Paddy, Klaus & Gibson

PADDY, KLAUS & GIBSON-No Good Without You Baby/Rejected U.K. Pye 7N.17060 1966

Cream were NOT the first Sixties "super group power trio".  That moniker goes to Paddy, Klaus & Gibson.  Liverpudlians Paddy Chambers(lead vocals/guitar) and Gibson Kemp (drums) had been in a multitude of Liverpool beat groups between them like The Big Three, Faron's Flamingos, Rory Storme and The Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor and The Dominos and The Eyes(not to be confused with the mod/freakbeat icons of the same name).  Klaus Voorman (bass) of course was one of the Hamburg "exi's" who were old pals with The Beatles.  The band were managed by Tony Stratton-Smith (who also managed The Koobas and The Creation) who secured them a deal with Pye records, though eventually he was bought out by Brian Epstein. The band cut three singles before breaking up in late 1966.  Paddy went on to join the final line up of The Escorts (see Anorak Thing May 3, 2010 entry), Klaus did the cover of The Fab Four's "Revolver" and The Bee Gee's 1st LP and replaced Jack Bruce in Manfred Mann.  I can't claim to know where that left Gibson Kemp?!

This was their second Pye single which was released in February 1966. "No Good Without You Baby" is a tepid, lifeless, soulless version of the Marvin Gaye number which had already been masterfully covered by The Birds in October 1965 as the A-side of Decca F 12257.  The flipside, "Rejected" (not to be confused with the amazing single by The Fenmen of the same name) is a different kettle of fish.  It's a catchy, rhythmic little number with some laid back Georgie Fame-ish style vocals, stride piano, a jazzy beat and is imminently danceable.  The lyrics are pretty amusing, concerning a guy who takes two jobs to please a materialistic woman who leaves him for another man because he's never home.

"No Good Without You Baby" was reissued on Sequel's CD compilation "Doin' The Mod 2: Jump And Dance" while "Rejected" appeared on their "Doin The Mod 1: The Go Go Train" CD.

Hear "Rejected":



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeIEYt1VEz4

We got the hi-fi high and the lights down low.....

THE BIG THREE- "At The Cavern" E.P. ( What'd I Say/ Don't Start Running Away/Zip A Dee Doo Dah/Reelin' And Rockin') U.K. Decca DFE 8552 1963

With the discovery of The Beatles in 1962 Liverpool was inundated with swarms of A&R men looking for the next best thing. Having passed on The Beatles Decca grabbed a few, The Mojos and arguably Britain's first "power trio" : The Big Three.  Despite just 4 singles and one E.P. (and numerous personnel changes) The Big Three's recording career was short, barely 18 months.  Their line up for this E.P., referred to as their "classic Big Three line up" was: John "Hutch" Hutchinson (drums/vocals), Brian Griffiths (guitar) and John Gustafson (vocals/bass).  Never very stable, the band had numerous personnel changes. In fact by the time of this E.P.'s release in November 1963 the line-up who played on it disitergrated with John Gustafson and Brian Giffiths moving on to form a band called The Seniors with Ian Broad from Rory Storme and The Hurricanes (Gustafson eventually joined The Merseybeats to replace Billy Kinsley a few months later). 

The final product of this line up was our E.P. in question recorded live on a sweaty Thursday night (August 29, 1963 to be exact) by producer Noel Walker in front of a packed audience at Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club.  Opening with Cavern DJ Bob Wooler's wordy hipster intro ("Welcome to the best of cellars. We got the hi fi high and the lights down low so here we go with The Big Three show") the band barrel through an insane amphetamine version of Ray Charles "What'd I Say" full of false stops, audience participation and pure 100% adrenaline. It's almost anti-climactic when the band launch into an original (a rarity for most Liverpool groups) called "Don't Start Running Away", which though lacking the punch of it's predecessor manages alright. The flipside is a half assed version of "Zip A Dee Doo Dah", where the band sounds like a drunken frat rock band.  Things close with Chuck Berry's "Reelin' And Rockin'" which differs little from the original but still has some enthusiasm.

TRIVIA: Decca photographer David Wedgbury failed to capture all three members onstage during the recording of their set so the band were forced to put their sweaty black suits back on and pose onstage afterwards.

Johnny Hutch onstage at The Cavern during the recording

of the E.P. Pic by David Wedgbury

All four tracks were included on a recent Big Three CD retrospective "At the Cavern" along with some of their other rocking sides.

Hear "What'd I Say" from the "At The Cavern" E.P.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRfQ-hm3APs

Liverpool's Last Gasp

THE ESCORTS-From Head To Toe/Night Time U.K. Columbia DB 8061 1966

By November 1966 when Liverpool's Escorts had released what would be their final single things had changed. After 5 singles and almost a two year spell at Fontana the band were released from their recording contract without a hit to their name.  Coming into a record contract quite late in the "Merseybeat boom" (their first 45 was from March 1964), the band probably didn't have much of a chance despite making some very good records.  By late 1966 their line-up had changed considerably seeing lead singer Terry Sylvester head off to The Swinging Blue Jeans (and then onto The Hollies to replace Graham "California" Nash) and a host of others come and go.  I've tried piecing the line-up changes together but to little avail.  Google searches for "Escorts Liverpool" come up with some very seedy websites......

On their final single cut for EMI's Columbia outlet the band was lead by new lead singer and Liverpool face Paddy Chambers (recently ex of the trio Paddy, Klaus & Gibson and also a veteran of Faron's Flamingos and The Big 3).  Their A-side was a cover of Smokey Robinson & The Miracle's LP track "From Head To Toe" (also known to us Mod Anorak's by Chris Clark). The track also featured the tambourine accompaniment of fellow Liverpudlian Paul McCartney who accompanied Chambers to the recording session.  Musically it's quite interesting and though it's certainly no storming effort like EMI labelmate's The Action it still has merit.  I like the simplicity of it: bass, guitar, drums and piano with Paddy Chambers singing soulfully yet restrained and the call and response falsetto backing vocals.  The latter and the former come into play again on the flipside, a Paddy Chambers original called "Night Time" that benefits from some soulful delivery.  Both sides were collected on the Escorts Edsel records LP/CD compilation "From The Blue Angel".

The Escorts on German TV's "Beat Club" plugging "From Head To Toe": 

 https://youtu.be/S4ysGVWVeIw?si=C1KJQmNU3tL_au09

Hear "Night Time":

https://youtu.be/wGPYFT3cfAI?si=UhSmesE8YmxPmMNU