Who were the Sevilles? The Jaguars? Or maybe the Olympics? Or were they studio musicians that had a song and wanted to record it? I think it may have been all of the above! Starting with Manny Chavez and Sonny Chaney of the Jaguars, they both had writing credits on Charlena, and Chavez also on Salt Mine. Chavez is reported to have played guitar on the Charlena session. In fact, if you listen to the Jaguars Piccadilly Rose, you can hear some similarities. It is also reported that the Jaguars sang the song themselves during live performances. The Sevilles used the same production team as the olympics, recorded a song with the same title as the Olympics, could a couple members have been part of the Sevilles? The record was cut in a hurry, so who knows all the musicians and vocalists that put it together? And did they stay throughout the Sevilles short but productive career? More questions than answers, but some great songs from a group called the Sevilles!
The first release by the Sevilles from late 1960, early 1961. "Charlena" hit the Billboard Top 100 and peaked at number 84. A great song that was played a lot in the Los Angeles area, and has been revived and performed by many other artists. It also was featured in at least one movie. The flip, "Loving You" was a great Doo Wop ballad. A fine two sider for the group, Charlena was Co-Written by Manny Chavez and Herman "Sonny" Chaney of the Los Angeles based Jaguars.
The strong follow-up by the Sevilles was another girls name, this time it was "Louella" The song actually made reference to Charlena in the lyrics, and was a very good side. Written by Len (Lon) DeMenna, possibly the only song registered by them. The flip was "Salt Mine". Again, Manny Chavez was involved with the writing credits. Notice the production team of Smith and Goldsmith. They were also producing the Olympics. JC records was based out of Beverly Hills.
The last release on the JC label for the Sevilles. In total, JC cranked out around 2 dozen sides. "Fat Sally" was a novelty rocker that was written by Kent Harris. He is the same person that was with Crest records as Boogaloo & His Gallant Crew. The flip is "Working Hard". This is not the same song as the Olympics record, but has a few small similarities. It is produced again by Smith and Goldsmith, just like the Olympics.
The Sevilles switched to the Cal-Gold label in 1962. Cal Gold seemed to have just this release, one by the Three Friends and one by Judy Jaynes. "Don't You Know I Care" was a party record, and was likely done at the same session and take. The two sides combined were around 5 minutes- too long for one side of a 45 if you wanted airplay at the time. The simply cut it in half and put it on both sides. Don't You Know I Care PT2 is the flip. The title seems to have been taken from Charlena, but didn't receive much airplay.
The Sevilles had a small layoff, and in 1964 recorded for the Galaxy label. With "Hey Hey Baby", the Sevilles went right back into the party mode they left with their Cal Gold release. Great up tempo rock and roll. The flip "Treat You Right" is a mid-tempo outing that is quite enjoyable and could have been a hit under the right circumstances.
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After the first Galaxy release , Galaxy decided to re release the Sevilles first hit Charlena, with the original flip. This was not a re-record, but the ordinal version. Shown is the promo release. |
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This is the green label stock issue on Galaxy. It did not appear to get many spins on the radio, but it certainly did on this previous owners turntable.
Summary: The Sevilles were a great group with one major claim to fame- Charlena. They recorded some fun records, some reminiscent of novelty groups like the coasters and Olympics, but were unable to get back on the Billboard charts.
Gone Missing: I have seen green vinyl promos of at least one Galaxy label promo release for the Sevilles.
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