British rock'n'roll owes a great debt to the Shadows. Beginning as the backing group for superstar Cliff Richard in 1958, the Shadows dominated British popular music prior to the advent of the Beatles and the Mersey Beat scene. Hank B. Marvin was one of the first British guitar heroes. In fact, John Lennon was noted as saying that prior to Cliff Richard and the Shadows, there was no British music worth hearing.
Just last week, founding member and bassist Jet Harris MBE, passed away after a lengthy battle with throat cancer. After he left the Shadows in 1962, Harris went on to record successful singles with Tony Meehan, including the hit "Diamonds," which was number one on the UK charts for six weeks, posted above. This song also features Jimmy Page's first session work, and later, Harris and Meehan hired John Paul Jones to accompany their act on the road; therefore, Jet had a hand in jump-starting the careers of Led Zeppelin!
Jet will be remembered as one of the first musicians to use the bass guitar as a lead instrument, (remember, this is prior to John Entwistle!) and also one of the first British musicians to use the Fender Precision bass.
The scans above include photos of the Shadows after Harris' departure, and other photos of Jet with and without Tony Meehan. These photos and articles all appeared in various early issues of Beat Monthly. Rest in Peace, Jet.
As the beat phenomenon gave way to the experimental nature of psychedelia, an exciting hybrid emerged in Britain, then on through Europe and then spread to Australia between 1966 - 1967. During those months, the bands playing this type of music - frantic, outrageous r&b beat music "touched by the hand of mayhem" - created a new genre of rock'n'roll without even knowing it. In 1984, Bam-Caruso label head and legend in his own right, Phil Smee, coined the term "freakbeat" to define this type of music. That year, Smee released the first Rubble LP (an essential compilation series) entitled The Psychedelic Snarl, which featured the term freakbeat on the cover. A later volume in the Rubble series was entitled Freakbeat Fantoms, and boasted several essential cuts.
Over the years, debates have raged among collectors as to what songs are really freakbeat, and which are not. (Smee tends to leave out the pop art groups, like the Eyes and the Creation.) However, some groups stand out among the true progenitors of the freakbeat sound. I've included some photos of bands and some YouTube clips to illustrate some of the top bands and songs from the era. It remains one of my favorite genres of music, alongside traditional beat, garage, psychedelia, etc. Hey, it's all rock'n'roll...
In Spring of 2001, Phil Smee wrote a special article on freakbeat for Mojo, in which he chose his top 50 tracks within the genre. The top 30 are as follows:
1. Wimple Winch - Save My Soul (at the time, an original single was worth 250 pounds) Truly a masterpiece. A YouTube clip is included for your listening pleasure. This deserves the top spot.
2. The Craig - I Must Be Mad (Another Fontana masterpiece)
3. Adjeef the Poet - Iekk! I'm a Freak (Dutch DJ Ad Visser under a pseudonym; can be found on Rubble 13: Freakbeat Fantoms)
4. Southern Sound - I Don't Wanna Go (also on Rubble 13)
5. Birds Birds - Daddy Daddy (Ronnie Woods' excellent group; all their singles - three under the name The Birds - are phenomenal!)
6. The Masters Apprentices - Undecided (The Aussie Greats!)
7. Pee White & The Magic Strangers - Balla Balla (from The Hauge, Holland)
8. The Attack - Anymore Than I Do (Blistering, killer track from an all-around fab group.)
9. The Answers - It's Just A Fear (Features legendary - among those in the know - guitarist Tony Hill, later of the Misunderstood and High Tide.)
10. The Monks - Oh, How to Do Now (I think Smee says it best: Ex-US servicemen based in Germany with shaved heads and amplified banjo." Yes!)
11. The Syndicats - Crawdaddy Simone (Features pre-Yes Steve Howe, a great bluesy track with a touch of freakbeat)
12. The Motions - Everything That's Mine (Let me tell you, the Dutch had it in spades! The thriving beat scene there, from The Outsiders, Q65, the Zipps, Groep 1850, and the Motions, etc. Robbie Van Leeuwen went on to form Shocking Blue.)
