Tommy Steele

Tommy Bruce And the Bruisers

Tommy Bruce (16 July 1937 – 10 July 2006) was an English rock and roll singer who had most of his success in the early 1960s. His cover version of "Ain't Misbehavin'" was a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1960.
He was born Thomas Charles Joseph Bruce, in Stepney, London. Both his parents died when he was a child and he grew up in an orphanage, later working as a van driver in Covent Garden Market before undertaking National Service in Belgium.

Returning to London in 1959, and working again as a market porter, he became a friend of his neighbour, songwriter Barry Mason. Mason suggested he record a version of the song "Ain't Misbehavin'", written by Fats Waller, in a style similar to "Chantilly Lace", a recent hit single by the Big Bopper. Produced by Norrie Paramor and released on Columbia Records, Bruce's recording rose to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1960. He had no musical training, and described his own "sandpaper and gravel" singing voice with a strong London accent as "diabolical".

Backed by the Bruisers, a group of Birmingham musicians, he toured the UK on large variety bills with Billy Fury and others and they made a number of television appearances. However, his subsequent record releases were less successful, only "Broken Doll" and "Babette" making the Top 50. From 1963, he became a regular performer on the ITV variety show Stars and Garters, becoming involved in comedy routines as well as singing. Although he recorded further songs for a number of labels between 1965 and 1969, he largely made a living in cabaret, much of it in Spain and Malta, and also made appearances on the 1960s nostalgia circuit.

Tommy Bruce sang "Two Left Feet" to the opening credits of the 1963 film of the same name.

Here is "Ain't Misbehavin" Columbia 45-DB 4453 1960 Enjoy.

The Country Gentlemen

The Country Gentlemen

Formed
1963, Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

Disbanded
1967

Members
Peter Cowap (guitar), Leo Laherty (drums), Nick Duvall (bass, 1963-66), Alan Doyle (rhythm guitar, 1963-64), Terry Morton (rhythm guitar, 1964-66), Rod Clare (bass, 1966-67), Geoff Foot [aka Jeff Smith] (rhythm guitar, 1966-67), Frank Dwyer (keyboards, 1966-67)
The Country Gentlemen were a Manchester, England-spawned trio (later a quartet) who never quite emerged beyond regional success, despite releasing one influential single of their own and three more as a backing group, plus getting a lot of exposure at various well-known clubs, including the Cavern in Liverpool. They were put together in 1963 by guitarist Peter Cowap, late of the skiffle group the Moonrakers, the rock & roll band Deke Bonner & the Tremors, and Jimmy Justice's backing band. An argument with Justice led Cowap to organize the new group, the name of which came from his own preferred model of Gretsch guitar. With Cowap on lead guitar and vocals, the band's lineup was filled out by his former Tremors bandmate Nick Duval on bass, with Leo Laherty playing drums. They were successful locally playing their brand of R&B-flavored British beat music, and shared a bill with the Beatles -- then a very prominent up-and-coming band -- on at least one occasion in the spring of 1963. Cowap was very much the star of the outfit, a guitarist extraordinaire with a sound that encompassed Buddy Holly-style rockabilly and Chet Atkins' smooth, articulate country playing.

In the spring of 1963, the trio was signed to English Decca and made its debut soon after with a British beat-style rendition of "Greensleeves" (in Cowap's arrangement), backed with "Baby Jean," issued in the late fall of 1963. Although the record failed to chart in England, it apparently inspired several imitators, including the Manchester-based Scorpions and the German group the Lords, who enjoyed hits with similar renditions of the A-side in Holland and Germany, respectively. They also toured England as the backing group for pop/rock vocalist Billie Davis (of "Tell Him" fame). They also went through a succession of rhythm guitarists, including Alan Doyle (later of the Toggery Five) and Terry Morton (formerly of Wayne Fontana & the Jets), who later joined the Scorpions. At one point in 1965, they seemed to have the inside track for access to a new song by Manchester-based composer Graham Gouldman, entitled "Look Through Any Window." But a prior commitment by his publisher to the more established Manchester band the Hollies resulted in their getting first crack at the song, which reached the U.K. Top Five in their version.

