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Manfred Mann
Formed from the Mann-Hugg blues band
and with the
distinctive harmonica playing of Paul Jones (aka 'the one
in the middle'.) They had hits with 5.4.3.2.1 and
Hubble Bubble which were both adopted as theme tunes
to the influential pop show Ready, Steady, Go. Following
these successes, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Sha La La,
Come Tomorrow, Oh No, Not My Baby and Dylan's
If You Got To Go, Go Now were all hits. Paul Jones
was replaced by Mike D'Abo but fears about this
replacement reducing their popularity were misguided
as they scored just as strongly with Pretty Flamingo,
Dylan's Just Like A Woman and Semi- Detached
Suburban Mr. James. Another Dylan song, Mighty Quinn
was followed by My Name Is Jack. The pop formula spent,
they merged into various 'heavier' bands including
Manfred Mann's Earthband and McGuinness Flint.
All through their careers to this point they had
resisted, or been forced to resist, their natural urges
to play & record the jazz and blues music which they
loved.
Along with sixties contemporaries such as Chris Farlowe
and Colin Blunstone, the Manfreds (minus Manfred Mann
himself but including Jones and D'Abo) appeared at
venues in the UK in 1999 in a blues revival tour.
Manfred is still writing, producing and
performing new material to this day.
*See
Mike Hugg interview in
our Star Interviews section*
'Manfred Mann'. Manfred Mann
on the right.
Marmalade
Dean Ford And The Gaylords were a
success in and around
their native Glasgow from the early sixties. They were
spotted and brought to London and given a name change.
Thus began a string of hits in the late 60s and early
70s including Lovin’ Things, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,
Reflections Of My Life, Rainbow and Radancer.
Junior Campbell, their main songwriter, quit to study
music and to pursue a solo career. Falling Apart At The
Seams was their last big hit and rather prophetical
as that is what was happening to the group by this
stage. A big scandal surrounding the group’s alleged
backstage antics did not help matters. The group
continued on the cabaret circuit, however.
The Marmalade
George Martin
Born in London in 1926, he entered the
Guildhall school of
music and then the BBC music library. He then was offered
a job at the EMI Parlophone label. He was appointed head,
and acted as producer and A&R man, responsible for
steering artists performances in the right direction,
for selecting their material and for the sound of the
recorded product. He looked after a variety of performers,
including novelty items by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren,
classical, jazz, comedy and all-comers.
Sir Malcolm Sargent, Sir Adrian Boult, Peter Ustinov,
The Goons, Cleo Laine, The Temperance Seven,
Bernard Cribbins and Matt Monro amongst them.
Then came the day when he heard the demo of
The Beatles and he was not impressed with the
sound or the material but heard something in there
that he liked. After he saw and heard the group at an
Abbey Road audition he signed The Beatles there and
then, although a very severe contract in Parlophone's
favour. The Beatles recorded Love Me Do. Thereafter,
George Martin was able to provide The Beatles
with an expertise and classically-trained musical mind
and ear which they lacked.
John Lennon and George Martin
creating Sgt. Pepper
The fusion of their raw
talent, energy and ideas with his expertise,
musicianship and experience was to result in huge
leaps forward in a relatively short space of time.
Look at the huge jump in musical standards and tastes
from the simple Please, Please Me to Strawberry
Fields Forever in just five years. George Martin
was integral to all of The Beatles musical developments,
was there to nurture and encourage their musical growth
and played on many of their recordings almost as a
bonus. At the same time he was producing other
Brian Epstein acts, notably Cilla Black and
Gerry And The Pacemakers. Of course, he had a
career before, during and after them but his name
will always be linked with The Beatles - to all
intents and purposes he WAS the Fifth
Beatle.
Recently he has just completed In My Life,
a project where he produced his favourite Beatles
tracks with his celebrity friends and heroes, such
as Sean Connery, Celine Dion, Robin Williams
and Phil Collins. He says that due to failing hearing
this will be his last major project.
George Martin with Paul,
George and an
early award with many more to come
Joe Meek
Originally an electronics and
recording engineer,
Joe Meek progressed through the ranks via his work
on Lonnie Donegan's Cumberland Gap and Frankie
Vaughan's cover of Green Door. He set-up Triumph
records and had a UK and European hit with Michael Cox's
Angela Jones. He also produced Johnny Remember Me
by The Echoes and Tribute To Buddy Holly by Mike Berry
when he moved to north London's Holloway Road
and to RGM Sound . More famously perhaps, he was
responsible for Telstar by The Tornadoes. Genius
Meek (Britain's answer to Phil Spector) revolutionised
various technical improvisations to produce sounds way
ahead of their time and of the available technology in
the early 60s. After his big UK and US success he
produced groups like Screaming Lord Sutch and was,
probably as much to do with jealousy as anything else,
not taken seriously by the mainstream record industry.
