Old Melodies ...
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The Factotums - Singles 1965-1969
Posted: 11 Nov 2018 02:14 PM PST
http://allmusic-wingsofdream.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-factotums-singles-1965-1969.htmlThe Factotums were formed from two groups who were all pupils at Audenshaw
Grammar School and the members were Nidge Thomas,Jeff Lees, Ian Thornton
and Steve Knowles.
Initially, in common with a lot of groups at that time, the emphasis was
on instrumental tunes like The Shadows, The Ventures and othergroups of
that style but in 1963 the trend changed and there was a big rise in vocal
groups performing a mixture of rock and R & B songsof the fifties. It was
decided that this was the direction that the group would take and many
hours of practising a programme of songswere spent in the attic of Nidge’s
home in Fairfield Square, Droylsden.Within a very short period of time
bookings were flooding in, initially from youth clubs, church halls,
schools, dance halls, social clubs,sporting clubs and coffee bars within a
ten mile radius of Droylsden and by the end of 1963 the date sheet was
completely full with doublebookings on many of the weekends.On 13th
December 1963 Barrie Collens (later to become the owner of The Top Twenty
Club in Droylsden and Beat City in Manchester inpartnership with Jimmy
Savile) and Ray Teret (Radio Caroline DJ) went to see the group performing
at Manor Road Girl’s School inDroylsden. The show had to be abandoned
midway through the performance when the girls invaded the stage. However
Barry had seenenough for him to want to manage the group. Residencies at
two of Tommy Brown’s venues, Brown’s in Moston on Fridays and the Devils
Cave in Newton Heath on Sundays, plus alot of slots at The Southern
Sporting Club where the manager, Frank Fean, had taken a shine to the
group, helped the group to developthe stage act.By the start of 1964 the
group were playing at larger venues over a far bigger area.The different
types of venues meant that the programmes were adjusted accordingly between
the beat club and cabaret venues.On 1st March 1964 the group recorded two
tracks “Sure Know A Lot About Love” (a cover of a Hollywood Argyles song)
and another withan unknown title and origin (maybe a Ray Teret compostion)
at Tony Pike’s studio in Putney, London.
(
http://www.manchesterbeat.com/groups1/1044-factotums-audenshaw-droylsden#close)
The Factotums: the forgotten Manchester band who played with The Kinks and
drank tea with Mick Jagger
Merseybeat may have put Liverpool on the map in the 1960s, but Manchester
bands like The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits sold millions of records in the
same era. In April 1965 alone, three Mancunian acts took it in turns to top
the charts in the USA, while another held the top spot in the UK. Though
they never ‘made it big’ in the traditional sense, another Manchester band
of the time, The Factotums, were signed by The Rolling Stones’ manager,
supported The Kinks, played with Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom Jones, Pink Floyd and
Cream, and toured Sweden with Manfred Mann. Factotums member Jeff Lees
talks about Manchester’s 1960s club scene, a Carnaby Street re-style, a
photo shoot with David Bailey and drinking tea with Mick Jagger.
Read more at:
https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/the-factotums-forgotten-manchester-60s-band-the-kinks-mick-jagger/***
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Jimmy Page - Hip Young Guitar Slinger
Posted: 11 Nov 2018 12:52 PM PST
http://allmusic-wingsofdream.blogspot.com/2018/11/jimmy-page-hip-young-guitar-slinger.htmlHip Young Guitar Slinger and "His Heavy Friends" focuses on Jimmy Page's
work as a session guitarist for the Immediate and Pye labels in the '60s.
The first disc includes the poppier end of his work behind Gregory
Phillips, the Kinks and Nico, while the second disc finds him in more
familiar territory backing English blues masters like Eric Clapton, John
Mayall and Jeff Beck. Fans of Led Zeppelin won't find any lost gems here,
but this collection does shine a light on Page's successful pre-Zep music
career.
10.The First Gear - "A Certain Girl" (Naomi Neville)11.The First Gear
- "Leave My Kitten Alone" (James McDougal, Mertis John, Titus Turner)18.The
First Gear - "The ‘In’ Crowd" (Jimmy Page)19.The First Gear - "Gotta Make
Their Future Bright" (Michael Purchell, Shel Talmy)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_Young_Guitar_Slinger****
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The First Gear - Singles
Posted: 11 Nov 2018 12:40 PM PST
http://allmusic-wingsofdream.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-first-gear-singles.htmlDave Walton (lead vocals), Phil Birkenshaw (gtr, vcls) Michael Ryal (bass,
vcls), Raymond Wafer (gtr) and Ian Colling on drums.
