The Poets
Encyclopedia
The Poets were a Scottish
blues
, freakbeat
and psychedelic pop
band, who were managed
and produced
by Andrew Loog Oldham
. Some of their singles
were released on his Immediate Records
label
. Their cover version
of "Baby Don't You Do It
", was produced by Immediate in-house record producer
, Paul Raven
(Gary Glitter).
Musically the band's style contained elements of both the hard R&B
of the early Small Faces (both bands would cover "Baby Don't You Do It") and The Action
along with the more melodic sounds of The Kinks
, The Searchers
and the later period Small Faces. Visually they sported an Edwardian look similar to the early Kinks with matching velvet jackets, ruffled shirts
, tight pants, Beatle Boots
and shag haircuts.
Their singles, while praised, were not chart successes outside Scotland
and no full album was completed.
Some of their singles are on various compilation album
s, including the Nuggets II box set on Rhino Records (one song) and The Immediate Records Story (four songs) on Charly Records
. One of their tracks "That's The Way It's Got To Be" was on the soundtrack
for the films Factory Girl
and Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
.
Their former member, Hume Paton, died on 30 April 2011, from a heart attack
in Grenada
, at the age of 66. Another former member, Alan Weir, died on 9 June 2010 from cancer
in Cambridge
, at the age of 66. Another former member John Dawson Bass Guitarist, Died on 6th January 2002 of Cancer, at the age of 57.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, freakbeat
Freakbeat
Freakbeat is the name used for rare, collectable, and obscure British Invasion records, particularly from 1966 and 1967. Elements of the freakbeat sound include strong direct drum beats, loud and frenzied guitar riffs, and extreme effects such as: fuzztone, flanging, distortion and compression or...
and psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
band, who were managed
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
. Some of their singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
were released on his Immediate Records
Immediate Records
Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene.-History:...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. Their cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Baby Don't You Do It
Baby Don't You Do It
-Original version:"Baby Don't You Do It" is a 1964 single by American singer Marvin Gaye. Released on the Tamla label, this song discusses a man who is at a standstill with his girlfriend, who he feels is neglecting his love stating "don't break my heart/...I've tried to do my best".Featured on the...
", was produced by Immediate in-house record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, Paul Raven
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
(Gary Glitter).
Musically the band's style contained elements of both the hard R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
of the early Small Faces (both bands would cover "Baby Don't You Do It") and The Action
The Action
The Action were an English band of the 1960s. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music.-Career:The band were formed as The Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. After Peter Watson joined them as an additional guitarist in 1965, they changed...
along with the more melodic sounds of The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, The Searchers
The Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
and the later period Small Faces. Visually they sported an Edwardian look similar to the early Kinks with matching velvet jackets, ruffled shirts
Poet shirt
A poet shirt is a type of shirt made as a loose-fitting blouse with full bishop sleeves, usually decorated with large frills on the front and on the cuffs. Typically, it has a laced-up V-neck opening, designed to pull over the head, but can have a full-length opening fastened by buttons...
, tight pants, Beatle Boots
Beatle boots
Beatle boots are a style of boot that have been worn since the 1960s. The boots are tight-fitting, Cuban-heeled, ankle-high boots with a sharp pointed toe, made popular by the English rock group The Beatles, for whom they were originally made. The style can feature either zipped or elastic sides...
and shag haircuts.
Their singles, while praised, were not chart successes outside Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and no full album was completed.
Some of their singles are on various compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s, including the Nuggets II box set on Rhino Records (one song) and The Immediate Records Story (four songs) on Charly Records
Charly Records
Charly Records is a British record label which specialises in reissued material.-History:Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania. Charly Records was founded in France in 1974 by Jean-Luc Young, who had been a promoter of...
. One of their tracks "That's The Way It's Got To Be" was on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the films Factory Girl
Factory Girl
Factory Girl is a 2006 American biographical film based on the life of 1960s underground film star, socialite, and Warhol Superstar Edie Sedgwick. The film premiered in Los Angeles on December 29, 2006.-Plot:...
and Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster is a science fiction cult film, directed by Robert Gaffney and starring Marilyn Hanold, James Karen, and Lou Cutell. The film was released in Great Britain as Duel of the Space Monsters. It is also known as Frankenstein Meets the Space Men, Mars Attacks Puerto...
.
Their former member, Hume Paton, died on 30 April 2011, from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, at the age of 66. Another former member, Alan Weir, died on 9 June 2010 from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, at the age of 66. Another former member John Dawson Bass Guitarist, Died on 6th January 2002 of Cancer, at the age of 57.
Singles discography
- "Now We're Thru" / "There Are Some" (DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
F11995, October 1964, UK Singles ChartUK 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 ...
: #31) - "That's The Way It's Got To Be" / "I'll Cry With The Moon" (Decca F12074, February 1965)
- "I Am So Blue" (Paton/Gallacher/Myles) / "I Love Her Still" (Decca F12195, July 1965)
- "Call Again" (Paton/Gallacher) / "Some Things I Can't Forget" (Paton/Gallacher) (Immediate IM006, October 1965)
- "Baby Don't You Do ItBaby Don't You Do It-Original version:"Baby Don't You Do It" is a 1964 single by American singer Marvin Gaye. Released on the Tamla label, this song discusses a man who is at a standstill with his girlfriend, who he feels is neglecting his love stating "don't break my heart/...I've tried to do my best".Featured on the...
" (Holland/Dozier) / "I'll Come Home" (Gallacher/Paton)(Immediate IM024, January 1966) - "Wooden Spoon" / "In Your Tower" (Decca F12569, February 1967)
- "Heyla Hola" / "Fun Buggy" ('Strike ColaBarr ColaBarr Cola, is a cola in Scotland, made from kola nuts.It is manufactured by the A.G. Barr plc company, makers of Irn-Bru. Barr Cola, like Irn-Bru, is most popular in Scotland...
' promotion single, circa 1970/71)
Members
- George Gallacher - 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...
- Hume Paton - lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
- Tony Myles - rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
- John Dawson - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Alan Weir - drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Hughie Nicholson (later BlueBlue (Scottish band)Blue is a Scottish pop/rock musical band, which was formed in Glasgow in 1973.-Original band members:*Hughie Nicholson — Guitarist / vocalist / keyboardist...
and MarmaladeMarmalade (band)Marmalade were a successful Scottish pop rock group, from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as "The Gaylords", later "Dean Ford and The Gaylords". In 1966, they changed the group name to 'The Marmalade'. The most successful period for the band, in terms of UK chart success, was...
)