Embassy label - The Typhoons - Beatles hits 1963/1964

This month a series of budget cover versions. These records were released mainly between 1960 and 1966, although in the UK the Top Of The Pops series continued deep into the 1970s.
One of the most collectable labels became Embassy. It was the houselabel of British department store Woolworth and their "beat group" were The Typhoons. In fact, there was not such a group as The Typhoons. Their "lead singer" was a session singer called Ray Pilgrim, a former big band singer, who also recorded under dozens of aliases. For the rest The Typhoons were whoever was available for a session in the Oriole studio in New Bond Street (London).
Oriole was taken over by CBS in 1965 and soon after Woolworth decided to stop selling budget records as the standard of living was rapidly rising and people could afford "the real thing".
Ironically CBS revived the Embassy name for a series of budget albums (by the original artists) most of them reissues of CBS albums.

Rating: ***

Discofoon label - The Bottles - Beatles hits 1963 - 1964

There were many Beatles covering "beatgroups" in the 1960s and one of those had the not so original name The Bottles. Records by The Bottles were released on the Discofoon label from The Netherlands (some also were sold on the Belgium market on the Smash label). Discofoon was the houselabel of department store chain Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D). They leased tracks from both the British Embassy label (CBS) and the Top Six label, which was controlled by Pye records in the UK.



The Bottles recordings came from Top Six, but the UK releases were anonymous, so in England nobody knew about The Bottles. Those tracks were also released by the German Pye distributor Deutsche Vogue in an LP series on the POP label called Original Beat aus England (aus=from). Bottles tracks appeared on those LP's under names like The Beat Kings when they were covering the Beatles, but The High Tops sounded conspicuously similar.
The Bottles were one of the best Beatles cover bands at the time. Their version of I wanna be your man beats both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones versions.

Rating: ****

Cannon label - Beatles hits 1963 - 1964

Like Top Six the Cannon label released six track EP's. The Cannon label was set up by Australian Allan Crawford in the early Sixties. Crawford also worked together with Ronan O'Rahilly in setting up Radio Caroline and was involved in music publishing company Southern Music. This label has become the rarest of all the budget cover labels as future star singer / songwriter / producer John Carter sang on a lot of the tracks. Carter (under contract to Southern Musci) sang in Carter/Lewis & the Southerners (with Jimmy Page on guitar) and The Ivy League, then proceeded to write/sing/produce hits under aliases like The Flower Pot Men (with his Ivy League partner Ken Lewis), Kincade (Dreams are ten a penny) and First Class (Beach Baby). He also co-wrote Mary Hopkins's Eurovision entry Knock knock who's there and sang the hit Winchester Cathedral. Between 1962 and 1964 he recorded for Cannon under such names as Frank Bacon, The Baconeers, The Bell Boys and The Sparrows, concentrating on hits by The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers and Freddie & the Dreamers. In 2010 the RPM label released two download only albums with tracks sung by Carter (digitized from records from Carter's private collection) from which a six track Beatles compilation included here.

Rating: ****

Fonodisc label - Beatles hits 1964 - 1965

The label I know the least about is Fonodisc (confusing: Discofoon and Fonodisc). The Beatles hits were covered here by The Stars. Where the recordings came from remains a mystery. The pronunciation of the lyrics sounds British, but the audio quality of the records is tinny. Obviously these recordings were made with less professional musicians. The Extended Play records (4 tracks) were also relatively expensive at Hfl. 3,95 (the same price of a regular single), but they had stylish full colour sleeves with ladies in cocktail dresses or dancing teenagers and they were sold in sealed plastic outer sleeves in supermarkets and petrol stations.

Rating: **

Hanky Panky b/w Thunderbolt by Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette RL 45.232)

Third non song is Hanky Panky by Tommy James & the Shondells. Strangely out of place American rock & roll from the pre-Beatles era when it was a hit in 1965. But it made sense since this was recorded early 1964 by a 16-year old Tommy James and his Shondells when some American bands were not aware yet that The Beatles had changed rock music forever. By the time Hanky Panky became a hit the Shondells had long since broken up and did not wish to rejoin Tommy. James then hired a Pittsburgh band named The Raconteurs to become the "new" Shondells. Hanky Panky was a Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich song, which was originally recorded by The Raindrops, but it was not much of a song. A simple twelve-bar relying heavily on the My baby does the Hanky Panky repetitiveness.
*

Michelle b/w Girl by The Beatles (Parlophone HHR 139)