The group next appeared as the backing band for female singer Little Frankie on a string of three singles, all written by Gouldman with Charles Silverman and Harvey Lisbert, the management team for Herman's Hermits. Those releases failed to chart -- though Cowap's contact with Silverman and Lisbert would prove fortuitous in the years to come -- and the following year the band lost Nick Duval. He was succeeded by Rod Clare, who had previously played with outfits such as Jerry Lee & the Staggerlees (who later renamed themselves the Emperors of Rhythm), a group best remembered today for the presence of a young Eric Stewart on guitar. They became a quartet with Frank Dwyer on keyboards, and a sextet with Geoff Foot as their last rhythm guitarist. The group soldiered on through 1967, without getting another record issued before calling it quits that year. Peter Cowap went on to work with Gouldman and played with various outfits, including the Downliners Sect and the Tony Jackson Group, and he eventually joined the latter-day Herman's Hermits.

Here is "Greensleeves" Decca ‎– F.11766 1963 Enjoy.

The Liverbirds

The Liverbirds were a British all-female beat group, based in Liverpool, active between 1963 and 1968. The hard-rocking quartet (consisting of vocalist-guitarist Valerie Gell, guitarist-vocalist Pamela Birch, bassist-vocalist Mary McGlory and drummer Sylvia Saunders) was one of the very few female bands on the Merseybeat scene. Indeed, they were one of the few self-contained all-woman rock and roll bands anywhere in the world at the time. The band took their name from the liver bird, a fictional creature which is the symbol of their native Liverpool.
Gell, Saunders and McGlory formed the band in 1963, along with guitarist Sheila McGlory (Mary McGlory's sister) and vocalist Irene Green, both of whom quickly left to join other bands and were replaced by Birch.

They achieved more commercial success in Germany than in their native Britain. Early in their career, they followed in the footsteps of fellow Liverpudlians and made their way to Hamburg, Germany where they performed at the Star-Club, following The Beatles' own tenure, being billed as die weiblichen Beatles (the female Beatles). According to John Lennon, however, "girls" were unable to play guitars. The Liverbirds became one of the top attractions at the Star-Club and they released two albums and several singles. One of those singles, a cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddley Daddy" rose as high as #5 on the German charts.

The group broke up in 1968, after a tour to Japan. They last played together in 1998.
Three members of the band settled in Germany permanently. Saunders left and resided, with her husband John, in Alicante, Spain. John died on 2 April 2017 and Sylvia is now living in Glasgow. Mary McGlory runs a Hamburg-based company called Ja/Nein Musikverlag (which translates as "Yes/No Music Publishing") which she started together with her husband, one of their former colleagues from the Star-Club: German singer and songwriter Frank Dostal, until he died in April 2017. Her husband was also vice chairman of the German performance rights organization GEMA.

Pamela Birch (born Pamela Anne Burch, 9 August 1944, in Kirkdale, Liverpool), also settled in Hamburg and worked for many years in the city's clubs. She died on 27 October 2009 at the age of 65, at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Valerie Gell (born 14 August 1945, in Seaforth), who settled in Munich but later returned to Hamburg, died on 11 December 2016, aged 71.

Here is "Johnny B Goode" Star-Club Show 4 1964 Enjoy.

Jimmy Justice

James Anthony Bernard Little (born 15 December 1939, Carshalton, Surrey, England), known by his stage name Jimmy Justice, is a former English pop singer. He scored three Top 40 hits in the UK in 1962.
As a young man, James Little befriended Dave and George Sweetnam, who were stepbrothers of Emile Ford. Because of this, Little was occasionally invited to sing with the Checkmates, and was encouraged by Ford to start his own group. After competing in a talent show he was noticed by executives from EMI, but he eventually signed with Pye Records instead at the urging of Ford. His debut single, credited to "JJ & the Jury", was 1960's "I Understand". While "the Jury" was the name used for Justice's subsequent backing band, on this first recording he is backed by the Checkmates.

