The Escorts (Liverpool band)
Encyclopedia
The Escorts were a Merseybeat
band
formed in October 1962 in Liverpool
, England
, by three classmates who had just left the Morrison School for Boys in Rose Lane, Allerton — Mike Gregory, Terry Sylvester and John Kinrade. In 1963, they were voted the ninth most popular group in Liverpool by readers of Mersey Beat magazine
from a competitive field of several dozen popular Liverpool bands of the time.
Terry Sylvester was replaced by Frank Townsend from The Easybeats (1962–65) and the Beachwoods, who was later to become a member of Tony Rivers and the Castaways. Paddy Chambers
(ex-Faron's Flamingos and The Big Three
) subsequently replaced Townsend. Sylvester left to join The Swinging Blue Jeans
in 1966, before replacing Graham Nash
in The Hollies
. He now lives in Toronto
and travels all over the United States
and Canada
playing concert
s with such as Billy J. Kramer
, Peter Noone
, Joey Molland
and other British Invasion
acts. Sylvester also does a one-man show.
Paul McCartney
played tambourine
on their last record
, "From Head to Toe" in 1966.
John Kinrade stopped playing after The Escorts split up in 1967, sold his Gretsch guitar and is now a hairdresser
with two salon
s.
Mike Gregory would also leave The Escorts in 1967 to join The Swinging Blue Jeans, and stayed until 1971, whereupon after leaving and doing sessions for a couple of years, he formed a group with Johnny Goodison of the original Brotherhood of Man
called Big John's Rock 'n' Roll Circus in 1975. Gregory stayed in 'The Circus' until its demise in 2005, and is now a solo
artist
.
Drummer Pete Clarke managed to record a fine instrumental solo single in 1968. Starting that same year for a while he became the in-house session
drummer for Apple Music and is notable on a couple of songs on Jackie Lomax's album, "Is This What You Want". Still wanting to be in a band, in 1969 he joined the strange poetry band, "The Liverpool Scene", while for Apple he did sessions for Kiki Dee
and Billy Preston
, and then did a brief stint in Badfinger
. He is now living in the US
.
Although they never released a full album
during their short time together, much later (1983) at the instigation of Elvis Costello
, Edsel Records released an LP containing all twelve songs from the six singles. It was released on CD
in 1995 as EDCD 422 and entitled From the Blue Angel, as a reference to the club
[owned by Allan Williams, The Beatles' first manager] where The Escorts began performing in 1962. Costello also released a single which was a copy of The Escorts last recording
, "From Head to Toe"/"Night Time".
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
formed in October 1962 in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, by three classmates who had just left the Morrison School for Boys in Rose Lane, Allerton — Mike Gregory, Terry Sylvester and John Kinrade. In 1963, they were voted the ninth most popular group in Liverpool by readers of Mersey Beat magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
from a competitive field of several dozen popular Liverpool bands of the time.
Career
They originally consisted of:- Terry SylvesterTerry SylvesterTerry Sylvester , was the guitarist/singer with The Escorts, The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Hollies...
— guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
/lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
(born Terence Sylvester, 8 January 1946, Allerton, Liverpool) - John Kinrade — lead guitar/vocals (born 1946)
- Mike Gregory — bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
/vocals (born Michael Gregory, 7 November 1946, Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Liverpool) - Ray Walker — lead vocals
- Johnny Foster — drums; replaced by Pete Clark (born Peter Gaskell, 1946); replaced by Kenny Goodlass from The Kirkbys; replaced by Pete Clark; replaced by Tommy Kelly of Earl Preston's Realms; replaced by Paul Comerford of The Cryin' ShamesThe Cryin' ShamesThe Cryin' Shames were a mid 1960s pop/beat group, produced by Joe Meek. They had one UK hit single in 1966 with a cover of The Drifters' 1961 "Please Stay", written by Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard.-Career:...
.
Terry Sylvester was replaced by Frank Townsend from The Easybeats (1962–65) and the Beachwoods, who was later to become a member of Tony Rivers and the Castaways. Paddy Chambers
Paddy Chambers
Paddy Chambers was an English lead guitarist and vocalist from the Merseybeat era.With an early 1960s band of his, Steve Bennett and the Syndicate, Patrick John Chambers appeared at The 2i's Coffee Bar in 1961...
(ex-Faron's Flamingos and The Big Three
The Big Three (musical group)
The Big Three were a Merseybeat group from Liverpool. They are best known for their 1963 recording of "Some Other Guy".-Career:The Big Three evolved from a group called Cass & The Cassanovas, formed in May 1959 by Brian Casser as a trio comprising Casser , Adrian Barber The Big Three were a...
