Jaedes

The Jaedes were comprised of five young men who met at Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1968. All of us were musical and loved singing. Our voices blended well so we decided to form a vocal group like so many young men of that time period. A booking agent and manager from Tuscaloosa heard us sing and signed us to a contract with him. His name was William Mitchell and he helped us tremendously in getting bookings all over the South. Around the early part of 1969 the Jaedes performed at a fraternity house on the campus of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. The drummer for our back up band asked if we were interested in recording. He knew of a label there in Nashville who might be interested in a good R&B act. We said yes of course. Richard Powell, a producer and arranger for the Athena label auditioned us and liked what he heard. The very next week we signed with Athena and produced one 45 and one album with that company. The album was finished around August of 1969. The 45 from the album Uh, Uh, What Did I Do was released first, then the album itself. The Jaedes were elated, our first album. Athena, as you probably know, was an independent label competing against major labels. We never made the charts in the U.S. However, Europe is a different story. Sadly, the Jaedes broke up after all of us graduated from Stillman College in 1971. Athena Records also disbanded after internal discord during the early 1970s. It's a shame. Richard Powell was a great composer, string, and horn arranger. Great songs never die and the Jaedes album has had a life of it's own. Through the years...we've savored the times. Frederick Blackmon.