Jerry Keller – The Very Best Of (2011)

b. 20 June 1938, Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA. After moving to Tulsa in 1944 Keller formed the Lads Of Note Quartet in the 50s before joining the Tulsa Boy Singers. He won a talent contest organized by band leader Horace Heidt which earned him the vocalist job with Jack Dalton’s Orchestra. He then spent nine months as a disc jockey in Tulsa before moving to New York in 1956. He recorded a series of demos for record companies before fellow performer Pat Boone introduced him to Marty Mills who became his manager. Keller recorded the self-penned ‘Here Comes Summer’ for the Kapp record label, and it became a US summer hit in 1959. Ironically it only entered the UK charts in late August as the warmer months lapsed into autumn, but it still went to number 1. Follow-ups such as ‘If I Had A Girl’, and ‘Now Now Now’ failed to repeat the success. In 1960, he toured the UK replacing Eddie Cochran in a package tour engagement after Cochran had died in a car crash. Despite the lack of subsequent hits as a singer, his songs charted handsomely for artists such as Andy Williams and the Cyrkle. In 1977, he appeared in the film You Light Up My Life and the following year in If I Ever See You Again.