Only In America

by

Jay and the Americans

Album: The Very Best Of Jay And The Americans      Released: 1963

US Chart: 25     

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Written by the Brill Building songwriters Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, this song was first recorded by The Drifters, lead vocals by Rudy Lewis, who sang their hits "On Broadway" and "Up On The Roof." The song was written at a time before integration, and the lyrics were originally about racism. It had the following chorus: "Only in America, land of opportunity, can they save a seat in the back of the bus just for me. Only in America, Where they preach the Golden Rule, will they start to march when my kids go to school." Atlantic Records had a problem with the lyrics, so the songwriters changed them to be a satiric message of patriotism. The Drifters recorded the song with these new "patriotic" lyrics, but refused to release it because they did not believe that message.

Kenny Vance of Jay and the Americans explains how they came to record this song: " I happened to go up to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's office, because I used to hang out there as a kid - they produced us. I guess I was like a barometer for them, and they played me 'Only In America.' I said, 'Boy, that would be great if we could have that,' because we're Jay and the Americans. They took us over to Atlantic recording, who had a brand new-fangled machine, an 8-track machine. Up until those dark days we were recording all four-track. (This allowed Jay and the Americans to record their vocals on the original backing tracks produced by Leiber and Stoller for the Drifters.)

I remember it became a hit in Florida. There's a friend of mine, he's a film director by the name of Leon Ichaso, and he told me that when they were kids that had come from Cuba in 1963, 'Only In America' was an anthem for them. That they couldn't speak English, but phonetically they could all sing 'Only In America.' And I remember when we played down in Florida in 1963, the whole audience was Cuban, and I didn't know why. But it took me about 30 years and finally that question was answered."

The original, unreleased Drifters version is available on their boxed set. Says Vance: "It's a killer version. I had the acetate and I gave it to the guy at Rhino who was putting the CD out. I saved it all those years. It just was a killer performance." (read more from Kenny in his Songfacts Interview)

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