After all, he was beating them at their own game on a
fraction of their big budgets. He had further hits with
Just Like Eddie by Heinz and then another smash with
Have I The Right by The Honeycombs. Often suffering
from poor mental health and depressions, Meek killed
himself and his landlady in a bizarre shooting incident.
Joe Meek
The Merseybeats
The Mavericks renamed as The
Merseybeats just as
Beatlemania hit the UK with the line-up of Tony Crane,
Bill Kinsley, Aaron Williams and John Banks being
snapped-up by Fontana, initially signed by Brian Epstein.
They had a row over image and split from Epstein within
weeks. Whoops! It’s Love That Counts was hit number one
followed by I think Of You and Wishin’ And Hopin’,
recorded also equally successfully by Dusty Springfield.
The Merseybeat sound waned and the group had two final
minor hits, I Love You, Yes I Do and I Stand Accused
and then, as happened so often, the band were
relegated to a world of cabaret.
The Merseybeats
Matt Monro
Terry Parsons was born on 1st
December 1930 in London.
He was a bus driver and was singing jingles for soap
commercials when the great George Martin asked him
to help on a Peter Sellers album. Matt Monro’s velvety
voice was finally recognised and he was signed to Parlophone
and to George Martin ahead of The Beatles. Portrait Of My
Love, From Russia With Love, Walk Away were all
big hits, as was a cover of The Beatles’ Yesterday. Other
well-known tracks include Born Free, My Kind Of Girl &
We’re Gonna Change The World. Matt had a unique and
remarkable voice, particularly so as he had never received any
training and had learned his craft as a pub singer. He
was able
to not only hit the right notes but also to sustain and phrase
seemingly
effortlessly and with the quality of material he was
able to attract
he became a big name in all four corners of the world, even
receiving the
ultimate accolade from his hero Frank Sinatra that Monro was
the
best singer ever to come out of Britain. Although at odds with
what
was happening in popular music at the time, he acquired a huge
and loyal following of fans. He tried his luck in the
U.S. where he was not so successful when compared to
contemporaries Jones and Humperdinck, due, in no small part,
to
Matt's homesickness. He returned to the UK and he did manage
to sustain a career as a night-club performer.
Matt died of cancer in 1985, leaving a catalogue of
great songs for us to cherish.
*See
Michele Monro (Matt's daughter) interview in
our Star Interviews section*
Matt Monro
The Moody Blues
This R&B band appeared on Ready
Steady Go with their
brilliant cover of Bessie Banks' Go Now and were a hit on
both sides of the Atlantic. Even with a great album,
the boastful The Magnificent Moodies, they could not
sustain this success, and, after some personnel changes,
(with Justin Hayward & John Lodge joining) they
developed into a new kind of band. The impressive and
immortal Nights In White Satin and album Days Of Future
Past putting The Moodies together with a classical
orchestral sound. Album success continued but in the
70s the members diverged into various projects -
Denny Laine teamed-up with Paul & Linda McCartney
in Wings, Hayward & Lodge performed together.
*See
Clint Warwick interview in
our Star Interviews section*
The Moody Blues. Ray Thomas,
Mike Pinder, Denny Laine,
Graeme Edge, Clint Warwick
The Move
From the top three Birmingham groups
formed The Move,
with Roy Wood and his songwriting talent leading the way.
They established a cult following at London's Marquee
club and performed several publicity stunts to gain
attention. Night Of Fear, I Can Hear The Grass Grow,
Flowers In The Rain, Fire Brigade, Blackberry Way
and Curly were their hits. Their firsts included the
first to be played on national pop radio and the first
to be sued by the British Prime Minister for rude
caricatures. After the latter controversy, their
management decided that enough was enough. They
evolved into the ELO and Wizard. Along with Ray Davies,
Lennon & McCartney, Pete Townshend & Jagger &
Richard,
Roy Wood has proved to be one of the most prolific
and successful writer/performers of the beat generation.
The Move. Carl Wayne, Bev
Bevan,
Roy Wood (bottom left), Ace Kefford, Trevor Burton
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens, despite their
name, emanated
from Weybridge, Surrey. Arthur Sharp, John Hawken,
Ray Phillips, Barrie Jenkins, John Allen & Pete
Shannon. Along with The Beatles and The Searchers,
they played in Hamburg in 1962/63. They also
played as backing band for Jerry Lee Lewis at The
Star Club. They then toured backing Bo Diddley,
returning to England & being signed-up by producer to
Herman's Hermits, Donovan & The Animals, Mickie Most.
They recorded the John D. Loudermilk composition,
Tobacco Road, which was a huge smash at home,
in the States and internationally. It was followed by
Google Eye, another R&B number perfectly in tune
with The Teens' style of delivery. The band were
unusual in that they had two lead singers and didn't
all dress in smart suits as other beat bands did at the
time. Two further minor hits followed via collaborations
with Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham -
This Little Bird and Who producer Shel Talmy - The
Hard Way. The members eventually split to continue in
various bands, such as The Strawbs, Renaissance and,
more recently, The British Invasion All Stars.
