Baltimore/Northern Soul SYNG McGOWAN THAT'S WHAT I WANT on HOPE

$

405

ARTIST: SYNG McGOWAN

7" 45 ON HOPE RECORDS FROM BALTIMORE, MD USA (MOBTOWN)

SONGS: "THAT'S WHAT I WANT"
                           B/W
                     "PEGGY DID"

ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING, 1966

CONDITION: SIDE ONE "THAT'S WHAT I WANT" IS
VISUALLY VG to VG+. SOME HAIRLINE MARKS, IT
PLAYS EXCELLENT (EX). 
YOU WILL LOVE THE SOUND. THE FIDELITY AND
LOUDNESS ARE PERFECT. NO TICS, OR ANY OTHER
DISTRACTIONS. WHAT A SONG!!!!!
SIDE TWO: STILL NICE WITH NO MAJOR PROBLEMS,
HAS A FEW TICS.

HERE'S SOME INFO FROM MY FAVORITE BOOK
ABOUT THE MUSIC SCENE IN BALTIMORE IN
THE 60'S: (BALTIMORE SOUNDS BY JOE VACCARINO)
"JASPER "SYNG" McGOWAN WAS AN INMATE AT THE
MARYLAND PENITENTIARY. HE DEVELOPED A PEN PAL
RELATIONSHIP WITH A LOCAL REAL ESTATE AGENT
AND THE TWO OF THEM WENT ON TO PRODUCE AND
RELEASE SEVERAL 45'S."
MORE:

Born around 1925/26, Jasper was first jailed in 1948/49. Eventually, Jasper joined a singing 'convict' group in jail & they were dubbed the 'Wayward Sons'. This quartet started to perform, in & out of prison and became known nationally. McGowan, in conjunction with cellmate (& fellow group member) Russell Quarles also started to write songs (by the mid 60's, they had penned 450 together). Jasper must have gotten out of jail after serving much of the full term on his 1st conviction .... but was found guilty of an armed robbery offence & sent back 'inside' in 1958.

Jasper's case was taken up in 1962 by Mrs Betty Feldman. Betty Feldman was a big business woman (real estate) in Baltimore & she worked for 2 charitable Foundations that helped prisoners (B'Nai Brith & Robert Linder Foundation). She was unwell in Dec 62 and this news made it into the local papers. Seeing this, Jasper sent her a get well card and the two started to correspond. At the time, Jasper was working in the prison's woodwork shop as a cabinet maker (whilst also schooling the group and dveloping their harmony singing).

Betty took up Jasper's case & eventually managed to win him a re-trail (on the 2nd offence) in 1964. In November 64, the group (Jasper -- 39 years old & serving 15 + 5 + 5 yrs for armed robbery; Russell Quarles -- 35 years old & serving 20 years for robbery; John Madison -- 23 yrs old & serving 30 yrs for murder/ robbery; Archie Shaw -- 35 yrs old & serving 20 yrs for larceny. The 4 were accompanied on guitar by James Richardson -- serving life) performed at a big concert staged at Maryland Penitentiary. The group had already cut 2 songs with the help of Louis Mills of Record Manufacturers Inc.

When his re-trail came up, Jasper was described as a model prisoner who was leader of the singing quartet, the Wayward Sons. He won that appeal but was not released from Maryland Penitentiary as he still had some time to serve on his first offence (also a robbery for which he had received a 10 year sentence) -- he had obviously been let out of jail on parole on the 1st offence). A re-trail on the 1st robbery conviction was asked for, also granted & when the Maryland State Attorney decided not to press on with the case, Jasper was released on 21st September 1965. He patched things up with his wife, though info on her is scant (apart from her being named as Mrs. McGowan when she later attended court at his trials). The group (2 other members -- Archie Shaw, John Madison -- were out on parole) started to perform shows around the Baltimore area, including one at the Winchester St Armory on November 20th (65).

He went into the studio, together with the other guys in the Wayward Sons, and had cut at least 6 tracks for Hope Records by June 1966. The initial two songs recorded by the group were "How Will I Know" & "Not Sympathy". A 45 under his name (Syng McGowan) had escaped on Hope ("How Will I Know" & "Not Sympathy") and a 3rd 45 (again on Hope but credited just to Syng McGowan) ("Just In The Nick of Time") was released on May 5th, 1967. To celebrate the release of this record, Jasper 'borrowed' a case of beer worth $5 and so ended up in court again soon afterwards. Sent down for a further 13 months, he again emerged from jail in June 68. He still couldn't stay on the 'straight & narrow' and in November 68 took part in the armed robbery of a bar in Owings Mills, a suburb to the north-west of Baltimore city.

He was sentenced to a further term of 8 years and thus ended his recording career.