Don Gardner
{{short description|American drummer}}
{{about||the writer of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"|Donald Yetter Gardner|the American football player|Don Gardner (American football)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Don Gardner
| image = Don Gardner.jpg
| image_size =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption = Gardner at the Clef Club of Jazz in Philadelphia in 2012
| birth_name = Donald Gardner
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|5|9}}
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| origin =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|9|4|1931|5|9}}
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| genre = Rhythm and blues
| occupation = Singer, drummer, bandleader, songwriter
| instrument =
| years_active =
| label =
| associated_acts = The Sonotones
Richard "Groove" Holmes
Dee Dee Ford
Baby Washington
| website =
}}
Donald Gardner (May 9, 1931 – September 4, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and drummer. His records included the 1962 hit "I Need Your Lovin'", with Dee Dee Ford.
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, Gardner started out as a professional musician in 1947 while still at school. He first recorded as a singer on the Gotham label in 1949.[http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/don_gardner_deedee_ford.htm "Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford", Black Cat Rockabilly]. Retrieved November 4, 2016 By 1953, he formed his own group, the Sonotones, in which he played drums and sang. The group toured on the Chitlin' Circuit,{{cite web|url=http://www.sas.upenn.edu/music/westphillymusic/jazz/student_sites/DonGardner/DonGardnerTranscription.htm|title=Transcription of Interview with Donald Gardner of the Philadelphia Clef Club|website=WestPhillyMusic|accessdate=November 4, 2016}} and Gardner also recorded under his own name, for De Luxe Records and the small Junior label.
Keyboardist Richard "Groove" Holmes left the Sonotones in early 1960, and was replaced by Dee Dee Ford (aka Dottie Ford, married name Wrecia Holloway, née Wrecia Mae Ford, 1936–1972). She had lived in Newark, New Jersey and sang and played organ in church. When the Sonotones played at the Smalls Paradise club in Harlem, New York, they were heard by blues performer Arthur Crudup, who recommended them to the Fire record label owner Bobby Robinson. He produced a song written by Gardner, I Need Your Loving (also known as Need Your Lovin'), a "gospel-drenched" call-and-response number in the mold of Ike & Tina Turner, and the song became their biggest hit, rising to number 4 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1962 and number 20 on the pop chart.{{cite book|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|authorlink=Joel Whitburn|year=1996 |publisher=Record Research|page=165}} The song was later recorded by Otis Redding, Alexis Korner, Tom Jones, Jackie Wilson, and many others.{{cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/100957/versions|title=I Need Your Loving|website=SecondhandSongs.com|accessdate=November 4, 2016}}
KC Records, Gardner and Ford's previous record company, then released "Glory of Love", which made number 75 on the pop chart,{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955-2002|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/271 271]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/271}} before Fire released the official follow-up, "Don't You Worry", which reached number 7 on the R&B chart and number 66 pop. After recording an LP for Fire, Need Your Lovin', Gardner and Ford left the label, and – following the death of Gardner's wife in an accident – toured Sweden for a change of scene. They recorded a live album, Quintet in Sweden, released by Sonet Records in 1965 and described as having "a solid R&B base with jazzy overtones that is veering towards early soul", and also recorded several tracks with Freda Payne for her album Freda Payne in Stockholm.
When they returned to the US, Gardner and Ford went their separate ways. Ford wrote the song "Let Me Down Easy", a hit for Bettye LaVette in 1965,{{cite web|url=http://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Dee+Dee+Ford&tab=songaswriterchartstab|title=Songs written by Dee Dee Ford|website=MusicVf.com|accessdate=November 4, 2016}} but soon retired from the music industry. Gardner continued to perform and record throughout the 1960s and 1970s, releasing a string of singles on various labels including Jubilee, Verve, and Tru-Glo-Town. In the early 1970s, he recorded with Jeanette "Baby" Washington, and their recording on the Master 5 label of "Forever", a minor hit in 1963 for the Marvelettes, reached number 30 on the R&B chart in 1973.
