There was a song that I heard a lot when I was a young lad, amongst lots of great records I was played from the early 60s, that always stood out as being a bit of a corker.
But it's not one I have heard much in recent years, that is, until I heard it on the radio last week. It made me think - here was a band that played some fantastic rock n roll, but aren't a group you hear all the time.
Cue another episode of 'Forgotten Greats' - this time focusing on Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - a band of pivotal importance in British rock n roll.
In the beginning there was Fred:
Frederick Albert Heath was born in Willesdon, London, just before Christmas 1935. A big music fan, he got a banjo from his Uncle George for his 16th birthday in 1951. After several banjos, he moved on to guitar and by the mid-50s, he was immersing himself in the skiffle craze that was sweeping the nation.
Bands came and went, often with only subtle line up changes; there was Bats Heath and the Vampires in 1956 - and also Fred Heath and the Frantic Four and The Nutters along the way. In August 1957 his band did well at a skiffle competition, from which they were promised a TV appearance, which never materialised, but they did get some bigger gigs as a result. As the Five Nutters they got a spot on BBC Radio's Light Programme, before becoming the Fred Heath Band until August 1958.
Side Note:
A band called the Wayfaring Strangers, featuring Mick Green, Johnny Spence and Frank Farley (who we will meet later), appeared in a skiffle competition at the Tottenham Royal Ballroom, where they finished second to some Liverpool band called The Quarrymen (I wonder what became of them?).
In August 1958, Cliff Richard released his single Move It, which may seem somewhat irrelevant here, but as one John Lennon said, "[it was] the most influential British record ever made." This is important, because perhaps the next pivotal British record would come two years later from Fred Heath.
Please Don't Touch - The Pirates launch:
An early Heath composition, Please Don't Touch was sold to, and recorded by, The Batchelors. And then in April 1959, Heath went into Abbey Road studios with Mike West, Tom Brown, Tony Doherty, Don Mckay and Johnny Gordon, where they cut their own version of the song.
Fred Heath was now signed to HMV records and by the time his version was released, he had his name changed to Johnny Kidd, his backing band had become the Pirates and the rest was history.
Please Don't Touch - https://youtu.be/R2xTuNCLqc4
The song, a blistering piece of rock n roll, eventually made it to number 25 on the UK charts, although by now, drummer Don McKay had been fired. It was followed by If You Were The Only Girl In The World in December, which failed to chart. It wasn't a song like others he recorded at this time, with more of a light crooner feel to it (listen below), and the band struggled to play it live, having to give it a more contemporary sound.
If You Were The Only Girl In The World - https://youtu.be/y-9lXH8OzlI
You Got What It Takes followed swiftly in January 1960, which was a cover of early Motown singer Marv Johnson, again creeping into the lower reaches of the UK Top30. By early 1960, the first classic Pirates line up was in place - Clem Cattini on drums, Alan Caddy on guitar and Brian Gregg on bass.
Shakin' the UK:
In August of 1960, the Pirates released a song that has a special place in British music. Shakin' All Over is important because it is seen as a transitional song, with the band providing a link between the rock n roll and R&B groups of the late 50s and the emergence of the Beat groups that would come through in the early 60s.
By now, Kidd and his band had fully invested in the pirate name and theme, with a galleon backdrop and full pirate costumes - in fact, apparently Kidd would come on stage wielding a cutlass that he would thrust down into the stage! With this highly visual element (along with contemporary, Screaming Lord Sutch) they were ahead of the game that acts like Paul Revere & The Raiders and Alice Cooper would take forward later on. And Kidd's rich and underrated voice, echoed the R&B tones that we would hear later in the likes of the Stones, the Animals and the Yardbirds.
Shakin' All Over became a big hit that almost never was. The band wasn't sure about it and it was scheduled to be the B-Side to Yes Sir, That's My Baby. But the label heard it, loved it and flipped it around to make it the A-Side. That turned out to be a shrewd move, with the song reaching the top of the UK chart. It is a fantastic piece of garage rock, with one of the catchiest and most distinct guitar riffs of the era - laid down by guest musician Joe Moretti, who got the sound by sliding Gregg's cigarette lighter up and down the neck. What a tune!
Shakin' All Over - https://youtu.be/n327ncoU_ZU
Going Solo and Changes:
Kidd adopted a more bluesy sound with some tracks that he recorded without the Pirates - Hurry On Back To Love and I Want That.
Hurry On Back To Love - https://youtu.be/ZPlfWjr42Yw
That first classic line up moved on, with Cattini, Caddy and Gregg becoming the Cabinboys for Colin Hicks (Tommy Steele's younger brother). Cattini and Caddy moved from there to join a backing band for eccentric producer Joe Meek, which would ultimately become The Tornadoes.