When the Beatles broke onto the charts in England in 1963, a lot of bands
tried to emulate their mix of hard rocking guitar and harmony vocals.
Others likely understood that they would have a better shot at breaking
onto the charts with sheer muscle. That was The First Gear's approach, and
it went double on "Leave My Kitten Alone." And in case the guitarists Phil
Birkenshaw and Raymond Wafer couldn't pull it off, producer Shel Talmy had
Jimmy Page standing by to play a break that wiped out the band's beat but
must've boggled the mind of anyone who heard the B-side of the band's debut.
Dave Walton's lead vocals were good enough, and Ian Colling rose to the
occasion at the drums, but it was a flip-side and it didn't get flipped
over sufficiently. (Even the Beatles' own version of the song wouldn't get
an official release for 35 years). They got one more single out under
Talmy's guidance, a cover of Dobie Gray's "The In Crowd," before
disappearing.
01. A Certain Girl (02:21)02. Leave My Kitten Alone (02:21)03. The "In"
Crowd (02:27)04. Gotta Make Their Future Bright (01:57)
Thank Kosta
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Classics IV - Spooky (1968)
Posted: 11 Nov 2018 11:25 AM PST
http://allmusic-wingsofdream.blogspot.com/2015/03/lassics-iv-spooky-1968.htmlAnyone who doesn't have a clear image of the Classics IV can be forgiven --
they went through so many shifts in personnel and sound (not to mention a
name change after they'd started recording), they were little more than a
name attached to some excellent (and very good-selling) records of the
second half of the 1960s, without a personality or identity to grab onto
easily.Although they're considered a late-'60s phenomenon, owing to the
chronology of their hits, the group can trace its roots back to R&B harmony
(i.e., doo wop) music of the late '50s. Detroit-born, Florida-raised Dennis
Yost, who joined on drums and moved into the singer's spot, came from a
Jacksonville-area band called the Echoes; he was just old enough to
remember '50s R&B when it was current and, among many other groups, loved
the Five Satins; and in addition to playing the skins, he sometimes liked
to sing when the calls came for a '50s number like "In the Still of the
Night." After his own group broke up in the mid-'60s, Yost joined a band
called Leroy & the Moments, which included Wally Eaton (bass, vocals),
James Cobb (guitar), and Joe Wilson (keyboards). His arrival, along with
the changing times, also signaled a change in the group's name -- as there
was no "Leroy" anyway, that could go, and the Moments was already taken,
so, taking their lead from Yost's Classic-model drum kit, they became the
Classics.Their sound was extremely diverse by all accounts -- they could
cover most of the Top 40 note-perfect, which was ideal for audiences in
Jacksonville but didn't necessarily give them much to work with as a
recording act. Part of their act included a tribute to the Four Seasons,
who were still burning up the charts in those days -- and, though they had
a history that went back much further, were a lot like the Classics in that
they could sing anything and were also a virtually self-contained unit
instrumentally -- and when the group was signed to Capitol Records in 1966,
they made their debut that fall with a Joe South song called "Pollyanna";
the single was virtually a faux-Four Seasons record in style and sound, and
it was just different and fresh enough that it might have done well, except
that the management of the actual Four Seasons reportedly took offense, and
did their best to keep "Pollyanna"'s presence to a minimum on the New York
airwaves; and to top it off, the group was threatened with legal action by
a Brooklyn-based vocal outfit called the Classics, who'd already charted a
single.Thus, Florida's Classics became the Classics IV, and for all of that
trouble, their debut record fizzled at number 103 on the
charts. "Pollyanna" might have made a good debut in 1966, but releasing a
remake of the Diamonds' 1950s hit "Little Darlin'" -- produced by Joe South
-- in January of 1967 was plain bad timing for a good record that had no
place to go (ironically, two years or so later, with the nostalgia craze
starting to kick in, that might have been another story). The record was
actually more important for its B-side, which had a faux-Righteous Brothers
song called "Nothing to Lose," co-authored by guitarist James Cobb and
Buddy Buie, who would soon take on a much bigger role; it was also sung by
Cobb and Yost, subbing for Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. By that time,
the group had also relocated to Atlanta, and were unbowed in their quest
for success, despite the end of the first recording deal.Their Capitol
contract was behind them by the spring of 1967, and the following summer
the group moved on to Imperial Records. Once a home to New Orleans-based
R&B stars like Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, Imperial had been absorbed
into Liberty Records and was now a much more pop/rock-oriented operation,
the imprint even being used for the early U.S. releases of records by the
Hollies. It was at this point that things started going the group's way,
when Buie and Cobb heard an instrumental entitled "Spooky," and came up