Despite the single's lack of success, Pye offered him a three-year recording contract. While visiting his girlfriend, who lived in Sweden, he sang in clubs and on radio and television, resulting in his first major exposure; eventually, he would score a major hit in Sweden with the tune "Little Lonely One", originally by the Jarmels. He remained in Sweden during the time that his records began to break in the UK, with three of them hitting the UK Singles Chart in 1962; "When My Little Girl Is Smiling" (#9, March), "Ain't That Funny" (#8, June), and "Spanish Harlem" (#20, August). His version of "When My Little Girl Is Smiling" had competition from both the Drifters original cut (UK #31) and Craig Douglas' cover (UK #9).

Because of his general absence in UK at the time his records hit the charts, he was unable to capitalize fully on his popularity in his home country. Meanwhile, Kapp Records picked up "When My Little Girl Is Smiling" for distribution in the U.S., where it peaked at #127. His records were also popular throughout continental Europe and in Australia.

Justice released two full-length albums in 1963 (I Wake Up Crying and Justice for All!) but soon faded in the wake of the beat group explosion. The former included a cover of Clyde McPhatter's hit "Since You've Been Gone".

In 2001, fifty of his Pye recordings were released on two compact discs by Castle Music.
He lives in Purley with his wife Sally, and has two grown up children Elliott and Layla, who live nearby.

Here is "When My little girl is Smiling" PYE 7N 15421 1962 Enjoy.

Peanut

Although it wasn’t until the 1970s that Katherine Farthing found success as half of soul-lite duo Mac and Katie Kissoon, she was no newcomer to the music business. The Trinidad-born singer had cut a swathe of great records in the 1960s. The best are, arguably, as tear-stained soloist Peanut, but she also worked with her brother Gerry and others as part of, first, The Marionettes and, later, The Rag Dolls.

Peanut was born Katherine Farthing in 11 March 1951 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. (Confusion has arisen over the exact date of her birth because of the American system of inverting days and months – i.e. setting out dates in the month-day-year order, rather than the European day-month-year fashion. This has caused some to believe to her date of birth to be 3 November 1951.)

Known as Katie, she set sail for Britain as a child with her family. From an early age, she became an eager performer for her relatives and friends alike and eventually set her sights on becoming a professional singer. Her brother, Gerry, harboured similar ambitions.

In 1964, the pair joined Lance Ring and Pauline Sibbles to form boy-girl foursome The Marionettes. The group was managed by Valerie Avon, a former member of The Avons, who landed them a contract with the Decca label.

By that time, Marty Wilde’s career as a hit singer was over and he was looking for other projects to keep him busy alongside the occasional return to the recording studio.

He took over production duties on The Marionettes’ debut single, the excellent Whirpool of love. He also managed to slip one of his own compositions, Nobody but you, onto the B-side. Issued in January 1965, the record failed to garner enough airplay to give the group a hit and its failure signified the end of the group’s stay at Decca. (Wilde would later write for other Brit girls, such as The Breakaways, Lulu and Sandie Shaw.)

It wasn’t long before Avon had secured the group a new recording deal, this time at Parlophone. There, they issued a cover of The Drifters’ Under the boardwalk as their follow-up single, in June 1965. Peter Snell produced the record, and Avon supplied the B-side, Was it me.

Avon also singled out Katie as a potential solo star, and landed her a separate deal with Pye, where she would be known as Peanut.

What followed must have been a confusing time for Katie, as one day she would be working with the group at Parlophone and the next she would be on her own at Pye. Indeed, her debut solo single came out just weeks after The Marionettes’ 45.

Her solo release, Thank goodness for the rain – another Avon composition, written under her real name, Valerie Murtagh – was a slice of teen angst. “He’s coming down the street, he’s bound to stop and speak,” she sobbed. “What can I do, what can I say? He mustn’t see the tears in my eyes – oh, thank goodness for the rain…”

That autumn Katie issued further discs for both Pye and Parlophone. The first, the Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil-penned Home of the brave, was a take on Jody Miller’s US hit, which, as Peanut, she delivered in a suitably bratty, nasal style. The second, issued the same month, was Raining, it’s pouring, credited to The Marionettes.

Almost incredibly, a third Marionettes 45, At the end of the day, followed just a month later.

