Peter's Faces

Quartet formed in 1964 by Peter Nelson out of his previous group (Peter Nelson & the Travellers)

, the name Peter's Faces sounded cooler than the group's music evidently did -- one might've hoped for a good, hard mod sound, given their use of the slang term "face," but they were a lot less intense, than, say, the Small Faces or the Who. Nelson sang and played bass, while Tony Hall handled the rhythm guitar and saxophone, John McDonald played lead (succeeded for a time by Vic Briggs, who was billed at the time as Antion Meredith), and Peter Coleman played the drums. They were signed to Pye Records' Piccadilly label and issued three singles during 1964 and 1965: "Why Did You Bring Him to the Dance" b/w "She's in Love," "Wait" b/w "Just Like Romeo and Juliet," and "De-Boom-Lay-Boom" b/w "Suzie Q," none of which ever charted, though this last evidently came close. Nelson tried for a solo career in 1965 as a balladeer on Piccadilly, and later, with Faces member Robin Shaw, he had a hand in forming the Flowerpot Men in conjunction with the members of the Ivy League. They enjoyed some success on Deram Records with "Let's Go to San Francisco" and by 1970, with Nelson and Shaw still aboard, had morphed into White Plains, who had a hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'." Shaw and guitarist Tony Hall reportedly continue to perform in the 21st century as members of the current edition of Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers, working the oldies circuit in England and continental Europe. One of their songs, "I Don't Care," has been released on CD, on the Sequel label's Hippy Hippy Shake: Beat Era, Vol. 2 compilation.Having lacked a commercial breakthrough, the group disbanded, although Peter Nelson continued on as a solo artiste, re-signing with the Piccadilly label and staying with producer John Schroeder. Peter shifted his focus from the beat era musical influence to a more folk-flavoured style. His debut solo disc "Love Will Come Your Way" featured a string arrangement, while "Donna" was a re-make of the Ritchie Valens hit. Appearing on the same show as The Honeycombs and Kenny Lynch, Peter promoted "Donna" on Thank Your Lucky Stars, but the single failed to enter the charts. Peter relates how his next release, Tim Hardin's "Don't Make Promises (You Can't Keep)" was acquired for recording: "If I remember correctly, my manager, Terry Young, managed to get hold of a pre-release acetate of the first Tim Hardin album. I loved the song "Don't Make Promises" and took it to John Schroeder. Fortunately he agreed with me about its quality, and we cut our version of the track. It's still a favourite song of mine." In September 1966, Peter released his final Piccadilly single, the Chip Taylor composition of "A Little Bit Later on Down the Line". (The song became a number 14 hit on the Billboard Country chart in 1968 for Bobby Bare 47-9568.) At this time Peter's former band mate, Robin Shaw, who had become a session singer/musician for Southern Music, suggested that Peter be brought into The Flower Pot Men for live TV appearances and touring. In the summer of 1967, John Carter and Ken Lewis, Southern Music's main song-writing team, had recorded "Let's Go to San Francisco" with studio session men, including Robin Shaw, and as a result of the single becoming a Number 4 UK hit, a group was now required for live appearances. Robin Shaw had also formed a song-writing partnership at this time with Micky Keen who also recorded as part of The Flower Pot Men. Consequently, as a new member, Peter Nelson was added as a vocalist on the further recordings of The Flower Pot Men and when some of its members formed White Plains, Peter joined White Plains and became the featured vocalist on a selection of their singles, including the UK Number 8 hit "Julie Do You Love Me" credited to White Plains with Pete Nelson, "When You Are a King" (UK Number 13) and a recording that had its origin as a Cadbury's chocolate TV jingle, "Step into a Dream" (UK Number 21), from the pens of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. Shortly before the release of "Step into a Dream", Peter had also returned to his solo recording career, releasing two singles for the tiny Peacock label, "Making My Life So Easy" b/w "I'm Not Blind" and "Good Scotch Whisky" b/w "I Am a Ship" with all four tracks produced by Peter's long-time manager Terry Young and musical arrangements by Ivor Raymonde. However, without Peacock having the financial resources and contacts to promote the singles, neither of them charted. Further single releases from White Plains on the Bradleys and PVK labels failed to set the charts afire and by the end of the 1970's Peter had left the music industry and reverted to his family surname of Lipscomb. Peter Nelson passed away on October 23 2005 in Ealing, London as a result of cancer. Here is "Just Like Romeo and Juliet" From 1965 Enjoy