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The Nashville Teens are a Britishmarker pop band formed in Weybridgemarker, Surreymarker in Summer 1962.

History

Little is known of the founding musicians, except that Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surreymarker, but the 'Mark II' line-up comprised original singers Arthur Sharp and Ray Phillips, with former Cruisers Rock Combo members John Hawken (piano), Mick Dunford (guitar), Pete Harris (bass) and Dave Maine (drums). Additional guitarist Pete Shannon completed the band. Roger Groome replaced Maine shortly afterwards.

In 1963, third vocalist Terry Crowe joined briefly; but later that same year Dunford and Groome left and were replaced by John Allen and Barry Jenkins. (Crowe and Dunford later formed 'The Plebs' with Danny McCulloch, and were re-united with Hawken in Renaissance in 1970).

Whilst playing in Hamburgmarker (as most British bands of the era did), the Teens backed Jerry Lee Lewis for his Live at the Star Club, Hamburg album. It is widely considered one of the greatest live rock and roll albums ever. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes, "Live at the Star Club is extraordinary, the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record."They later backed Carl Perkins on his hit single "Big Bad Blues" (May 1964), and also played with Chuck Berry when he toured Britain. At one such gig, they were spotted by Mickie Most who subsequently produced their June 1964 debut single, an interpretation of the John D. Loudermilk penned song, "Tobacco Road", which reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and number 14 in the U.S.markerBillboard Hot 100 chart. Jimmy Page played guitar on the studio cut of "Tobacco Road". The follow-up, another Loudermilk song, "Google Eye", reached number 10 in the UKmarker in October 1964.

A further three top fifty singles, "Find My Way Back Home" and "The Little Bird", followed in February and May 1965; with "The Hard Way" making a brief appearance the following year; but three subsequent records ("I Know How It Feels To Be Loved", "Forbidden Fruit" and "That's My Woman") all failed to chart.

Jenkins left in 1966 to join the The Animals, and was replaced by his predecessor Roger Groome. Reportedly Ray Phillips got an offer to join Cream in 1966. He refused.

The Nashville Teens' record producers included Andrew Loog Oldham and Shel Talmy. Although they were musically as competent as any of their contemporaries, the Teens had no distinctive personality as a band, and this contributed to their lack of long-term success, as did Decca's typical lack of promotion. (By 1970, Decca's only remaining rock acts were The Rolling Stones and The Moody Blues, both of whom handled their own promotion.) In 1971 they released a single, "Ella James" - a Roy Wood penned song, originally recorded by The Move - on Parlophone, but again without success. In the late Sixties the group returned to its old craft: backing other artists like Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent.

Arthur Sharp left in 1972 to join their one-time manager Don Arden, whilst Trevor Williams joined the fray. Despite Phillips's efforts, the Nashville Teens split in 1973.

They reformed in 1980, however, with Phillips as the only recognisable member joined by Peter Agate (guitar), Len Surtees (bass) and Adrian Metcalfe (drums), and are still playing. The current line-up is Phillips, Metcalfe, Colin Pattenden (bass and vocals), Simon Spratley (keyboards and vocals) and Ken Osborn (guitar).

Phillips joined The British Invasion All-Stars in the 1990s and made three albums with the group, consisting of members of The Yardbirds, Procol Harum, The Pretty Things, Downliners Sect and more. They did a cover of "Tobacco Road", which still receives airplay on XM Satellite Radio.

A 1993 EMI label compilation, Best of the Nashville Teens, contained a re-recording of their "Tobacco Road" hit, which is the only one available on iTunes.

Appearances in films

The Nashville Teens can be seen in three films, all three from 1965.

The first one is Pop Gear by Frederic Goode. The film shows a long series of pop artists, all of whom play one or two songs. The Beatles do it live before an audience; all other artists (among them The Animals, The Honeycombs, Peter & Gordon and Herman's Hermits) mime their songs in a studio. The Nashville Teens mime "Tobacco Road" and "Google Eye". In the United Statesmarker the film was brought out as Go Go Mania.

The second film was Be My Guest, filmed at the Twickenham Film Studiosmarker, which was arranged by their then manager Don Arden. A family has inherited a hotel in Brightonmarker and tries to make a living out of it. Their son works at a local paper and tries to set up a pop group, The Smart Alecks, in his spare time. One of its members is played by Steve Marriott. A talent scouting, also attended by The Smart Alecks, is a nice pretext to present a few artists, among them The Nashville Teens and The Plebs. Jerry Lee Lewis makes his appearance too, backed by The Nashville Teens.