The Nashville Teens
The Nice
P.P. Arnold’s backing group
evolved into one of the first
supergroups, The Nice. Keith Emerson, Lee Jackson,
David O’List and Brian Davison developed a stage act
which drew huge crowds with Emerson throwing knives
at his keyboards. Their infamous version of Leonard
Bernstein’s America from West Side Story attracted
acclaim from the fans and music press and outrage
from the US embassy and Mr. Bernstein himself. Classical
rock had been born and this paved the way for groups
such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes in the early 70s.
The Nice’s albums were The Thoughts Of Emerlist DavJack,
Ars Longa Vita Brevis, Nice, Five Bridges and Elegy.
Peter & Gordon
Peter Asher from London, and
Scottish Gordon Waller
were schoolboys together at the grand Westminster school.
Peter's sister, Jane Asher, was going steady with
Paul McCartney and via this route the duo inherited
their first hit, A World Without Love. (Reputedly when
Paul had written the song and first read the opening
lyric 'Please lock me away' to John Lennon, the cynical
John burst out laughing, much to Paul's annoyance.)
This was followed by another McCartney composition,
Nobody I Know. I Don't Want To See You Again,
I Go To Pieces and Woman were further hits
and then the Buddy Holly number, True Love Ways.
Peter and Gordon entered a novelty historical phase
with the amusing The Knight In Rusty Armour
and the catchy and witty Lady Godiva.
Peter and Gordon recently sang together again
for the first time in 29 years at Gordon's wedding
with Peter as best man. They are both involved in
the music business in the US.
*See
Gordon Waller interview in
our Star Interviews section*
Peter and Gordon
Pink Floyd
They took
their name from the combined surnames of
R&B performers Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Formed originally with Syd Barrett, Roger Waters,
Nick Mason and Rick Wright, they made London's UFO
club their own with their pioneering work in the
underground movement. Light shows and manic
screams punctuated their act. The singles were at
odds with this live work - these were pop numbers
though witty and well-crafted - Arnold Layne and
See Emily Play. The influential Barrett, who was the
original driving force and main songwriter of the band,
succumbed to years of substance abuse. He became an
unpredictable liability in live performances and
was replaced by Dave Gilmour. The band's albums have
been consistently huge international sellers. Ummagumma,
Atom Heart Mother, The Dark Side Of
The Moon and
The Wall all noteworthy milestones.
Pink Floyd. Richard Wright,
Roger Waters,
Syd Barrett, Nick Mason
P.J.Proby
James Marcus Smith was born in
Houston, Texas in 1938.
He started his career in Hollywood, taking bit parts in
movies and recording under the name Jet Powers. In 1963,
British impresario Jack Good brought the renamed
P. J. Proby to England to appear on a Beatles tv special.
Hold Me and Together were top ten hits and then P. J.
changed musical direction with ballads and covers of
standards, such as Somewhere and Maria from West
Side Story. Nevertheless, these were big hits. A bigger
hit, however, were P.J's stage 'antics', starting with a
now infamous trouser-splitting incident while
performing in Luton which resulted in
establishment cries of obscenity and, naturally enough,
increased sales, popularity and street cred for P. J.
He, of course, included this as part of his act from
that moment on! His trademarks were pony tail, satins
and silks and exaggeratedly dramatic vocals and these
set him apart from other crowd-pleasers like Tom
Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. Publicity was a
double-edged sword as the press hounded him as his
career waned and he faced tax problems, bankruptcy
and drinking problems. He was a natural choice to
play Elvis On Stage with his husky voice reminiscent
of his fellow countryman. It was also not unexpected
when he was fired from the show for his behaviour.
Rebellious P.J. still lives in England and still has a
large and loyal following and is fondly remembered
by members of the beat generation.
P.J. Proby
The Pretty Things
Formed in Sidcup, Kent in 1963 as an
R&B outfit,
with Dick Taylor and Phil May as key players, their
first single Rosalyn only just made it into the top
50 but the group gained much publicity from their
behaviour and scruffy appearance. Don't Bring Me Down
and Honey I Need followed and were bigger chart
successes. They evolved into a less commercial unit
with some personnel changes and notable tracks included
Defecting Grey and Talking About The Good Times.
The group effectively disbanded in the early 70s
but re-emerged and continued with highs and lows
into the 80s, usually with Taylor and May back at
the helm. These days they are recognised as a seminal
British band of the period.
The Pretty Things
Procol Harum
They hailed
from Essex and their surrealistic first
single A Whiter Shade Of Pale is a classic. A difficult one
to follow, they continued with two more very strong and
different, though less successful singles, Homburg and
A Salty Dog. Post 60s they had a renaissance with the
Edmonton symphony orchestra album and the single
Conquistador and Prodigal Stranger from the
fine album Grand Hotel.
Procol Harum
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