Rockin' n' Reelin' With The Cadets (Crown CLP 5015)

Side 1:
01) Stranded In The Jungle
02) I Want You
03) So Will I
04) I'll Be Spinning
05) Fools Rush In
06) Annie Met Henry

Side 2:
01) Heartbreak Hotel
02) Dancin' Dan
03) Church Bells May Ring
04) I Got Loaded
05) Rollin' Stone
06) Smack Dab In The Middle

Rockin' 'n Reelin' With The Cadets (Mega)

Rockin' 'n Reelin' With The Cadets (Zippy)

Thanks to Marv for another Crown LP reconstruction. "Rockin' n' Reelin' With The Cadets" was issued in 1957 and may have been a reissue of Modern 1215 although there is uncertainty over whether the Modern release actually made it to the record shops.

This is one of the earlier Crown LPs and the presentation is classier than that of the Marvin & Johnny LP which was featured a few posts ago. The back cover doesn't consist of a generic paper list of other Crown releases carelessly glued on to the cardboard sleeve, and the front cover has a rather good photo of  The Cadets. Heck, there are even sleeve notes! So perhaps this particular platter won't be lurking in the bargain basement as it looks good enough to make it to the Vocal Groups browser in the main part of the virtual Be Bop Wino record shop.

As for The Cadets themselves, well they recorded for RPM as The Jacks, as well as being The Cadets on Modern. There's only one Jacks track on this compilation, the absolutely glorious "Smack Dab In The Middle" which features a lead vocal by one of the great R&B group bass singers, Will "Dub" Jones who later became a member of The Coasters.

The Cadets had a smoother, more professional sound than most of their fellow Los Angeles vocal groups which, combined with tight instrumental backing, resulted in some top class R&B discs. One possible problem though - a lot of their output consisted of cover versions of popular R&B and rock 'n' roll tracks, which means that The Cadets were never really famed for their own readily identifiable sound. A listen to the tracks on this LP, however, shows that the covers were very good indeed. Their biggest hit "Stranded In The Jungle" was originally recorded by The Jayhawks on Flash Records, but The Cadets version is for me the better of the two and ended up outselling the original.

As is usual when it comes to group sounds, I'll refer you to Marv Goldberg's site for the lowdown on who sang what and when -

http://www.uncamarvy.com/JacksCadets/jackscadets.html 

Original Single Releases:

All singles released by The Cadets except RPM 428 by The Jacks.

Why Don't You Write Me? / Smack Dab In The Middle - The Jacks - RPM 428 - April 1955

Rollin' Stone / Fine Lookin' Baby - Modern 960 - May 1955

So Will I / Annie Met Henry - Modern 969 - September 1955

Church Bells May Ring / Heartbreak Hotel - Modern 985 - February 1956

Stranded In The Jungle / I Want You - Modern 994 - June 1956

Dancin' Dan / I Got Loaded - Modern 1000 - September 1956

I'll Be Spinning / Fools Rush In - Modern 1006 - November 1956

Recommended Purchase:

The Cadets Meet The Jacks - Stranded In The Jungle (Ace CDCHD 534)

When it comes to West Coast vocal group action, always turn to Ace!

Dub Jones is hereby inducted into the Be Bop Wino Hall Of Fame.

Thanks again to Marv for supplying the blog with great R&B sounds.