13. Shel Naylor - One Fine Day 14. The Who - The Ox (the great instrumental from their first album) 15. Wimple Winch - Rumble on Mersey Square South 16. Miller - Baby I've Got News for You (Backed by members of the Herd, which included Peter Frampton; a standout track on the Perfumed Garden series of comps) 17. The Buzz - You're Holding Me Down (from Edinburgh; produced by Joe Meek!) 18. Q65 - From Aove (Can't say enough about Q65! Another group from The Hague.) 19. Paul & Ritchie & The Cryin' Shames - (Lead singer went on to join Gary Walker & The Rain, which also featured a pre-Badfinger Joey Molland) 20. The Troggs - Lost Girl 21. Jimmy Page & The Talismen (Yes, that Jimmy Page. His session work, contributions to the Yardbirds, and work on acetates like this one trump Led Zeppelin for me.) 22. Majority One - Get Back Home 23. The Fleur De Lys - Mud in Your Eye (So many different line ups of this band! It's so confusing, but to me, each line up produced excellent music.) 24. Thor's Hammer - I Don't Care (Icelandic group recorded this snot nosed punk track in England.) 25. Fire - Father's Name Was Dad (If the Beatles did freakbeat, maybe? They did have a publishing deal with Apple...One of my favorites from this list. McCartney offered them advice on changing the song, so it was released twice, but neither sold well. Dave Lambert went on to the Strawbs later.) 26. The Masters Apprentices - Buried and Dead (another smoking track from the Aussie legends) 27. The Score - Please Please Me (A totally demented Beatles cover!) 28. Keith Sheilds - Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness) (Cover of Donovan's song) 29. Lee Kings - On My Way (Swedish group) 30. The Loot - Try to Keep It a Secret (This group ended up as Hookfoot and backed Elton John on his early recordings!)
Other top groups within this genre: The Eyes, The Creation, the Red Squares, the Syn, the Game, and the Fairies, etc. I've also included scans of the top 200 British freakbeat and R&B singles compiled by Dr. Andrew Few and Andy Davis for Record Collector, March 1993.
In honor of the publication of Keith Richards' fascinating memoirs entitled Life, I present some scans of vintage Stones articles from U.S. publications...enjoy the trip, and pick up Keef's book as soon as possible. It reads like one is having a pint at the local pub with him as he recounts wonderful anecdotes with wit and charm. Richards' comments regarding Mick Jagger are not without controversy, however, as you've probably heard by now...
The Searchers have always deserved more credit for their contributions to rock'n'roll; too often they have been viewed as a Merseyside band merely riding on the coattails of Fab Four. Their chiming, jangling guitar sound and their perfect harmonies influenced numerous bands who emerged after them, including the legendary Byrds. But what went wrong? What contributed to them becoming mere footnotes in pop music history?
The first setback occurred when vocalist/bassist Tony Jackson left the band in 1964 due to personality clashes with drummer and de facto leader, Chris Curtis. Jackson stated he would have stayed in a band with the other guys, but that he had never liked Curtis; Curtis claims Jackson threatened to blackmail him by revealing personal information if Jackson didn't get to sing lead on "Needles and Pins." (He didn't; the vocal duties went to lead guitarist Mike Pender, or as he was originally known, Pendergast.) Later, in 1966, Curtis suffered a nervous breakdown and left the band for a gig as a producer for Pye records. Soon thereafter, he left the music industry entirely (but not before being the impetus in creating the band that eventually became Deep Purple) and worked as a public servant and Liverpool, just as his friend Pete Best had done earlier after abandoning a career in music.
John McNally and Frank Allen, Jackson's replacement, continue to perform under the Searchers' name. Their official site can be accessed here: http://www.the-searchers.co.uk/ Sadly, both Jackson and Curtis are now deceased.
Above are scans from various issues of Beat Monthly magazine, including one that has been autographed by Tony Jackson. Janet Lee, the original owner of my set of these mags, met some of the bands featured and obtained their autographs.
Unbowed and Unrepentant - Long Live the Pretty Things! One of the greatest rock'n'roll groups of all time - scarier, dirtier and more authentic than the Stones themselves (in my opinion), the Pretty Things could tackle any genre and excel in its execution. From blues to R&B to psych to prog to arena rock to power pop, they made the journey and continue to create their unique brand of Pretty Things Music, for which we fans are most grateful. Their last album, Balboa Island, was one of their strongest efforts to date. At this time, I am eagerly awaiting the deluxe edition of Parachute, their 1971 album, which was given the title of best album of the year by Rolling Stone magazine. To me, Parachute ranks at the very top along side S. F. Sorrow as the best PT albums. A dream of mine is to be able to meet Phil May and Wally Waller, my two favorite members, and tell them how much their music has meant to me.
Here are some scans from my Pretty Things collection, generously given to me by my friend, Jeff. "Come and See Me"is one of my favorite early Pretties tracks - sorry about the poor quality of the clip, but the music and humor certainly make it worth it!
Upcoming bands to be featured here include Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, the Nashville Teens, more Gerry and the Pacemakers, more Searchers, more Yardbirds...so stay tuned. Sorry for the lack of updates recently - real life has interfered with my hobbies tremendously of late...
Presented for your reading pleasure - a classic article on Mersey Beat from one of the greatest magazines ever, Record Collector. This segment is part of a larger 20 page section on the Mersey Beat phenomenon of the Sixties. Liverpool produced some amazing bands and songwriters, most of whom never reached the level of fame and respect that the Beatles attained. I am also sharing a YouTube posting (by Sids60sSounds) of The Big Three's first single. The Big Three were considered the best live band in Liverpool with a wild, raucous sound pre-dating the power trios of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream!
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