Despite their frequency, none of these records proved a hit. However, Parlophone refused to lose faith in The Marionettes. The group was despatched into the studio to cut the terrifically catchy Like a man, which had been penned by Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance. The song has also been recorded by other artists, including the Two of Clubs and the New Faces, and is sometimes known as Walk tall or (Walk tall) Like a man. Released in February 1966, the disc should have given the group their breakthrough hit but it wasn’t to be. It proved the foursome’s final outing.

Katie’s solo career as Peanut was also proving slow. Her third 45 hit the shops in October 1966, a full year after its predecessor. By this time, she had switched label, joining Columbia. The song was a jangling, banjo-driven take on The Beach Boys’ Pet sounds album track I’m waiting for the day. Produced by Mark Wirtz, it remains one of her finest – and most sought-after – recordings. Surprisingly, however, it was met with complete indifference by the record-buying public.

A second single for Columbia, the aching I didn’t love him anyway, another Wirtz production, fared no better. This was another generous serving of Shangri-Las styled teen melodrama. As her boyfriend finishes with her, she insists, “I knew what he was going to say, but I’m alright. I didn’t love him anyway.”

Bosses at the record company felt the singer still had potential, so they put her back with her brother – this time as part of a new group, The Rag Dolls.

The group’s debut single, Never had so much loving, was produced by Bob Barratt. Issued in October 1967, the song was a galloping Phil Spector-styled number that featured male lead vocals and had the girls giving their all on back-ups.

A second release, My old man’s a groovy old man, was a somewhat repetitive track that again featured the boys on lead vocals. Again, the single was produced by Bob Barratt and arranged and conducted by Tony Meehan. However, it died upon release in March 1968. With it went The Rag Dolls.

It would be another year or so before Peanut would resurface – still with Columbia, but now known as Katie Kissoon. She issued the single Don’t let it rain in 1969 for the label, without success.

Within a year, she was reunited once again with her brother Gerry. Now signed to the smaller Young Blood label, the pair’s previous lack of success was whitewashed from their press biographies. Indeed, the brother-and-sister act were renamed Mac and Katie Kissoon to complete their transformation.

It was in this guise that they enjoyed their greatest success. Their brand of bubblegum soul saw them score both in the UK and overseas. They hit big first in the Netherlands, where they topped the charts with Sing along in 1972 and enjoyed a string of hits throughout the decade, with songs such as Love will keep us together (1973) and Lavender blue and Love and understanding (1979). In 1975, their popularity spread to the UK, where they had three top 20 hits with Sugar candy kisses, Don’t do it baby and Like a butterfly that year.

When the hits dried up, Katie found work as a session singer. She went on to supply backing vocals for a variety of artists over the following decade and into the 1990s, including Elkie Brooks, Elton John and Robbie Williams.

Here is "Thank Goodness For the Rain" PYE  7N 15901 1965 Enjoy.

Helen Shapiro

Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is an English pop singer, jazz singer and actress. She is best known for her two 1961 UK chart toppers, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness" both recorded when she was just fourteen years old.
Shapiro was born at Bethnal Green Hospital in the East End district of Bethnal Green, London. Her early childhood was spent in a Clapton council flat in the London borough of Hackney, where she attended Northwold Primary School and Clapton Park Comprehensive School until Christmas 1961. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants; her parents, who were piece-workers in the garment industry, attended Lea Bridge Road Synagogue. The family moved from Clapton to the Victoria Park area of Hackney, on the Parkside Estate, when she was nine. "It was, and remains, a beautiful place," she said in a 2006 interview.

Although too poor to own a record player, Shapiro's parents encouraged music in their home (she had to borrow a neighbour's player to hear her first single). Shapiro played banjolele as a child and sang with her brother Ron occasionally in his youth club skiffle group. She had a deep timbre to her voice, unusual in a girl not yet in her teens: school friends gave her the nickname "Foghorn".

