| Ivy League honed their trademark
tight, high-pitched vocal harmonies in their impressive studio work at the
height of the British pop explosion. Although Carter and Lewis have their
origins in Birmingham and had connections with other "Brummie" musicians,
like other professional musicians in the UK, most of their professional
career was in London. |
| |
| 1959 |
| In 1959, John Shakespeare
(guitar and vocals) and Ken Hawker (vocals) left their jobs in Birmingham
and moved to London to pursue careers in music. After rejections from
several publishers on Denmark Street, their future mentor, Terry Kennedy,
signed them up as composers first with Noel Gay Music and then later with
Southern Music. This was their first attempt at selling songs. However,
as new songwriters they barely earned enough to pay the rent and had to
find other work. After a few appearances and Shakespeare and Hawker, Kennedy
had them adopt professional identities and they became Carter-Lewis. Kennedy
also got them more performances on radio programs where they became better
known to the public and to other performers, as well as gaining valuable
experience. |
When they toured and recorded,
they adopted a new name for their group. "Carter-Lewis and the Southerners"
(Kennedy named the band after the publisher) they released singles on
Ember and eventually on Piccadilly with Joe Meek as the engineer. Performances
were with Meek's studio musicians (usually called the Outlaws) and often
included Clem Cattini or Viv Prince (later of Pretty Things) on drums,
Jimmy Page, and Rod Clarke. As composers, they recorded demos of their
own material (and performed for other composers on their demos). Eric
Easton (who would soon act as the agent for the Rolling Stones) acted
as the agent for Carter-Lewis and the Southerners. |
Carter: We came down to London
from Birmingham to be songwriters. We had written six songs while we were
in school. And just after that while I was at ICI. So, we came down to
London, we had both had enough of working, and we said, "Let's go
to London. We'll go down to Denmark Street and someone will sign us up."
...If you wanted to be in the music business, that was the place to be.
I mean, that was the rule. And we came down on the coach from Birmingham
to London and went round to all of the publishers. And most of them said,
"Go away." One of them, eventually, said, "Yeh. Come in
and play something." So we just sat there and played our songs. With
just me on guitar. ... It was Terry Kennedy. He said, we'll let you know.
We'll have a chat about it. Where are you staying? We said, "We're
not staying, we're going back on the coach. But first we're going to Ken
Colyer's club to listen to them jam. And he found us in Ken Colyer's club,
and said, "Good news for you, we may want to sign you." So we
were signed. First day out. [Interview 2001] |
| |
| 1961 |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"So Much in Love" / "Back on the Scene" [Piccadilly
7N35004] |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"Two Timing Baby" / "Will It Happen to Me" [Ember
EMBS145] |
| |
| 1962 |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"Here's Hoping" / "Poor Joe" [Piccadilly 7N35084] |
| |
| 1963 |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"Sweet And Tender Romance" / "Who Told You" [Oriole CB
1835] |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"Your Momma's Out of Town" (Murray) / "Somebody Told My Girl"
[Oriole CB 1868] NME top 20 |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"Skinny Minnie" / "Easy to Cry" [Oriole CB1919] |
| They performed routinely on
the radio on programs like "Saturday Club," "Easy Beat,"
and "Twisting Time." They even performed on one of the Beatles'
radio programs. |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners
joined the Gene Vincent/Shirelles/Duane Eddy tour, but found the experience
less than profound and broke up. |
| |
| 1964 |
| Carter-Lewis and the Southerners:
"Tell Me" / "Broken Heart" [Ember EMBS165] |
| John Carter and Ken Lewis
found substantial work as session singers and musicians and increasingly
as composers (e.g., "Can't You Hear My Heart Beat" recorded by Herman's
Hermits). |
| Carter: We were doing so many
sessions. Sometimes we did three a day, from 10-1, 2-5, 7-10, and sometimes
one at midnight. Someone says we'd like you to do this, but we know you're
busy. Could you come at 12 o'clock? So there were so many sessions. They
were non-stop and they'd all be different. Some of them, as you say, you
were just asked to make something up. Sometimes you went a session and
the arranger would say, "I couldn't think of anything for you to
do. There's no definite reason. Here's your money. You can go." [Interview
June 2000] |
| At the recommendation of
Terry Kennedy, Carter and Lewis joined forces with another session performer,
Perry Ford and began to specialize in close harmonies and delicate ballads.
Ford, who was older than Lewis and Carter and had been working on Denmark
Street (and had recorded singles) since the late 1950s, added another
high voice to Carter's. |
| Carter, Lewis, and Ford work
as studio singers either ghosting for singers or providing back-up vocals
[BV's] (e.g., the Who's "Can't Explain", Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual") |
| Ivy League: "What More Do
You Want" / "Wait a Minute" [Piccadilly 7N 35200] |
| |
| 1965 |
| February. "Funny
How Love Can Be" (Carter-Lewis) / "Lonely Room" (Carter-Lewis-Ford)
[Piccadilly 7N 35222] UK #8. |
| Form band with veteran Clem
Cattini (Tornados), and O'Neill, Winter, and Keene. |
| 9 April. "That's Why
I'm Crying" (Carter-Lewis-Ford) / "A Girl Like You" (Ford) [Piccadilly
7N 3528] released and will reach UK #22. |
| 11 April. The Ivy League
appear on the NME annual Poll Winners concert. The concert also includes
Animals, Bachelors, Beatles, Cilla Black, Georgie Fame, Wayne Fontana
and the Mindbenders, Keith Fordyce, Freddie and the Dreamers, Gerry and
the Pacemakers, Tom Jones, Kinks, Moody Blues, P. J. Proby, Rockin' Berries,
Rolling Stones, Jimmy Savile, Searchers, Seekers, Sounds Incorporated,
Dusty Springfield, Them, Twinkle |
| 12 June. Chris Hayes.
Sound Secrets of the Ivy League—Pick Up Your Mikes and Walk! Melody
Maker: 13. The Ivy League bring their own microphones on gigs, "dynamic
pencil mikes, fitted with foam rubber muzzles, which improve diction,
reduce noise breath and keep out dampness. They can be held in the hand
or used on a stand. ... "We have had a stand designed to take all
three mikes, each one detachable." |
| 10 July. Ivy League:
Selling Songs to the Americans. Melody Maker: 7. John Carter: British
songwriters compare "Very favourable, indeed.... They have really
come into their own. The success of British songs in America proves their
worth. ... I think there is a British approach to Songwriting and it is
different from the American. British songs are more basic, not so sophisticated." |
