Claire Lane & The Ramrods – Frankie, Johnny & More Love Stories (1963) Album Edit

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

The music I’ll be covering here was a lot better than I was anticipating. Claire Lane has a strong voice, though the instrumentals have a great rock sound that reminds me of the Honeycombs. Note those instrumentals were not credited or treated as solo Claire Lane, but she was part of that band, called the Ramrods, and to my knowledge they never made a record without her. In my created album here, you basically jump back and forth from solo and vocal pop song to the instrumental and guitar-driven Ramrods. Despite the contrast, I think they work quite well together.

Claire’s career started as a series of singles, then an album, all happening within five years from 1959 to 1964, then she did a single in 1979. Sadly, a lot of her material is not accessible online, though I’d imagine you could get that stuff off Discogs if so inclined. The pre-album era is mostly available and is thus what I’ll be covering. The “bonus tracks” are the few tracks I actually could find from the album. Ideally, this project could’ve had one album of every early single, then the album, then the 70s single, but alas. Hopefully this article helps for those wanting good music and a list of what seems to be every recording she ever did. The album title doesn’t mean anything, I just thought of and liked it.

Claire Lane & The Ramrods – Frankie, Johnny & More Love Stories (1963) – YouTube

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. The Ramrods – “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” (Released 1960)
2. Claire Lane – “I Love You So” (Released 1959)
3. Claire Lane – “An Orphan’s Christmas” (Released 1959)
4. Claire Lane – “The Boy Next Door” (Released 1959)
5. The Ramrods – “Zig Zag” (Released 1960)
6. The Ramrods – “Loch Lomond Rock” (Released 1961)
7. Claire Lane – “Isn’t It a Shame” (Released 1963)

SIDE B

1. Claire Lane – “Frankie And Johnny” (Released 1962 or 63)
2. The Ramrods – “Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle” (Released 1961)
3. Claire Lane – “Curiosity” (Released 1962 or 63)
4. Claire Lane – “I Dig That Guy” (Released 1963)
5. The Ramrods – “Boing” (Released 1961)
6. The Ramrods – “War Cry” (Released 1961)
7. Claire Lane – “El Diablo” (Released 1963)

BONUS TRACKS

1. ”Indian Love Call” (Excerpt)
2. “I Was Only A Stand-In” (Excerpt)
3. “Hey Lover” (From Drummer Girl Sings)
4. “Lonely Day” (From Drummer Girl Sings)

PERSONNEL

I could only find personnel credits for “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky”. I think this lineup played on every Ramrods recording, but that could be wrong. Even that credit for Sky is not verified.

• Eugene Moore – bass
• Claire Lane – drums
• Vinny Lee – lead guitar
• Richard Litke – tenor saxophone

Tracks I can’t find:

1. Claire Lane – “All By Myself” (Released 1959)
2. Claire Lane – “Run Run Run Away” (Released 1963)
3. Claire Lane – “Indian Love Call” (Released 1963)

Drummer Girl Sings (1964)

1. “Shangri-La”
2. “Moon River”
3. “Fly Me To The Moon”
4. “My Little Corner Of The World”
5. “More”
6. “West Of The Wall”
7. “Stolen Moments”
8. “You Can’t Stop Me From Dreaming”
9. “Never On Sunday”
10. “I Was Only A Stand-In” (Released 1963 or 64)

Later work:

1. Claire Lane – “A Talking Christmas Tree” (Released 1979)
2. Claire Lane – “Reflections” (Released 1979)

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!