Where's My Money - Willie Jones '62 💵

Willie Jones & The Royal Jokers
"You Tickle Me Baby" / "Where's My Money- BY -Author: Brian C. Young for Twirl Records, May 2009,,,,,,," Born in 1936, Willie Cornelius Jones got started in music around the age of 13 or 14. “I was in a choir with Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, and Della Reese,” Willie Jones explained in a May 2009 phone conversation from his home in Detroit. “There were a bunch of us actually that became professional later on. This was about 1950 or ’51. Soon after, I was singing with a group out of Black Bottom called ‘The Five Willows.’” (Black Bottom was an African-American enclave in Detroit’s Near East Side and approximately a half-mile squared in area. Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks bordered the area. Hastings Street ran North to South, where vast black owned businesses and night clubs prevailed. Major blues singers, jazz artists, and big bands performed in the entertainment district. Black Bottom was demolished in the 1960’s when the City of Detroit redeveloped the area for urban renewal purposes.) Later, Willie went on to attend Miller High School.

Meanwhile, in another part of Detroit, a group of young lads attended Northeastern High School. They had formed a group called The Serenaders early on, beginning with gigs at the Forest Club Bowling Alley in the late 40’s. Henry Booth and Noah Howell were tenors, Norman Thrasher a baritone, and Isaac “Ike” Reese sung bass. Henry left the group after a Street Car gig caused him some embarrassment, and was replaced by another tenor named Thearon Hill, who went by the nickname “T-Man.” Thearon was a soloist at the time and also attended Miller High with Willie Jones.

By 1952, the Serenaders had managed to land some gigs at the Flame Show Bar, a famous Detroit nightspot, where they were discovered by Count Basie’s manager, Teddy Reig. He caught their act one night. He signed the young fellows to Coral Records, where he was an A & R man. The group managed to crank out a couple of singles for the label in the spring and summer of ’52, but having no hits, Coral cut them loose a year later when their contract ran out. The Serenaders had gone through some name changes in a brief period of time. T-Man explained, “We changed our names like we changed our socks. We were the Cavaliers for a while, then the Musketeers (named after the movie serials), The Serenaders of course, and then we became The Royals.”

As the Royals, the group cut one single for the local Venus label in ‘54, and played regular venues at the Flame Show Bar along side Maurice King and his house band the Wolverines, and Lavern Baker was his vocalist. Al Green was the floor manager at the Flame Show Bar and, in November 1954 after the Royals released their single on Venus.