More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels On U.S. Labels: Gerry and the Pacemakers "La La La"

 

GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS-La La La/Without You LR 3337 1966

Liverpool's Gerry and the Pacemakers were on life support in the U.K. in February 1966 when EMI's Columbia issued today's subject as "DB 7835" and headed to the lucrative but depressing cabaret circuit. The band's U.S. label Laurie followed suit and issued the single the following month. If the band were on life support back in the U.K. they were dead and buried since the previous year when their "Ferry Cross The Mersey" reached #6 (curiously two positions higher than it reached in the U.K.!) in February of '65, their last visit to the U.S. Top 40 (even stranger their next U.S. single "Girl On A Swing" would make #28 here, their final visit into the U.S. Top 40).

"La La La" sounds different than anything the band had ever done to my ears. Despite always been photographed with a 1964 Rickenbacker 360 12 string (which he sawed the tip of the peghead off to fit in it's case! True story! Don't believe me, Google it!) you never got a chance to hear the guitar's distinct sound on any of their records (though I am FAR from being an authority on the band, so if I am wrong please set me straight). That changed on "La La La", a Marsden original composition. It's jangly but not Burds jangly, more like the Beach Boy's jangly when Carl played his (think "I Get Around"). With it's upbeat tempo, infectious Rickenbacker 12 thrashing along with some piano. Lyrically it's almost juvenile but it's incredibly catchy and damned near infectious! 

The flip, Without You" is another Mardsen original. It starts out with some Bach influenced churchy organ that leads you to believe it's going to be a proto "Whiter Shade Of Pale" (the organ lick reminds me so much of "No Time" by The Applejacks or a slowed down "Liar Liar" by The Castaways). Nope, it just falls into a weird ballad that has so many different bridges and choruses in it's two minutes and fifty three seconds that's it's a wonder they ever got it recorded. Some Walker Brothers style strings sweep in and threaten to revive this turkey but then a trumpet comes in and Gerry sings another verse in a different key/melody. I'm confused, I like it enough to keep going back hoping, just hoping, something else will jump out and make me decide that I REALLY like it. I'm still waiting for that to happen....

Both sides are on a slew of 60's EMI Gerry comps and both are available on streaming. 

Hear "La La La":

https://youtu.be/4qvCvZyjGk4?si=QfB9MvC0qrY7gAFJ

Hear "Without You":

https://youtu.be/gKkDRNMM12Q?si=HQ4GqzRwcblDCRHd

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels On U.S. Labels: The Merseybeats "I Love You, Yes I Do"

 

THE MERSEYBEATS-I Love You, Yes I Do/See Me Back U.S. Fontana F-1532 1965

Today's selection was the fifth and final U.S. Merseybeats 45 (issued in November 1965). It was a mish mash of a U.K. A-side (September 1965) and a U.K. B-side (October 1964).

"I Love You, Yes I Do" (originally cut by Tab Hunter in 1958), stands as quite possibly my LEAST favorite Merseybeats track. The band cut their share of ballads, many of which I like. This one I do not. I believe the lead vocals were courtesy of the recently returned Billy Kinsley, who bumped his replacement, former Big 3 singer/bassist Johnny "Gus" Gustafson, out of the line up. It was also their first release produced by the band's new manager and producer Kit Lambert, who happens to be one half of The Who's management team at the time.  

"See Me Back" would have been a far better A-side. Penned by vocalist Tony Crane and Johnny Gustafson it's a tough mid tempo beat ballad that's thoroughly rocking. It's sung by Crane and Gustafson, who in my opinion were a perfect (and best) Merseybeats vocal combination. 

Both tracks are available on the thoroughly comprehensive 2021 Grapefruit two CD collection "I Stand Accused" which collected everything the band and it's members recorded in the 60's. 

 

Hear "I Love You, Yes I Do":

https://youtu.be/Q6RMyVhcRuw?si=IVCYRt61TBQX1hHp

Hear "See Me Back":

https://youtu.be/x_vnXoTJdJI?si=98regX6wipfFJNze

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: Ian & The Zodiacs "No Money, No Honey"

 

IAN & THE ZODIACS-No Money, No Honey/Where Were You U.S. Phillips 40369 1966

Liverpool bred and German based beat quartet Ian and The Zodiacs released 4 singles (we profiled two earlier ones here and here).

Today's subject was their final single American single. It was issued in the U.K. as Fontana TF 708 in May 1966 and the previous month both here and in Germany (as Star Club 148 548 STF).

"No Money No Honey" is without a doubt one of the band's strongest releases. Built around tandem fuzz and 12 string guitars playing a hypnotic riff it's incredibly punchy and raw. Curiously it was co-authored and produced by Klaus Doldinger (misspelled as "Claus" here). 

