"GLORIA" - A SHORT HISTORY

By Marv Goldberg


© 2010 by Marv Goldberg

"Gloria" is one of the most beloved songs in the R&B repertoire. It's been sung over the years by countless groups, many of highly-questionable talent.

The song itself has a long history. It was written by Leon René (author of "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano," "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat," "If Money Grew On Trees," and "I Sold My Heart To The Junkman." In the mid-40s, he owned the Exclusive label in Los Angeles (his brother, Otis René, who shared songwriter credit on some of the above tunes, owned Excelsior Records).

The very first release of "Gloria" was on Exclusive, around February 1946. It was purely a Pop tune, by bandleader Buddy Baker ("Exclusive's Musical Director"), with vocal by Bob Hayward. The arrangement was violin-heavy, which was unusual for 1946, and it saw no chart action. (The flip, "Memories Of Home," was also credited to Buddy Baker, but this time, the vocal was by Herb Jeffries.) [Listen to Bob Hayward: streaming or downloadable.]

"Gloria" was next recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, also on Exclusive. Released in April 1947 as part of a three-record album, it featured the velvet-smooth vocals of Charles Brown. This, to me, is the definitive version of the tune. [Listen to the Three Blazers: streaming or downloadable.]

For some reason, there was a major revival of the song in the fall of 1948. The Mills Brothers released a version on Decca in October of that year. [Listen to the Mills Brothers: streaming or downloadable.] At the same time, there were versions by Ray Anthony (vocal by Ronnie Deauville, on Signature), Ronnie Deauville (without Ray Anthony, on Mercury, with a cover of "It's Too Soon To Know" on the flip) [listen to Ronnie Deauville: streaming or downloadable], the Varsity Orchestra (on Varsity), Buddy Clark (backed by the Modernaires and the Skylarks) on Columbia [listen to Buddy Clark: streaming or downloadable], and the Four Gabriels on World (from November) [listen to the Four Gabriels: streaming or downloadable]. Exclusive even threw a re-release of the Bob Hayward record into the mix (but not the Three Blazers). Although Ray Anthony's version got a lot of airplay, only the Mills Brothers had a hit with the song (taking it to #17 in an 11-week run on the Pop charts).

By 1954, the Cadillacs picked up on the song. I'm not sure where they got it from; possibly someone's parent had one of the older records lying around the house. It's also possible that it was given to them by their manager, Esther Navarro, who, in any event, dumbed down the lyrics and made sure her name was listed as writer [although no one was credited on the first pressing]. It became the Cadillacs' first release, on Jubilee's Josie subsidiary, in July 1954, and their street-corner sound has become the de facto standard for the song. (Most of those who sing it have probably never heard any of the classier versions, with the correct lyrics, from the 40s.) [Listen to the Cadillacs: streaming or downloadable.]

In 1959, Jubilee/Josie issued The Crazy Cadillacs LP, which featured "Gloria." This coincided with the release of other Jubilee theme albums (such as Boppin', Whoppers, and The Paragons Meet The Jesters, and it became a big seller. Since this took place at the onset of the first "Golden Age Of Oldies," many, many street corner groups began practicing the Cadillacs' lyrics. Suddenly, they were being recorded ad nauseam by one group after another. It seemed as if these lyrics would remain the only ones ever sung again, but, interestingly, a white group called the Love Notes recorded "Gloria" for Wilshire in May of 1963, using lyrics that were closer to the original than to those of the Cadillacs. [Listen to the Love Notes: streaming or downloadable.]

It turns out that Leon René never sued Esther Navarro, simply because he was unaware of the Cadillacs' recording. (Its sales were dismal outside the New York area [and only slightly less than dismal within it].) In fact, to this day, the only time the song ever hit the charts was with the Mills Brothers back in 1948.

Special thanks to Billy Vera, Ferdie Gonzalez, Rick Price, Neil Hirsch, Charlie LaRocco, Bruce Woolf, and Victor Pearlin.

EXCLUSIVE
218 Buddy Baker & His Orchestra (vocal by Bob Hayward) - 2/46
703 Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (vocal by Charles Brown) - 4/47

DECCA
24509 The Mills Brothers - 10/48

SIGNATURE
15213 Ray Anthony (vocal by Ronnie Deauville) - 10/48

MERCURY
8193 Ronnie Deauville - 10/48

VARSITY
111 The Varsity Orchestra - 10/48

COLUMBIA
38352 Buddy Clark (with the Modernaires and the Skylarks) - 10/48

EXCLUSIVE
218 Buddy Baker & His Orchestra (vocal by Bob Hayward) - 10/48 (reissue)

WORLD
2505 The Four Gabriels - 11/48

JOZ
765 The Cadillacs - 7/54

WILSHIRE (using many of the original lyrics)
203 The Love Notes - 5/63

Gilbert Warren & Five Thrills - Parrot - 5/54
Caswell Bridges & Clefftones - unreleased Old Town - 3/55
Arthur Lee Maye & Crowns - Specialty - 3/56
Johnny "Chubby" Jones & Five Chances - States - 4/56
Dee Clark [& Kool Gents] - Falcon - 5/57
Chariots - Time - 1/59