Black — whose original name was David Blatt — was the second “Jay” to front the Americans.
Black, who had an impressive vocal range, opened the song slowly, almost operatically, before the melody turned upbeat.
Black recalled Sinatra saying in 1977 when they were filming “Contract on Cherry Street” (1977), a television movie in which Mr.
Black said that Sinatra had advised him, “You better lower your key or you’re going to lose your voice.”.
Black apologized to fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., for struggling to reach his former vocal heights.
Black began his singing career with two doo-wop groups, the Two Chaps and the Empires.
Blatt did not become Jay Black until he appeared on Mike Douglas’s talk show.
Black told The New York Times in 1994.
Black told Newsday after the court allowed him to keep his name.
Yaguda formed a new version of Jay and the Americans in late 2006, reuniting with two other original members, Mr.
Black is survived by two other sons, William and Beau; a daughter, Samantha; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a sister, Gail Decker; and a brother, Norman Blatt
In February 1964, two days after the Beatles’ first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” Jay and the Americans and the Righteous Brothers opened for them at their first concert in the United States, at the Washington ColiseumWhen the fans loudly chanted “We want the Beatles!” while the Americans were performing, Mr
Yaguda told the Vinyl Dialogues blog in 2020, “went out and said, ‘Hey, man, I’m glad you all came out to see us tonight.’ And they all cracked up