Aged ten, Shapiro was a singer with "Susie and the Hula Hoops," (with her cousin, 60s singer, Susan Singer) a school band which included Marc Bolan (then using his real name of Mark Feld) as guitarist. At 13 she started singing lessons at The Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing, based in London's Baker Street, after the school produced singing star Alma Cogan. "I had always wanted to be a singer. I had no desire to slavishly follow Alma's style, but chose the school merely because of Alma's success", she said in a 1962 interview. Burman's connections eventually led her to a young Columbia Records A&R man named John Schroeder, who recorded a demo of Shapiro singing "Birth of the Blues".
In 1961, aged fourteen, she had a UK No. 3 hit with her first single, "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" and two number one hits in the UK, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness". The latter did not top the UK chart until 19 October 1961, by which time Shapiro had reached 15. Both singles sold over a million copies, earning Helen Shapiro two gold discs. Her next single release, "Tell Me What He Said", peaked at No. 2, achieving her first four single releases in the top three of the UK Singles Chart. Most of her recording sessions were at EMI's studios at Abbey Road in north west London. Her mature voice made her an overnight sensation, as well as the youngest female chart topper in the UK.

Shapiro's final UK Top Ten hit single was with the ballad "Little Miss Lonely", which peaked at No. 8 for two weeks in 1962. Shapiro's recording manager at the time was Norrie Paramor.

Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain's "Top Female Singer". The Beatles first national tour of Britain, in the late winter/early spring of 1963, was as one of her supporting acts. During the course of the tour, the Beatles had their first hit single and John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song "Misery" for her, but Shapiro did not record the composition.In 1995, during a This Is Your Life highlighting her life and career, Shapiro revealed, "It was actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it, actually. I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It's a shame, really." Shapiro lip-synched her then-current single, "Look Who It Is", on the British television programme Ready Steady Go! with three of the Beatles (John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison).

In 1962, Shapiro appeared as herself in the Billy Fury film Play It Cool, and played the lead female role in Richard Lester's movie, It's Trad, Dad!, which co-starred another early 60s hitmaker, Craig Douglas. On 31 December 1969, Shapiro appeared on the BBC/ZDF co-production Pop Go The Sixties, singing "Walkin' Back to Happiness".

By the time she was in her late teens, her career as a pop singer was on the wane. With the new wave of beat music and newer female singers such as Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu, Shapiro appeared old-fashioned and emblematic of the pre-Beatles, 50s era. As her pop career declined, Shapiro turned to cabaret appearances, touring the workingmen's clubs of the North East of England. Her final cabaret show took place at Peterlee's Senate Club on 6 May 1972, where she announced she was giving up touring as she was "travel-weary" and had had enough of "living out of a suitcase". Later, after a change of mind, she branched out as a performer in stage musicals, and jazz (being her first love musically).
She played the role of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! in London's West End and appeared in a British television soap opera, Albion Market, where she played one of the main characters until it was taken off air in August 1986. Shapiro also played the part of Sally Bowles in "Cabaret" and starred in "Seesaw" to great critical acclaim.

Between 1984 and 2001, she toured extensively with legendary British jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band, whilst still performing her own jazz and pop concerts. Her one-woman show "Simply Shapiro" ran from 1999 to the end of 2002, when she finally bade farewell to show business.

Her autobiography, published in 1993, was entitled Walking Back to Happiness. She appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's 'The Reunion' in August 2012. In March 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 3's 'Good Morning Sunday'
Helen Shapiro has been married since 31 August 1988 to John Judd (real name, John Williams), an actor with numerous roles in British television and cinema. She is a convert from Judaism to Christianity and is associated with the evangelical Jews for Jesus group.

Here is "Don't Treat me like a Child" Columbia Record Label DB 4589 1961 Enjoy.

John Leyton

John Dudley Leyton (born 17 February 1936) is an English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song "Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961 despite being banned by the BBC for its death references. His follow-up single, "Wild Wind", reached number two in the charts.

