Rafael Leon René (March 30, 1927 – November 25, 2007), known as Googie René, was an American musician, bandleader, and songwriter.
Biography
He was born in
Los Angeles, California, the son of songwriter and record producer
Leon René, and acquired the nickname "Googie" as a child. He graduated from
Dorsey High School in
Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, studied piano, and began writing songs and working in his father's recording studio. After serving in the US military in Europe, he returned to help set up
Class Records
Class Records was an American record label established in Los Angeles, California in 1951 by songwriter and record producer Leon René.
Leon René and his brother Otis had previously established and run the independent rhythm and blues labels E ...
with his father and his business partner
Preston Love
Preston Haynes Love (April 26, 1921 – February 12, 2004) was an American saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska, United States, best known as a sideman for jazz and rhythm and blues artists like Count Basie and Ray Char ...
.
[
Googie René oversaw the label, which had its greatest success later in the 1950s with Bobby Day's hit " Rockin' Robin". René began recording himself in 1956, with the instrumental "Wham Bam", credited to the Googie René Combo. Later records by the Combo featured – as well as René on piano and organ – many of the leading ]session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
s in Los Angeles, including guitarists Johnny Watson
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...
, René Hall, Howard Roberts, and Jimmy Nolen; bassist Red Callender; saxophonists Plas Johnson and Clifford Scott; and drummer Earl Palmer. Their recordings covered jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...
, rock and roll, and jazz.[ "Googie René: Romesville", ''JazzWax.com'']
May 31, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
The Googie René Combo released singles on the Class and Rendezvous labels from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. They had three minor hits: "The Slide, Part 1" (No. 20 R&B, early 1961), "Flapjacks, Part 1" (No. 25 R&B, 1963) and "Smokey Joe's La La" (No. 77 pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
, No. 35 R&B, 1966).Baby Driver
''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Jamie ...
''. The Combo also released three LPs: ''Beautiful Weekend'' (1957); ''Romesville'' (1959), inspired by Italian movies of the period;[ and ''Flapjacks'' (1963). Several CD compilations of the Combo's recordings have been released, including ''Wham Bam: The Best of Googie René'' (2003) and ''From Romesville to Manhattan'' (2010).][
Googie René died in 2007, aged 80.][ His son is singer and songwriter Chris Rene.]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rene, Googie
1927 births
2007 deaths
American bandleaders
Musicians from Los Angeles
Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni