Song:Lies
Album:Nuggets From Nuggets: Choice Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era
The Knickerbockers' 1966 top 20 hit Lies is probably the best Beatles song not by The Beatles. It was their only chart hit. Though the group wrote their own songs, it appears that they liked to imitate popular groups of the mid-60s. The Knickerbockers were started in Bergenfield, NJ in 1962 by guitarist Beau Charles and his brother bassist John Charles. They struggled until they brought in sax player Buddy Randell formerly of The Royal Teens. They added drummer Jimmy Walker from The Castle Kings. They were spotted by producer Jerry Fuller and he signed them to Challenge Records. They started out imitating The Four Seasons and singing about Hot Rods. But they finally charted with Lies. The song was written by Beau Charles and Buddy Randell but it's clearly supposed to sound like The Beatles complete with John Lennon soundalike vocals. The Knickerbockers appeared in the 1966 film Out Of Sight. They probably should have been bigger but Challenge was too small to properly promote them. Then Jimmy Walker left in 1967 to replace Bill Medley in The Righteous Brothers. You can get Lies on this Nuggets comp. Beau & John Charles tried to keep the group together but couldn't. Beau Charles recorded as Columbus Jones in 1969 and then Beau & John recorded as Lodi on Mowest in 1971. Randell also recorded under several names and and then went into faith based music. He died in 1998. Walker retired from music in 1970. The Knickerbockers have reformed a couple of times and recorded for Sundazed Records in 2006. Here's The Knickerbockers performing Lies on Hollywood-A-Go-Go 1965.
No comments:
Post a Comment