Jennie and Jay were a brother and sister teen vocal duo from the Alameda area whose real names were Pat Ritter and Joe Ritter. The Ritter’s wrote over 50 songs in the late ‘50s, taking some to New York in hopes of a recording contract. They were eventually brought to the attention of WITH radio personality Jack Gale, who recorded their first record in August 1958. The song “Ruthie” garnered some local and national airplay, but only charted well in Kansas City.
Gale continued to record the duo on his various Baltimore based record labels. The Ritter’s also appeared as background vocalists on many of Gale’s other record productions including The Kings, and Freddy Owens. Joe later performed with Bobby Anderson’s Group 5, and with the Fourth Generation in the ‘70s.
Record releases by Jennie & Jay include:
1958 Jay Wing 5803 Ruthie / Tell Me
1959 Rescue 102 Lovin’ at Night / Jo Baby
1959 Town 1963 Then I’ll Stop Loving You / Jo Baby