The flip side, "Where Were You" sounds almost like a completely different band. It's a mellow/moody almost baroque pop number with flute and harpsichords. The melody reminds me a bit of "The Crying Game" (a track the band recorded earlier, which we will profile at a later date!). 

Both sides were collected on the Repertoire CD compilation "Wade in The Water: The Best Of..." and sadly neither are available through streaming as of yet. 

Hear "No Money, No Honey":

https://youtu.be/VT2duai8jes?si=1wbJTEdj3Zxh3-GT

Hear "Where Were You":

https://youtu.be/FNgwmtKYt-Y?si=pgaW9YRJYmbiSnAN

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: Tommy Quickly

 

TOMMY QUICKLY-The Wild Side Of Life/Forget The Other Guy U.S. Liberty 55753 1964

Liverpool's Tommy Quickly (and his uncredited backing band The Remo Four) were one of the more obscure band's that were swept in when the big men in London cast their nets on the "Mersey Sound" or "Merseybeat". Quickly managed quite a prolific career on vinyl in the U.K. with four singles on Piccadilly and two on Pye from July 1963 to December 1964 (even the Beatles didn't release as many singles during that period!). Tommy was originally born as Thomas Quigley. His career was overseen by Brian Epstein who rechristened him as Tommy Quickly in the Larry Parnes style of renaming your charges.  Having Epstein as a manager gave him access to an unreleased Beatles composition as his debut in July 1963 ("The Tip Of My Tongue", Piccadilly 7N 35137) which unfortunately failed to chart. 

Today's release was his last of two American singles. In the U.K. it was his fifth (and first on the Pye label) where it was launched as Pye 7N 15708 on October 2, 1964. It was issued here the following month. In England it gave him his only hit (#33). The Remo Four are uncredited on the label here despite backing him and being credited on the British release. 

"The Wild Side Of Life" dates back to an old US country music performer named Hank Thompson in 1952 and was revived by Ray Price in 1962, which is probably where Quickly heard it.  It's an interesting choice of a song to cover but it works surprisingly well as a beat ballad and The Remo Four provide a solid, edgy backing as the number is delivered in an uptempo style. The record did nothing here in the States despite Quickly plugging the number on the "Shindig!" TV show here where he performed it live. 

The flip side, "Forget The Other Guy" is a mundane beat ballad that's really nothing special. Next.... 

Both tracks were collected on a now out of print CD collection of all his work as well as other beat artists from '64-'65 that The Remo Four backed. 

Hear "The Wild Side Of Life":

https://youtu.be/JOy9QeEJdWg?si=WkISfg435JdFulCf

Hear "Forget The Other Guy":

https://youtu.be/TxkuuBLYBtc?si=y20dhnk_X8-RuRcs

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: The Merseybeats "Don't Let it Happen To Us"

THE MERSEYBEATS-Don't Let It Happen To Us/It Would Take A Long Time U.S. Fontana F-1513 1965

The Merseybeats released five singles in the U.S. and today's specimen was their fourth, launched in June of 1965. It was released in the U.K. as Fontana 568 the previous month where it was their sixth single.

I'm going to be dead and honest and admit that I think this is probably the band's weakest single. It also marked the return of the band's original bassist Billy Kinsley, who though not as vocally strong as his temporary replacement John "Gus" Gustafson still isn't a bad vocalist (him and Tony Crane later became a singing duo The Merseys).

"Don't Let It Happen To Us" is a tepid number, wonderfully executed with great harmonies and moody/jangly guitar but the song itself is just plain boring.

The flip is a band original "It Would Take A Long Time". It's a slow countrified group original ballad, wonderfully executed but equally mundane. It was originally recorded with John Gustafson but added Billy Kinsley's vocals upon his return. It was penned by band members Tony Crane and Aaron Williams. 

Both tracks are available on the thoroughly comprehensive 2021 Grapefruit two CD collection "I Stand Accused" which collected everything the band and it's members recorded in the 60's. 

Hear "Don't Let It Happen To Us": 

 https://youtu.be/5vxsenNOZPg?si=NGPlT58_E6D_RCaT 

 Hear "It Would Take A Long Time": 

 https://youtu.be/p0rYjVP4XRg?si=Dcc5NxYtEPDI0bkk

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: The Merseybeats "Last Night"

 

THE MERSEYBEATS-Last Night/See Me Back U.S. Fontana S-1950 1964

Liverpool's Merseybeats released five singles in the U.S. on Fontana, this was their third issued here in November of 1964 (it was previously issued in the U.K. the month before where it was their fifth single).

"Last Night" is the epitome of the "beat ballad" with an incredible duet between bassist Johnny "Gus" Gustafson and singer/guitarist John Banks. Delivered with muted acoustic guitars and a jazzy guitar lick and a very spirited hand clap percussion it's melodic, moody and magnificent. 

"See Me Back" was written by Crane and Gustafson and employs their double edged vocal attack on top of a hard rocking delivery that really makes it work thanks to the edginess they bring to it. 

Both tracks are available on the thoroughly comprehensive 2021 Grapefruit two CD collection "I Stand Accused" which collected everything the band and it's members recorded in the 60's. 

Hear "Last Night":

https://youtu.be/MWNJlEkD9Y8?si=810p6-7IQ3V_3WzP

Hear "See Me Back":

https://youtu.be/Dpo5cBGhTdE?si=R_YttgDvLk7J20Nj

The Merseybeats Finale: "I Stand Accused"

 

THE MERSEYBEATS-I Stand Accused/All My Life U.K. Fontana TF 645 1965

The Merseybeats were one of those British 60's bands who were always on the fringes of stardom but for whatever reason none of their British seven singles, three E.P.'s or one LP moved into the top ten. The band eventually fell under the management of The Who's handlers Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert in the Summer of 1965 that saw their musical career continue on with the Fontana label. The band requested that their eighth British single for the label be a Ben E. King track called " I Stand Accused", unfortunately their managers secured them the rights to ANOTHER "I Stand Accused", this one penned by Tony Colton and Ray Smith! Of course thankfully Lambert and Stamp cocked it up.....which leads us to:

Truth be told one wonders how mundane a cover of the Ben E. King ballad would have been! INSTEAD the Colton/Smith number (released earlier in July by Tony Colton on Pye 7N 15886) is in my estimation rates as one of their finest moments!  Driven by a a catchy fuzz guitar lick and frenzied double tracked vocals "I Stand Accused" is a powerful piece of music. The production (by Kit Lambert) is honestly a mess but it still works. There's an interesting bit of harpsichord running in the background which sounds out of place but somehow works. The gong at the end is care of Keith Moon who was present at the session and wanted to "contribute". 

The B-side, "All Of My Life", a band original that sounds half baked. Again the production is positively atrocious with the lead vocals in the front while the instrumentation is buried in absolute mush! The guitar solo sounds like it was made up on the spot with tapes rolling.  Next!

Both tracks are available on the thoroughly comprehensive 2021 Grapefruit two CD collection "I Stand Accused" which collected everything the band and it's members recorded in the 60's. Sadly it is NOT available on streaming!

Hear "I Stand Accused":

https://youtu.be/Zg20VFzYKt4?si=3PQLeBOEYJOiEz1Q

Hear "All Of My Life":

https://youtu.be/c2jKzY23_HQ?si=Eox2aFxYWmCBbnpJ

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: The Merseybeats "Don't Turn Around"

 

THE MERSEYBEATS-Don't Turn Around/Really Mystified U.S. Fontana S-1905 1964 

The Merseybeats were one of the slew of Liverpool bands signed in 1963 when A&R men descended on the city in the wake of "Merseybeat" and signed anyone with a guitar who could carry a tune, fortunately The Merseybeats were incredibly talented. Though they flirted with the U.K. charts (seven of their eight singles were in U.K. top forty, only one in the top ten) their popularity was never enough to overcome The Searchers or any of Brian Epstein's acts chart wise. They had a selection of their eight U.K. singles released in America (five) and this was their second U.S. release in June of 1964 ( in the U.K. it was their third issued as Fontana TF 459 in April, 1964 where it rose to #13, their second highest scoring British single). 

"Don't Turn Around" marked the debut recording with their new bass player/vocalist Johnny Gus (Gustafson),  recently of Liverpool's The Big Three, replacing the outgoing Billy Kinsley. Johnny Gus who was also a very competent vocalist and shared lead vocals with front man Tony Crane as well as lead vocals on many tracks. Like many of the Merseybeat's selections "Don't Turn Around" epitomizes the genre of the "beat ballad". Lead vocalist Tony Crane and Johnny Gus confidently croon over a gentle backing of bass, drums, acoustic guitar and some very Rachmainoff piano trills, the acoustic guitar lick is quite catchy and to me the number really works. Side A is "the ballad"...

On Side B we have "the beat"... "Really Mystified" was penned by Crane and Gustafson and in my estimation it is one of their best tracks. It's an upbeat catchy little beat ditty that almost sounds at times like it's a cover of an American r&b number that's sped up (the hand claps and melody especially).  As with the A side the vocals are a duet between Crane and Gustafson. It's easily their most rocking track of the Crane/Gustafson era.

