Thursday, May 23, 2024

Musical Interlude: Sinner Man (1966)

 In the 60's, there were a few record labels with ties to movie and/or TV studios. Some, you know, like Warner Bros. Records. Colpix was the recording arm of Columbia Pictures and its then-TV division, Screen Gems, home to The Monkees, for example. I think I read somewhere that Paramount had a piece of Dot Records, though I might be wrong, and ABC Records, which shared the TV network logo, was later bought out by MCA, which explains why there are reissues of records by some of ABC's biggest recording acts, including Jim Croce, Steely Dan, and Three Dog Night, under the MCA banner.

Speaking of Three Dog Night, we chronicled a while ago how singer Danny Hutton started as a singer-songwriter for Hanna-Barbera's music division, and his hit, "Roses & Rainbows", was used on The Flintstones during that series' final season (1965). Future bandmate Cory Wells had relocated from Buffalo to Los Angeles around that time, and in 1966, with his band, the Enemys, recorded "Sinner Man", on Valiant Records, which, at the time was the music arm of Four Star Television, which would explain the studio's foray into producing a music series like Hollywood A-Go-Go, a 1 season wonder in syndication.

Wells found himself on a Four Star show, namely, Burke's Law, and also turned up on The Beverly Hillbillies, but I have no memory of "Sinner Man" being used on either show.

As of now, there is no video footage of the Enemys performing "Sinner Man", so this audio will suffice.


By the way, Valiant's releases were distributed by Warner Bros. Records, which bought the label outright in 1966. Valiant's best known band, though, was The Association. I once owned via, like, 5th hand, if you will, an early Association album under the Valiant label. MCA acquired the rights to "Sinner Man", reissuing it, along with "Roses & Rainbows", as part of a Three Dog Night box set a few years back.

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