Jamie Lyons, Lead singer of the Music Explosion ("Little Bit of Soul") 57
deb...@comcast.net
By Aaron Beck
The Columbus Dispatch
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 5:13 PM
Jamie Lyons made music for nearly 40 years.
But the Galion native will always be remembered for one 1967 tune. As
lead singer of the Music Explosion, he propelled Little Bit o' Soul to
the No. 2 spot on the charts.
Lyons, whose soulful, gritty voice helped make the song one of the
enduring garage-rock tunes, died Monday at his home in Little River,
S.C., at the age of 57.
He was the one of the greatest singers. He could just belt out a song
like nobody else, said Ro-z Mendelson , owner of Monkeys Retreat in the
Short North and former road manager of Lyons' other late-'60s and
early-'70s band, Hard Sauce. On stage he was powerful and he'd win
everybody over.
The Music Explosion, which formed in early 1966 in Mansfield, released
its debut album on the New York label Laurie in 1967. Beginning May 13
of that year, the title track, Little Bit o' Soul, spent 16 weeks on
the Billboard pop charts.
The group's album included original songs, but Little Bit o' Soul, a
tune first cut by Ivy League singer John Carter (Tossin' and Turnin'),
is the one that stuck.
The Ramones led off their 1983 album Subterranean Jungle with the song.
Part of the garage-rock essentials boxed set Nuggets: Original
Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-68, Little Bit o' Soul
also can be found on the 2002 compilation Little Bit o' Soul: The Best
of the Music Explosion.
I love the Farfisa (organ) and for me it's (? & the Mysterians') 96
Tears No. 1 and then Little Bit o' Soul, said Mark Wyatt, who performed
with Lyons, Mendelson and others as the Mendelsonics in June at Comfest
in the Short North. Wyatt laughed and added, Jamie would have said the
same thing. He wasn't too full of himself.
Lyons released a handful of 45s after the Music Explosion disbanded.
During the early '70s, he joined the Columbus band Mixed Water, which
included future Godz bassist-singer Eric Moore.
According to www.thegodz.net, Mixed Water changed its name to the
Capital City Rockets and released a self-titled album in 1973 on
Elektra.
Mendelson said that during the past year, Lyons had re-recorded Little
Bit o' Soul.
He had the big hit, but he never got anything out of it. He was hoping
to get it out there and maybe get it picked up for a TV commercial or
something.
Lyons is survived by his wife, Sandra Kay Lyons, children Jason Hill
and Amanda Rose Lyons and three grandchildren, all of South Carolina.