The Turks

                 The Los Angeles Flamingos  

The Turks began as another of the permutations of Los Angeles singers. Start with some Hollywood Flames, toss in a few original Platters, and mix with the Squires on Combo. The whole thing began with the Flamingos (no not those Flamingos). These Flamingos were a loose organization of singers, and their ranks ebbed and flowed, depending on who was available for rehearsals and shows. Forming in Jefferson High around 1952, one of their more stable lineups was Cornelius "Cornel" Gunter, Gaynel Hodge, Curtis Williams and Richard Berry, Jody Jefferson was an occasional part of the group not a bad line up. "We were young and talented and won every talent show around and had the whole city of L.A. inspired and in our corner. Large companies were negotiating for us, letting the Flamingos fall apart was a big mistake" Said Gaynel.   Nevertheless, fall apart they did. In time, Cornel and Richard drifted away to form the Flairs, Curtis and Gaynel went off to the Hollywood Flames.  "We were 'duped' into it by Bobby Day and David Ford, who promised a better career than the one we seemed to be enjoying as the Flamingos," Said Gaynel. Replacements were hurriedly brought in: Tony Williams (for Cornel), Herb Reed (for Richard), David Lynch (for Gaynel), and Gainer’s older brother, Alex (for Curtis). Therefore, by the time the dust had settled and the Flamingos had gotten a recording contract with Federal Records, it was a completely different group.  Unfortunately, just before the Flamingos were ready to record, Chicago's Flamingos started hitting it big on the Los Angeles charts with "That's My Desire." It was Alex Hodge (or. maybe Herb Reed) who re dubbed them the Platters.

In September 1954, the Hollywood Flames (with Gaynel Hodge, David Ford, Curley Dinkins, and Bobby Byrd) recorded at least four songs for John Dolphin the first two of these were released, under the Hollywood Flames name, later that month on Dolphin's Money label. The other two songs would make life more confusing for us all. Notice that Curtis Williams is gone from the Hollywood Flames. He'd been booted out of the group for being too independent, according to Gaynel. But singers didn't stay quiet long in L.A. Soon, Curtis was back, with his new group, the Penguins, poised on the brink of the authorship war over "Earth Angel". Emily was first released in February 1955 however; the name on the label wasn't the Hollywood Flames, but the Turks even more confusing, the flip side was "When I Return," by the West Coast Turbans. Why the Turks? It wasn't a tune by anyone called the Turks; it was a tune by the Hollywood Flames. Possibly Dolphin was mad at them for some reason. He'd taken some of their Lucky sides (another label he owned) and placed them with Decca, which was pretty big time. Then, in February 1955, the Flames backed up Patti Anne Mesner on "Shtiggy Boom" however, they weren't credited on the label, so did Dolphin even know it? The short answer is we simply don't know.  (The long answer is suspiciously similar).

John Dolphin was the epitome of the record business hustler. He had a record store called Dolphin’s Of Hollywood which was open 24 hours a day. It was originally opened during the Korean War to capitalize on the city's round-the-clock war workers in the area.  He featured a DJ in the window broadcasting than Dick "Haggy Boy" Hug became another of his DJs and since Haggy Boy was white. Dolphin then attracted both black and white customers it was said that Haggy Boy was capable of drawing a bigger crowd outside the store window than a stage show at a nearby theater. In June 1955, Gaynel and Alex Hodge joined with David Ford and Jesse Bevin to record as the Tangiers for Decca. There were two resulting records around the time.  Gaynel left the Hollywood Flames to start his own group, consisting of himself his brother Alex and their recording was a real Turks song  "It Can't Be True"  backed with another Hollywood Flames song "Wagon Wheels," led by Bobby Byrd [the future Bobby Day], from the Flames'. This side is credited to the "Original Turks."  

The Turks appeared in 1956 as part of an Al Jarvis show at the County Fair Grounds in Pomona. They shared the stage with the Six Teens, the Platters, Joe Houston, and Shirley Gunter but were quiet for almost two years after this, finally In April 1958, they released "Fathertime" and "Okay." By this time, they'd lost Delmar Wilburn and Carl Green than Tommy "Buster" Williams and Jesse Bevin replaced them. At this point, the Turks joined Eugene Church, as the "Fellows," on "Pretty Girls Everywhere," released in August 1958. The final original release by the Turks was issued in July 1959, while they were still Eugene Church's background group.  "Rockville U.S.A." and "Holly Gully." were done as a trio: Gaynel, Alex, and Buster. That was the last gasp of the Turks. As a trio, they continued to back Eugene Church for a couple of years, finally disbanding around 1960.  In the early 70s, Gaynel, Alex, and Buster reunited to back up Bill Medley on an A&M album. This would have to be 1973's Smile. Finally, sometime in the 90s, Gaynel recorded "What Now" and "Heartbreak" for the Preserve label background credit went to the "Turks," but the personnel is unknown

Gaynel Hodge co-wrote the multi-platinum hit "Earth Angel" he also formed the original Platters with his brother, Alex Hodge, Gaynel sang and played piano with them on their first 16 recordings. In his vast music career, Gaynel has written, recorded and  performed with such artists as Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, Dr. John, Ted Taylor, Little Johnny Taylor, Richard Berry, Dick Dale, Don & Dewey, The Chambers Brothers, The Rivingtons, The Olympics, Johnny Morrisette, Tony Allen, Duane Eddy, just to name a  few. Currently he is on tour throughout Europe and the Middle East, regular performances with The Platters review group.

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