Smokey Joe's Cafe (Remastered) - Single

West Coast R&B vocal group the Robins had already recorded with middling success for the Aladdin, RPM, Modern, and RCA record labels between 1949 and 1953 when they signed with Spark Records in 1954. Spark was owned by the songwriting and production team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who immediately got the Robins rolling with Smokey Joe's Cafe and a pair of soon-to-be classic songs, 1954's "Riot in Cell Block # 9" and 1955's "Smokey Joe's Café," with "Framed," a 1954 prequel to "Cell Block," sandwiched in between the two. It was a great beginning, but Leiber & Stoller sold Spark to Atlantic's Atco subsidiary later in 1955, and the Robins splintered, with Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn following Leiber & Stoller to the east coast, where they formed the Coasters. The remaining Robins moved in a lighter pop direction, keeping things together until 1961 before disbanding. This brief set (it clocks in at under 30 minutes) features highlights from the Robins' short but productive stay at Spark, and includes "Cell Block," "Café," and "Framed," as well as the decidedly goofy "Loop de Loop Mambo."