From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Jun 2, 2002  2:05 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Sammy Turner
 
SAMMY TURNER

Born Samuel Black, 2 June 1932, Paterson, New Jersey

Singer. Turner joined a group called The Twisters as lead tenor in 1958.
They signed with Big Top Records in New York and their first record,
"Sweet Annie Laurie", credited to Sammy Turner and the Twisters,
spent one week at # 100 on the Billboard charts. After this, Turner went
solo and scored a # 3 hit with "Lavender Blue" (originally a # 4 hit by
Sammy Kaye in 1949) in the summer of 1959. The producers, Jerry
Leiber and Mike Stoller, chose another oldie for the follow-up, Irving
Berlin's "Always". This went to # 19 in the US and # 26 in the UK,
following an appearance on ABC-TV's "Boy Meets Girls". After a lesser
hit with "Paradise" in 1960, his chart run was over. Turner's later recordings
for Big Top, like "Raincoat In The River", were produced by Phil Spector.
He left Big Top in 1963 and later recorded for Motown and Verve, also tried
his hand at songwriting. It seems he's still active in the music business.
An interview with Sammy in Now Dig This 163 (October 1996) shows him
to have an oversized ego.

CD: Lavender Blue : The Very Best Of Sammy Turner (Collectables)