A pair of Haitians in the Bronx, Stony Browder Jr. and his brother Thomas (who renamed himself August Darnell), formed Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band in 1974 with singer Cory Daye as the centerpiece.
The band's name was chosen as a tribute to the group's first manager, Dr. Buzzard, who was from the south and told the young musicians stories about his own band days in the 1940's in places like Savannah. "This is the craziest group I've ever seen," said Andy Hernandez. "When I auditioned to join the group, they didn't even ask me to play any music. They gave me a questionnaire to fill out instead." The questionnaire asked for information like: What is your political affiliation? What type of women do you go out with? Would you be willing not to wear tight pants? Do you consider yourself straight or a brat? Andy scored 48 out of a possible 100 points - onhigher than dozens of others that applied and he was invited to join the group. The group consisted of lead singer, and the only female, Cory Daye (as previously noted in the latter), guitarist/pianist Stony Browder Jr. bass player August Darnell and drummer Mickey Sevilla.
The origins of the group date back to the early 1970's when Stony and August began playing together in a South Bronx band called The Strangers. The pair cut a very forgettable record for Roulette Records. In 1972 Cory joined forces with August & Stony after launching her own career at age 17 at a Halloween party "after a life of crime proved unrewarding." Her voice was light and limber, given to tripping scat rather than roars and moans, and the group's music was an effortless blend of big-band swing, jump blues, show tunes, and Caribbean boogie. Mickey, a former teacher at The Manhattan School of Music, joined in 1974 and Andy gave up social work in 1975 to round out the group as its vibe player.
Though I’m not certain whence this comes I presuppose that one of the members of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band furnished the following adducer:
"We have to attribute much of our success to voodoo...There's something very powerful about drums and rhythm. We use drums very upfront in our music, and it seems to pull people in. It's voodoo!"
+Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: Discogs l Disco Museum l Salon