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Biography
John "Jay" Traynor (March 30, 1943 – January 2, 2014) was an American singer. He was the third lead vocalist of the Mystics, singing falsetto on "The White Cliffs of Dover" and lead on "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "Blue Star". Later, he started Jay and the Americans with Kenny Vance and Sandy Yaguda, and was the original lead singer. He sang lead on the Americans' first hit, "She Cried," which was followed up by the LP, She Cried. All recordings were produced by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, who produced numerous artists and wrote many hits for Elvis Presley, the Drifters, the Coasters, and many more.
Traynor left the Americans, releasing solo records, including "I Rise, I Fall" on the Coral label in 1964. His name on the label was denoted as "JAY ... formerly of Jay & the Americans". Later in the '60s, he released "Up & Over", produced by Dennis Lambert for Don Costa Productions. The song became a big hit with the UK "Northern Soul" underground dance clubs. Traynor was replaced in the Americans by David Blatt, who agreed to perform under the stage name Jay Black. After working for Woodstock Ventures, the company that put on the "Woodstock" festival, Traynor then began a career working behind the scenes with many '70s acts (Mountain, West, Bruce & Laing, The Who, Ten Years After, Yes, and gospel singer Mylon LeFevre).
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