The Loved OnesMelbourne 1965-67 |
[Personnel] [Biography] [Selected Lyrics] [Discography] [References]
Moody, mod and magnificent – The Loved
Ones
Personnel
Gavin
Anderson [drums]
Ian Clyne [piano]
Danny Delacy [guitar]
Gerry Humphreys [vocals]
Terry Knott [drums] 1965
Rob Lovett [guitar]
Kim Lynch [bass]
Treva (aka Reg) Richards
[piano]
Biography
In the late '50s and early '60s, rock & roll music in Australia was limited to a meagre handful of pioneer rockers like Johnny O’Keefe. As in the US, this first wave was succeeded by the blander, watered-down MOR sounds offered by the likes of Col Joye and Judy Stone on TV’s Bandstand.
Alongside
the thriving folk scene (which gave birth to bands like The Seekers) the
real action, particularly in Melbourne, was in the bohemian jazz haunts where
stolid trad jazz testifiers like The Wild Cherries and The Red Onions
Jazz Band plied their wares to blues and jazz purists. That is, of course,
until the ‘British Invasion’ so devastatingly wiped the slate clean across the world in 1964. One of many bands that promptly changed musical direction from jazz/blues into rock/pop was The Red Onions. They had released one obscure album, The Red Onions Jazz Band on W&G in early '64, and had continued through to 1965, with a loyal following, before adopting its new stance.
Rechristened as The Loved Ones the group comprised Ian Clyne (keyboards), Kim Lynch (bass) and Gerry Humphries (vocals) from the Onions, together with guitarist Rob Lovett and drummer Gavin Anderson from fellow jazz/blues stalwarts, The Wild Cherries, a band that would similarly transmute into a hard rock outfit later in the decade.
These were seasoned, highly-skilled musos. Led by the charismatic, dynamic vocal delivery of Humphreys -- unquestionably one of the best rock singers this country has ever produced -- the new band immediately blew everybody away with their thoroughly unique sound - a repertoire that mixed tough rhythm & blues with appealing, quirky original pop tunes. The Loved Ones announced their arrival with their debut single for Astor in early ‘66, called Everlovin’ Man. A bluesy swing waltz that showed off Gerry’s astonishing vocal range and Ian’s inspired Hohner electric piano foundations, this single failed to chart until it was re-released in July on W&G’s pop imprint, In Records. But it certainly attracted attention, paving the way for the follow-up, The Loved One, a raggedly driving, jiving rocker that reached #2 in Sydney and #15 in Melbourne soon after its May ‘66 release. (Everlovin’ Man hit #9 in Sydney and #2 in Melbourne when it was re-issued, dominating the upper reaches of the charts for 19 weeks). Both of these records are regarded as OzRock classics - INXS saw fit to cover The Loved One twice - initially for their second single in 19881, and again in 1987 as a track on their multi-platinum selling Kick album. As The Loved Ones’ original keyboardist Ian Clyne pointed out to rock journalist Clinton Walker in 1989:
"It
was Gerry more than the songs though. ‘Everlovin’ Man’ was a sound, it was the
sound that sold that. On ‘The Loved One’ it was the handclaps and the chorus.
But Gerry sold it more than anything else".
The band, by now sporting an hip, stylish ‘mod’ image, began to build a solid following in Melbourne and further afield and in early 1967 consolidated its reputation with its third single, the baroque, brooding Sad Dark Eyes. Another song that has been lovingly covered in recent times by another respected Aussie rock performer, Ed Kuepper, formerly of seminal Brisbane punk outfit The Saints. This song was a moderate hit for The Loved Ones (respectable top forty placings in the capital city charts), but it was the first without the contributions of Clyne, who quit the band in late ‘66, to be replaced on keyboard duties by Treva Richards. Clyne remembers:
"We started to go through what I call ‘the factory stage’, which was half-hour spots, rushing from gig to gig. You could pick up a lot of money that way. We were playing good music up until we got successful, but suddenly we were stars, and we couldn’t handle it. It was a screaming thing in those days and it soon got to the stage where not only did we not hear what we were playing, we didn’t care. Everybody was saying how good we were, but I knew we weren’t. We were getting worse and worse".
