Memorable Songs

Gary Puckett & the Union Gap

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap came together as an American pop-rock group in the late 1960s. What set them apart from other groups was that they performed wearing Union Army uniforms from the American Civil War. The boys in the band were Gary Puckett, Gary “Mutha” Withem, Dwight Bement, Kerry Chater, and Paul Wheatbread. Later, once they started recording Gary Puckett became the lead singer and the other members became The Union Gap.

Their first single was “Woman, Woman” written and composed by Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne in 1967. The song became their first big hit and charted on the Cashbox and Billboard Hot 100 charts. It is the title track on their Gold debut album of the same name.

Their second album was also certified Gold by the RIAA and included their next big hit “Young Girl”. The album was named the same and the song went on to become number one on the Cash Box chart. It also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts,

Incredible was the third album and came out in 1968. This album included all new songs that were written by the band members and/or by their producer, Jerry Fuller. This album charted on the Billboard 200 chart and became the band’s top charting album. Among the singles released from this album were “Lady Willpower” and “Over You”. Both songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.

In 1968 Gary Puckett and the Union Gap headlined a White House reception for Prince Charles.

Their fourth and final album was The New Gary Puckett and the Union Gap Album in 1969. It included the singles “Don’t Give in to Him” and “This Girl Is a Woman Now”.

Jay and the Americans

This is a very popular rock group with lots of memorable hit songs that go back to the 1960s. The original line-up was John “Jay” Traynor, Howard Kane, Kenny Vance, and Sandy Deanne. Their greatest success came when they replaced Traynor with Jay Black as lead singer.

They had their first hit in 1962 with the song “She Cried”. With Jay Black singing the group became popular and started coming out with hit after hit.

They hit the charts again in 1963 with “Only in America”. This was followed by other hits such as “Come a Little Bit Closer” and “Cara Mia’.

“Cara Mia” is an Italian ballad and it became one of the group’s most successful hits with the powerful voice of Jay Black.

“Come a Little Bit Closer” was released in 1964 and became an instant hit. The song made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 1965 another of their most popular ballads was released “Some Enchanted Evening”. The song was written by the successful songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the son from the musical “South Pacific”.

The group came out with an album of their favorite oldies Sands of Time in 1968 which included the song “This Magic Moment”. The song went on to sell more than a million copies and was awarded a Gold disc in May of 1969. With this song the group won for Best New Group at the 1971 Grammy Awards and it is listed on several “greatest songs of all-time” lists.

Their next album Wax Museum in 1970 included the single “Walkin’ in the Rain”. Unfortunately, their next singles didn’t have much of an impact.

Some of their other popular singles included “When It’s All Over”, “Sunday and Me” and “Crying”.

The group broke up in 1973 and the members went on to solo careers except for Jay Black who continued to perform as Jay and the Americans until 2017. He was featured in the PBS special “Rock, Rhythm, and Do Wop” under the group’s name in 2001. Jay Black passed from this world at the age of 82 in 2021. Their version of “Cara Mia” went to number one in the Netherlands when it was re-released in 1980. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.