The obscure and mysterious Cameo Records label--vintage fake

 

As far as I know, this label is not to be confused with this one.  Then again, who knows?  Anyway, for my Aug. 19th Eddie Maynard post, I had used the Internet Archive to track down the source for Because of You (uncredited on the Maynard LP), and I discovered it was originally a Johnny Kay release on the Popular Records label (not to be confused with Popular Extended Play Records).  To make a long story less long, Popular Records led me to Cameo Records, a label with ties to a slew of other cheapo operations, including Family Library of Recorded Music, Solitaire Records, Micro Records, and Gateway Top Tune (!!).  There's also an SPC (Synthetic Plastics Co.) connection, since the Eddie Maynard LP is on Promenade, an SPC label.

Bandleader/pianist Preston Sandiford, who is most likely the person mentioned in this Wikipedia entry, is the link between Cameo and Gateway Top Tune.  Cited as an important musical influence by Quincy Jones, no less!  So, how did such a distinguished musician end up in this obscure budget group?  Well, probably the same way Paul Whiteman, Vincent Lopez, Bob Eberly, Artie Malvin, and other significant artists ended up in the jobber racks.  Anyway, the orchestral backings on these Cameo 45s, while not perfect, are higher than the cheap-label norm, and the vocalists are mostly above par, too--save for one Pat O'Shea, whose cover of Shrimp Boats is downright dreadful (in the "hurry, hurry, hurry home" part, at least).  It may have been a bad key for her--I don't know.  But Perry Como-soundalike Johnny Kay/Kaye, famous for his endlessly recycled budget Christmas tracks, is phenomenal on Trust in Me, and Larry Foster is very solid, too, though it's odd that he made no attempt to mimic Johnnie Ray on his covers of Cry and The Little White Cloud, given that he possessed a Sammy Davis, Jr.-style ability to copy other singers.  He displayed that talent on a 1954 Coral side, A Trip to Hollywood, and on a ten-inch budget LP I can't Google-locate at the moment.  I have no idea if he's the same Larry Foster who did The Other Family, though Discogs thinks so.

Fake hits from the pre-rock&roll era are always fun to find, and they're of course harder to come by.  So, the condition on these is not the tops, and I unfortunately had to pass on a couple of titles too worn to rescue.  But, for most of the rest, all it took was a few hours of neutralizing some clicks, pops, and explosions to get them sounding pretty decent.  I regret to say that Blue Tango is not the gem I thought it would be--Sandiford's men sound a little under-rehearsed.  But even mediocre Leroy Anderson is worth a listen. 

Before I forget, the clipped beginning on Dance Me Loose (one of those "Thank goodness rock and roll came along" early '50s hits) was the fault of the Cameo engineer, not me. 

Discogs identifies Cameo as a Canadian label, and Solitaire as UK, but I've seen U.S.A. pressings for both, so the jury's still out.  (It's been more than an hour.  Someone needs to go fetch them...)  It's always risky to make a definite claim regarding any budget label, especially one as quirky as Cameo, so I'm treading cautiously.  The bottom line is that there's often no way to be sure that label A is related to label B, given the way masters were liberally traded between label groups.  Any connection between Cameo and SPC, Gateway, and Popular Records could be purely coincidental.  And this could all be the result of a multiverse collision.  We just don't know.

Oh, and Pat O'Shea redeems herself with a fun La Fiacre.  It has me forgiving the all wet version of Shrimp Boats.

The highlights, to my ears, are the aforementioned Trust in Me, superbly crooned byJohnny Kaye-with-an-e, the two Johnnie Ray sides done in a Frankie Laine/Tony Martin style, I Wanna Love You, and Bermuda, a hit (in real life) for the highly so-so Bell Sisters (Rosemary and Betty Clooney, they weren't), here with a backing which sounds like a collaboration between Duke Ellington and Carmen Cavallaro.  Cameo was certainly an interesting label, with the kind of weird edge I love.  I suppose these sides could be termed "vintage fake."

DOWNLOAD: Cameo Records EPs--Various performers

Cry--Larry Foster, Preston Sandiford Orch. (Cameo Records 45-323)
The Little White Cloud That Cried--Same
Wheel of Fortune--Pat O'Shea w. PS Orch. (Cameo Records 45-320)
Trust in Me--Johnny Kaye w. PS Orch. (Same)
Shrimp Boats--Pat O'Shea, the Esquires, and PS Orch. (Same)
Dance Me Loose--Bobby Lynn, Milton Herbert Orch. (Same)
Retreat--Pat O'Shea, PS Orch. (Cameo Records 45-321)
Anytime--Johnny Kaye w. Milton Herbert Orch. (Same)
Please Mr. Sun--Same
Unforgettable--Bobby Lynn, PS Orch. (Same)
I Wanna Love You--The Azalea Trio (Cameo Records 45-324)
Blue Tango (Anderson)--PS Orchestra (Same)
Le Fiacre--Pat O'Shea, PS Orch. (Same)
Bermuda--Bobby Lynn, PS Orch. (Same)

Lee