The cover of Jonna Gault’s LP
Listen/Download -Jonna Gault – What If They Gave a War and No One Came?
Listen/Download -Jonna Gault – Wonder Why I Guess
Greetings all.
I hope all is well on your end.
The tunes I picked for this week appear on both sides of a 1968 single by an interesting, ‘lost’ performer named Jonna Gault.
I can’t remember exactly where I first heard about her, but I suspect I grabbed this 45 while I was out digging, on the strength of the title of the A-side, ‘What If They Gave a War and No One Came’.
Though it appears in various forms, the catch phrase was popularized as ‘Suppose they gave a war and no one came’ in an article by writer and peace activist Charlotte Keyes (though it appears to have originated with none other than Carl Sandburg).
The saying became popular during the Vietnam war, when it appeared on a famous poster and a variation on it was used in the lyrics to the Monkees tune ‘Zor and Zam’.
While I’d like to give you some history on Jonna Gault, there appears to be little more than a very intriguing snapshot’s worth of a story out there.
Though she was signed to RCA in 1968 (at the age of 21) she had recorded a few earlier 45s in a saccharine girl-pop style.
The sound of her RCA era material, which Gault (or at least the publicists at RCA) termed “symphonopop” is intriguing and occasionally very interesting.
In addition to this 45, I also have her RCA LP ‘Watch Me: Jonna Gault and her Symphonop Scene’ which is especially interesting since Gault wrote, produced and arranged much of the material.
My initial temptation was to describe her overall style as ‘showtunes on acid’, but it’s more like mainstream pop with the tiniest contact high.
The tunes on this 45 are pretty much the best stuff she did, juxtaposing her relatively conventional vocal sound with a kind of vaguely psychedelic approach to the Wall of Sound.
‘What If They Gave a War and No One Came’ has a soundtrack feel, and a dark, interesting melody.
‘Wonder Why, I Guess’ is perfect example of how her records sound like the product of a middle of the road singer (not necessarily a pejorative) who has become psychedelicized in a vague, indirect way, kind of like Marlo Thomas as ‘That Girl’ stumbling into a pot party.
This isn’t the kind of record where the psyche touches have been tacked on crassly by a stylistic carpetbagger, but rather by someone who digs the sound but approached it as an outsider.
Am I making any sense?
If you listen to the full album, the effect is considerably more diffuse, with an unfortunate supper-club vibe creeping in, especially in an awkward cover of the Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’.
The really weird thing is – though I supposed this probably happened all the time – is that Gault kind of up and disappeared after her album. I don’t see any traces of her as a writer, session singer or anything else.
She was undeniably talented, but in a way that didn’t fit comfortably in her time.
Wonder what she was doing after 1968? Are there volumes of mysterious home recordings out there, or just another performer who decided to fade back into a conventional existence?
In the words of the Tootsie Pop owl, ‘The World May Never Know”.
See you next week.
Peace
Larry
Iron Leg 
Yeah, I marketed a 45 by “Jonna Gault: Sincomperneer” on eBay recently. One side, “What’s the Use” was palatable, as I recall. I thought it was up on YT but it isn’t now. The flip, “I’m Never Gonna Cry Again”, is, and that is probably what you referred to as saccharine, girl-pop. Kind of peculiar the way she vanished.
The earlier 45 I have is ‘From My Window’ and it could charitably be described as cloying.
The RCA stuff is interesting enough that her dropping off the musical map is all the more odd.
I’ve actually found a lot to like in early to mid 60s female pop, especially where it crosses into soul, or rock, or even higher concept pop.
Singers like Evie Sands, and even later Lesley Gore like ‘California Nights’ that manage to confound expectations.
I know there’s more out there too, I just have to learn about it.
I don’t think any music fan would pass up the record based on its wild-looking cover.
Seriously.
Gault gave quite an extensive interview in 1982 in connection with the debut of a musical that she wrote called “Walls”. The article indicated that it was “Broadway-bound” but apparently never made it that far. Anyway, the article gives lots of details about her abbreviated recording career and enough biographical detail to trace her present whereabouts (which I was not inclined to do).
If the following link doesn’t work, just google: “Jonna Gault” “Walls”
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19820914&id=NQItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-c4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2690,2574857
I finally had a chance to listen to the entire “Watch Me” album on spotify and I have to commend you on a very spot-on review of this album. The reference to “That Girl” was particularly apt – just as that TV show seemed to be Old Hollywood’s idea of a hip young 1960’s woman, “Watch Me” sounds like an older person’s idea of the hip young 1960’s music scene. Very odd since it came from such a young artist who presumably had grown up on rock and roll.
I felt a tinge of sadness that this album did not generate more attention, so I did some more research into Jonna Gault’s past. I mean, how could a prodigy produce an album like this and then completely disappear as a performer?
Well, it turns out that Jonna was not so young after all. Though the publicity at the time indicated that she was 21 (even referring to her as a “young girl” in the album notes), she had in fact turned 30 by the time the album was released in November 1968. So this album wasn’t so much an album debut as it was the culmination of an extended attempt at recording success. This album didn’t chart just as all of her singles from 1962 on had not charted, so I guess she called it quits as a singer. Here’s a summary of the info that I found:
– Roberta Mae Silvanoff was born on September 2, 1938 in Boston, Massachusetts (year of birth verified on 1940 Census and 1965 marriage record).
– Attended UCLA (she’s listed in a 1956 yearbook), but dropped out before graduating and began singing under the name “Roberta Day” and with her group “Roberta Day and Her Knights”. You can find scattered and brief references on the web to the group’s live performances in 1959 and 1960.
– Began a solo recording and songwriting career as Roberta Day (or Daye) in 1962 and continued to release singles thru 1964, but none of her records made it to a Billboard chart.
– After marrying in 1965, began using (but did not record under) the name Roberta Phillips.
– Re-surfaced in 1966 with the name of “Jonna Gault”. She was now publicized as a 19 year old (suggesting she was born in 1947 instead of 1938). Here’s an article on the re-branded (and brand new) Jonna Gault (see page 8):
Click to access 13aug66.pdf
– Released several singles and the album “Watch Me” under the name Jonna Gault, but again failed to chart. She continued to perform in promotion of the album into 1969, and as best as I can tell that was the end of her career as a performer and recording artist.
– As noted in my previous post, Gault re-surfaced in 1982 as the playwright and composer of a stage musical titled “Walls” which debuted with a 3-week run in Florida. I could not find any indication that the musical was subsequently performed elsewhere.
– I could not find any further entertainment news on Gault after 1982. Roberta Phillips is still alive at age 76 and living in Southern California.