![]() ![]() single, before Pye headed for the greener pastures of Warner-Reprise. Amazingly, that November 1964 release even made it out in America, as part of the very short-lived licensing agreement between Pye and Philadelphia -based Cameo-Parkway Records, which also issued the Kinks ’ first U.S. The group-authored B-side, ‘ Let Them Tell ’, was almost as much a showcase for the harmonica and rhythm section as for Roberts ’ singing. “ could and should have been one of the top groups on the Pye label, based on their rough-and-ready debut ‘ Help Me ’, a cover of a Sonny Boy Williamson number that was beautifully raw and authentic, and wonderfully intense across an astonishingly long three minutes and 39 seconds, Soul ’s harmonica and Eaton ’s guitar keeping the verisimilitude right up there like a Chess Records session gone out of control, amid Roberts ’ ever more intense romantic lamentations. ![]() Bruce Eder has this lavish description of the single in his Allmusic article: Both sides of this monster single are included on the English Freakbeat, Volume 1 CD. The first release by the Primitives was “ Help Me ” b/w “ Let Them Tell ”. Soul (rhythm guitar and harmonica), Roger James (bass guitar), and Mike Wilding (drums) – the latter gentleman is the son of Elizabeth Taylor and British actor Michael Wilding. īandmembers in the Primitives at this point were Jay Roberts (lead vocals), Geoff Eaton (lead guitar), John E. The owners of the Plaza Theatre (where the contest was held) agreed to be their managers, and at that point, they changed their name to a more promising one, the Primitives. After going by the surprising name of the Cornflakes for a time, they entered and won a local band competition in Northampton the prize was a recording contract with Pye Records, home of Petula Clark, the Searchers, the Kinks, Status Quo, and other prime British artists, as well as past UARB the Soul Agents. The band started out with the name the Rising Sons and gained renown in the clubs around their home town of Oxford for their strong R&B sound. “heir sound was very similar to the Pretty Things, rooted heavily in American R&B, and Roberts was a serious, powerful shouter who could sound seriously, achingly raspy, rough, and growly, while the others played with virtually none of the niceties or delicacy that usually marred British attempts at the music.” Listening to the CD, this reviewer found himself pained, to the point of shedding a tear, over the fact that this band only got to leave 24 songs behind from its prime years. Even in their second, slightly more pop-oriented incarnation, when they were allowed to cut loose and be who and what they really were – a loud band without a lot of subtlety but power to spare and the sincerity to put over their music – they rated a place near the top of Pye Records ’ roster and in the upper reaches of the British Invasion pantheon. That CD was a delight and a vexation it proved in the listening that these guys deserved a lot better than cult or footnote status, but it also brought home the unfairness inherent in their status. Castle Communications issued their catalog on CD in 2003. The Primitives signed to Pye Records in 1964 never found even a small national audience in England. “ The Primitives were never, ever exactly a household name, even in Oxford, where they had a serious following as a club band – and that’s a reminder that some things in life and history, and even music, are just so unfair as to be unsettling. The opening remarks make it clear how great Eder thinks the band was: Unlike several other recent posts of mine where Allmusic really had almost nothing to contribute on the band that I was writing about, there is a long article about the Primitives by Bruce Eder – maybe the longest that I have seen on Allmusic for any of the UARB’s and UARA’s over the years. That’s the Primitives with the crazy hair in the middle of the cover of the English Freakbeat, Volume 4 CD the caption inside the booklet says: “ The Primitives get their hair done!”). Sadly, these albums (both vinyl and CD) have been out of print for many years, but there are used copies available here and there.Īnyway, I found one right away: THE PRIMITIVES. So I decided to go back to the mother lode of English beat bands, the English Freakbeat series that Greg Shaw put together, where I have found several other previous UARB’s. I putzed around in my stacks looking for a band who was clearly influenced by the Rolling Stones – the way that my “two-fer” from a few months ago was, the Richmond Sluts and Big Midnight – but I couldn’t find one right away. ![]()
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