Penfro Sounds

Bill Haley And His Comets Green Tree Boogie / Sundown Boogie London HL 8142 (1955) A recent call had me rushing off to view a box of records that a local seller had put aside for me.  On arrival I found a box of 10" shellac 78s which I would normally avoid due to the pure weight and also rarely finding anything that would interest me. However within the box were several discs in surprisingly great condition, this being one. Released in the UK in 1955, the a side to this disc was originally released in the US on Essex Records back in 1951 where it was credited to Bill Haley And The Saddlemen.  At the time of its initial release it would have been considered as what was called western swing, a sub genre of country music. Western swing had began in the US Great Plains' dance halls during the late 1920s slowly gaining more appeal with names such as Bob Willis, Light Crust Doughboys and Texas Playboys.  Bill Haley appeared on this scene in the mid 1940s eventually forming his ...

Dave Davies Hold My Hand / Creeping Jean BMG BMGCAT407BOX9 (2019) Like the previous post this single appears as part of The Kinks' "Arthur" box set that was released in 2019.  Recorded in 1968, the original 45 was released in 1969 was Dave's fourth solo single. The single failed to chart in the UK due to very limited promotion from Pye Records and scant radio airtime especially as at the time of release the UK pirate radio stations had been taken off the air.  It did in fact  fail to chart anywhere. Whilst credited as a Dave Davies solo single, on both tracks he was backed by the members of The Kinks.  This was also one of the last recordings bass player Pete Quaife recorded prior to leaving the band. As discussed in the previous post, Dave's career never matched the success expected and Pye Records  pulled the plug on the album that was due to be released in 1969.  His lack of interest in continuing a solo career was also a factor in the album being cancel...

The Kinks Drivin' / Mindless Child Of Motherhood BMG BMGCAT407BOX6 (2019) This Kinks' 45 was originally released in 1969 on the Pye record label in the UK.  The A side was taken from the album "Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire)," more often referred to as simply "Arthur."  "Arthur" was a concept album, written as a soundtrack to an intended TV show that was never produced.  Basically it revolved around the story of Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray and guitarist Dave Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning who emigrated with their sister Rose to Australia in 1964.   Her departure devastated Ray, and it inspired him to write the song "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home" which was released on the 1966 album "Face to Face". Although critically acclaimed at the time, "Arthur" sold poorly.  One US critic, Griel Marcus, stated in his review  "Less ambitious than Tommy, and far mo...

Crabby Appleton Lucy / Some Madness Elektra EKM-45702 (1970) Originating from Los Angeles, California the band took it's name from a character in the Tom Terrific cartoon series. Signing with Elektra Records, their first album was released in 1970 and gained rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone and Creem magazines.  This mono single was an alternative version the track found on the album and later stock copies credited the title as "My Little Lucy".  The band toured extensively opening for The Doors, Sly & The Family Stone and Three Dog Night, however, the band's second album "Rotten To The Core" did not receive the positive vibes of the first and accordingly did not sell as well.  By the end of 1971 the band had split up and moved on to other ventures. FLAC

Ann Peebles Do I Need You / A Love Vibration London HLU 10460 (1974) Ann Peebles (born 27 April 1947) was a popular R&B/Soul singer during the 1970s.  Having began performing in her father's church she then started performing in clubs in the St Louis area. In 1968 she performed in Memphis and was there introduced to Willie Mitchell who was a producer at Hi Records. She recorded a string of 45s for the label achieving success on the R&B charts. Her perhaps best known recording was "I Can't Stand The Rain", released in 1973 to worldwide acclaim. This 45, released in 1974, came from her fourth album "I Can't Stand The Rain", released on Hi Records it also contained the title track and a later single "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" which was later covered by Paul Young. In the UK Hi Records were released on the London label. Ann continued recording with Hi Records until the label closed in 1979 at which point she took break from th...

Jerry Lordan Who Could Be Bluer? / Do I Worry? Parlophone R 4627 (1960) Born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan in London in 1934, Jerry first entered the UK charts in 1959 with the a 45 titled "I'll Stay Single".  This 45, produced by George Martin and featuring accompaniment by Johnny Spence was his follow up, released in February 1960. Over the period 1959-1962 he released 6 singles on the Parlophone label and unlike many pop acts of the time, Jerry wrote each title.   After his last 45 release on Parlophone in 1962 he concentrated more on the song writing side of the music business.  Among his many song writing credits are "Apache", "Wonderful Land" and several other Shadow's hits along with "A Girl Like You" for Cliff Richard. In 1963 he wrote "Diamonds" for Jet Harris & Tony Meehan which reached #1 in the UK charts. By the end of the 60s his musical success was over. In the 1970s he became involved with a band called Onyx, later ...