Remo Four - The Pye Singles & Other Singles (1963-1964 UK Beat)

Remo Four - The Pye Singles & Other Singles (1963-1964 UK Beat)
CD (?) To Mp3 256 Kbit/s
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The Remo Four were a 1950s-1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein.

Its members were Colin Manley (born 16 April 1942, in Liverpool, Lancashire died 9 April 1999) (lead guitar/vocals), Philip Rogers (rhythm guitar/bass

guitar/vocals), Don Andrews (born Donald Andrews, in 1942, in Liverpool) (bass guitar/vocals), and Roy Dyke (drums) (born 13 February1945, in Liverpool).

Manley and Andrews formed the Remo Quartet in 1958, with singer/guitarist Keith Stokes and drummer Harry Prytherch. They progressed from playing local parties

and contests to regular hall appearances, and turned professional, changing their name to the Remo Four in summer 1959. They played a mix of vocal harmony

material (a la The Everly Brothers), and instrumental numbers in the manner of The Shadows, The Ventures, and Chet Atkins.

The Remo Four were voted Number Three Group in a 1961 Mersey Beat poll, and among their fans were The Beatles, fresh from a season in Hamburg, Germany.

Both groups were among the regulars at the Cavern Club during 1961 and 1962. While The Beatles travelled back and forth to Hamburg, the Remo Four began

playing American Air Force bases in France, building their stage and musical experience. A highlight of their early career was sharing the stage with the Shadows, in

the latter's only Cavern Club appearance. Johnny Sandon joined the Remos as vocalist in 1962, and stayed for two years.

In early 1963, Prytherch decided to get married and find a regular job, and Roy Dyke took his place in the band. That year the band signed up with Epstein's NEMS

Enterprises and acquired a new lead singer, Tommy Quickly, and a recording contract with Piccadilly Records, backing Quickly on "Tip of My Tongue" and other

songs. The band also released instrumentals, including a driving rendition of Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme.

Different members came and went, including songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington (who later joined Pete Best in a group, that moved to America),

and Tony Ashton (keyboards/vocals), who replaced Don Andrews, with Rogers moving to bass. Another NEMS artist, Billy J. Kramer, became a frontman for the

band, which adopted the name "The New Dakotas" while backing him. Despite their talent and track record, the band's success in the record market was limited, and

most of their work came as backing musicians, or as the house band in German clubs, including the Star-Club in Hamburg. They released an album, Smile!, on the

Star-Club's own label in 1967, featuring elements of rock and jazz.

Late in 1967, Beatle George Harrison hired the Remo Four as his backing band for part of his first solo project, the soundtrack album to the movie Wonderwall.

While the songs were mostly instrumentals, they did record one lyrical song, "In The First Place", with Harrison, which was left in the can until the 1990s. They also

became Billy Fury's backing band, in the late 1960s.

Disbanding in 1970, Ashton went on to form Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, then later Paice, Ashton & Lord with members of Deep Purple. Manley became an

accompanist for singers including Engelbert Humperdinck, and later joined The Swinging Blue Jeans. Manley died of cancer on 9 April 1999, and a memorial concert

was held for him that June. Ashton also died of cancer, on 28 May 2001. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remo_Four


Biography by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com
An obscure Merseybeat band that went through several stylistic changes over the course of their nearly decade-long life, the Remo Four were very popular for a time

in Liverpool around the time the Beatles were still playing in the Cavern, and were even signed by Brian Epstein, but never had anything approaching a hit single. In

the early 1960s they were known both for Shadows-type instruments and harmony vocals with a country & western flavor. Their versatility made them suitable to act

as a backing group for other singers, and they recorded in this capacity with obscure solo vocalists Tommy Quickly, Johnny Sandon, and Gregory Phillips; they

turned down an opportunity to become Billy J. Kramer's backing group, and may have worked with Cilla Black had not her boyfriend, Bobby Willis, objected. The

Remo Four also recorded a couple of average pop-rock singles on their own in the mid-1960s, the best of these being their fairly tough instrumental version of Henry

Mancini's "Peter Gunn." Their first two singles, as well as many sides on which they backed Quickly, Sandon, and Phillips, are available on the See For Miles

compilation The Best of Tommy Quickly, Johnny Sandon, Gregory Phillips, and the Remo Four.

By 1966, the Remo Four were spending most of their time in Hamburg, Germany, where they played the Star Club. Their personnel also altered around this time, and

with the incorporation of organist Tony Ashton, their sound took on far more of a soul-jazz flavor. They did a couple of singles and an album, Smile!, for the Star

Club's label in 1966 and 1967, and these show quite a bit of artistic growth from their Merseybeat days. The Remo Four were now a sophisticated soul-jazz-rock

group with prominent organ, in the mold of other British artists of the era like Graham Bond, Georgie Fame, Zoot Money, and Brian Auger, although they were not

explicitly derivative of any of the aforementioned figures, with hints of the straighter rock approach of the Animals and the Spencer Davis Group. Although they wrote

little original material, their arrangements and interpretations were forceful and imaginative, though by 1967 the approach was getting outdated.

After returning to England, they backed a fading Billy J. Kramer for a while before breaking up. In the late 1990s, however, a surprising find was unearthed of the

Remo Four doing a psychedelic pop track, "In the First Place, " that was produced by George Harrison during the sessions for the Wonderwall soundtrack in 1967.

These were not released in 1967, however; two different mixes of the song were released by Pilar in 1999. After the Remo Four split, Tony Ashton and drummer

Roy Dyke joined guitarist Kim Gardner (formerly of the Birds and the Creation) to form Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, who had an international hit in the early 1970s

with "Resurrection Shuffle."

Tracklist:
01. Tip Of My Tongue - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1963
02. Heaven Only Knows - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1963
03. Lies - The Remo Four (With Johnny Sandon) - 1963
04. Closer To Me - The Remo Four (With Gregory Phillips) - ?
05. Yes - The Remo Four (With Johnny Sandon) - 1963
06. Magic Potion - The Remo Four (With Johnny Sandon) - 1963
07. Kiss Me Now - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1963
08. No Other Love - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1963
09. Prove It - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
10. Haven't You Noticed - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
11. I Wish I Could Shimmy As My Sister Kate - The Remo Four - 1964
12. Peter Gunn - The Remo Four - 1964
13. You Might As Well Forget Him - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
14. It's Simple As That - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
15. Sally Go Round The Roses - The Remo Four - 1964
16. I Know A Girl - The Remo Four - 1964
17. The Wild Side Of Life - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
18. Forget To Other Guy - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
19. Humpty Dumpty - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
20. I Go Crazy - The Remo Four (With Tommy Quickly) - 1964
21. Everybody Knows - The Remo Four (With Gregory Phillips) - 1964

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