Music and sidetracks of the 50s, 60s and 70s, more or less related, or not, to my Australian song history site "WHERE DID THEY GET THAT SONG?" at POPARCHIVES.COM.AU
From my website's front page series about lesser known artists who performed the original versions of Australian or NZ records.
See also: the full collection of over 30 Obscure Originators features.
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The consensus is that Willie Harpershould have been better known. It's safe to say that more people have heard his voice than would know his name.
Right from the start of Ernie K-Doe's hit Mother-In-Law (1961 #1 USA, #8 Australia), you hear a deep voice singing and repeating the single word Mother-in-law. That's Benny Spellman, but the voice that echoes him, there and throughout the song, is Willie Harper.
New Kind Of Love (1962) was one of several singles recorded byHarperfor the Alon and Sansu labels, both co-owned byAllen Toussaint, the major New Orleans producer, songwriter, arranger, singer and pianist.
Harperwas a constant presence in the background of Toussaint'sstudio productions, and his own releases were typically written, produced or arranged byToussaint. A Willie And Allen single from 1967 is by Harperand Toussaint.
The composer of New Kind Of Love is Earl King, another multi-skilled New Orleans musician. Although the recording is admired by R&B and soul fans, it had only localised success at the time.
Australian pop starRay Brown released his version of New Kind Of Love in February 1967, the B-side of a double-sided hit with The Same Old Song (#12 Australia).
From my website's front page series about lesser known artists who performed the original versions of Australian or NZ records.
See also: the full collection of over 30 Obscure Originators features.
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Johnny Yukon's real name was Ben Gabus. He was from Texas, born in Galveston in 1931, but later lived in Lafayette, Louisiana where he could be heard regularly at the Jury Room Lounge. His composition Ride Away (With A Song In Your Heart) was released by Slim Whitmanin 1954.
AsJohnny Yukon, Ben recorded his own composition Made To Be Loved (1959). It didn't make him famous, but it charted #25 in Italy, and it had a good run Down Under through local cover versions.
In 1960 it was recorded twice in Australia: by top Sydney deejayJohn Laws, and by a new young talent called Adam, an alias of Ian B. McLeod, the enduring country music artist, producer and record label owner from Warragamba NSW.
Neither of those records was a commercial success in Australia, but in New Zealand it was recorded by The Keil Isles, also in 1960. They were a popular Auckland rock'n'roll band formed by Samoan-born Olaf Keil and his cousin Freddie Keilwith a line-up that included other members of theKeil family.
Chart placings are hard to pin down for New Zealand in the 1960s, but Warwick Freeman's retrospective chart placesThe Keil Isles'version of Made To Be Loved at #3 New Zealand.
Ben Gabus released Made To Be Loved again in 1964, this time as Ben Gabus. This is sometimes mistaken for the original version, partly because of confusion between two record labels with the same name and catalogue numbers.
In his later yearsBen lived in Lexington, South Carolina and ran the Ben Gabus Tree Service. ____________________
Footage of Sounds Incorporated opening for The Beatles in Australia on their 1964 world tour makes it clear why they got the gig. This rocking, mainly instrumental, six-piece bandfrom Kent are still a joy to watch, even if the video quality isn't terrific.
They expertly played saxophones, flutes, guitars, keyboards and drums, with an act full of energetic, often comical, physical moves. They knew how to put on a show, and their stage experience came from backing pre-Merseybeat American stars touring Britain, including Eddy Cochran with whom they also recorded.
Apart from the quality of their work,Sounds Incorporatedwere the ideal band to open for The Beatles. Audiences of Beatlemaniacs might have fidgeted through a lesser vocal-and-guitar group, while they waited impatiently for the biggest vocal-and-guitar group ever. Sounds Incorporated were something altogether different, and so entertaining that I'm guessing nobody even thought of yelling out, "We want the Beatles!"
Both bands were managed by Brian Epstein. Sounds Incorporated supported The Beatles
again in 1965 in the US and Canada, and members of Sounds Incorporated formed the brass section on the Beatles track Good Morning, Good Morning on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
The Spartans was the first Sounds Incorporated record to chart, in Britain and in Australia. In Britain it was followed by one other, but in Australia it set off a series of charting singles that lasted into 1965.
Here are all the charting singles (Top 75) bySounds Incorporatedin Britain and Australia.
Britain April 1964 The Spartans #30 July 1964 Spanish Harlem #35
Australia July 1964 The Spartans #5 Aug 1964 Spanish Harlem #22 Aug 1964 Rinky Dink #22 Sept 1964 William Tell Overture #2 Sept 1964 Maria #2 Jan 1965 Light Cavalry #71 March 1965 Cast Your Fate To The Wind #20 March 1965 Hall Of The Mountain King #58
I have written before about Australians' fondness for an instrumental track. It helps to explain why Sounds Incorporated records did so well in Australia. It is also fair to assume that the impression they made on
the trendsetters at the Australian Beatles shows would have played a
role.
The Spartans was written by Russ Conway (b. Trevor Stanford 1925-2000), a star British pianist and composer who had nineteen Top 40 hits 1957-1963 including Side Saddle (1957 #1 UK) and Roulette (1959 #1).
Sounds Incorporated rearranged The Spartans to feature the alto flute as lead instrument after listening to a demo recording. Saxophonist-keyboardist Barrie Cameron told Disc magazine in 1964 that they were emulating a sound developed on stage while backing Brenda Lee on tour in the UK.
Composer Russ Conway performed The Spartans himself on stage in April 1964 in a benefit concert for the son of recently deceased singing star Michael Holliday, a longtime friend since their days together in the Navy. It was released in July 1964 on an album, Tribute To Michael Holliday. The YouTube post of the track includes the full liner notes.
Conway's performance offers a contrast to the Sounds Incorporated version. It has a majestic feel, not unlike a theme for an epic historical film (it reminds me a little of piano duo Ferrante & Teicher). It is still stirring, but in a different way.
The composition's US copyright registration adds an alternative title, Spartacus. The titleSpartacus (The Spartans)is seen on a more guitar-based German single by Liverpool band Ian & The Zodiacs (1965) and on German issues of their album Star-Club Show 7 (1965). A re-orchestrated track by Les Reed And His Orchestra on their album Love Is All (1969) is also Spartacus (The Spartans).
An Australian footnote: Essex-born Trevor White hadbeen a member of Sounds Incorporated when the band broke up in Australia in 1971. He stayed on to become a permanent Australian resident, first becoming known here for his starring role in the original Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar (1972). White was not in Sounds Incorporated for the Beatles tours or charting singles 1964-65, as he did not join the band until 1968 upon Barrie Cameron's departure.
Selected sources: • "No vocals for us, say Sounds Inc.", Disc, 9 May 1964 (Barrie Cameron on recording The Spartans) • "Sounds Incorporated", Record Mirror, 9 March 1968 (Sounds Incorporated's new organist Trevor White will be joining the group when Barry Cameron leaves in mid-March ...) (Links are to digitised copies at WorldRadioHistory.com)
Sounds Incorporated - The Spartans (released April 1964, recorded in January)
Sounds Incorporated - The Spartans live on Beatles tour, Australia (July 1964)
Russ Conway - The Spartans, live in concert (June 1964)
Ian & The Zodiacs - Spartacus (The Spartans) (1965)
Les Reed And His Orchestra With The Eddie Lester Singers - Spartacus (The Spartans) (1969)