Death
Gardner continued to work as a jazz musician, and had been part of the management of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts in Philadelphia since 1985, serving as executive director. Lovett Hines, the current Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, was at the hospital when Gardner died, playing the artist's music. "And I just held the telephone to his ear on YouTube," Hines said. "And you could see his reaction with his eyes moving and moving his hand. So he responded to the music, and I'm glad that was the last thing he heard". Gardner died on September 4, 2018, at the age of 87.{{Cite web|url=https://www.audacy.com/kywnewsradio/news|title=Philadelphia Breaking News, Today's News | KYW Newsradio|website=Audacy.com}}{{cite news|title=Philadelphia Soul and Jazz Pioneer Donald Gardner Dies at 87 |url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Legendary-RB-Singer-Donald-Gardner-Dies-at-87-Jazz-Soul-492777531.html|accessdate=September 11, 2018|work=NBC 10 Philadelphia|language=en}}{{cite web|url=http://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/donald-gardner-executive-director-of-the-philadelphia-clef-club/article_b8781074-8601-5bb7-b9ce-fc5852271728.html|title=Donald Gardner, 87, executive director of the Philadelphia Clef Club|website=Phillytrib.com|accessdate=December 19, 2018}}
Discography
=Albums=
- The Don Gardner Trio featuring Jimmy Smith and Bill Davis (recorded 1955, issued 1963)
- Need Your Lovin' (Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford, 1962)
- The Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford Quintet in Sweden (1965)
- The Exciting Jimmy Smith with the Don Gardner Trio (1969)
- Lay a Little Lovin' on Me (Baby Washington & Don Gardner, 1973)
- Very Best of Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford (1999)
==As guest artist==
{{Incomplete list|date=September 2011}}
- Patrick Stanfield Jones - A Heart and an Open Road (2010)
=Chart singles=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="2"| Chart positions |
|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="40"| US Pop ! width="40"| US R&B |
| rowspan="3"| 1962
| align="left"| "I Need Your Loving" | 20 | 4 |
| align="left"| "Glory of Love" Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford | 75 | — |
| align="left"| "Don't You Worry" Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford | 66 | 7 |
| 1966
| align="left"| "My Baby Likes to Boogaloo" |—{{Efn|My Baby Likes to Boogaloo" did not reach the Hot 100, but peaked at number 26 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.|group=lower-alpha}} |— |
| rowspan="1" | 1973
| align="left" | "Forever" | — | 30 |
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha|100em|refs=
Wrecia Ford, in March 1955 at Newark, New Jersey, married Calvin Holloway. (Ancestry.com)
}}
=References=
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
"Ford, Dee Dee, 1936-1972". Library of Congress, Authorities. Retrieved December 22, 2020. {{LCCN|no00065708}}.
{{cite web|ref={{SfnRef}}|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61253&h=902170551|url-access=subscription|title=New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901–2016|last=New Jersey State Archives|first=Trenton. {{italics correction|Marriage Indexes}}; Index type: {{italics correction|Bride}}; Year range: {{italics correction|1955}}; Surname range: {{italics correction|A–K}}|publisher=Ancestry.com|location=Lehi, Utah|language=en-US|access-date=December 22, 2020}}
| style="border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid darkgray; border-width: 1px 0px 1px 0px; font-size: 100%; width:100%;" |
| style="height: 1em; text-align:center;"
|colspan=2 style="background:#EEF8FC; border: 1px solid darkgray; border-width: 0px 0px 1px 0px;" | Marriage license data |
| style="height: 1em; text-align:right;"
| style="text-align: right"; width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px" | Bride: | width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: left" |{{space|2}} Wrecia M. Ford ({{italics correction|née}} Ford) |
| style="height: 1em; text-align:right;"
| style="text-align: right;" width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px"| Groom: | width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: left"|{{space|2}} Calvin Holloway |
| style="height: 1em; text-align:right;"
| width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px"| Marriage date: | width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: left"|{{space|2}} March 1955 |
| style="height: 1em; text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:right;" width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px"| Marriage place: | width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: left"|{{space|2}} Newark, New Jersey |
| style="height: 1em; text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:right;" width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px"| Certificate no.: | width="12.5%" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: left"|{{space|2}} 5998 |
}}
External links
- [http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/dgardner.htm Don Gardner discography] via soulfulkindamusic.net
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Don}}
Category:American rhythm and blues singers
Category:Jubilee Records artists
Category:Drummers from Philadelphia
Category:Singers from Pennsylvania
Category:20th-century American drummers