Jack Lathrop was an American vocalist and guitarist who recorded for RCA Victor as “Jack Lathrop and his Drugstore Cowboys” and had a couple of minor hits, in part because of the Petrillo

James Petrillo

James Caesar Petrillo was the prominent leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada.-Biography:Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois...

 recording bans.

Career

Lathrop’s first release with RCA, (catalog 20-3109) and his first charting hit as a solo artist, was “Hair of Gold.” This song was written by Sunny Skylar

Sunny Skylar

Sunny Skylar was an American composer, singer, lyricist, and music publisher. He was born Selig Shaftel in Brooklyn, New York. As a singer, he appeared with a number of big bands, including those led by Ben Bernie, Paul Whiteman, Abe Lyman, George Hall and Vincent Lopez...

 and introduced to the public by Jack Emerson on Metrotone Records. Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...

’s version was the biggest hit, but Lathrop’s version also fared well. It was his highest-charting song, reaching a peak of #19. The b-side of this record was “You Call Everybody Darling,” a song written by Sam Martin, Ben L. Trace, Clem Watts, and Albert J. Trace

Al Trace

Albert J. Trace was a prolific American songwriter and orchestra leader of the 1930s, 40s and 50s whose peak of popularity was reached in the Chicago area during the height of the Big Band era....

. This song also reached the charts at #27. These sides had been recorded as a response to the James Petrillo-led Musician’s Union recording ban of 1948. The instrumentation backing the harmonizing vocalists was limited to harmonicas, jug-blowers, and ukuleles. Despite the limited instrumentation (or perhaps because of it,) Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 reviewed both sides as “excellent.”

The second RCA release (catalog 20-3199) was “Dainty Brenda Lee,” which received a rating of “excellent” from Billboard. “Corn Belt Symphony” was placed on the other side of the 78rpm disc. This song was cited as both an “Operators Pick” (peaking at #2) and “Retailers Pick” (peak #6) for several weeks in late 1948 in Billboard, but despite the reviews and large marketing support from RCA, the disc had limited commercial impact.

His next release for RCA was “My Darling, My Darling”, a duet with Eve Young. This garnered negative reviews from Billboard and the New York Times, but it reached the Juke Box charts at #26.

The success of the RCA recordings prompted Jack to hire Frank Hanshaw as a manager, and to go on tour with a trio consisting guitar, accordion, and bass. He recorded two more sides (RCA Victor 20-3327) before touring, “Don’t Hang Around” and “One Has My Name

One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)

"One Has My Name is a 1948 song by singing cowboy Eddie Dean, his wife Lorene "Dearest" Dean, and Hollywood songwriter Hal Blair. The song was first recorded by Jimmy Wakely and was his third release on the Folk Best Seller charts and his first number one...

,” which were reviewed as “good” by Billboard.

In addition to the popular material, RCA utilized his talent for a new series of children’s records.