) subsequently replaced Townsend. Sylvester left to join The Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans were a four piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the HMV label; "Hippy Hippy Shake", the follow-up, Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly", and "You're No Good", a Clint Ballard song that provided a change of pace and furnished the...
in 1966, before replacing Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
in The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
. He now lives in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and travels all over the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
playing concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s with such as Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...
, Peter Noone
Peter Noone
Peter Noone is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits.-Early life:...
, Joey Molland
Joey Molland
Joseph "Joey" Charles Molland is an English composer and rock guitarist whose recording career spans four decades...
and other British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
acts. Sylvester also does a one-man show.
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
played tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
on their last record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, "From Head to Toe" in 1966.
John Kinrade stopped playing after The Escorts split up in 1967, sold his Gretsch guitar and is now a hairdresser
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
with two salon
Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women...
s.
Mike Gregory would also leave The Escorts in 1967 to join The Swinging Blue Jeans, and stayed until 1971, whereupon after leaving and doing sessions for a couple of years, he formed a group with Johnny Goodison of the original Brotherhood of Man
Brotherhood of Man
Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s, most notably by winning the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me"....
called Big John's Rock 'n' Roll Circus in 1975. Gregory stayed in 'The Circus' until its demise in 2005, and is now a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Drummer Pete Clarke managed to record a fine instrumental solo single in 1968. Starting that same year for a while he became the in-house session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
drummer for Apple Music and is notable on a couple of songs on Jackie Lomax's album, "Is This What You Want". Still wanting to be in a band, in 1969 he joined the strange poetry band, "The Liverpool Scene", while for Apple he did sessions for Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
and Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
, and then did a brief stint in Badfinger
Badfinger
Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
. He is now living in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Although they never released a full album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
during their short time together, much later (1983) at the instigation of Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Edsel Records released an LP containing all twelve songs from the six singles. It was released on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in 1995 as EDCD 422 and entitled From the Blue Angel, as a reference to the club
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
[owned by Allan Williams, The Beatles' first manager] where The Escorts began performing in 1962. Costello also released a single which was a copy of The Escorts last recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
, "From Head to Toe"/"Night Time".
Singles
- "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (Larry WilliamsLarry WilliamsLarry Williams was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana...
) / "All I Want Is You" (Ireland/ChiltonJohn ChiltonJohn James Chilton is a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s he also worked with pop bands, including The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Escorts....
) - FontanaFontana RecordsFontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
TF 453, April 64 - "The One to Cry" (Weiss/Schlaks) / "Tell Me Baby" (Ireland/ChiltonJohn ChiltonJohn James Chilton is a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s he also worked with pop bands, including The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Escorts....
) - Fontana TF 474, June 64 (UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#49) - "I Don't Want to go on Without YouI Don't Want to go on Without You"I Don't Want To Go On Without You" is soul ballad written by Bert Berns and Jerry Wexler and produced by Bert Berns for The Drifters in 1964.-Covers:...
" (BurnsBert BernsBertrand Russell Berns , most commonly known as Bert Berns as well as Bert Russell and Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s...
/WexlerJerry WexlerGerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
) / "Don't Forget to Write" (Ireland/ChiltonJohn ChiltonJohn James Chilton is a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s he also worked with pop bands, including The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Escorts....
) - Fontana TF 516, 1965 - "C'mon Home Baby" (Addrisi) / "You'll Get No Lovin' That Way" (Jimmy CampbellJimmy Campbell (musician)Jimmy Campbell was a musician and songwriter from Liverpool. He was a member of Merseybeat groups The Kirkbys, The 23rd Turnoff, Rockin' Horse as well as releasing three solo albums.-Career:...
/ Escorts) - Fontana TF 570, 1965 - "Let It Be Me" (Gilbert BécaudGilbert BécaudGilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
/Mann Curtis/Pierre DelanoëPierre DelanoëPierre Delanoë , born Pierre Leroyer, was a French songwriter/lyricist who wrote for dozens of singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, and Johnny Hallyday....
) / "Mad Mad World" (Osborne/Burnette) - Fontana TF 651, January 1966 - "From Head to Toe" (Smokey RobinsonSmokey RobinsonWilliam "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
) / "Night Time" (Chambers) - Columbia DB 8061, December 1966
LPs
- From the Blue Angel - EDCD 422, 1995
- "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" - 2:11
- "All I Want Is You" - 1:49
- "The One to Cry" - 1:55
- "Tell Me Baby" - 2:16
- "I Don't want to Go on Without You" - 2:23
- "Don't Forget to Write" - 2:21
- "C'Mon Home Baby" - 2:05
- "You'll Get No Lovin' That Way" - 1:57
- "Let It Be Me" - 2:19
- "Mad Mad World" - 2:05
- "From Head to Toe" - 2:32
- "Night Time"" - 2:53
External links
- [ Allmusic.com biography]