Editing Jay and the Americans (section)

==Biography==
===Early years===
Originally called The Harborlites, they were discovered while performing in student venues at [[New York University]] in the late 1950s. They auditioned for [[Leiber and Stoller]], who gave the group its name.<ref name="Show 888, Hour 1">{{cite web |title=Doo-Wop Voices: Aaron Neville and Kenny Vance |url=http://americanroutes.wwno.org/player/show/888/hour/1 |website=American Routes |access-date=February 1, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203045755/http://americanroutes.wwno.org/player/show/888/hour/1 |archive-date=February 3, 2015 }}</ref>

===Career pinnacle===
Soon they signed with United Artists Records. With Jay Traynor singing lead, they first hit the [[Billboard magazine|Billboard charts]] in 1962 with the tune "[[She Cried]]", which reached #5 (later covered by [[The Shangri-Las]], [[Aerosmith]], and others). The next two singles did not fare as well, and Traynor left the group.<ref name="Larkin"/> Empires' guitarist Marty Sanders (né Kupersmith) joined the group. He brought David Black (né Blatt) of "The Empires" in to take Traynor's place (after David first agreed to adopt the name [[Jay Black]]), and Black sang lead for the rest of the group's major hits.<ref name="Larkin"/>

They recorded "Only in America", a song originally meant for [[The Drifters]].<ref name="Larkin"/> Other notable hits for Jay and the Americans were "[[Come a Little Bit Closer]]" in 1964, which hit #3,<ref name="Larkin"/> "[[Cara Mia]]", which hit #4, and "[[Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key)]]", which hit #11, in 1965. They also recorded a commercial for H.I.S. Slacks and a [[public service announcement]] for the [[Ad Council]], featuring a backing track by [[Brian Wilson]] and [[Phil Spector]]. Two tracks from this era later found favor with the [[Northern Soul]] crowd: "Got Hung Up Along The Way" and "Living Above Your Head".{{citation needed|date = October 2017}}

In 1966, the group was featured in the [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] comedy film, ''[[Wild Wild Winter]],'' singing "Two of a Kind" at the film's finale, with [[Surf music|surf band]] [[The Astronauts (band)|The Astronauts]] depicted as providing backup instrumentals. As of February 2017, the song has been released only on the 1966 soundtrack [[LP record|LP]].{{citation needed|date = October 2017}}

In 1969, they recorded an album of their favorite oldies called ''[[Sands of Time (Jay and the Americans album)|Sands of Time]]'', which included "[[This Magic Moment]]", which was originally done by the Drifters.<ref name="Larkin"/> The single went to #6 in early 1969. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[R.I.A.A.]] in May 1969.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book| first= Joseph| last= Murrells| year= 1978| title= The Book of Golden Discs| edition= 2nd| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd| location= London| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/242 242]| isbn= 0-214-20512-6| url-access= registration| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/242}}</ref> "This Magic Moment" was the last top ten record for Jay and the Americans, although a follow-up album, ''Wax Museum'', in January 1970, did yield the #19 hit single  "[[Walking in the Rain (The Ronettes song)|Walkin' In The Rain]]", first recorded by [[The Ronettes]].<ref name="Larkin"/> Their next singles failed to chart, and the band grew apart, but the demand for appearances remained. (Around the same time the band recorded "This Magic Moment", Jay and the Americans member Sandy Yaguda produced a Long Island teen sextet called [[The Tuneful Trolley]]. Their late-1968 Capitol LP, ''Island In The Sky'' — a hybrid of Beach Boys and Beatlesque psych-pop—was reissued in 2008 in the UK on Now Sounds.) From 1970 to 1971 Jay and the Americans' touring band included [[Walter Becker]] and [[Donald Fagen]] (of later [[Steely Dan]] fame) on backup bass guitar and electric organ.<ref name=RS>{{cite magazine|url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-black-jay-and-the-americans-singer-dead-obit-1247111/|title = Jay Black, Jay and the Americans Singer, Dead at 82|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date = October 23, 2021|accessdate = October 23, 2021|last = Kreps|first = Daniel}}</ref> Becker and Fagen also contributed string and horn arrangements to the 1970 Jay and the Americans album ''Capture the Moment''.

