Song:Gloria
Album:Dark Sides: The Best Of The Shadows Of Knight
By the mid-60s, the British Invasion was so dominant on the pop charts that US bands thought that imitating British Invasion bands was the only way to get anywhere. The Shadows Of Knight took the British interpretation of Chicago blues and reinterpreted it. This cover of Them's Gloria was their only top ten hit. The band was originally called The Shadows but there was already a British group with that name. Lead singer Jim Sohns, guitarists Warren Rogers, Roger Spielmann and Norm Gotsch, bassist Wayne Pursell and drummer Tom Schifflour all went to high school in Mount Prospect, IL. The football team nickname was The Knights. The band was called The Shadows Of Knight. Joe Kelley replaced Pursell and then Gotsch was drafted into the military and was replaced by Jerry McGeorge. They played gigs in the Chicago area and signed with Dunwich Records producer Bill Traut. Gloria was their first single. It started out as a regional hit and eventually broke nationally and reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was probably a bigger hit than the chart placement but may have been adversely affected by Dunwich not having national distribution. And of course Them's version was already a hit and some markets didn't play the cover. So The Shadows Of Knight recorded an album and more singles. But they couldn't find the magic of Gloria and The Shadows Of Knight split up in 1967. This budget comp is a good intro to their music. Jerry McGeorge left to join H.P. Lovecraft and the others left. Jim Sohns attempted to continue The Shadows Of Knight. He moved to New York in 1969. He continues to lead versions of Shadows Of Knight today. Here's The Shadows Of Knight performing Gloria on Where The Action Is 1966.
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