The Jimmy Castor Bunch -

Jimmy Castor (Jan. 23, 1940 — Jan. 16, 2012) was an American R&B saxophonist and vocalist who briefly sang with Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers during the mid-1950s. After cutting a solo album for Smash Records in 1967, he formed the Castor Bunch. The band released three albums on RCA Victor in 1972 and 1973, followed by five albums on Atlantic between 1974 and 1977.

Castor Bunch Members: Jimmy Castor (alto/tenor saxophone, percussion, piano, vocals), Gerry Thomas (keyboards, trumpet), Doug Gibson (bass), Harry Jensen (guitar), Lenny Fridle Jr. (percussion)

Background

The Jimmy Castor Bunch formed in New York City in 1969 when singer and saxophonist Jimmy Castor assembled a new working band around keyboardist and trumpeter Gerry Thomas. Thomas met drummer Bill Curtis in a Queens dance band in 1967 and recorded with the Soul Emissaries the next year. Castor linked the Bunch name and ensemble concept to Sly and the Family Stone, whose material entered the early band repertoire.

James Walter Castor was born January 23, 1940, in Manhattan, New York. His mother and grandmother raised him in Harlem and Washington Heights. Castor first studied violin, and a school music test led him to saxophone in seventh grade. Castor entered the High School of Music & Art in 1954, where he studied piano, clarinet, theory, solfeggio, harmony, counterpoint, and arrangement. He later studied accounting and music at City College of New York.

Castor formed Jimmy Castor and the Juniors with Johnny Williams, Orton Graves, and Al Casey Jr. in the mid-1950s. The group recorded the Castor composition “I Promise to Remember” for Wing in 1956, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers recorded a hit version for Gee. Castor also substituted for Lymon on Teenagers engagements and package tours. Castor moved toward saxophone-led work at the turn of the 1960s and played New York clubs, dances, weddings, and bar mitzvahs. Dave “Baby” Cortez hired Castor as bandleader in 1962, and Castor played saxophone on “Rinky Dink.” Castor released a succession of singles on small and major labels, then reached the national charts with the 1966 Smash Records single “Hey Leroy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You,” followed by the 1967 solo album Hey Leroy.

Castor met Thomas in 1968 as he reshaped the working band around a heavier rhythm section and shared vocals. The Bunch spent much of 1969 on Canadian dates and developed new material for the stage. The Bunch signed with Aaron Russo and Kinetic Records in 1970 and released the original “It’s Just Begun” (b/w “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”) that summer, followed in September with “Bad” (b/w “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy”). By 1971, the Bunch centered on Castor, Thomas, bassist Doug Gibson, drummer Bobby Manigault, guitarist Harry Jensen, and conguero Lenny Fridie Jr.

The Bunch moved to RCA for the November 1971 single “You Better Be Good (Or the Devil Gon’ Getcha)” (b/w “My Brightest Day”). Castor and longtime collaborator John Pruitt produced the subsequent RCA album sessions through Castor-Pruitt Productions. Jim Crotty engineered the recordings for the Bunch debut, It’s Just Begun.

Discography:

Hey Leroy, Your Mama’s Calling (1967)
It’s Just Begun (1972 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
Phase Two (1972 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
Dimension III (1973)
Butt of Course… (1974 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
The Everything Man (1974)
From the Roots (1975)
Supersound (1975 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
E-Man Groovin’ (1976 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
Maximum Stimulation (1977 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
Let It Out (1978 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
The Jimmy Castor Bunch (1979 • The Jimmy Castor Bunch)
C (1980)
Remembers Yesterday (1981)
The Return of Leroy (1983)

Sources

Castor retrospective with extensive first-person chronology, including schooling, the Juniors, New York club work, Gerry Thomas, the formation of the Bunch, and Canadian dates: Village Voice — Jimmy Castor, R.I.P.
Castor interview covering the High School of Music & Art, the Juniors, Sly and the Family Stone connection, the Bunch name, and the RCA transition: Long Beach Post — Interview With A Legend: Jimmy Castor
Contemporary June 1970 notice reporting the Kinetic signing, “It’s Just Begun” b/w “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” and album sessions: Cash Box — Castor Bunch To Kinetic
Contemporary 1972 profile naming Castor, Gibson, Thomas, Manigault, Jensen, and Fridie as the working Bunch: Record World — Jimmy Castor: Just Beginning
Aaron Russo interview covering the Kinetic signing, CBS dispute, and Castor move to RCA: Record World — Aaron Russo: The Making of A Manager
Thomas background, including work with Bill Curtis, the Soul Emissaries, and the 1968 move into the Castor band: Ace Records — Fatback artist profile
Birth, Washington Heights youth, Juniors, and “I Promise to Remember”: The Washington Post — Jimmy Castor obituary
RCA single chronology for the November 1971 pre-album release: 45cat — You Better Be Good / My Brightest Day