Manish Boys' alternate takes

.....On the day that the Manish Boys recorded both sides of their Parlophone single with Jimmy Page (see previous three posts), at least two takes of each song were recorded. However, despite making their way onto numerous 'various artists' compilations and several David Bowie records meant to cash in on his later fame in the 1970's and 1980's, the alternate takes of each song were not known to have been released commercially until they were inadvertently included on a compilation of singles and outtakes called "EARLY ON (1964-1967)", from Rhino Records R270526 (US) 1991. Complicating matters, the liner notes for the Rhino compilation do not mention them being alternate takes.

2:09 I PITY THE FOOL
2:16 TAKE MY TIP

Take My Tip

.....The B-side of "I PITY THE FOOL" was recorded the same day.

[2:16] TAKE MY TIP (Davie Jones)..................7XCE 18678
from B-side 7" EMI/Parlophone R.5250 (UK) 65-03-05

A Shel Talmy Production. [Engineered by Glyn Johns]
Published by ORBIT Music Co. Ltd.

• Personnel: (see previous two posts; Manish Boys plus Jimmy Page)

.....This was the first release of a recording of a song written by David Jones

I Pity The Fool

.....At the end of 1964 the Manish Boys (see previous post) played on a package tour with the Kinks and were introduced to their then current producer, Shel Talmy. Talmy was an American who had a well-earned reputation for delivering hits in England. He began using Jimmy Page as a session guitarist very early in Page's career and reportedly had an unofficial agent/"finder's fee" relationship with him, taking a smaller percentage of Page's session fees than most managers would but, as a producer, guaranteeing that both of them would make up any difference through a high volume of work. It also worked as insurance against Page, a killer guitarist even then, from getting hits for other producers.

.....On February 8, 1965, Talmy took the Manish Boys and Page into the recording studios of the International Broadcasting Company at 35 Portland Place in London. There they recorded:

[2:09] I PITY THE FOOL ([Deadric] Malone)................7XCE 18677
from A-side 7" EMI/Parlophone R5250 (UK) 65-03-05

A Shel Talmy Production, [Engineered by Glyn Johns]
Published by Mecolico NCB

• Personnel (see Manish Boys in previous and next posts; plus Jimmy Page)

Demo, October 1964

.....As a teen, David Robert Jones played in a succession of bands that played American influenced R&B, generally covers and some derivative originals. He played sax and aspired to singing. One of the earliest professionally gigging groups he was in was the Kon-Rads. They started as a four-piece with George Underwood (who brought childhood friend Jones in later) as vocalist and guitarists Nevill Wills and Alan Dodds. At some point before 1963, Roger Ferris replaced Underwood as vocalist and the drummer Dave Crook had been replaced by Dave Hadfield and bassist Rocky Shahan had been added. By the time they were able to book studio time at Decca (the Broadhurst Gardens studio) at the end of August, 1963, Ferris had dropped out and Jones was doubling as vocalist. Also during this period he signed himself as "Dave Jay", the first of many pseudonyms. Four(?) tracks were recorded at Decca and they remain unreleased as of this date. Frustrated that Decca declined to release a single from the session, David Jones left the Kon-Rads, who subsequently managed to release a single in 1965.

.....Even before the August date, Jones and Underwood (now on guitar) formed The Hooker Brothers, named after John Lee Hooker (which Jones wanted to call "Dave's Reds and Blues"-- the colors of stimulants and depressants, respectively, used by pill-popping mods). Their drummer (Viv Andrews) was dropped in favor of a full band that became the King Bees in November, 1963. David Jones is approaching his 17th birthday in January and already had his second alternate stage name, Davie Jones.

