AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Wadsworth Mansion

Artist:Wadsworth Mansion

Song:Sweet Mary

Album:AM Gold: Early '70s Classics

Sweet Mary Was a top ten hit in 1971. It was the only chart single for Wadsworth Mansion. So it is a one hit wonder. They only recorded one album. I think it's one of those songs that folks remember but they know nothing about the band. Wadsworth Mansion was from Providence, RI led by Steve Jablecki on guitar, keyboards, lead vocals and he wrote Sweet Mary. His brother Mike Jablecki played drums. Other member were Wayne Gagnon on guitar and John Poole on bass. Wadsworth Mansion is in Connecticut. They signed with Sussex Records which was owned by Clarence Avant. Bill Withers was the best known artist on Sussex and he successfully sued Avant for royalties. There's a documentary about Avant on Netflix. Sweet Mary was the first single and it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in Feb. 1971. You can get it on this Time Life various artists comp. This was followed by the album Wadsworth Mansion. Jablecki wrote most of the songs on the album including Sweet Mary. The album was produced by Jim Calvert and Norm Marzano. It doesn't like either produced anything else of note. Subsequent singles failed to chart. Wayne Gagnon was replaced by Howie McDonald in Jan. 1972. They recorded four songs for the next album when Mike Jablecki was replaced by Charlie Flannery. After a brief tour, Wadsworth Mansion split up in Aug. 1972. Steve Jablecki and Howie McDonald moved to Los Angeles to reform Wadsworth Mansion. A producer asked them to change the name to Slingshot but the band never recorded. Other than that, the members of Wadsworth Mansion left the music business. Here's a video for Sweet Mary by Wadsworth Mansion.