Cheryl Laurro was the queen of Monroe Avenue back in the day. She ran Godiva’s and The Mission by day and at night she blew the doors off the house when she fronted her band, Lilly’s Buffet, sort of a precursor to Anonymous Willpower. She left town years ago but she will always be a dear friend. After dinner with her last night we watched every Pete LaBonne video we could find online and then she called up a this video of her father’s 1956 song “Jive Train.”
The 45 was recorded at at Fine Recording Studios in Rochester when Jim Laurro was still in high school. In fact he was only sixteen and the sax player, Pee Wee Ellis, who went on to write “Cold Sweat” for James Brown, was living with Jim in Cheryl’s grandmother’s house. He lived with them for two years before joining James Browns’s band. Cheryl’s cousin put the A-side up. We’re waiting for the B-side, “I Woke Up This Morning.”
JIM LAURRO AND HIS ORCHESTRA – Jive Train / Woke Up This Morning – Fine F8-2157 A-side instrumental, b-side vocals
“Pee Wee” Ellis – tenor sax, Joe Personte – trumpet, Willie Bryant – trombone, Jim Laurro – piano, Dick Sampson – bass, Val Colombo – drums, sung by King George
500 copies ordered, 21st August 1957. Masters sold to the Adora Recording Co., May 1958