(419) WES BRYAN : LOST MUSIC : BOBBY DARIN TM MUSIC and THE OLD PROSPECTOR

After Bobby Darin had TM, his music publishing company which he started in about 1963, he bought a song from me called "The Old Prospector." He recorded it on a full session himself and he took it to Vegas to pitch it to Louie Prima and Keely Smith.

This is a song that has not been released by Bobby or his heirs and, like Elvis' version of my song "The Dying Ember," which was released on Dot Records by Randy Wood as recorded by Dorsey Burnett, it's a song that could be found in some archive somewhere and, due to the full production, could be released someday

There were a couple songs I was writer on that Bobby wanted to record but Sylvester Cross at American Music wouldn't split the Publishing with Bobby, so the business man Bobby walked away. He remained my friend though.

Bobby bought Trinity Music ("TM") from Ed Burton and Joe Csida, who'd managed Bobby, for about half a million. This move from entertainer to songwriter to music publisher is one I would someday make myself, with much less risk than Bobby had taken when I started U.S. International Records.

In previous posts we've talked about Bobby's early death and his desire to provide for his son Dodd and his heirs. You can use the search feature to pull up old posts and read more and listen to some music!

(403) ONE SUMMER NIGHT : U.S. INTERNATIONAL : MY OWN LABEL

Designing a record label I would be proud of for my own business, U.S. International Records (I was thinking Big!) was a major consideration for me. Some time had passed since my songwriting contract at American Music had ended with the death of Sylvestor Cross, and I decided to do what so very many artists are doing today, go independent.

My cousin Dean, an artist, helped me by designing this, and he did the art-work the good old fashioned way - hand drawing. I still think it's a beautiful label.

As for the recording, I took a truck out to the beach in Malibu and recorded seagulls and waves and added it to the production of "One Summer Night," which got a couple great reviews and good airplay, even though there was near no money to promote it to the radio stations.

(We haven't noticed a copy on the e-bay auctions since 2007!)

After I put it out and it started to get that airplay, Randy Wood at Dot Records decided to release it on his label.

One of the people who put it on the air, on his syndicated show, and that meant the record was heard in Europe was famous DJ and funny man Gary Hollis. Gary and I are still friends to this day.

FABIAN BREAK DOWN AND CRY : 1962 : JIMMY BOWEN and WES BRYAN SONGWRITERS

FABIAN was hot and we were happy to place a song with him!

Recently we saw that this record, a promo copy and the LONDON -AMERICAN record put out in England were up for auction, and more, it finally showed up on Youtube!

Additional Notes March 23, 2011 Wes said, "Jimmy Bowen and I wrote "Break Down and Cry" with Frankie Avalon watching ... but we had Pat Boone in mind for this hit... Pat had just taken over the management of Fabian, and Jack Spena at Pat's company had also taken over Fabian management... "Break Down and Cry" was a strong song... Pat Boone felt it would fit Fabian better."

(296) SUNSET STRIP RECORD COMPANIES : DOT RECORDS

Pat Boone was the star of Dot Records, owned by Randy Wood, a Southerner, who may've been more open to talent from the South. According to Mike Callahan and Dave Edwards, who we are linking to here, he had over 60 hits on Dot, as late as 1968. While working for Pat and in and out of Randy's offices I met Lawrence Welk's son. Thanks to this YouTuber who loaded up three of Pat's earliest Dot Records recordings!

I FEEL LIKE CRYING : PAT BOONE ON LONDON AMERICAN RECORDINGS

(284) FABIAN BREAK DOWN AND CRY DECEMBER 1962

My old friend from New York, Fabian (Fabian Forte), recorded a song that Jimmy Bowen and I wrote called "Break Down and Cry" and it was a hit for him! Pat Boone and Randy Wood (Dot was his label) were the producers.He recorded it as a 45 RPM single on Dot Records in 1962 (number 45-16413).



Then the song was recorded as a single on Chancellor (Number 16413).

Here's the chart for radio station KQV in Pittsburgh: http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/kqv120162.html

Link now to Fabians official web site where you can find a link to his fan club by clicking on the title above!

Like many of my peers he has continued to sing his heart out, entertaining generations of Rock n' Roll fans!

He's been inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame too. What a great contribution to music the sons and daughters of that city have made to American music!

(181) DORSEY BURNETT - THE DYING EMBER

While a staff songwriter at American Music, I wrote this song with Fred Horton. Fred wasn't staff but the owner-boss Sylvester Cross OK'd him. The song was meant for Elvis Presley but Dorsey got it - long story- and recorded it first. I think of this song as one of my best. Read our other blogs about Dot Records by using the search feature of this GOOGLE blog!

E-BAY AUCTION ON MY RECORD "ONE SUMMER NIGHT"

Friends, as you know, I check the e-bay auctions from time to time to see what's up there being sold "Wes Bryan."

And if you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you know one of the reasons for blogging is that there is a lot of Wes Bryan "confusion" out there. Christine and I have learned that some of the search engines put me and the Christian minister who has written a book or two and has a CD out together. I'm not the Christian minister. I'm also not the DJ, the athlete, the owner of a mini mall, or any of the other Wes Bryans out there on the Internet or in the world. (It's a great name though, isn't it guys?!)

I am the Wes Bryan who came out of Murphy, North Carolina, discovered off the Akron Beacon Journal - Roto section- who enjoyed a United Artists contract, and who changed labels a couple times to Clock and Roulette before becoming a staff songwriter at American Music.

I also became a record producer and music publisher. Though my story here on this blog is circa about 1960- 1961 about now, we noticed that a record I put out on my OWN LABEL, U. S. International, was being auctioned on e-bay and this seller has a music clip... So for as long as this lasts, enjoy listening to my record "One Summer Night." (Will this posting mean more bids for that record?) After I put "One Summer Night" out on my own label, Randy Wood who had once had Dot Records, put it out on Ranwood, his new label. It sold about 300,000 records.

Oh, I took a truck out to the beach in Malibu to record those seagulls you hear in the background...