From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Feb 6, 2002  1:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Leon Rene

LEON RENE

Born 6 February 1902, Covington, Louisiana
Died 30 May, 1982, Los Angeles, California

Label owner/producer, songwriter, bandleader

Leon Rene, a Creole bandleader who had been living in Los Angeles
since the late '20s, established his own label, Exclusive Records, in
1944, in order to produce and market songs he had written (among them
"When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano" and "When It's Sleepy
Time Down South"). His most succesful productions on Exclusive were
"I've Got A Right To Cry" and "The Honeydripper" by Joe Liggins, both million
sellers. Exclusive went bankrupt in 1950, but the next year Rene formed
a new label, Class Records. In 1953 Modern Records bought all his masters
for $5000, but he revived the label in 1956, now concentrating on rock and
roll. Most of the Class sides were recorded using Plas Johnson on tenor
sax, Earl Palmer on drums, either Rene Hall or Barney Kessel on guitar
and Leon's son Googie Rene on piano. The biggest Class hit was "Rockin'
Robin" by Bobby Day (# 2 pop in 1958). This million seller was written by
Leon Rene under the pseudonym of Jimmie Thomas. In the summer of 1958,
Rene went into partnership with Rod Pierce and Gordon Wolf to form another
label, Rendezvous Records, which released about 100 records until its demise
in 1964. The biggest Rendezvous hits were instrumentals : "In the Mood"
by the Ernie Fields Orchestra (# 4 in 1959) and "Bumble Boogie" (# 21 in
1961) and "Nut Rocker" (# 23 in 1962), both by B. Bumble and the Stingers.
In the UK, "Nut Rocker" went all the way to the top of the charts and when
it was rereleased in 1972, it made the Top 20 again.
Leon Rene continued to write songs and produce young artists until his
death in 1982.
CD recommendation : Various artists, The Class and Rendezvous Story
(Ace 461). 24 tracks from 1957-1962. Excellent liner notes by Jim Dawson.