.....Unrelated to this at the time, Band Seven forms in January, 1964. They are:

• Johnny Flux.....................Guitar
• Johnny Watson................Vocals, Bass
• Bob Solly........................Organ
• Paul Rodriguez................Tenor Sax
• Woolf Byrne...................Baritone Sax
• Mick White.....................Drums

They played out enough to earn a residency at the Marquee and, as interest in beat groups began to build internationally, signed to a management contract with the Dick James Organization. The DJO handled bookings and publishing and by the end of the decade would become their own label as well. Band Seven were assigned Leslie Conn as their manager, who was also managing the King Bees. By May, the King Bees were recording a single for Decca's Vocalion Pop experiment (see previous two posts) and Band Seven auditioned for Joe Meek. The day after the King Bees' single was released, it was featured on BBC Television's "Juke Box Jury", whose celebrity judges voted it down, three to one. Performances on "Ready, Steady, Go!" (ITV, June 19th) and "The Beat Room" (BBC2, July 27th) couldn't help "Liza Jane" chart and nothing materialized for Band Seven with Meek. Conn proposed making Davie Jones the vocalist for Band Seven. To distance themselves from their recent failures, they followed Davie's suggestion to once again name the band after a blues song. After all, it seemed to have worked for the Rolling Stones. The 'new' band would be called the Mannish Boys (misspelled "Manish" whenever they printed it).

.....The first scheduled recording session came quickly, in October 6th at Regent Sound Studios on Denmark Street. Some sources report that the session scheduled for that day was cancelled and rescheduled for December, but neither Kenneth Pitt's nor Nicholas Pegg's books confirm that. Nothing came out of it in any event. At least three covers were recorded and neither Decca or the band thought they were 7" material.

• HELLO STRANGER (Barbara Lewis), a Barbara Lewis cover
• LOVE IS STRANGE (Mickey Baker, Sylvia Vanderpool, Ethel Smith), a Mikey and Sylvia cover
• DUKE OF EARL (Gene Chandler, Earl Edwards, Bernice Williams), a Gene Chandler cover

The session was purportedly produced by Mickie Most. The idea isn't completely preposterous, since Most did somehow come across George Underwood at this time. Six months later Underwood released a Most-produce single using the pseudonym "Calvin James" for the UK label Columbia (a division of EMI not related to the American label that is now a part of Sony). David got far more exposure from a juvenile publicity stunt promoting long hair for men, garnering two news spots. One was a London newspaper and one was a proper albeit brief television interview on November 12th.

Louie, Louie Go Home

The B-side of the first David Bowie single was:

[2:12] LOUIE, LOUIE GO HOME ([Paul] Revere [w/Mark Lindsay])...CPDR.33317
from B-side Vocalion Pop V-9221 (E) 64-06-05

Music Director and Production: Leslie Conn
Published by California Music

• Personnel (same as LIZA JANE; see previous post)

This is a cover of a Paul Revere and the Raiders song. On the original pressing, Mark Lindsay's credit was missing. When this single was reissued in England in 1978 as Decca F-13807, Lindsay's credit was restored.

Both sides were recorded at Decca's West Hampstead Studios (Vocalion was a jazz division of Decca and Vocalion Pop was an unsuccessful attempt at an imprint that carried American-style R&B that would be more popular with young adults at the time. Hence, the reissue on Decca's main label years after Vocalion Pop was shut down.)

Liza Jane

The A-side of the first David Bowie single (his first commercial release) was:

[2:18] LIZA JANE ([Leslie] Conn)...............................CPDR.33318
from A-side 7" Vocalion Pop V.9221 (E) 64-06-05

Music Director and Production: Leslie Conn
Published by Dick James Music

• Personnel:
• David Robert Jones: Vocals, Saxophone
• Roger Bluck: Lead Guitar
• George Underwood: Rhythm Guitar
• Dave Howard: Bass
• Bob Allen: Drums

This is a reworking of a traditional song that Conn credited to himself. Only his last name appears on the original label credit. The number following the credit above is the matrix number. There is no playing time listed on the original issue; the time here comes from the CD "EARLY ON (1964-1966)". The most commonly given date of release is June 5th, 1964, which was a Friday.