Googie René

Early life

Rafael obtained the nickname "Googie" because that was the first word he ever uttered as an infant. By the time Googie graduated from Dorsey High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Hills, he was showing all the signs of following in his father's footsteps. He studied piano, composed songs and gained some firsthand studio experience when Leon Rene invited him along to record dates. But before Googie could get more involved, he had to serve in the US Army/Air Force in Europe. Upon his return in 1950, he found that his father's label, Exclusive Records, had gone bankrupt, but, undaunted, Leon René started to prepare a new imprint entitled Class Records.

Music career

Googie became primarily responsible for overseeing the new label, which released its first single at the end of 1951, in the short-lived 500 series. However, after the recent upheavals, Leon and Googie chose to make a quiet start and struck an arrangement with the Bihari Brothers to release the Class product on Modern and RPM. It was not until September 1956 that Class really got off the ground, with a new 200 series. The second release (Class 201) in that series was "Sad Fool" by the Rollettes (a.k.a. the Dreamers : Gloria Jones, Annette Williams and Fanita Barrett), coupled with "Wham Bam" by the Googie Rene Combo. This rocking instrumental was the start of a long line of singles (more than 20 of them, over an 11-year period) by the Combo, which usually contained the cream of the West Coast session men. The cast includes Plas Johnson and Clifford Scott on saxophone, Earl Palmer on drums, Red Callender on bass and Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Jimmy Nolen and Rene Hall on guitar. The instrumentals run the gamut from 50s rock'n'roll, boogie woogie, jump, Latin, to 60s soul-jazz. On some tracks, Googie stands out front on piano, then organ later on, while letting his cohorts take the lead on many others.

Googie was given creative control at Class, which enabled him to develop his own songwriting, arranging, keyboard playing, and production techniques. As can be clearly seen from the progression of sides presented on the Wham Bam CD, from the smooth 1956 West Coast jump of Wham Bam to the groovy 1966 Ramsey Lewis stylings, Googie had the latest chart hits and current trends always in mind when he went into the studio. The influences and inspirations are many and varied.

Googie Rene from 'Romesville' LP (1959 - Class Records CS-LP 5003) piano - Googie René /sax - Justin Gordon, Buddy Colette, Plas Johnson, Jackie Kelso, Floyd Turnham, Jewell Grant, Willie Smith; trombone - John Ewing, Vern Friley, Lester Robertson; brass - Gerald Wilson, Conrad Gozzo, Micky Mangano, Johnny Audino, John Anderson; guitar - Howard Roberts; drums - Earl Palmer; bongo-conga - Milt Holland, Modesto Duran, Jack Costanzo; vibes-marimba - Larry Bunker; bass - Red Callender; mandolin - Al Viola, Al Hendrickson

It was probably due to the usual marketing/promotion glitches in a less-than-national operation that Googie had only three minor hits : "The Slide, Part 1" (# 20 R&B, early 1961), "Flapjacks, Part 1" (# 25 R&B, 1963) and "Smokey Joe's Lala" (# 77 pop, # 35 R&B, 1966). But as it was a family business, Class didn't turf Googie out when he failed to hit paydirt - he just kept on pushing out the singles plus three LPs.

CD: Wham Bam: The Best of the Googie Rene Combo (Ace 987). Released in 2003, 26 tracks. This is the first Googie Rene reissue, on LP or CD. Liner notes by Stuart Colman.