Baton Records, home of the Rivileers and the Hearts, produced some of the better R&B sounds of the 50s. It was started in 1953 by Sol Rabinowitz, who worked for Malverne, a New York City-based distributor of Mercury Records. Malverne's management decided to branch out into other aspects of the recording business and asked Sol to start a record label with their backing.
You can't have a label without artists and Sol immediately went out looking for talent. In Queens, he visited the Triboro Record Shop, where someone suggested that he listen to a group called the Rivileers. Sol did and liked what he heard, picking four songs that he wanted to record ("A Thousand Stars", "Eternal Love", "I", and "Hey Chiquita"). At this point, one of the Malverne partners backed out of the deal, but Sol decided to proceed anyway. Using his own money (and Hugo & Luigi's AFM musicians' union license) he recorded the Rivileers on his own. The studio bands he used were mostly white jazz musicians.
Sol took the newly-minted Rivileers masters to Eddie Heller, with the intention of having them released on Rainbow Records. Heller was most impressed with "I" and "Hey Chiquita", which Sol thought were mediocre compared to the other two. He decided if that was all there was to it, he might as well put them out himself.
Sol had some acetate discs made and brought them to Dr. Jive (Tommy Smalls), who played "A Thousand Stars" on his radio show. A few days later, orders started coming in. But orders for what? No records had yet been pressed. It took another furious few days in December 1953 for the Baton label to actually come into existence. Baton Records, distributed through Malverne, had offices at 108 West 44th Street in New York City.
Sol made a deal with Jimmy Warren of Central Record Sales in Los Angeles to have "A Thousand Stars" pressed and distributed there (where it ultimately reached #1 on the local R&B charts on May 1, 1954). It was also a hit in New York, Chicago, and a few other locales. However, it couldn't be termed a major hit, since distribution (hence sales) was limited to only a few cities. Most distributors that Sol contacted didn't even answer his letters. Distributors were the ones with the power. A million-selling record didn't mean that a million kids had purchased it from record stores; it meant that the distributors had pushed a million copies out to retailers.
Before "I" could be issued, the Rivileers made the mistake of singing it at a party. One of the members of the Velvets heard it and got his group to put it out first on Red Robin. This was a common enough occurrence and was treated rather stoically.
Some minor acts followed on Baton - organist Preston Brown, blues singer Milan Brown, the Miracles, the Belvederes, the Heavenly Echoes, blues singer "Big Mike" Gordon, Chris Kenner from New Orleans (who was later to have a hit with "I Like It Like That"), and Frank Culley (who had had some hits for Atlantic) .
Among the Baton hitmakers was Ann Cole (with "Are You Satisfied", "In The Chapel", and "I've Got My Mojo Working"). According to Sol, Ann Cole actually had the power to make an audience cry. She was backed up, at times, by the Suburbans, a group from Harlem.
Another hit, "Lonely Nights", came from the Hearts, a group recommended to Sol by Zell Sanders (since her daughter Johnnie Richardson - later of Johnnie & Joe - was in it). Sol went up to Harlem to hear them and two weeks later they were recording. They'd have five releases on Baton over the next year and a half, but none of the others recreated the magic of "Lonely Nights."
Saxman Buddy Tate, who had previously worked with Count Basie, had a Philadelphia hit with "Fatbacks And Greens." Bob Horn, who was host of Bandstand before Dick Clark, liked it and played it often. Another Tate record that got a lot of airplay was "Jackie", named after Alan Freed's wife. Of course, Freed played it nightly, but it never became a hit.
As Sol found out, it's not always easy to recognize talent. He told two Queens youngsters to go home and practice some more and then come back. Well, they went home to practice, but didn't come back (they did, however, go on to record as Tom and Jerry, and later on, Simon and Garfunkel).
The Pilgrims were a medium-sized choir that sang folk songs. They were formed by Bob DeCormier, Harry Belafonte's arranger. Also in the group were bass Milt Okun (who became John Denver's producer), and Leon Bibb. The Pilgrims' recording of "Mr. Fiddler" became Baton's most constantly played record. This former Czechoslovakian folk song was used on the "Captain Kangaroo Show" beginning in 1956.