Notwithstanding
Clyne’s perhaps harsh assessment of his former colleagues' abilities (he went
on to stints in The Ram Jam Big Band, Levi Smith’s Clefs and Chain), The Loved Ones weathered these personnel changes and continued to astound punters with their vital brand of R&B-tinged rock. They secured the support slot on the 1967 national tour by The Animals and The Hollies, which coincided
with their last charting single, a complex and the final brace of tracks that
completed the marvellous, seminal, solitary Loved Ones studio album, Magic
Box, and a couple intriguing pop ditties called A Love Like Ours. Kim
Lynch departed soon after, and Rob Lovett switched to bass to make way for
American guitarist Danny Delacy. This line-up lasted until the group’s break-up
in November 1967, but was able to record and add more fine singles.
A bit of useless ‘triv’: Each and every Loved Ones single (and, indeed, most of their self-penned repertoire), featured, somewhere, the use of the word ‘love’ in their titles. But it should be noted: this was no ‘moon, spoon, june’ band. They were one of a kind -- wildly original, innovative, quite unlike any other outfit on the scene at the time, and deservedly revered with affection for the music they made during their short heyday.
Fortunately a few precious video and film clips of the band also remain. A specially made film-clip for The Loved One, filmed in inner-city Melbourne, was included as part of Peter L. Lamb’s 1967 classic popumemtary Approximately Panther, and at least two in-studio appearances from The Go!! Show have survived on videotape: The Loved One and Everlovin’Man. Both are mimed performances, but clip of The Loved One was very well made and still looks great.
When The Loved Ones upped stumps, Lovett joined Peter Doyle and Mal McGee in the heavily-hyped Walker Brothers clone trio, The Virgil Brothers, who scored a moderate international hit with Temptation’s ‘Bout To Get Me before they without trace. Other Loved Ones members seemed to have faded into obscurity, but there was no holding back for Gerry Humphreys, who soon unleashed his new ‘supergroup’, Gerry & The Joy Band, with a series of rollicking singles, like Ongo Bongo Man and Buddy Holly’s Rave On (for which he was backed by an all-star studio supergroup including members of Daddy Cool). A film clip of the recording of Rave On was also made, and a copy is known to still exist in the archive of Channel 0 in Melbourne. All of The Joy Band’s singles are gathered on the Raven CD edition of Magic Box). Check this all-star roll-call of names who passed through the ranks of The Joy Band during its short tenure: Tony Cahill, Billy Green, Lobby Loyde, Ian Mawson, Graeme Morgan, Warren Morgan, Jerry Noone, Brian Peacock and Ian Woodcock. Phew!
Humphreys ventured into management (The Valentines, which included future AC/DC rock-god, Bon Scott) and appeared in battered cowboy hat to compere the legendary Sunbury ‘72 rock festival. He can be seen on the fascinating video documentary of this event [Siren Video SIRVID 100]. He also made a few studio session appearances, notably on a single by American folkie Phil Ochs in 1972. Gavin Anderson also moved into management, looking after for The Party Machine until they split in 1969.
A resurgence of interest in the wonderful music of The Loved Ones, prompted in part by INXS’ two covers of the band’s ground-breaking The Loved One, resulted in a reformation and tour of Australia in September 1987. The original line-up (with respected Melbourne drummer Peter Luscombe deputising for the unavailable Gavin Anderson) stormed the stages with their full original repertoire which was bolstered by well-chosen R&B favourites from the likes of Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters. A rather fine record of this tour came out in 1988. Live On Blueberry Hill [Mushroom CD L 38882] comes highly recommended.
