Come a Little Bit Closer: Jay and the Americans (1964)

Come a Little Bit Closer

Single: Jay and the Americans

Album: Come a Little Bit Closer

B-side: Goodbye Boys, Goodbye

Released: 1964

Recorded: 1964

Songwriter:

Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Wes Farrell

"Come a Little Bit Closer" is a song by the 1960s rock and roll band Jay and the Americans. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, making it the band's highest-charting single." 

A scene from Guardians of the Galaxy

Jay and the Americans

An original member of Jay and the Americans, Kenny Vance, told Songfacts;

'Come A Little Bit Closer' was recorded in the last five minutes of a session where we tried to record something else we spent the whole session on. In those days, a session ran three hours; the musicians got $65 for a three-hour session. They didn't want to go over time, and they had recorded this one song, and they needed a flip side, and they just said, 'Okay, boom, let's do it.' And we recorded it, and that's it."

The band's first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune "She Cried."

She Cried

They returned to the charts in 1963 with "Only In America," a song originally meant for The Drifters. However, they failed to duplicate that success. The original singer quit the band and was replaced. 

Only In America

Lyrics

"Come a Little Bit Closer" was a comeback attempt. It describes a young man who goes to a Mexican bar. The song's Latin rhythm fits the cantina theme. While there, a hot young girl seduces him with flattery. She has a boyfriend named Jose. Just as they kiss, he arrives. The narrator flees out the window. But as he's leaving -   in the distance - he hears the young woman saying the exact words she used on him to Jose. You feel she uses the same 'script ' on all her targets.

Legacy

This was the biggest hit for Jay & the Americans. It remains their most famous song. The single served as a comeback for the group, which had not had an impact in some time. It was also the first top-ten tune for the songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. They scored many of The Monkees' hits as part of the Brill Building songwriting scene.

Come a Little Bit Closer

Guardians of the Galaxy  

The song is featured in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Released in 2017, it's the sequel to 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. Based on a Marvel Comics superhero team, the Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise is known as much for their musical soundtrack as for the film itself., with tracks like "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone and "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens.

Guardians of the Galaxy