Nat Margo, manager of the Ravens, was instrumental in bringing them to Baton (kind of). Margo brokered a deal that let Baton purchase "Long Lonely Nights" and "Let Me Know" by the Ravens, who had recorded them for Argo. However, Argo didn't want to release "Long Lonely Nights", so as not to interfere with sales of the song by Lee Andrews & the Hearts, which was doing well on Chess, Argo's parent label. Sol re-named them the "Kings", but the public already had two fine versions of the song (the other by Clyde McPhatter) and it didn't sell. Margo also brought Jimmy Ricks, former lead of the Ravens, to Sol, but his "Bad Man Of Missouri" didn't do much either.
In 1957, Sol reissued "A Thousand Stars", hoping it would do better now that Baton's distribution channels had been improved; it didn't.
Noble "Thin Man" Watts, a blues saxophonist, had a big hit with "Hard Times (The Slop)." It was originally just called "The Slop", but it sold better after the name change.
The last Baton hit was "The Things I Love" by The Fidelitys. They had a Pop/R&R sound similar to the Platters, but Baton didn't have too much influence with the Pop DJs at the time so the group didn't do as well as they should have. According to Sol, Baton's biggest hit was either "Hard Times (The Slop)" by Noble Watts or "In The Chapel" by Ann Cole.
Baton lasted until around April 1959. At that time, the distributors were putting small companies out of business - they were neither pushing records, nor paying the manufacturers for the ones that sold.
A couple of months later, Sol formed the Sir label with Morty Craft. "SIR" were the initials of Sol's full name: Sol I. Rabinowitz. Since the same record and master numbers series were used, it was really a continuation of Baton. Lasting about a year, its main artist was the Fidelitys, although there were also releases by the Lonely Ones, Ann Cole, and Noble Watts.
Baton records gave us a load of great sounds. It's a shame its distribution system couldn't have been better, but it was unusual for small record companies to fare very well, even if they had a hit or two. Sol Rabinowitz passed away on March 16, 2013.
Read How I Started An Independent Label by Sol Rabinowitz.
200 | The Rivileers | A Thousand Stars Hey Chiquita |
12/53 |
201 | The Rivileers | Darling Farewell Forever |
3/54 |
202 | Buddy Tate | Blue Buddy Fatbacks And Greens |
54 |
203 | The Preston Brown Trio | Lullaby Of The Leaves Night Flight |
54 |
204 | Milan Brown | I'm Goin' Back Roll It |
54 |
205 | The Rivileers | Carolyn Eternal Love |
9/54 |
206 | Buddy Tate | Jackie Sent For You Yesterday |
54 |
207 | The Rivileers | (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons I Want To See My Baby |
11/54 |
208 | The Hearts | Lonely Lights Oo-Wee |
1/55 |
209 | The Rivileers | Don't Ever Leave Me Little Girl |
2/55 |
210 | The Miracles | A Lover's Chant Come Home With Me |
55 |
211 | The Hearts | All My Love Belongs To You Talk About Him Girlie |
5/55 |
212 | The Delltones | Baby Say You Love Me Don't Be Long |
7/55 |
213 | Jan Raye Quartet | Sweet Sue Whatever Happened To You (with Lilyann Carroll) |
55 |
214 | Jimmy Morris of The Belvederes The Belvederes |
Dear Angels Above Come To Me Baby |
9/55 |
215 | The Hearts | Gone, Gone, Gone Until The Real Thing Comes Along |
10/55 |
216 | Heavenly Echoes | Didn't It Rain Your God Is My God |
55 |
217 | The Belvederes | We Too (leads: Jimmy Morris & Marie Hayes) Pepper Hot Baby |
10/55 |
218 | Ann Cole | Are You Satisfied Darling Don't Hurt Me |
55 |
219 | "Big Mike" Gordon | Walkin', Slippin' And Slidin' You Don't Want Me No More |
56 |
220 | Chris Kenner | Grandma's House Don't Let Her Pin That Charge |
