Skipper Lee Frazier produced the 1968 gold number one R&B hit "Tighten Up" for
Archie Bell & the Drells.
Frazier was a star disc jockey at radio station KCOH in Houston, TX. On the side, he managed local artists and released some of them on his own Ovid label. One of the bands he managed was the TSU (Texas State University) Toronados. Their lineup was leader/horn player Leroy Lewis, bassist
Jerry Jenkins, guitarists
Cal and
Will Thomas, drummer Dwight Burns, organist
Robert Sanders, and horn players
Nelson Mills and Clarence Harper. He paired the band with another act he managed,
Archie Bell & the Drells, which consisted of
Bell,
Billy Butler,
Willie Parnell, and
James Wise.
"Tighten Up" was recorded at Doyle Jones' eight track recording studio and released on
Frazier's Ovid label in 1967 -- though it was the other side of the single, "Dog Eat Dog," that
Frazier played on his show. A fellow DJ told
Frazier to play the "Tighten Up" side, who eventually relented and the record took off. Producer
Huey Meaux recommended the record to Atlantic Records, who began distributing it nationally. "Tighten Up" sold more than three million copies, holding both the number one R&B and the number one pop spot for two weeks on Billboard's charts in spring 1968.
–
Ed Hogan, Rovi