The new Pirate line up consisted of Johnny Spence on bass, Frank Farley on drums (who had been born in India and spent some time in the Merchant Navy) and Johnny Patto on guitar. Patto didn't last long though, suffering with some severe ulcers, and he was replaced by Mick Green, who had an unusual previous career as a diamond setter (he would later go on to Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas and Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers).
A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues came out in 1962, reaching number 48. May of that year also saw the band in one of the support slots on Jerry Lee Lewis's UK tour.
By now, the Beat groups were taking centre stage and R&B was falling behind. While they would have some good spells, Kidd and his Pirates would never again quite reach the place they had been in 1960 and 61.
One more big hit and more changes:
1963 would see one more high though. They recorded a version of Gordon Mills' I'll Never Get Over You, which had originally been a B-Side for The Viscounts. Although it only reached number 4, it was their biggest song in terms of sales. The flip side, Then I Got Everything, was considered by some to be the better track.
I'll Never Get Over You - https://youtu.be/6ZdHpeDEveQ
Vic Cooper was added on organ in 1964. Always And Ever came out in the March, backed with Dr Feelgood, a big R&B tune. Dr Feelgood was apparently also slang for heroin, or a doctor willing to oversubscribe drugs - it was Kidd's version that the legendary 70's pub rock band took their name from.
Mick Green departed to join Billy J. Kramer and was replaced by John Weider. When the band went to play a string of dates in Hamburg in early 65, Weider was too young at 17 to play the gigs which were in the more salubrious part of town, and so Barry Hammett came in to cover.
Eventually, the Pirates, by now consisting of Farley, Spence and Jon Morshead, decided to go their own way. They even kept the band name, with Kidd's blessing and released one single called Shades Of Blue.
The opportunity to be joined by some New Pirates came along. After a few tweaks, by May the line up consisted of Ray Soaper on organ, Mick Stewart on Guitar, Nick Simper on bass and Roger Truth on drums. Kidd was revitalised by the new team and touring continued apace.
Fun Fact: As well as playing as a Pirate and also brief spells with Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages, Nick Simper was a founding member of Deep Purple. He had been in the Flower Pot Men with keyboardist Jon Lord just before the band formed, although he ended up being fired in mid-1969.
It's Got To Be You in April 1966 was dedicated to his new wife Jean, while I Can't Turn You Loose was an Otis Redding cover. Both tracks mixed R&B with a more soulful sound and might have been an indication of the path he would take.
It's Got To Be You - https://youtu.be/jEBmxbYjV8c
Local Connections:
It seems the band had a bit of a connection to my area. By mid-64 they had built up a rapport with local (infamous?) impresario Bob Potter (later famous for running the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley) who owned and ran three clubs that they frequently played at; The Atlantic Ballroom in Woking, the Palais De Dance in Aldershot and the Agincourt in Camberley. It sounds like their pirates galleon stage backdrop remained at the Agincourt for some time afterwards.
Fateful trip to Bolton:
On the 7th October they arrived late for their gig at The Imperial in Bolton, so the manager cancelled it. Kidd and Simper went to another venue that they knew to see if they could get some work there, before eventually heading down the A58. Just outside Bury in the early hours of the 8th, the steering on Kidd's new car froze and they ended up in a head on collision, leaving Kidd and one of the occupants of the other car, both dead. Simper escaped with some breaks and scrapes. He was not far off his 31st birthday and left behind a wife, ex-wife and three children.
Send For That Girl / The Fool (a Lee Hazlewood song) ended up getting a posthumous release in November. The New Pirates continued on, with Stewart, Simper, Johnny Carroll and John Kerrison through to May the following year. One of the classic Pirate line ups - Farley, Spence and Green reformed in 1976 and went on to release four albums between then and 1983. The same gang then came back in 1999, playing until Farley retired in 2005.
The Legacy:
Where do they fit in the pantheon of British music? They only had a few big hits, never recorded an album (at least in Kidd's lifetime) and were effectively swamped with the onrush of beat groups and Beatlemania. Yet, they provided a bridge between the American dominated rock n roll and R&B of the 50s and what would become the 'British Invasion' of the early to mid-60s.
Kidd had a good and strong voice, maybe not quite Winwood or Marriott, but not at all bad - and he could handle the hard edge of rock and the croony ballads with no problem. It has also been pointed out that, unlike some of his British contemporaries, he never tried to look or sound like Elvis or Roy Orbison. He also wrote many of his own songs, which was quite unusual at that time.
But you can definitely say that Kidd and his Pirates are 'forgotten greats' - even just based on those three big singles alone - heck, you could call them great just based on Shakin' All Over - and iconic tune. If Move It had been 'the most influential British record ever made' up to 1958, and the Beatles and the Stones laid down the markers from 1963 onwards, Shakin' was the one defining track in between!
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