56 |
221 | Jan Raye Quartet Feat. Lilyann (Carroll) |
You Fool Soda Pop |
56 |
222 | The Hearts | Disappointed Bride Going Home To Stay |
2/56 |
223 | The Delltones | Believe It My Special Love |
3/56 |
224 | Ann Cole | Easy Easy Baby New Love |
56 |
225 | The Pilgrims | Mister Fiddler This Land Is Your Land |
56 |
226 | Frank "Floorshow" Culley | After Hours Express After Hours Express |
56 |
227 | The Suburbans | I Remember TV Baby |
5/56 |
228 | The Hearts | He Drives Me Crazy I Had A Guy |
7/56 |
229 | Ann Cole | I'm Waiting For You My Tearful Heart |
56 |
230 | Don Carroll | Italian Rock And Roll Where Do I Stand |
56 |
231 | The Mello-Maids | Oh-h-h Will You Ever Say You're Mine |
56 |
232 | Ann Cole and The Suburbans | Each Day In The Chapel |
11/56 |
233 | "Big Mike" Gordon | Careless Love The Clipper |
56 |
234 | Frank Tucker | Hey Hester Nobody But Me |
56 |
235 | The Pilgrims | Careless Love Walkin' Down The Track |
57 |
236 | Jimmy Ricks & The Suburbans | I'm A Fool To Want You Bad Man Of Missouri |
2/57 |
237 | Ann Cole | Got My Mo-Jo Working I've Got A Little Boy |
3/57 |
238 | The Mellow-Maids | A Million Years Ago I Remember Dear |
57 |
239 | The Bill Johnson Quintet | So Sweet Of You Traveling Stranger |
4/57 |
240 | The Suburbans | Leave My Gal Alone My First And Last Romance |
4/57 |
241 | The Rivileers | A Thousand Stars Who Is The Girl? |
5/57 |
242 | Tony Reynolds | King Of The Stars When They Dance The Tarantella |
57 |
243 | Ann Cole | No Star Is Lost You're Mine |
57 |
244 | The Phantoms | Lost And Found Channel Fever |
57 |
245 | The Kings (The Ravens) | Long Lonely Nights Let Me Know |
6/57 |
246 | Noble "Thin Man" Watts | Easy Going - Part 1 Easy Going - Part 2 |
57 |
247 | Ann Cole | Give Me Love Or Nothing I've Got Nothing Working Now |
57 |
248 | Gar Bacon | There's Gonna Be Rockin' Tonight Y-I-O-U |
57 |
249 | Noble Watts | The Slop I'm Walkin' The Floor Over You |
58 |
249 | Noble Watts | Hard Times (The Slop) Midnite Flight |
58 |
250 | Gar Bacon | Justice Pucker Up |
58 |
251 | Noble Watts | Rickey Tick Blast Off |
58 |
252 | The Fidelitys | The Things I Love Hold On To What'Cha Got |
2/58 |
253 | Marie Knight | I Thought I Told You Not To Tell Them September Song |
58 |
254 | Noble Watts | The Slide Shakin' |
58 |
255 | The Storey Sisters | Cha Cha Boom Which Way Did My Heart Go? |
58 |
256 | The Fidelitys | Memories Of You Can't You Come Out |
6/58 |
257 | Noble Watts | Great Times The Creep |
58 |
258 | Ann Cole | Love In My Heart Summer Nights |
58 |
259 | The Stewart Twins | Ho Hum (Dum-Dee-Dum) Joey |
58 |
260 | The Newtones | Going Steady Remember The Night |
58 |
261 | The Fidelitys | Captain Of My Ship My Greatest Thrill |
8/58 |
262 | B. Phillips and The Rockets Noble Watts |
Pajama Party The Creep |
58 |
263 | The Stewart Twins | Daddy O Pajama Party |
58 |
264 | La Russell | That's How He Watches Over Me The Rich Poor Man |
58 |
265 | The Tones | We (Belong Together) Three Little Loves |
12/58 |
266 | Noble Watts | Flap Jack Hot Tamales |
59 |
267 | The Music Masters | French Quarter Temptest |
59 |
268 | |
||
269 | Lou Josie | Lonely Years I'm Gonna Get Cha |
4/59 |
270 | The Lonely Ones | My Wish I Want My Girl |
6/59 |
271 | The Fidelitys | The Invitation Marie |
7/59 |
272 | Ann Cole | Nobody But Me That's Enough |
59 |
273 | Noble Watts & His Rhythm Sparks |
Original Boogie Woogie Mashed Potatoes |
59 |
274 | The Fidelitys | Walk With The Wind Only To You |
10/59 |
275 | Ann Cole | A Love Of My Own Brand New House |
60 |
276 | The Fidelitys | This Girl Of Mine Where In The World |
5/60 |
277 | The Fidelitys | Wishing Star Broken Love |
8/60 |