Cara Mia why… must I kiss my name goodbye?

NEW YORK — With his gold records long ago given way to gambling debts, all Jay Black has left is his name. And now he may be forced to sell that.

Black, the lead singer of the chart-topping 1960s group Jay and The Americans, owes $500,000 in back taxes. Lawyers are recommending he sell off the rights to the group’s name to help repay his creditors – a move that the man with the familiar baritone voice says would crush him.

“I am trying to dig myself out of this black hole,” Black said Friday in an interview with the Associated Press. “If they take my name away, it would be my total ruination. It would be like forcing Elvis to sell his name to someone else. How can an impostor perform as Elvis?”

Black, now 67, said a compulsive gambling addiction plunged him into debt. The singer said he has conquered his habit and needs to retain the name “Jay Black and the Americans” so he can to continue to tour as he has for the past four decades. Black, born David Blatt, says he has only $4,000 in his bank account. He filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Central Islip last year hoping for a fresh start.

But lawyers for the bankruptcy trustee handling the case recommended to the court this week that the name “Jay and the Americans,” which they consider a valuable asset, be auctioned off so they can pay Black’s creditors a fair share.

They have proposed barring Black from performing under the name “Jay Black” or “Jay Black and the Americans” to preserve the value of the name and the good will attached to it for its new owner.

Black’s attorney, Kenneth Silverman, said his client would consider selling off the name “Jay and the Americans,” but not “Jay Black and the Americans.”

In a strange twist, the original members of the group are interested in reforming and have offered to pay $100,000 for the rights to the name “Jay and the Americans,” said Avrum Rosen, their attorney. The group split up in 1973.

“It doesn’t matter to them if Black continues to use ‘Jay Black’ or ‘Jay Black and the Americans,'” Rosen said.

The members include the original lead singer, Jay Traynor, who left after singing the 1962 hit “She Cried,” along with Howard Kerschenbaum, Kenny Rosenberg and Sandy Yaguda, Rosen said. Yaguda wrote many of the group’s hit songs, which included “This Magic Moment” and “Cara Mia.”

The court gave both sides until May 17 to reach a negotiated settlement. If they don’t, the judge said she would issue a ruling on the dispute, which could take several weeks.

The gray-haired Black said his fans have stuck with him, selling out most of his concerts along the East Coast and in Las Vegas.

Two of his biggest fans are the children of the late Mafia boss John Gotti, Victoria Gotti and John Gotti Jr. At the elder John Gotti’s request, Black performed “Cara Mia” at the weddings of both children.

Black became friendly with Gotti when they met as young adults in the same Brooklyn neighborhood.

“I love singing `Cara Mia,'” says Black. “It brings everyone to their feet. Just like the old days.”