By the end of 1965 Johnny Terry had established his own Empire production company, which included his own Empire record label, and a roster of local artists. 

The Honey Bees, Jack Montgomery and The Just Brothers all recorded for Terry.

One of the earliest releases on Empire saw “She broke his heart” and “Things will be better” paired together.

Don Juan Mancha was recruited as a staff writer and producer, and it was one of his songs that became The Just Brothers’ next release.

“Carlena” was also recorded at United Sound using many of the same musicians, including Frank on bass.

”Man, Don Mancha was a good cat to work with. And a great songwriter. We really thought that Carlena was going to be a smash. The name came from his girlfriend at the time. We figured she’d be happy with that.”

Like many other small, independent operations though, adequate national distribution and promotion was always a problem, and with this in mind, Terry inked a deal with Scepter / Wand for this purpose.

The Garrison label was set up to showcase Terry’s acts, with a view to gaining national release, should sales potential be reached. “Carlena” was released on the label (with “She broke his heart” as the flip) as well as The Honey Bees’ “Let’s get back together”/ “Never in a million years”, but it was only Jack Montgomery who gained a direct Scepter release with his “Dearly beloved”/ “Do you believe it”.

Sadly, “Carlena” flopped commercially and the brothers didn’t record under their own names again until 1969.

music: "Carlena" - Just Brothers (Garrison)

Continued