The third film is Gonks Go Beat by Robert Hartford-Davis. There is even less of a plot than in Be My Guest. The film is set in the distant future. An alien from the planet Gonk comes to Earth to establish peace between the two remaining nations, the one of them loving rock and roll and the other loving ballads. Of course this is an exquisite pretext to present a big number of artists. Apart from The Nashville Teens the best known ones are Lulu and The Graham Bond Organisation, featuring Ginger Baker.

Discography

Singles

  • "Tobacco Road"/"I Like It Like That" (1964) - # 6 (UK Singles Chart), # 14 (Billboard Hot 100)
  • "Google Eye"/"T.N.T. (1964) - # 10 (UK) # 117 (US)
  • "Find My Way Back Home"/"Devil In Law" (1965) - # 34 (UK)
  • "The Little Bird"/"Whatcha Gonna Do" (1965) - # 38 (UK) # 123 (US)
  • "I Know How It Feels To Be Loved"/"Soon Forgotten" (1965)
  • "The Hard Way"/"Upside Down" (1966) - # 45 (UK)
  • "Forbidden Fruit"/"Revived 45 Time" (1966)
  • "That's My Woman"/"Words" (1967)
  • "I'm Coming Home"/"Searching" (1967)
  • "The Biggest Night of Her Life"/"Last Minute" (1967)
  • "All Along The Watchtower"/"Sun Dog" (1968)
  • "The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian"/"Looking For You" (1969)
  • "Ella James"/"Tennessee Woman" (1971)
  • "You Shouldn't Have Been So Nice"/"Tell The People" (1972, never released)


EP

  • The Nashville Teens: "How Deep Is the Ocean", "I Need You Baby (Mona)", "Parchman Farm", "Bread and Butter Man" (1964)


LP Albums

  • Tobacco Road (released in the US and Canada, 1964):
    • "Tobacco Road", "I Need You Baby (Mona)", "Need You", "Bread and Butter Man", "Hurting Inside", "Hootchie Kootchie Man", "Google Eye", "Too Much", "Parchman Farm", "I Like It Like That", "How Deep Is the Ocean", "La Bamba"
  • Nashville Teens (1972):
    • "The Biggest Night of Her Life", "Let It Rock/Rocking on the Railroad", "I’m a Lonely One", "Chantilly Lace", "Day and Night", "Ex Kay on LX", "Widdicombe Fair", "All Along the Watchtower", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", "Tobacco Road", "The Little Bird", "Break Up", "Sun Dog", "I’m Coming Home"


CD Samplers

  • The Best of the Nashville Teens 1964-1969 (1993):
    • "Tobacco Road", "I Need You Baby (Mona)", "T.N.T.", "Parchman Farm", "Need You", "La Bamba", "Bread and Butter Man", "Google Eye", "Hootchie Kootchie Man", "How Deep Is the Ocean", "Find My Way Back Home", "Devil-in-Law", "Too Much", "Hurtin’ Inside", "I Like It Like That", "Searching", "Soon Forgotten", "The Little Bird", "I’m Coming Home", "The Hard Way", "Words", "That’s My Woman", "The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian", "Looking For You"
  • Tobacco Road (produced in Germany, 2000):
    • "Tobacco Road"; "I Need You Baby (Mona)", "Need You", "Bread and Butter Man", "Hurtin’ Inside", "Hootchie Kootchie Man", "Google Eye", "Too Much", "Parchman Farm", "I Like It Like That", "How Deep Is the Ocean", "La Bamba", "T.N.T.", "Devil-in-Law", "Find My Way Back Home", "Whatcha Gonna Do", "I Know How It Feels to Be Loved", "Upside Down", "Forbidden Fruit", "Revived 45 Time", "That’s My Woman", "I’m Coming Home", "The Biggest Night of Her Life", "Last Minute", "All Along the Watchtower", "Sun Dog", "Poor Boy", "Ella James", "Tennessee Woman"
  • Rockin’ Back To Tobacco Road (2007):
    • "Let It Rock/Rocking on the Railroad", "I’m a Lonely One", "Chantilly Lace", "Break Up", "Tobacco Road", "Widdicombe Fair", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", "Ex Kay on LX", "The Biggest Night of Her Life", "Last Minute", "All Along the Watchtower", "Sun Dog", "Hitch Hike", "The Little Bird", "Widdicombe Fair" (alternate version), "The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian", "Train Keeps a-Rollin’", "Tennessee Woman", "Fishhead", "New York Mining Disaster", "Half Breed", "Day and Night"


Main band members

The following individuals were responsible for the bulk of the group's most successful era :-



See also



References

External links




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