Genre: pop
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Wahonka
Company: Super K
Catalog: SKS-6005
Year: 1969
Country/State: New Jersey
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: promo sticker on front cover
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5083
Price: $20.00
Well here's one of those genre-bending oddities that I find fascinating.
In terms of bibliograhical information the only thing I can tell you about namesake Ed Wahonka is that he was a New Jersey Soshonee Indian. He was born in 1943 and started his first band in 1957 at the tender age of 14. Since that's all taken from the liner notes on his album, you probably want to take that stuff with a grain of salt.
Signed to Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz's Super K label, 1969's cleverly-titled "Wahonka" was an interestingly blend of musical styles. As you'd expect, as the album's prime writers and producers Kasenetz and Katz injected an element of bubblegum into the proceedings ('Dedicated To You' and the Barry Bloom penned 'Emergency'), but that was more than offset by some nice pop ('Her Big Mistake') and a couple of surprisingly taunt rockers ('There Was a Time'). For his part Wahonka had a likeable voice that recalled a mix of Mark Lindsay and Tony Joe White (check out the swampy 'Sparkling Mary'). Sure there wasn't anything particularly original or life altering here and the occasional horn arrangements will put off some folks, but the entire set was catchy and commercial with Wahonka showing quite a bit of enthusiasm for the material. Call it a pleasant surprise that is still quite affordable.
"Wahonka" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Emergency (Barry Bloom - Bobby Gentry - Richie Cordell) - 2:24
2.) Her Big Mistake (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 2:13
3.) Sparkling Mary (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 2:04
4.) That's Betty (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 1:52
5.) Same Old You (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 2:02
6.) There Was a Time (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 2:37
(side
2)
1.) Dedicated To You (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff
Katz) - 2:02
2.) You Think Your Mother Knows (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 1:25
3.) Yesterday I Forgot (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 1:52
4.) Thank You Very Much (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 1:55
5.) Together Again (Ed Wahonka - Jerry Kasenetz - Jeff Katz) - 2:06
Wahonka also released at least one single on the Hansa label, though I don't know if it was a domestic release, or if it came out before or after the album: 'Her Big Mistake' b/w 'Emergency' (Hansa catalog number 14803). 'Nother piece of meaningless trivia - This was the final LP released by the short-lived Super K label.