Sunday, February 24, 2019

The Zephyrs



This band formed in London in 1961 as Johnny Saville and the Clee-Shays, then became The Zephyrs in 1963. They are NOT related to the group from Stockton on Tees (that band later changed its name to The Zephrons). Jerry Donahue later played with Fairport Convention and the reformed Yardbirds, while Peter Gage played with The Ram Jam Band and Vinegar Joe.
The obscure British Invasion band the Zephyrs released half-a-dozen singles between 1963 and 1965 without any notable success; the only one to make the U.K. charts, "She's Lost You," topped out at a mere Number 48. They were a decent group, though, mixing Merseybeat and R&B influences in different ratios, with an organ that made them a little similar to some other mid-1960s British rock bands with a mildly blues-jazz organ, like the Untamed. They also worked with a couple of important figures of British '60s rock, those being producer Shel Talmy (far more famous for producing the Who and the Kinks in the same period) and then-session guitarist Jimmy Page (who played on some of their tracks, including their best, a ferocious cover of Bo Diddley's "I Can Tell"). Other than that fleeting chart appearance, though, their highest-profile achievement was appearing as Slash Wildly & the Cut-Throats in the 1965 film Be My Guest, in which they played their single "She Laughed." As of 2003, no Zephyrs CD compilation had appeared, making them one of the better little-known British Invasion groups never to be honored with a full-length album of any sort, though a bootleg with ten of their 12 officially released tracks did appear. This bootleg, Zephyrazation, also had some tracks by Vinegar Joe, a '70s British band that included guitarist Pete Gage, who had played (but not recorded) with the Zephyrs.


Here is "I Can Tell" on the Columbia Record Label DB 7199 From 1963 Enjoy.


                                              

1 comment:

  1. Sorry - the photo you are showing is NOT "The Zephyrs" from London!!!

    ReplyDelete

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