with words for it, and a new arrangement by Cobb. The record, released in
September of 1967, broke out in Louisville, KY, and began getting picked up
by stations around the country, building slowly to a number three national
hit that winter of 1967-1968. Suddenly there was a serious future in the
offing for the Classics IV -- but not for Cobb as a member, nor for Yost as
a drummer. The sudden infusion of royalty money on the shared copyright
of "Spooky" eliminated the need for Cobb to remain as the group's
guitarist; and suddenly Yost's position behind the kit on what was now a
very heavy national touring schedule became untenable. Cobb kept writing
and also sometimes doing the group's arrangements with Buie (who became the
producer of the Classics IV), alternating with official arranger Emory
Gordy; but he gave up playing on-stage with the band, preferring the less
draining life of a session guitarist, and was replaced in the lineup by
Auburn Burrell; and Yost stepped up to the microphone full-time while Kim
Venable took over on the drums. They were no longer, strictly speaking,
the "Classics IV" but that hardly mattered, as the band's lineup situation
quickly got a lot more complicated.As they were now a national-level act
with an audience across a continent, it was decided by Buie and Imperial
that there was no reason to limit themselves to the talents -- fine as they
might've been -- of the actual members when it came to the sounds on their
records. In place of the members, apart from group alumnus Cobb, the
Classics IV's records soon began featuring some of Atlanta's top session
musicians, among them drummer Robert Nix, while the touring membership
included Dean Daughtry and Bill Gilmore on keyboards and bass,
respectively, all late of Roy Orbison's band the Candymen. All of these
personnel shifts, coupled with a bumper crop of Cobb/Buie songs, made for a
strong debut album, entitled Spooky. The only problem, in retrospect, was
that the sounds were too diverse -- it was hard to pin down an identity for
the Classics IV, listening to the album, and given the diversity of
personnel it's not surprising. Among top American groups, the Beach Boys
also relied on session musicians after 1964, but they always made sure Carl
Wilson's guitar was there, and their voices were easily recognizable. Apart
from Yost's singing, there wasn't a lot of unity in the Classics IV's
sound.Their next couple of singles, "Soul Train" and "Mamas and Papas,"
didn't do more than a fraction of the business done by "Spooky," though the
group was permitted to record a second LP, which failed to sell in any
serious numbers, at least initially. One song off of the album,
entitled "Stormy," was given a single release and suddenly the group was
back in the Top Five in the fall of 1968, and for the first time also made
the easy listening charts as well. They made a return visit, this time all
the way to the number two spot, in the winter of 1969 with "Traces,"
another Cobb/Buie collaboration, this time with help from arranger Emory
Gordy. The group's longevity seemed assured, but an interesting shift had
taken place in their output across the preceding two years -- they'd gone
from being a solid rock & roll cover band to delivering a much softer, more
laid-back pop/rock sound with a Southern flavor but not a lot of wattage,
and closer in spirit to, say, the work of Roy Orbison circa 1967-1968 than
to what was considered rock music in 1969-1970. And their singles, although
they still made the pop (i.e., rock) charts, were starting to place higher
numbers on the easy listening (i.e., pop) charts, on records such
as "Everyday With You Girl," which reached number 19 as a rock single and
number 12 on the easy listening charts in 1969.Amid this flurry of
activity, the group's name was changed in the new decade, so that they were
known officially as Dennis Yost & the Classics IV. Their chart action
declined throughout 1971, however, amid the changing tastes of the public,
and the reorganization of their record label -- which had merged with
United Artists -- made the environment at Liberty inhospitable. Dennis Yost
and the Classics IV shifted to MGM Records in 1972 and lasted through one
album and a last pop hit, with "What Am I Crying For," along with a string
of attempts through 1975. By that time, Cobb, Daughtry, and Buie had split
off to form the Atlanta Rhythm Section. At that point Dennis Yost went
solo, or tried to -- meanwhile, their ex-studio band emerged as the Atlanta
Rhythm Section and, amid all of their other successes, enjoyed a new hit
with "Spooky" in 1979, while Santana returned "Stormy" to the charts.
Meanwhile, Yost became a fixture on the oldies circuit alongside his
one-time Imperial labelmate Gary Lewis and other denizens of the mid-'60s
singles charts, and also wrote songs and became a producer. He also secured
the exclusive rights to the group name, and continued to perform into the
early 21st century.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/classics+iv/biography.htmlhttp://alabamamusicoffice.com/artists-a-z/c/538-classics-iv-Clocking in at less than 26 minutes, Buddy Buie produced and arranged this
set of 11 songs, four co-written by the producer and lead guitarist J.R.