Two beautiful ballads from Rubber Soul on one single. After the single We can work it out b/w Day tripper, which was strangely dominated by Paul McCartney, Dutch record company Bovema decided to give Lennon a b-side here. This was released when the cover version by the Overlanders started rising in the Top 40. Messy chart practices of the 1960s counted different versions of the same song together, thus Michelle reached the top spot when the sales of the Beatles and The Overlanders singles (and to a lesser extent the version by David & Jonathan) were added together. This prevented the Golden Earrings from becoming the first Dutch band to have a number hit with That day. They would have to wait more than two years to reach the top of the charts. Needless to say that after the release of the Beatles original the Overlanders' version hardly sold another copy.
Rating: *****

"Yesterday" b/w "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" by The Beatles (Parlophone HHR 138)

This was one of the "Dutch only" singles released by The Beatles. In the USA and Germany "Yesterday" had "Act naturally" on the B-side. I think these two songs, which were subsequent tracks on the non-film side of the "Help!" LP helped create the fable that Paul was the soft one and John the rocker. But for every "Yesterday" there was an "I'm down" and for every "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" there was a "You've got to hide your love away". Both were great songwriters and had every style down pat.
Rating: *****

Ticket to ride b/w Yes it is by The Beatles (Parlophone R 5265)

Easter 1965 brought the Easter school report and a new Beatles single. Luckily my marks were just good enough to scrape together enough money to buy "Ticket to ride". This single has probably the ugliest picture sleeve ever to be designed for a Beatles 45. It was a kind of press release with typed text and without a picture of the band. Some fanatics will even claim this was not a "picture sleeve" but an "art sleeve", designed by the art department of the record company without the addition of a picture of the artist(s).
A friend of mine later got the "Help!" album and I was amazed to learn from the credits on the back that the lead guitar in "Ticket" was played by Paul McCartney. I tried to imagine how George Harrison must have felt when this happened. But no doubt George played the song's main riff on his chiming 12-string Rickenbacker.
The flipside was "very close" harmony, my father even claimed it was sung flat. In a 1970s interview George Harrison sang the first line of his part and suddenly the harmonies made a lot more sense to me.
Rating: ****

No reply b/w Rock And Roll Music by The Beatles (Parlophone HHR 136)

The Americans always "milked" albums for singles and unlike the UK many countries on the European continent copied the American releases. This happened with the single "Eight days a week"/"Baby's in black". Soon after that this one was "released by public demand": the great opener of the latest Beatles album "Beatles for sale". Of course it went straight to #1.
Rating: *****

I want to hold your hand EP (extended play) by The Beatles (Odeon MOE 3746)

I fell in love with The Beatles when I heard "I want to hold your hand" for the first time late 1963. But not having a record player buying records seemed a silly thing to do. In the spring of 1965 the single wasn't available in the shops anymore, but there was this French import EP (7 inch record with four tracks) available. Not strictly speaking a single, but always good value as the price was less than double of that of a single. EP's also always came in wonderful picture sleeves in cardboard covers like mini-albums. This one contained
I want to hold your hand
It won't be long
I wanna be your man
Till there was you
Pity they didn't replace "I wanna be your man" with the original flipside of the single "This boy" as "Man" is one of the weakest Beatles songs (and mainly sung by Ringo, clearly the least of the four vocalists). But "It won't be long" was The Beatles at their best with those almost hysterical "yeah yeah" questions & answers between John (who did the lead vocal) and Paul & George. It remains one of my favourite Beatles songs of all time, so to play it just after "I want to hold your hand" was always a joy. "Till there was you" was a good opportunity to prove to my parents The Beatles could really sing and play.
Rating: *****

I feel fine b/w She's a woman by The Beatles (Parlophone R 5200)

So at Christmas 1964 my grandfather sent me some Canadian dollars and I was able to buy the new Beatles single. After the beautiful "A hard day's night" trilogy the picture sleeve was a bit of a let down: a very "old" picture of the band (looks like late 1962) and a hazy one at that. But the music was all the better: from the feedback intro of I feel fine to the rave-up fade-out of She's a woman.
Rating: *****

If I fell b/w And I love her by The Beatles (Parlophone HHR 130)

My first single late 1964: If I fell b/w And I love her by The Beatles. In the USA this coupling was reversed it seems, but it was a close call. Two beautiful ballads, John's If I fell and Paul's And I love her. A good way of sneaking some beat music into the house without complaints from my parents. This was at #1 at the time. It was the third part of a trilogy that small company Stibbe released in identical picture sleeves with different supporting colours: A hard day's night - Things we said today in red, I should have known better - Tell me why in green and If I fell - And I love her in blue. This series of three became collector's items as If I fell was the last Beatles single to be released under the monicker of Parlophone-Stibbe. Big record company Bovema had obtained the distribution rights of EMI records and they put their name on the sleeves of the next releases (I think Bovema bought Stibbe and the old Mr Henk Stibbe, 80 by then, retired).
Rating: *****