As a longtime fan of Johnny Maestro, both with the Crests and the
Brooklyn Bridge, I wonder if anyone can solve a mystery: Both on the
web and in several reference books, I have run across references to
earlier recordings which allegedly pre-date his involvement with The
Crests.

None of the official bios make any mention of any such recordings,
but his vocal polish on his very first recordings for Joyce Records do
suggest he was not a total newcomer to the scene.

Several references have him singing with a young Tony Orlando in a
group while other books have him singing with a group known as the
Ardells.

While any such recordngs may never have been released (if they
existed at all) I would be interested in anyone with the answer to what
Johnny was doing prior to signing onto Joyce. (Neighborhood groups.
perhaps? Or demo artists?) Having followed his career from the early
days right until today (He sounds great, by the way, as good or better
than ever) I am just curious how he actually got started in the
business. Thank you for any help.

On 25 Jan 2007 11:23:09 -0800, rcrudolph@optonline.net wrote:

Thanks for the response, but I'm still unclear as to what if any
singing JM was doing before he met the rest of the Crests.

Also, you mention that you had the Ardells record - was JM on it (hius
voice is pretty distinctive even back then)?

Thanks again

On Jan 25, 5:30 pm, FOSMAN Xoptonline.com> wrote:

On 25 Jan 2007 14:53:34 -0800, rcrudolph@optonline.net wrote:

Have you ever heard SELMA 4001 "Seven Lonely Nights" ???

FOSMAN

No, I haven't heard that record. But several reference books list JM as
fronting the group. Also I note that after leaving the Crests, JM did
cut some blues-style sides for Selma.

There is also another odd fact: a recent CD called "Covering the
(Johnny) Maestro," features a version of 16 Candles by a guy named
Danny Ardell. It does strike me as a curious conincidence.

On Jan 25, 6:00 pm, FOSMAN Xoptonline.com> wrote:

On 25 Jan 2007 15:34:14 -0800, rcrudolph@optonline.net wrote: