The best of the 60s

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[davieG]

All Things Music Plus

  

Joe Meek (Record producer; Tornados, many others) was born on this date in 1929. He died on February 3, 1967, aged 37.
Robert George "Joe" Meek was an English record producer, musician, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted the development of recording practices like overdubbing, sampling and reverberation. Meek is considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording studio as an instrument, and becoming one of the first producers to be recognized for his individual identity as an artist.
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Artists produced by Meek
Meek passed up the chance to work with the then unknown David Bowie, the Beatles (the latter he once described as "just another bunch of noise, copying other people's music") and Rod Stewart. John Repsch, in The Legendary Joe Meek, recounts that upon hearing Stewart sing, Meek rushed into the studio, put his fingers in his ears and screamed until Stewart had left. He preferred to record instrumentals with the band he sang with – the Moontrekkers.
In 1963 Meek worked with a then little-known singer Tom Jones, then the lead vocalist of Tommy Scott & the Senators. Meek recorded seven tracks with Jones and took them to various labels in an attempt to get a record deal, with no success. Two years later after Jones' worldwide hit "It's Not Unusual" in 1965, Meek was able to sell the tapes he had recorded with Jones to Tower (USA) and Columbia (UK).
Dave Adams
Deke Arlon and the Offbeats
The Ambassadors
Chico Arnez
Burr Bailey and the Six Shooters
Chris Barber
Shirley Bassey
The Beat Boys
Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers
Mike Berry
The Pete Best Four
Pamela Blue
The Blue Men
The Blue Rondos
The Buzz
The Cameos
Carter-Lewis and the Southerners
Andy Cavell
George Chakiris
Don Charles
The Checkmates
Chris and the Outcasts
Neil Christian
Petula Clark
Pat Reader
The Classics
Glenda Collins
Jess Conrad
Peter Cook
Michael Cox
Bobby Cristo and the Rebels
The Cryin' Shames
Tony Dangerfield and the Thrills
Danny's Passion
Billie Davis
Alan Dean and his Problems
Ray Dexter and the Layabouts
The Diamond Twins
Lonnie Donegan
Silas Dooley Jr.
Diana Dors
The Dowlands
The Ferridays
The Flee-Rekkers
Flip and the Dateliners
Emile Ford and the Checkmates
Lance Fortune
The Four Matadors
Billy Fury
Geoff Goddard
Kenny Graham and the Satellites
Iain Gregory
Heinz and the Wild Boys
Chas Hodges
Kenny Hollywood
The Honeycombs
The Hotrods
The Impac
Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers
David John and the Mood
Tom Jones
Johnny and Chaz and the Gunners
Joy and Dave
Charles Kingsley Creation
Roger LaVern and the Microns
Jamie Lee and the Atlantics
John Leyton
Peter London
Humphrey Lyttelton
Malcolm and the Countdowns
The Manish Boys
Valerie Masters
Jimmy Miller and the Barbecues
The Millionaires
The Moontrekkers
Jenny Moss
The Outlaws
The Packabeats
Mike Preston
The Puppets
Donn Reynolds
Bobby Rio and the Revelles
The Riot Squad
Danny Rivers
Kim Roberts
The Saints
Wes Sands
Mike Sarne
The Saxons
Shade Joey and the Night Owls
The Shakeouts
The Sharades
Anne Shelton
Robb Shenton
Simplicity Pattern
Sounds Incorporated
Freddie Starr and the Midnighters
Tommy Steele
The Stonehenge Men
Big Jim Sullivan
Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages
The Syndicats
Gerry Temple
Gunilla Thorne
The Thunderbolts
The Tornados
Frankie Vaughan
Toby Ventura
Gene Vincent
Ricky Wayne and the Offbeats
Houston Wells and the Marksmen
Brian White & the Magna Jazz Band
Chris Williams and the Monsters
Yolanda
The Young Ones
#joemeek
 

[davieG]

Colouring The Past  · Follow
  · 
Remembering American pop singer LITTLE EVA (born Eva Narcissus Boyd, Jun 29th 1943 – Apr 10th 2003)
The story of Little Eva and her 1962 hit "The Loco-Motion" is a fascinating tale of serendipity, talent, and the magic of the Brill Building era. Born Eva Narcissus Boyd on June 29, 1943, in Belhaven, North Carolina, she was one of thirteen children. As a teenager, Eva moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she worked as a maid and babysitter for the legendary songwriting duo Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
It was during her time as their babysitter that Eva's life would change forever. King and Goffin, who were hoping to write a song for Dee Dee Sharp, the singer behind the smash hit "Mashed Potato Time," were inspired by Eva's unique dance moves around the house. They penned "The Loco-Motion" based on her dancing style and had Eva record the demo.
The demo impressed music producer Don Kirshner so much that he decided to release it as it was, under the name "Little Eva." The song, featuring King herself among the backing vocalists, quickly became a sensation, reaching the top of the charts in 1962 and becoming one of the most iconic girl group hits of all time.
Eva's success continued with her follow-up single, "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby," also written by the Goffin-King duo. The song showcased Eva's soulful vocals and reached the Top 20, further cementing her status as a rising star. Interestingly, even the Beatles covered "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" during their early days, though they never recorded it in the studio.
However, Eva's career took a turn when she was pigeonholed as a dance-craze singer and given less impressive material to work with. Despite this, she managed to score another Top 20 hit with "Let's Turkey Trot" in 1963. Eva continued performing and recording until October 2001, when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She passed away on April 10, 2003, at the age of 59 in Kinston, North Carolina.
Looking back on the creation of "The Loco-Motion," there has been some confusion about the song's origin story. While it was widely believed that King was playing music at home and Eva started dancing to it, inspiring the song and dance, this is not entirely accurate. In reality, King and Goffin had already recognized Eva's singing talent and had her record the demo for "The Loco-Motion." As King stated in an interview with NPR, the song came before the dance, and Eva later had to create a dance to accompany the song during live performances.
"The Loco-Motion" remains a testament to the incredible talent of Little Eva, as well as the songwriting prowess of Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The song's enduring popularity is evident in its ranking at No. 359 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," and its numerous cover versions, including those by Grand Funk Railroad and Kylie Minogue.

[davieG]

Brians Blog  · 
Suggested for you  · Eric Harvey  ·   · 
Pop History – The Hollies.
One of the most underrated groups of the sixties and early seventies, The Hollies were a big favourite at my school and down at the Youth club. Their latest hits were always on the Juke box. I personally, didn’t think they made a bad record, they kept up with the times for over a decade and always seemed fresh.
The Hollies actually began life as a duo when Allan Clarke and Graham Nash met at primary school and were destined to become best friends. That was in the late fifties when the likes of Lonnie Donegan was ruling the charts with skiffle music. 
Clarke and Nash had a natural inborn talent and polished up their act by becoming a vocal and guitar duo loosely based on their idols the Everly Brothers. At that time they went under the name of Ricky and Dane Young. It was whilst using this name that they decided to team up with the Fourtones – a local band who had Pete Bocking on guitar, John ‘Butch’ Mepham on bass, Keith Bates on drums and Derek Quinn on Guitar. In 1962 Derek Quinn quit the band to join up and coming Freddie and the Dreamers. This prompted Clarke and Nash to leave and join another Manchester band known as The Delta’s, they had Don Rathbone on drums, Eric Haydock on bass guitar and Vic Steele on lead guitar. 
The Deltas had recently lost two band members, one of them being Eric Stewart who had joined another up-and-coming band called the Mindbenders. During this period, the group were managed and promoted by Michael Cohen, a music enthusiast and clothing retailer from Oldham
It was in December 1962 that the Deltas first changed their name to The Hollies, they were playing at the Oasis club in Manchester and rumour has it that Eric Haydock had named them in relation to a Christmas holly garland. But later, in 2009 Graham Nash was being interviewed when he revealed that the group were named for their admiration for Buddy Holly.
So, The principal members of the Hollies were Allan Clarke (b. April 5, 1942, Salford, Lancashire, England), Graham Nash (b. February 2, 1942, Blackpool, Lancashire), Tony Hicks (b. December 16, 1943, Nelson, Lancashire), Eric Haydock (b. February 3, 1943, Burnley, Lancashire—d. January 5, 2019), Bernie Calvert (b. September 16, 1943, Burnley), and Terry Sylvester (b. January 8, 1947, Liverpool, Merseyside).
The band began their recording career in 1963, they relied heavily upon the R&B/early rock & roll covers that provided the staple diet for countless British bands of the time. The band  quickly developed a more distinctive style featuring three-part harmonies, ringing guitars, and hook-happy material, penned by both outside writers (especially future 10cc member Graham Gouldman) and themselves. EMI producer Ron Richards signed the group after seeing them at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool. Guitarist Vic Steele left before the first session, to be replaced by 17-year-old Tony Hicks.  Drummer Don Rathbone only lasted for a couple of singles before being replaced by Bobby Elliott, who had played with Hicks in his pre-Hollies group, the Dolphins. The line-up changes were most fortuitous: Hicks contributed a lot to the group with his ringing guitar work and song writing, and Elliott was one of the very finest drummers in all of pop/rock. Although their first singles were R&B covers, the Hollies sounded much more at home with pop/rock material that provided a sympathetic complement to their glittering harmonies. They ran off an awesome series of hits in the U.K. in the '60sTheir first hits in the United Kingdom, in 1963–64, were with cover versions of the Coasters’ “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me” (No 25) and “Searchin’,(No 12) ” Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs’ “Stay,(No 8)” all in 1963, and Doris Troy’s “Just One Look.” (No 2 in 1964).
Their early success was down to Clarkes strong vocals aided quite aptly helped by the backing vocals of Hicks and Nash. Of course the charts of the time were dominated by the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, no-one in the Hollies thought they were as good as them, they had no pretentions of trying to be either, they were doing very nicely thank you.
Nash encouraged the Hollies to write their own songs, initially with Clarke, then with Clarke and guitarist Tony Hicks. From 1964 to mid-1966 they wrote under the alias L. Ransford. Their own names were credited on songs from "Stop Stop Stop" from October 1966 onward.
In 1965, Nash, with Allan Clarke and guitarist Tony Hicks, formed Gralto Music Ltd, a publishing company which handled their own songs and later signed the young Reg Dwight (a.k.a. 'Elton John' – who played piano and organ on Hollies 1969 and 1970 recordings).
Graham Nash, however, itched to make an impression as a more serious artist, particularly on the "King Midas in Reverse" single (1967). Its relatively modest commercial success didn't augur well for his influence over the band's direction, and their next 45s were solidly in the more tried-and-true romantic tradition. By 1968, though, Nash really felt constrained by the band's commercial orientation, and by the end of the year he was gone, left for the States.
Under the influence of Bob Dylan, however, their approach broadened, including diluted elements of Folk music, to the particular benefit of Clarke, “Here I Go Again” (1964), “I’m Alive” (their first No1 in1965), “Bus Stop” (1966, their first entry into the American top 10). And after losing singer-guitarist Graham Nash to a more-celebrated partnership with David Crosby. Steven Stills and Neil Young, he was aided and abetted by Terry Sylvester (formerly of Liverpool bands the Escorts and Swinging Blue Jeans), on “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” (1969). At their best, the Hollies established a clear balance between the various components at play in their music, developing (like their Liverpool contemporaries the Searchers) a style that provided a useful template for a new generation of power pop groups, many of them American, such as the Raspberries and the Rubinoos. They ran off an awesome series of hits in the U.K. in the '60s, making the Top 20 almost 20 times. Some of their best mid-'60s singles, like "Here I Go Again," "We're Through," and the British number one "I'm Alive," passed virtually unnoticed in the United States, where they didn't make the Top 40 until early 1966, when Graham Gouldman 's "Look Through Any Window" did the trick, On a Carousel," "Carrie Ann," and "Stop Stop Stop" were also big hits over there in 1967
Meanwhile, at home, the hits kept coming when ‘Jennifer Eccles got to No7 in 1968. ‘Sorry Suzanne’  did better later that year by reaching No 3. 
In 1966, Eric Haydock left the group under cloudy circumstances, replaced by Bernie Calvert.
In 1969, the band tried to have its cake and eat it too by doing a whole album of Hollie-ised Dylan songs, which was received poorly by some critics, although it was a decent seller in Britain reaching No 3 in the album charts.. Nash was replaced by Terry Sylvester (formerly of Liverpool bands the Escorts and Swinging Blue Jeans), and the hit streak continued for a while.
Their last hit of the sixties decade was ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ which reached No3 in late 1969.
Unlike most groups of their vintage, the Hollies had their greatest successes in the 1970s, with I Can’t Tell The Bottom From The Top” (1970) One of my personal favourites “Gasoline Alley Bred” (1970)  A modest slide in the early '70s was arrested by "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," a Creedence Clearwater Revival-type rocker that made number two in the States in 1972 but it only made No32 here in the UK.. The timing wasn't ideal; by the time it became a smash, Clarke, who had sung lead on the single, had left to go solo, to be replaced by Swedish vocalist Mikael Rickfors. Clarke rejoined in mid-1973, and the group had one last international monster, "The Air That I Breathe," which made number 2 here and number six in the U.S. in 1974. The group went on to record a string of further albums in the second half of the 1970s..
The group continued to play concerts and make beautiful records, but there was no public demand for new releases, and by the '90s they'd ceased making new studio recordings. As the 21st century beckoned, Allan Clarke -- after nearly 40 years as the lead vocalist for the band -- found that his singing didn't come to him as strongly or as well as he was used to, and he decided to retire, leaving Hicks and Elliott as the last two core members of the group. Clarke's first successor was Carl Wayne, the onetime lead singer of the 1960s Birmingham-spawned band the Move, who fronted the band on-stage for the next couple of years. In 2003, EMI Records recognized the Hollies' musical significance with a huge (and hugely satisfying) six-CD box set, The Long Road Home: 1963-2003, covering every era and major line-up in the group's history, and containing a huge number of previously unreleased and unanthologised tracks.
In 1988 their previous hit from 1969 ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother was re-released after featuring in a Miller Lite beer advert, it went straight to No1.
Wayne’s death in 2004 led to another shift in their line-up, but in 2006 the group bounced back with its first new studio album in 23 years, appropriately entitled Staying Power, which featured Hicks and Elliott at the core of a line-up that included Peter Howarth on lead vocals, with Ian Parker on keyboards, Steve Laurie on guitar, and Ray Stiles on bass. Although not widely distributed outside of England, the record -- ironically, their first CD-original studio album -- proved to be a very fine updating of the group's sound, retaining enough of their traditional pop/harmony elements to satisfy long-time listeners. A live DVD derived from a December 2006 concert in Belgium was issued in 2007, a year that also saw a big chunk of their vintage catalogue get further CD re-releases, principally through EMI. In 2009, the Hollies returned with a new album, Then, Now, and Always, and the following year, they received one of the greatest accolades of their career when the Hollies were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The group continued to tour in the U.K. and Europe, and their 2012 road trip resulted in a live album, 2013's Hollies Live Hits: We Got the Tunes! And in 2014, as the band celebrated their 50th anniversary as a recording act, they released a special three-disc collection, 50 at Fifty, a set that covered the group's history in 50 songs, and included a new track, "Skylarks."
Until Next Time……………………………..

 

 

 

 

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