Carl Edward Dobkins Jr. (January 13, 1941 – April 8, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1959
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
, "
My Heart Is an Open Book
"My Heart Is an Open Book" is a song written by Hal David and Lee Pockriss and performed by Carl Dobkins Jr. It reached #3 on the U.S. pop chart and #11 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1959. It was featured on his 1959 album ''Carl Dobkins, Jr.''
Th ...
", which went to No.3 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The record sold over one million copies, resulting in the award of a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
Life and career
Dobkins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Helen and Carl Dobkins.
He was from a musical family, and learned the
ukulele
The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings.
The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
and guitar as a child. He started writing songs in his teens, and began singing at local events.
[ Biography by Bruce Eder, ''Allmusic'']
Retrieved 14 April 2020 The Seniors, Dobkins' backup group, included Keith Ross, Paul Powers, Harry Clifton and Bill Smith. The Seniors first met with a common interest in singing at Nast Memorial Methodist Church in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. The group sang together for approximately eight years. Dobkins and the Seniors were promoted by Gil Sheppard, a local Cincinnati
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
disc jockey, who noted the young singer's early high school compositions and a two-song demo record. This led to a recording contract with
Fraternity Records
Fraternity Records is a small record label based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was started by Harry Carlson and silent partner Dr. Ashton Welsh in 1954. The first recording to be released on Fraternity was Jerri Winters' "Winter's Here".
The first hit ...
, who released their first record.
After recording "If You Don't Want My Lovin'" at
King Records studios, Sheppard sold the master recording to
Decca Records. Dobkins then recorded sessions for Decca in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
, which included "My Heart is an Open Book" in 1959, which reached No. 3 on the pop chart and number 11 on the R&B chart. He also served in the United States Army Reserve for six months. When reissued, "If You Don't Want My Lovin'" reached number 67 later the same year.
[ Dobkins had two other Hot 100 entries: "Lucky Devil" (number 25, 1959), and "Exclusively Yours" (number 62, 1960).][
Dobkins was featured frequently at Castle Farms, and on television for the '' Bob Braun Show'' ( WLW-T, Cincinnati). He appeared fourteen times as a guest on ]Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...
's '' American Bandstand'', and toured with such singers as Bobby Vee
Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to ''Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-ei ...
, Frankie Avalon
Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" an ...
, and Jan & Dean
Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...
. He continued to perform at oldies festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
for some years.
He was inducted into the Cincinnati Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame is an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse ...
.
Personal life
Dobkins attended Hughes High School in the late 1950s, but moved to Mt Healthy High School graduating in 1959. Dobkins married Janice Cox in 1960 and had two daughters, six grandchildren, and five great-grand children.
He died on April 8, 2020, at the age of 79.
Discography
* Fraternity F-794 – January 1958 – "Take Hold of My Hand" / "That's Why I'm Asking"
*Decca Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label
* Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group
* Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label
* Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...
9-30656 – May 1958 – "If You Don't Want My Lovin'" / "Love is Everything" – US No. 67
*Decca 9-30803 – December 1958 – "My Heart Is an Open Book
"My Heart Is an Open Book" is a song written by Hal David and Lee Pockriss and performed by Carl Dobkins Jr. It reached #3 on the U.S. pop chart and #11 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1959. It was featured on his 1959 album ''Carl Dobkins, Jr.''
Th ...
" / "My Pledge to You" – US No. 3
*Decca ED 2664 – August 1959 – "If You Don't Want My Lovin'" / "Love is Everything" / "My Heart Is an Open Book" / "My Pledge to You"
*Decca 9-31020 – November 1959 – "Lucky Devil" / "(There's a Little Song a-Singing) In My Heart" – US No. 25
* Brunswick 45-05817 – March 1960 – "Lucky Devil" / "(There's a Little Song a-Singing) In My Heart" – UK No. 44Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to:
Businesses
* ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies
** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company
* Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...
45-6283 – January 1964 – "If Teardrops Were Diamonds" / "I'm So Sorry Little Girl"
*Colpix
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement o ...
CP-762 – January 1965 – "A Little Bit Later on Down the Line" / "His Loss Is My Gain"
*Chalet CHR-1053 – May 1969 – "The Days of Sand and Shovels" / "Linda the Motel Maid"
*Chalet CHR-1056 – August 1969 – "My Heart Is an Open Book" / "Pictures"
References
External links
Dobkin's page at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobkins, Carl Jr.
1941 births
2020 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American male pop singers
American rockabilly musicians
Atco Records artists
Country musicians from Ohio
Decca Records artists
Military personnel from Cincinnati
Musicians from Cincinnati
Singer-songwriters from Ohio
United States Army reservists
American male singer-songwriters