008-06-08. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/06/08/jerry_cole_60s_guitarist_and_surf_songwriter_at_68/. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
5. ^ "From Inner Sounds to Astro Sounds". Pop Matters. 2006-02-20. http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/060220-astrosounds.shtml. Retrieved 2010-06-12. 
6. ^ The Animated Egg - Guitar Freakout liner notes, Mike Vernon. Sundazed CD (2008)

External links

• Obituary
• Jerry Cole biography at MySpace

Persondata
Name	Cole, Jerry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1939
Place of birth
Date of death	2008
Place of death