Both tracks were part of Edsel records essential 1982 compilation LP "Beat & Ballads" as well as the more recent and thoroughly comprehensive 2021 Grapefruit two CD collection "I Stand Accused" which collected everything the band and it's members recorded in the 60's. 

Hear "Don't Turn Around":

https://youtu.be/RvEB7-vP4zg?si=T-RqxXEx-yDrxmKJ

See and hear the band do "Don't Turn Around" live at the 1964 NME Pollwinners Concert:

https://youtu.be/aWNLDOfPcrY?si=UKHhkN2Vn5mfHhrW

Hear "Really Mystified":

https://youtu.be/ezEhvWVtDbc?si=unKq7oPOSR6hPWyu

The Searchers "Take Me For What I'm Worth"

THE SEARCHERS-Take Me For What I'm Worth/Too Many Miles UK Pye 7N.15992 1965

We could fill and entire post talking about The Searchers and their "folk rock" sound, but I'm not going to do that. What we are going to discuss is their twelfth U.K. single, "Take Me For What I'm Worth". The band's drummer Chris Curtis was well known for his "ear" for potential hits to cover and he dug up this P.F. Sloan track for them to cover (he later suggested in an interview with journalist Spencer Leigh that it was "probably the first gay anthem"). Strangely enough Sloan's version appeared on a French E.P. one month before this version hit the streets in England in November of '65 (December in the US). 

"Take Me For What I'm Worth" ranks as one of The Searcher's strongest numbers in my estimation. It was their next to last visit to the British charts clocking in at #20 (the last would be their version of The Stone's "Take It Or Leave It" which would climb to #31). Kicking off with a mournful guitar lick and Mike Pender's equally downtrodden vocals it's powered by some amazing guitars and a powerful strumming that resembles the chording of The Jam's later hit "That's Entertainment". And of course there's P.F. Sloan's brilliant "don't get mixed up with me I'm bad news" lyrics delivered by Pender at times with an almost venomous lilt. 

The B-side "Too Many Miles"was penned by all four Searchers (Frank Allen, Chris Curtis, John McNally and Mike Pender respectively). It's a mellow number with this almost baroque feel that reminds me of something off The Move's first LP! Not their best track but certainly an interesting touch for 1965! The woodwind solo is clearly ahead of it's time.

Both sides are available on a host of Searchers collections that thanks to the likes of Castle Communications are NEVER out of print. I highly recommend their 1965 LP "Take Me For What I'm Worth" which contains both sides of this single. 

Hear "Take Me For What I'm Worth":

https://youtu.be/HyEJM5ZYB5Q

Hear "Too Many Miles":

https://youtu.be/o3CZHAehd6s

More U.K. Tracks On U.S. Labels: The Swinging Blues Jeans US Debut

THE SWINGING BLUE JEANS-Hippy Hippy Shake/Now I Must Go US Imperial 66021 1964

With the onslaught of Beatlemania in the United States there was eventually further interest in all things British, including bands from Liverpool (though mostly only hit makers, at first). The Swinging Blue Jeans had a respectable venture into the UK hit parade starting with their third single,  December 1963's release of a version of Chan Romero's "Hippy Hippy Shake" (His Masters Voice POP 1242) which rose to #2 on the British charts. It was the band's debut US release being launched in February 1964 where it became the band's sole Top 40 placing (#2) and subsequently the title of their only US long player (Imperial LP 9621).

"Hippy Hippy Shake" was first released in July of 1959 by Chan Romero on the Del-Fi label (interestingly it was simultaneously issued in the UK on Columbia as DB 4341). The track was covered by a host of other UK artists (the Beatles covered it in a BBC session long before the Swinging Blue Jeans version was recorded) but The Blue Jeans version remains the most well known.  It does not differ much from the original except that it's a little more frantic and sped up and does not have the gritty and greasy feel of the original. Of interest is that the Blue Jeans sing "the hippy hippy shakes" during the verses whereas the original version merely sings "hippy hippy shake".

The flip side (the same as it's UK release) was an original "Now I Must Go" penned by lead vocalist Ray Ennis. Though it's not awful by any means, it's a fairly inoffensive and pedestrian mid tempo beat ballad.

Both sides have been compiled on several Swinging Blue Jeans compilations, the best place to hear it being the British EMI "At Abbey Road" CD and the American "Hippy Hippy Shake: Definitive Collection" collection.

Hear "Hippy Hippy Shake":

https://youtu.be/1Ke8mzgex4U

Hear "Now I Must Go":

https://youtu.be/5mW13arsALs