Alongside singing, Leyton's acting career saw him appearing in television and films throughout the 1960s. His films included The Great Escape, Guns at Batasi, Von Ryan's Express and Krakatoa, East of Java. In 2009 he also had a small part in the film Telstar, a biopic based on Joe Meek's life in which Leyton himself was portrayed by Callum Dixon.
Leyton went to Highgate School and after completing his national service, he studied drama, paying his way through drama school with bit-part roles in films and on television. His first major acting role was his portrayal of Ginger in a 1960 Granada TV adaptation of Biggles, which earned him a large following of young female fans and led to the formation of a John Leyton fan club.
Following the success of Biggles, Leyton was persuaded by his manager, Robert Stigwood, to audition as a singer for record producer Joe Meek, and subsequently recorded a cover version of "Tell Laura I Love Her", which was released on the Top Rank label. In 1961 though, the Top Rank label was taken over by EMI who then issued Leyton's records on their HMV label. EMI had already released Ricky Valance's version of the same song. Leyton's recording was withdrawn from sale, whilst Valance's version reached number one in the UK chart.

A second single, "The Girl on the Floor Above", was released on the HMV label, but was not a success. His first big hit, "Johnny Remember Me", coincided with his appearance as an actor in the popular ATV television series Harpers West One, in which he played a singer named Johnny Saint Cyr. Leyton performed "Johnny Remember Me" during the show (backed by the Outlaws), and the single subsequently charted at Number 1. His next single, "Wild Wind", reached number two in the UK Singles Chart, and later singles also achieved lower chart positions.

On 15 April 1962, Leyton performed at the NME Poll-Winners Concert at London's Wembley Pool. But in 1963, Meek and Goddard's association with Leyton ended; that circumstance, combined with the British beat boom, cast Leyton adrift immediately, although he found a lot of acting work in television and film to keep him busy. Despite trying to give Leyton's music more of a 'group' sound by giving him a backing group, The LeRoys, his chart career faded out by the beginning of 1964. In that same year, according to the music journalist Bob Stanley, 'Leyton headlined a tour with up and coming support act the Rolling Stones. Very quickly, it became apparent that the Stones were more popular than the headline act and Leyton, with great dignity, abandoned his pop career on the spot to concentrate on acting.
Leyton was a familiar face in film and television during the 1960s. He played himself in the 1962 Dick Lester film It's Trad, Dad!, performing his latest single "Lonely City" in a radio studio. In The Great Escape (1963) he played tunnel designer Willie Dickes, one of the only three characters who successfully make it to freedom. Leyton also cut a single with lyrics to Elmer Bernstein's theme to the film. He also appeared in Guns at Batasi in 1964; Every Day's a Holiday (aka Seaside Swingers in the United States) and Von Ryan's Express starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard in 1965. In Krakatoa, East of Java, in 1969 he played the designer of a diving bell.

From 1966 to 1967, Leyton played the lead role as SOE Royal Navy Lieutenant Nicholas Gage, an expert in demolitions, in Jericho, an American TV series about espionage in the Second World War.
He returned to Britain in the early 1970s and unsuccessfully attempted to re-launch his singing career, signing to the York record label in 1973. A single, "Dancing in the Graveyard c/w. Riversong (York SYK 551) & an L.P., "John Leyton" (York FYK 416) was released that year. A year later (1974) Leyton's cover version of the Kevin Johnson hit, "Rock 'n' Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life c/w. Highway Song. York YR 210.)" was issued in the UK but without success. In the mid 1970s, Leyton starred in the ITV television series, The Nearly Man. Acting roles became fewer and farther between during the 1970s, and by the early 1980s, he was no longer active in show business.

In the 1990s, however, he began performing in the Solid Gold Rock'n'Roll Show, appearing with artists such as Marty Wilde and Joe Brown. The autumn 2004 tour featured Leyton, Showaddywaddy, Freddy Cannon and Craig Douglas. Leyton has also returned to acting, with a cameo appearance in the 2005 film, Colour Me Kubrick starring John Malkovich.

In May 2006, Leyton released "Hi Ho, Come On England", a re-working of Jeff Beck's "Hi Ho Silver Lining", to coincide with the World Cup in Germany. During the summer of 2007 he filmed a cameo appearance for the Nick Moran film, Telstar. Leyton also topped the bill at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, along with 1960s stars Jess Conrad and Craig Douglas at a concert named "'60s Icons".

