D'Lynn Crist

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Akron to Orlando, FL,  1966-8

In the early 1960s, D'Lynn Crist and her sister LaDonna were singing and dancing adolescent girls in Akron. I believe their family owned a dance studio or some similar business. Before the sisters reached their high school years, the family relocated to Orlando, FL...perhaps to capitalize on the soon to be open Disney World. 

When the teen band explosion hit, D'Lynn got on board singing with a local band. There has always been some strange connection between Florida and Cincinnati - one of the being a recording engineer/producer named Lee Hazen who spent time in the central Florida area and also worked in Cincinnati. While it's not clear if Hazen had anything to do with it, D'Lynn and the band decided to record a 45 which ended up getting released on a one off Counterpart related label, Markab records, and included a pic sleeve of Miss Crist in groovy go-go clothes promoting "Provocative Mod Ballads"....the song "She's Got You" is somewhere between the dramatic tough/vulnerable style of the Shangri-Las and moody teen garage rock.

A year or so after the first 45, D'Lynn travelled to Cincinnati to record a second 45. This one was recorded with studio musicians and given a nice commercial production on the the upbeat "Your Private Clown". Shad O'Shea must have thought it had commercial potential as he released it on his Counterpart subsidiary Great Scott. The record didn't seem to generate much sales, though. 

There is a third 45, dating from the late 1960s, credited to D'Lynn and LaDonna Crist that has a slick Nashville country styled production to it. This record, on Nashville's Soundcot label, doesn't seem to have any Ohio connections.

Discography:
She's Got You / My Heart Chimes  - Markab 21, PS, Jan '67
Your Private Clown / Don't -  late '67