Cobb, the team that would eventually become mayor components of the Atlanta
Rhythm Section. ARS would have a Top 20 hit with "Spooky" in 1979, but it
was this version which launched Classics IV, a Top Three January hit, to
start off 1968. Their name sounding like some kind of automobile, lead
singer Dennis Yost would get his name added front and center on the marquee
by the end of the year when the group hit again with the Top Five "Stormy,"
not on this album. What is here are covers of John Stewart's answer to Neil
Diamond's "I'm a Believer" -- a unique look at the Monkees' number
one "Daydream Believer," renditions of "You Are My Sunshine," Wayne Carson
Thompson's "The Letter" which Al Stoffel's stiff liner notes call "hard
rock" (it isn't), a laid-back Zombies-esque take on the Hollies/Herman's
Hermits' classic "Bus Stop" without Colin Blunstone's genius, and the
original tunes which show some songwriting skill, but are hardly memorable.
The Strawberry Alarm Clock-inspired "Book a Trip" emerges as the best of
the original bunch, but pales next to "Spooky." Only four members of the
quintet are shown in the back cover photo, and like Bobby Hebb's Sunny
album, there's a woman on the front cover, not the artist. "...A raving
James Brown and a mellow Johnny Mathis" is how Al Stoffel describes "a
group sound that concentrates on the vocals more than instruments and
centers on a lead singer who sounds like a different guy on every song."
That's because unless Dennis Yost, who is not even credited on the album
jacket or in the liners, is a true chameleon, it is a variety of
singers. "You Are My Sunshine" and "The Letter" go for a Mitch Ryder sound,
predicting the style future Atlanta Rhythm Section singer Ronnie Hammond
would force upon us. Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb should've sued for this
lame rendition of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," in fact, the vocal is so
insincere the girl the singer is leaving would no doubt send a Thank You
note by the time he did get to Phoenix. Dreadful. It does sound like Dennis
Yost on Little Anthony's "Goin' Out of My Head," as the eerie, atmospheric
backing vocals from "Spooky" find their way here and onto "Just Between You
and Me" as well. "Mary, Mary Row Your Boat" is not the Monkees'"Mary,
Mary"-meets-Every Mother's Son, but it does sport more decent backup
vocals. Classics IV had the opportunity to be as hip as the Box Tops, but
unfortunately, this album feels like a pastiche, and like the group, misses
the mark. Classics IV would eventually be defined by their hit singles and
Dennis Yost's middle of the road voice, four of their five chart songs
happening in less than a year-and-a-half after "Spooky"'s debut.
***
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The Miracles - The Fabulous Miracles (1963)
Posted: 11 Nov 2018 11:22 AM PST
http://allmusic-wingsofdream.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-miracles-fabulous-miracles-1963.htmlOne of the earliest of all Motown groups The Miracles were formed at school
in Detroit in 1955 as The Five Chimes. In 1956 they changed their name to
The Matadors, adding Claudette Rogers to the line-up. They were spotted by
Berry Gordy at an audition in late 1957 and in February 1958 changed their
name to The Miracles. Their first release, 'Get A Job' b/w 'My Mama Done
Told Me', was issued via the End label that same month. Another single on
End followed, and then one on Chess and Motown, before the group finally
found a home on Tamla where they had a string of hits and Smokey
established himself as a key songwriter for the label throughout the 1960s.
In late 1965 Berry Gordy decided to adjust the group's name and they were
billed thereafter as Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, until Smokey left the
group in July 1972 (although the final Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
single was not released until November). He was replaced by Billy Griffin,
with the name being reverted back to The Miracles for the new line-up.
The Miracles stayed with Motown until 1976, and had a number one US hit
with 'Love Machine' in 1975. In 1976 they moved to Columbia.
Members: William "Smokey" Robinson (1955–1972) Ronald "Ronnie" White (1955–
1983; 1993–1995) Warren "Pete" Moore (1955–1978) Clarence Dawson (1955)
James Grice (1955) Emerson Rogers (1956) Robert "Bobby" Rogers (1956–1983;
1993–2013) Claudette Rogers (Robinson) (1956–1964) Billy Griffin (1972–
1978; late 1990s) Dave Finley (1978–1983; 1993–present) Sidney Justin (1993–
c.2000) Tee Turner (1996–present) Mark Scott (2005–2008) Alphonse Franklin
(2008-present)
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