Leyton continues to tour the UK and Scandinavia performing his hits (sometimes backed by the Rapiers) and can boast an internet following with his official website. In 2014, John continued to tour with his band, the Flames, featuring John James on guitar, Ray Royal on drums and Charlie Gardner on bass guitar and Jeff Jefferson on rhythm guitar.

Here is "Wild Wind" Top Rank International ‎– JAR-585 1961 Enjoy.

The Castle Kings

A BORDERS rock and roll group who infuriated members of The Beatles. The Castle Kings packed out dance halls across Scotland during a seven-year spell from 1958 to 1965. And now four of its veteran ex-bandmates – 65-year-old guitarist John Cowan and drummer Mike Whellans, 68, both from Lauder, Greenlaw’s keyboard player Tommy Turnbull, 73, and Norman Small, 70 – have decided to host a comeback performance in the Lauderdale Hotel for their first public show since 1986. Among the group’s favourite moments include playing in the same hall as Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison before the trio formed Britain’s most successful band.
Norman, The Castle Kings’ vocalist from Duns, said: “We played with The Quarrymen in Hawick Town Hall around 1960. The only Beatle not in the group was Ringo Starr. “I remember they arrived in a London taxi and we thought they looked a bit rough. “I recall that they were annoyed because we were playing all the material they were planning to perform such as Chuck Berry covers. There were barriers up all round the stage to stop people jumping up and dancing – our gigs could be wild.” Mike Whellans said: “I remember they had just come back from the Star Club in Hamburg, but Pete Best, who was their drummer, had a German girlfriend and stayed over there. “When they returned they played six dates in Scotland, kicking off in Hawick with a semi-professional called Dougie Moore on drums.
“We shared a small room with the Quarrymen backstage, and I remember John Lennon spoke to us but Paul McCartney and George Harrison said nothing. I think they were not happy because we had played all the Chuck Berry songs in our set. “They were all dressed in black leather, which you could pick up cheaply in Germany. “I remember not being impressed with the band and McCartney’s guitar sounded out of tune the whole time. “Myself and Norman shook hands with Lennon as he left and he said ‘All the best lads’ – we have managed to get a lot of pints out of that claim to fame.
“It must have been one of their last appearances as The Quarrymen. The next time I saw them was on TV show Crackerjack and they were called The Beatles.
“Hawick Town Hall hosted a lot of big names in the 60s and Hawick was a vibrant boom town.” Formed in Greenlaw, the Castle Kings were named after the Castle Hotel owned by the parents of a founding member, Harry Smith. It was not long before The Castle Kings were belting out music and catching the eye of TV bosses and venue owners. They played on the same bill as American pop star PJ Proby in Carlisle, where the group also played to mark the first viewing of ITV Border in the south of Scotland. And the Kinks, the Merseybeats and the Swinging Blue Jeans were also on the same line-up as the Castle Kings during the Borders band’s existence.
Norman added: “We made it to number eight in the Scottish charts and played from Aberdeen down to Stockton-on-Tees. “The only time we appeared in Glasgow was to open for Lulu at the Clydeside Club and when we came second to Dean Ford and the Gaylords, who went on to have a hit as Marmalade with Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, in a Scottish rock band competition. We hated them for that! “We were offered the chance to play for three months at the Star Club in Hamburg, where the Beatles famously performed for seven weeks in 1962. But we were told we would not be paid until we got home, which is why the Beatles were forced to sleep on a floor. We all had jobs and were not prepared to do that.” The Castle Kings – whose past members also included Ainsley Purves of Greenlaw, Berwick’s Bob Smith, Ian Wease of Eyemouth and Jimmy Hay of Kelso – called time on the band in October 1965 with a farewell show at Haggerston Castle, near Berwick. “It was an amicable decision,” said Norman, who now lives in Livingston. “Everybody was going their different ways.” A comeback performance was held in Caesar’s Palace, Berwick, 21 years after the break-up. But Saturday is the first public Castle Kings gig since then, and is the result of demand from fans. “There is still interest,” Norman said. “Wherever myself or Mike play we often have people come up to us and say ‘I remember you from the Castle Kings’.

