Georgie Fame

About

From Wikipedia:

Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only British music act to have achieved three UK No. #1 hits with his only top 10 chart entries: “Yeh, Yeh” in 1964, “Get Away” in 1966 and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” in 1967. […]

The Blue Flames

Fame was influenced by jazz, blues, and the musicians Mose Allison and Willie Mabon. He was one of the first white musicians to be influenced by ska after hearing it in cafés in Jamaica and Ladbroke Grove in England. He recalled The Flamingo Club was “full of American GIs who came in from their bases for the weekend” who played for him the song “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the M.G.’s. “I had been playing piano up to that point but I bought a Hammond organ the next day.”

In 1963, the band recorded its debut album, Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo. Produced by Ian Samwell and engineered by Glyn Johns, the album was released in place of a planned single by EMI Columbia. It failed to reach the chart, but the October 1964 follow-up, Fame at Last, reached No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart.

Ronan O’Rahilly failed to get Fame’s first record played by the BBC. After it was rejected by Radio Luxembourg, O’Rahilly announced he would start his own radio station to promote the record. The station became the offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline.

Fame enjoyed continual chart success, with three number one hits in the UK Singles Chart. His version of “Yeh, Yeh”, released on 14 January 1965, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles chart. “In the Meantime” charted in both UK and US. Fame made his US television debut that same year on Hullabaloo. His single “Get Away”, released on 21 July 1966, spent one week at No. 1 on the UK chart and 11 weeks on the chart. The song was written as a jingle for a petrol commercial. His version of the Bobby Hebb song “Sunny” made No. 13 in the UK charts in September 1966. His greatest chart success was in 1967 when “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” became a number one hit in the UK, and No. 7 in the US. “Yeh, Yeh” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs. […]

Last updated on March 11, 2023