At present, the most of the former members still live in Australia. Gerry has lived in the UK for many years, and Gavin Anderson now resides in America where he apparently works as photographer and graphic designer.
The fact that the Magic Box album has remained in print, and in demand, ever since its initial 1967 release is convincing testament to the lasting impact that The Loved Ones made on Aussie music sensibilities during the band’s ‘65-’67 heyday. They stand as one of the more interesting, exciting and original groups to come out of that heady era. Let’s let Ian Clyne make the final assessment:
"We used to laugh, because we’d win awards for originality, and we were trying to sound like everyone else! The only reason we didn’t was because we came from a different direction. We came from jazz. We knew music, we could play!"
Paul Culnane, 1999
A classic promo gimmick from an early 1967
edition of the
Albert Sebastian magazine published by Sebastian’s Disco,
offering readers the chance to win a date with the boys!
(Who won the contest??)
Selected Lyrics
The Loved One
[Ian Clyne - Gerry Humphreys] © Copyright Control 1966
Yonder she’s walking
She comes my way
Red dress on
Her long black hair
Talkin’ like
Walkin’ like
Walkin’ like
She comes to me
Oh baby I love you so
I need you now
I want you back
I can’t go on...
Helpless baby
Evil child
I’ve known you well and if you wanna stay that’s
alright
You want me again
And then and you come to me
Well, that’s, that’s alright! That’s alright!
That’s alright!
Now she’s gone
She’s walkin’ away
Red dress on
Her long black hair
I love her so
But now she’ll come runnin’
Anytime I say
Well that’s alright
Oh baby I love you so
I want you back
I need you now
I can’t go on...
Oh baby I want you back
I need you now
I love you so
I can’t go on...
Sad Dark Eyes
[Humphreys - Lovett - Lynch - Richards - Anderson] © Copyright Control
1967
I look at you
And your sad dark eyes
And your gypsy face
With your Spanish grace
With your words like rhymes
And your voice like dimes
Baby, I want to kiss
Your burning mouth
Your sad dark eyes
Your ghost-like soul
Goddamn, baby say
That you’ll be mine
Put my rings on your finger
And comb yer long red hair
Put on your black hat
And tell me that you care
And you’ll be mine
You’ll be mine
Until the end of time
Till the end of time
The Loverly Car
[Humphreys - Lovett - Lynch - Richards - Anderson] (c) Copyright Control
1967
There’s a little tiny man
Who resides in such a loverly house
And does his work
The best he can
Who saved his money up
And bought a loverly car
To put his family in
And travel near and far
Now, every Sunday
The loverly car is parked out in the street
And after church
Little man washes it
His loving children help
To make it nice and clean
And his wife, she says
It’s the best car she’s ever seen
Now, the little tiny man
Never thinks no more to catch a train
He drives to work
And back again
Until one fateful day
He got in quite a fuss
Little tiny man
Drove straight into a bus!!!!
Lyrics transcribed by Paul Culnane (please excuse any glitches). Copyright rests with the composers and publishers as noted.
Discography
[Singles] [Extended Plays (EPs)] [Albums]
|
?/66 Everlovin' Man / Blueberry Hill [Astor A 7297] 5/66 The Loved One / This Is Love [In Records INS 2610] 7/66 Everlovin’ Man / More Than Love [In Records INS 8007] 1/67 Sad Dark Eyes / The Woman I Love [In Records INS 8041] 3/67 A Love Like Ours / The Loverly Car [In Records INS 8066] ?/67 Magic Box / Love Song [In Records INS 8093] |
|
|
Blueberry Hill [W&G GE 2712] 1966
|
|
|
References
Paul Culnane – personal archives and reminisces
Ian McFarlane – Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1999)
Clinton Walker: liner notes for Raven CD, including interview with Ian Clyne
Chris Spencer & Zbig Nowara - Who’s Who of Australian Rock
Images courtesy of the Token Records website
© 1999 ICE Productions / MILESAGO