User:Veltriwolf/sandbox

'''Jonah (Band) ''' = Summary = Jonah was an American popular music band formed in Staten Island, NY in 1974. With members Vincent LaFata, Michael Gregorio, and Robert Gengo, Jonah was highly regarded for their song crafting abilities. They shared the stage with world famous acts such as Janis Ian, Orleans (band), and Eric Carmen. They mostly toured the east coast and midwest regions of the United States in the mid 1970's. They were especially known for their vocal harmonies which is evident on songs such as "The Fool", "Waiting' for the Change", "It's Always Dark Before the Dawn", and "Lil". Their exceptional vocal harmonies have been compared to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Hollies and Eagles (band).

= Background = Prior to forming Jonah, each of the bands members and contributors had previous successes within the music industry. Most of the musicians, producers, and technical contributors of Jonah had already been associated with top 10 hits during the late 60's to mid 1970's. Though Jonah was never widely recognized by the mainstream, it is a classic album with an assemblage of many acclaimed performers and producers from the time. Vincent LaFata shared the stage with Jethro Tull (band), Sly and the Family Stone and Joe Cocker. As early as high-school, LaFata was already a professional drummer who had performed and recorded with The Beeds who were famous for "Run To Her" (1970). "Run to Her" was released in Mexico, unbeknownst to the band, rising all the way to the top of the charts and making it a #1 hit song in Mexico in 1970.  In recent years, "Run to Her" has reached over 1 million hits on YouTube. Michael Gregorio's claim to fame (as a singer with Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge), was the hit song "Worst That Could Happen" that reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. Robert Gengo had been playing club dates in the New York area and developing his song writing abilities on the West Coast while associating with Paul Williams (songwriter), Michael Allsup (lead guitarist for Three Dog Night), and John Pisano of Herb Albert fame.

There were a lot of celebrity players on the Jonah album including Bob Mann (guitarist) who has been playing with James Taylor for 35 years. Don Grolnick also recorded with James Taylor, as well as other greats such as Linda Ronstadt and Steely Dan. Drummer Allan Schwartzberg has played with such luminaries as Jimi Hendrix, Kiss (band), John Lennon and Engelbert Humperdinck (singer). Bob Mann (guitarist) who was an "active part of the flourishing music business of NYC in the 1950s and 60’s" arranged to have members of the New York Philharmonic play strings on several songs on the Jonah album. World famous saxophone player, and grammy winner, Michael Brecker of the Brecker Brothers is featured on 2 songs of the Jonah album. Eddie Brigati plays percussion on Jonah's "Waitin' for the Change." Brigati performed with and co-wrote many hits for The Rascals: "A Beautiful Morning", "Groovin'", "People Got to Be Free", "(I've Been) Lonely Too Long", and "How Can I Be Sure." Tommy West (producer) is one of Jonah's executive producers and plays mellotron on "Lil." West had been a session singer and sang back-up vocals on albums by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Perry Como, and Connie Francis.

Jonah's producer, Ron Dante was also known for co-producing Barry Manilow's first nine albums. Dante was the famed singer of The Archies which won a grammy for the #1 hit song of 1969, "Sugar, Sugar."  Executive producers for Jonah were Tommy West (producer) and Terry Cashman. Cashman co-wrote Spanky and Our Gang's first hit Sunday Will Never Be the Same. Cashman and West produced multiple chart topping hits for Jim Croce: "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", "Time in a Bottle", "I Got a Name", "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)".

In 1974, Jonah was recorded at The Hit Factory–a premier studio which was famous for recording best-selling albums for the "who's who" of the music industry: John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads and many more.

= Personnel =

Jonah

 * Michael Gregorio – lead vocals, percussion
 * Robert Gengo – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
 * Vincent LaFata – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
 * Tony Santarella – bass

Additional performers

 * Bob Mann (guitarist) – piano, electric guitar
 * Don Grolnick – organ, piano
 * Allan Schwartzberg – drums
 * Michael Brecker – saxophone
 * Joe Gengo – percussion
 * Eddie Brigati – percussion
 * Tommy West (producer) – mellotron

Technical

 * Ron Dante – producer
 * Bob Mann (guitarist) – horns and string arrangement
 * Bruce Tergesen – Recording and mixing engineer
 * Blaise Castellano – Assistant engineer
 * John Struthers – Assistant engineer
 * Dave Hensen – Assistant engineer
 * Terry Cashman – executive producer
 * Tommy West (producer) – executive producer

= Track listing = All selections written by Vincent LaFata, Michael Gregorio, and Robert Gengo.


 * 1) "Sweet Sweet Music"
 * 2) "Waitin' for the Change"
 * 3) "Lil"
 * 4) "Feel It"
 * 5) "It's Always Dark Before the Dawn"
 * 6) "Comin' to Ya"
 * 7) "The Fool"
 * 8) "Picnic"
 * 9) "Commendation to You"
 * 10) "Jumpin"

= Record Label = 1974    20th Century Records

A Subsidiary of 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.

Publishing and Rights
All selections published by Sweet City Songs, Inc. (ASCAP) except "The Fool" published by King James Music, Inc. (BMI)

Ron Dante for Cashwest Productions, Inc.

Performing rights on all selections except "The Fool" controlled by Sweet City Songs, Inc. (ASCAP) and Sister John Music, Inc. (BMI)

= External links =


 * https://www.discogs.com/Jonah-Jonah/release/6111818
 * https://www.allmusic.com/album/jonah-mw0000852824/credits
 * http://mondoexploito.blogspot.com/2013/12/jonah.html
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=MREEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA66&lpg=RA1-PA66&dq=Jonah+joe+gengo&source=bl&ots=m3yizH2iVT&sig=l_7jwNDIaoTrd6lcDgUZ3Foi0Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrgLKryandAhXiw1kKHSL8DrwQ6AEwBnoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=Jonah%20joe%20gengo&f=false
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=ewkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Jonah+joe+gengo&source=bl&ots=7iKVhvK5tF&sig=GjVTFEV_FRIQG73AoxSHRwHbuQQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrgLKryandAhXiw1kKHSL8DrwQ6AEwB3oECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=Jonah%20joe%20gengo&f=false
 * Michael Brecker
 * http://www.45cat.com/record/tc2170
 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAhue87cgF4
 * https://www.discogs.com/Jonah-Feel-It/release/9951628

= Citations =


 * https://www.discogs.com/Jonah-Jonah/release/6111818
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=MREEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA66&lpg=RA1-PA66&dq=Jonah+joe+gengo&source=bl&ots=m3yizH2iVT&sig=l_7jwNDIaoTrd6lcDgUZ3Foi0Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrgLKryandAhXiw1kKHSL8DrwQ6AEwBnoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=Jonah%20joe%20gengo&f=false
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=ewkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Jonah+joe+gengo&source=bl&ots=7iKVhvK5tF&sig=GjVTFEV_FRIQG73AoxSHRwHbuQQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrgLKryandAhXiw1kKHSL8DrwQ6AEwB3oECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=Jonah%20joe%20gengo&f=false