The Story of Don Gardner

by Don Gardner

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Double gatefold vinyl LP + Bonus 7" single "Cheatin' Kind" b/w "What Now My Love". Also contains full album download code.
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Double gatefold vinyl LP - comes with full album download code.

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Full Digital Discography

181

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Get all 181 Tramp Rec. releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Back In My Life b/w Funky Walk, It's A Man's World (live) b/w One Glance (At The Jolly Roger), Future b/w Free, Dizengoff, Praise Poems 5, Love Is The Answer b/w The Love You Save (prev. unreleased), **FREE DOWNLOAD** - DJ set @ Wohnzimmer West (24.01.2003) Part 2, **FREE DOWNLOAD** - DJ set @ Wohnzimmer West (24.01.2003) Part 1, and 173 more. , and , .

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1.	People Sho' Act Funny 02:36	info
2.	I Really Love You Baby 02:10	info
3.	I'm In Such Misery 02:11	info
4.	Dog Eat Dog 02:23	info
5.	Let's Party 02:43	info
6.	My Baby Likes To Boogaloo 02:52	info
7.	Excedrin 02:39	info
8.	Bonanza 03:02	info
9.	Watermelon Man 05:39	info
10.	Shiny Stockings 03:16	info
11.	Take Five 02:36	info
12.	Twistin' The Night Away 03:25	info
13.	Last Night 02:47	info
14.	What'd I Say 04:52	info
15.	Heat Wave 02:23	info
16.	I Don't Need You Anymore 02:37	info
17.	I'm A Practical Guy 02:37	info
18.	Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy 02:15	info
19.	There Ain't Gonna Be No Loving 02:16	info
20.	Tighten Up Your Love Bone 02:44	info
21.	Cheatin' Kind 01:56	info
22.	Is This Really Love 02:13	info

about

While every rare groove DJ/collector is familiar with the name Don Gardner, the average music buyer probably isn't. Some of you may remember one particular song though: "I Need Your Lovin'" from 1962. Performed by Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford, it climbed up to #4 on the Billboard charts and even made the pop top twenty. But that ain't all. What was about to follow might not have had enough penetration power to jump on the charts again, but every single song Don Gardner recorded in that decade had pure class.

Actually, Don first went to school for cooking, baking and restaurant management first. He had plans to follow a culinary career but fortunately for us, he was destined to be followed by music throughout his life. Born in Philadelphia in 1931, Don Gardner started singing in church. While still a teenager, he used to sneak into clubs, sing and go back out as he couldn't stay in them because he was too young. Finally, he made his recording debut at the age of 19. In the early 1950s Don founded his first band, The Three Bachelors, which later became The Sonotones. It consisted of Jimmy Smith on organ (yes, THE Jimmy Smith), Albert Cass on sax, Thornel Schwartz on guitar and Don on drums. In fact, Don started out playing Cocktail Drums first, but because Jimmy switched from piano to organ and was getting so loud he was forced to start playing 'real' drums. After four releases under The Sonotones name, Smith left the group and was replaced by Richard 'Groove' Holmes. When 'Groove' left, Don hooked up with a female partner with whom he would strike a vocal spark, Dee Dee Ford.

The duo signed with Bobby Robinson's Fire label and hit it big with the aforementioned "I Need Your Lovin'". Two more singles and an album followed before they departed from Fire in 1964. In the same year the band headed for Sweden. They stayed for almost two years, cutting two 'live' albums there before they went back to the US where Dee Dee and Don went seperate ways. While Dee Dee faded from sight, Don carried on as a solo artist releasing 45s for several different labels.

In 1970, Don had a plan in mind to leave the music business behind him. He got into construction work and helped remodeling Curtis Mayfield's house. Since the mid 1980s he got involved with the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz of which he is president to this day.

The first 400 copies of the 2LP-gatefold album come with a bonus 45rpm single "Cheatin' Kind" b/w "What Now My Love" (exclusively licensed to Tramp Records).

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released September 9, 2014

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