===Split===
The group split in 1973. All of the members moved on to solo musical careers, with the exception of Jay Black, who continued to perform as "Jay and the Americans",<ref name="CBS">{{cite news |last1=Long |first1=Colleen |title=Singer Jay Black Wins Right to Own Name |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/07/ap/entertainment/mainD8LRNSVG0.shtml |access-date=February 13, 2019 |publisher=CBS News |date=December 7, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209032053/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/07/ap/entertainment/mainD8LRNSVG0.shtml |archive-date=February 9, 2009}}</ref> using a variety of musicians. The original version of "Cara Mia" went to #1 in the Netherlands when it was re-released in 1980.<ref name="holland80">{{cite web |title=Cara Mia by Jay & the Americans Songfacts |url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2249 |access-date=November 10, 2012 |publisher=Songfacts.com}}</ref> In 1991 EMI released the material on CD for the first time with the collection ''Come A Little Bit Closer''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Jeremy |date=5 March 1991 |title=Come A Little Bit Closer review |journal=Q Magazine |volume=55 |pages=91}}</ref>

In 2001, he was featured in the [[PBS]] special ''Rock, Rhythm, and Doo Wop'' as "Jay Black & The Americans".

===Sale of the band name and "reunion"===
[[File:Americans2008.JPG|thumb|250px|The group backstage at [[Massillon, Ohio]] (August 2008) L-R Sandy Deanne, Jay Reincke, Marty Sanders, Howie Kane.]]
In 2006, Jay Black filed for bankruptcy due to gambling debts, and his ownership of the name "Jay & The Americans" was sold by the bankruptcy trustee to Sandy Deanne (Yaguda), Black's former bandmate and original member of Jay & The Americans, for $100,000.  With the name purchase, former members Deanne, Howard Kane, and Marty Sanders reunited, and recruited a sound-alike singer from Chicago, coincidentally nicknamed "Jay."  Thus, John "Jay" Reincke became the third "Jay" and the band returned to playing both national and international music venues.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://danspapers.com/2014/05/jay-and-the-americans-suffolk-theater-saturday/ |title=Here Comes a Classic! Jay (No. 3) and the Americans to Sing at Suffolk Theater Saturday |work=[[Dan's Papers]]}}</ref> 

Until 2017, David Blatt continued to tour under his stage name, "Jay Black".<ref name="CBS"/> In a 2014 interview, he announced that he had Alzheimer's;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/schmooze/207574/how-jay-black-got-kicked-out-of-yeshiva/|title=How Jay Black Got Kicked Out of Yeshiva|website=Forward.com|date=October 22, 2014 |access-date=June 12, 2021}}</ref> he continued to perform until 2017.  [[Kenny Vance]] is currently the lead singer of [[Kenny Vance and the Planotones]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planotones.com/ |title=Kenny Vance and The Planotones|website=Planotones.com |access-date=January 5, 2012}}</ref> a neo-[[doo wop]] band that he formed in the 1970s. After leaving the group, [[John "Jay" Traynor|John Traynor]] recorded a handful of songs on the Coral label, including "I Rise, I Fall" in 1964. None were hits, but "I Rise, I Fall" became a minor hit for [[Johnny Tillotson]]. The label billed Traynor as "JAY formerly of Jay and the Americans." Traynor toured with Jay Siegel's [[The Tokens|Tokens]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KYYvJuDHEo |title=Jay Siegel talks about being sued by Phil & Mitch Margo of THE TOKENS ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight") |publisher=YouTube |date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=January 5, 2012}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref> until shortly before his death on January 2, 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S3267379.shtml?cat=300 |title=Former singer, WNYT employee Jay Traynor dies |publisher=[[WNYT (TV)|WNYT-TV]] |location=[[Albany, New York]] |date=January 2, 2014 |access-date=January 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103104154/http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S3267379.shtml?cat=300 |archive-date=January 3, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Black died on October 22, 2021, from complications of pneumonia and dementia. In a statement, Jay and the Americans acknowledged that Black and the rest of the group had experienced "both wonderful and very contentious times" but that they respected the success that they achieved with Black as their lead singer.<ref>{{cite magazine|url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-black-jay-and-the-americans-singer-dead-obit-1247111/|title = Jay Black, Jay and the Americans Singer, Dead at 82|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date = October 23, 2021|accessdate = October 23, 2021|last = Kreps|first = Daniel}}</ref>