Knock On Wood (with Rickey Day)

Liner notes
Arnold Angers presents Rickey Day

Rickey Day (from Cincinnati, Ohio) worked with many well-known U.S. groups, the most popular being “The Drifters”. He was with The Drifters when Ben E. King was a member of that group. After a seven year term with The Drifters, he left to form his own group and toured the U.S. extensively. In 1966 Rickey Day came to Canada and worked with numerous groups, steadily increasing his popularity in Canada. He joined Billy Martin’s Orchestra in January 1967.

Billy Martin was born and raised in New York City. On completion of High School, Billy attended the New York Conservatory of Music for five years. His term with the Conservatory completed, Billy played trumpet at various well known Clubs in New York City. He later went on tour covering a wide area of the U.S. In 1960 he came to Canada and made his first recording with London Records of Canada.

This LP, “Surprise Party”, was an immediate success and Billy followed it up within six months with another LP, “Twist, Twist, Twist”. Being released, as it was, during the height of the “Twist” craze, it became an immediate favourite. This led to a demand for more of the “Billy Martin Sound” and as a result Billy recorded five additional LPs for London of Canada. His latest in this series is “Music with Soul” on London GA. 1013.

This present LP (Billy’s eighth), “KNOCK ON WOOD”, is destined to be a winner as it combines the talents of Rickey Day, (both as vocalist and organist), with the ever popular sound of the Billy Martin Orchestra. The top-quality results of this fine combination are greatly enhanced by an excellent job of production by Arnold Angers.