P J Proby - Oh My Papa (O Mein Papa)

Born James Marcus Smith on November 6, 1938 in Houston, Texas, wannabe singer, songwriter and actor Jett Powers was persuaded by fellow tunesmith, Sharon Sheeley, to switch his stage name to that of her former high school boyfriend — P J Proby! He was nine when his parents divorced and as part of a custody deal he was sent to military school, attending San Marcos Military Academy, Culver Naval Academy and Western Military Academy. After leaving Western he moved to California with dreams of becoming an actor and a recording artist. It was Hollywood agents Gabey, Lutz, Heller, and Loeb who had assigned him the professional name of Jett Powers, but after taking acting and singing lessons, landing a couple of small movie roles in films and two singles on small independent record labels, Sharon Sheeley not only persuaded him to change this, but in 1960 secured him an audition with Dick Glasser of Liberty Records. She was also instrumental (with Jackie DeShannon) in having PJ meet Jack Good, following which he travelled to London to appear on the 'Around the Beatles' television special with the Fab Four. Working with Good led to PJ's run of UK chart successes in 1964-65 that included "Hold Me" (which reached #3), "Together" (#8), "Somewhere" (#6), and "Maria" (#8). His subsequent minor UK hits included two songs written by Les Reed — "To Make A Big Man Cry" and "It's Your Day Today" — both of which, and others by Britain's premier songwriter, were subsequently included on his 1968 Liberty album 'Believe It Or Not'. Les had also written "Delilah", which PJ had reluctantly recorded for that set but which was held back from release until its inclusion in the 2008 CD collection 'The Best of the EMI Years 1961–1972'. In the early years of the new millennium PJ released several CDs on the Santa Fe Records label. Among them was the 2003 release 'WANTED! For Singing Love Songs'. The artwork and title of this release provided a tongue in cheek link to his great grandfather, the Old West outlaw John Wesley Hardin, but its contents were decidedly of a more tender nature. Among its dozen selections are "Hawaiian Wedding Song", "Crazy", "Stand By Me", "Till" and, especially appropriate for this weekend's Father's Day, "Oh My Papa (O Mein Papa)". Complete with the familiar trumpet sections heard on the 1954 Eddie Fisher U.S. number one hit, PJ's version also includes a chorus sung by children and the unexpected addition of bagpipes! It's certainly different and merits applause for PJ stepping into territory with which he is not generally associated, and producing such a fine album in the process.