Here is "Loch Lomond" Atlantic Label ATL. 70.056 1961 Enjoy.

Nancy Wilson

Nancy Sue Wilson (February 20, 1937 – December 13, 2018) was an American singer whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid–1950s until her retirement in the early–2010s. She was notable for her single "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of the standard "Guess Who I Saw Today". Wilson recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards for her work. During her performing career Wilson was labeled a singer of blues, jazz, R&B, pop, and soul, a "consummate actress", and "the complete entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song stylist". She received many nicknames including "Sweet Nancy", "The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the Honey-Coated Voice".
Nancy Sue Wilson was born on February 20, 1937 in Chillicothe, Ohio, the first of six children of Olden Wilson, an iron foundry worker, and Lillian Ryan, a maid. Wilson's father would buy records to listen to at home. At an early age Wilson heard recordings from Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, and Jimmy Scott with Lionel Hampton's Big Band. Wilson says: "The juke joint down on the block had a great jukebox and there I heard Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, LaVerne Baker, Little Esther". Wilson became aware of her talent while singing in church choirs, imitating singers as a young child, and performing in her grandmother's house during summer visits. By the age of four, she knew she would eventually become a singer.

At the age of 15, now attending Columbus, Ohio's West High School, Wilson won a talent contest sponsored by the local ABC television station WTVN. The prize was an appearance on a twice-a-week television show, Skyline Melodies, which she later hosted. She also worked clubs on the east side and north side of Columbus, Ohio, from the age of 15 until she graduated from West High School at age 17. Unsure of her future as an entertainer, she entered college to pursue teaching. She spent one year at Ohio's Central State College (now Central State University) before dropping out and following her original ambitions. She auditioned and won a spot with Rusty Bryant's Carolyn Club Big Band in 1956. She toured with them throughout Canada and the Midwest in 1956 to 1958. While in this group, Wilson made her first recording under Dot Records.
Wilson married her first husband, drummer Kenny Dennis, in 1960. They had a son Kenneth ("Kacy") Dennis Jr., but by 1970 they divorced. On May 22, 1973, Wilson married a Presbyterian minister, Reverend Wiley Burton, within a month of meeting. She gave birth to Samantha Burton in 1975, and the couple adopted Sheryl Burton in 1976. As a result of her marriage, she abstained from performing in various venues, such as supper clubs. For the following two decades, she successfully juggled her personal life and her career. In November 1998, both of her parents died; she called this year the most difficult of her life.

In August 2006, Wilson was hospitalized with anemia and potassium deficiency, and was on I.V. sustenance while undergoing a complete battery of tests. She was unable to attend the UNCF Evening of Stars Tribute to Aretha Franklin and had to cancel the engagement. All of her other engagements were on hold pending doctors’ reports.

In March 2008, she was hospitalized for lung complications, recovered, and reported to be doing well. In the same year, her husband, Wiley Burton, died after suffering from renal cancer. On December 13, 2018, Wilson died at her home in Pioneertown, California. She was 81 years old.

"(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" is a song written by Jimmy Williams and Larry Harrison. In the USA, its best-known recorded version is that by Nancy Wilson, a hit single for her, in the summer of 1964. The single went to No. 11 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Pop-Standard Singles chart. Wilson, who had been recording since 1960, was afforded her first Top 40 hit with "...How Glad I Am":

(Nancy Wilson quote:)"I went into the studio with the idea of recording a Top 40 kind of hit [with '...How Glad I Am']. Actually though I didn't sing any differently.....It's the material itself that did it [along with] the arrangement."
In April 1965 "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" received the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording: Wilson was reportedly surprised by the categorization of "...How Glad I Am" as R&B as she would have classed it as a pop record, and the track had not been a major R&B hit peaking at No. 45 on the Cash Box R&B chart (the Billboard R&B chart was dormant throughout 1964).

Nancy Wilson would have one more Top 40 hit subsequent to "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am": "Face It Girl, It's Over", which reached No. 29 in 1968.

Here is "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" Capitol Records ‎– ST-2155 1964 Enjoy.