I believe the name "The Easybeats" was nicked from the Liverpool, UK group. Can anyone confirm this is where Snowy took the name from? He may not admit it I guess but I could definitely picture him having seen this band when he was in The Mojos. Easybeats article:
Spencer Leigh's book, "Let's Go Down To The Cavern" lists a band called The Easybeats as having been active in Liverpool during the early sixties. There was also a BBC radio show at the time called "Easy Beat". Snowy may have picked up the name from either. Incidentally, although early Easybeats publicity claimed that Snowy had been in The Mojos, there is no evidence in the UK press to support this, not even in Liverpool. He is not mentioned in the excellent, and very thorough liner notes (by Spencer Leigh) to the Mojos compilaion Working. My guess is that either (a) he was just friends with them, and overplayed the acquaintance (as Peter Bruce of The Groop did with The Dave Clark Five); or (b) he played in pre-Mojos outfit, The Nomads, or (c) he just sat in with them on occasion when their drummer was absent.
Both The Easybeats and The Mojos were managed by Spencer Lloyd Mason if that's a clue. No there are no recordings of Snowy playing drums in The Mojos but I wouldn't find it hard to believe he did play with that band at some point. In the book Wild About You: The Sixties Beat Explosion in Australia and New Zealand it even makes the claim that Snowy was in the Liverpool Easybeats; something I never read anywhere else.
I'm not saying he was in either of those two bands but I'd definitely be curious to know. It's too bad no one has ever really interviewed him in depth. Reupload:
In David Nichols' book Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music 1960-1985, he states that Snowy played (at different times) in two bands in Liverpool: The Nomads (who evolved into The Mojos) and The Easybeats. I don't currently have a copy to hand so I don't know Nichols' source for this.
The Easybeats. the best of... (Repertoire REP-4542-WG) Released 20 March 1995. Licensed from Albert Productions. 1. Friday On My Mind 2. Good Times ("Vigil" version) 3. St. Louis (mono) 4. River Deep Mountain High 5. Who'll Be the One 6. Pretty Girl 7. Saturday Night 8. Remember Sam 9. I Can't Stand It 10. Heaven and Hell (stereo mix) 11. Land of Make Believe ("Vigil" version) 12. Hello How Are You ("Vigil" version) 13. Happy Is the Man 14. The Music Goes Round My Head ("Vigil" version) 15. Falling Off the Edge of the World ("Vigil" version) 16. Come In You'll Get Pneumonia ("Vigil" version) 17. Made My Bed; Gonna Lie In It 18. Rock and Roll Boogie 19. All Gone Boy (Repertoire stereo mix) 20. Do You Have A Soul (All selections stereo except as indicated.) Returning once again to our chronological survey of Easybeats releases, this German Repertoire compilation which covers only the UK era of Easybeats recordings was apparently based on the idea that European audiences were only interested in that later period of the group's history. As Bruce Eder comments in his review at the "All Music" website, this is "similar to if someone started a Beatles 'Best Of' with Penny Lane." The CD offers stereo mixes of familiar album versions of the recordings. The (not altogether flattering) liner notes by former Melody Maker writer Chris Welch describe the UK years, in part, this way: "I remember meeting The Easybeats at this time in my capacity of roving pop reporter and recall the great groundswell of good will towards the band. They seemed living proof that pop music was becoming an international force that could break down national barriers. They were delighted at their good fortune and they celebrated in London's pubs with great gusto! However, despite continuing to write good material, the team of Vanda and Young couldn't come up with another matching hit. They rather nervously changed their style to try to find the right formula and as a result their album "Vigil" wasn't properly focused in any particular direction. They seemed to shift between easy listening pop and an attempt to accommodate psychedelia." The cover photographs, by Gered Mankowitz, are thought to have been taken at London's Olympic Studio during the days in late June that The Easybeats were recording there (probably 24 June - 1 July 1967). They are believed to have been intended as promotion for Australian Maton guitars, a brand the group was endorsing at that time (see Maton catalogue page below) but seem to have gone unused at the time.
This is a fantastic list, Gareth! I thought of a variation that might be helpful -- the ratio of Easybeats music on vinyl vs. CD. In other words, if one could (in theory) collect every available studio recording on record (45, EP, LP, original, reissue), what would be left over that's only on CD? Likewise, what songs/versions are vinyl-only? (The early-90s Repertoire reissue bonus tracks would most likely make up the bulk of any CD-only list.)
Hello EasyFreaks! Huge Vanda&Young fan here. Thought I would share these two nuggets with you. In the summer of 1968 The Easybeats were among foreign guests at Bratislavská lýra (Bratislava Song Festival) - just mere months before the occupation of former Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact armies in late August. You can find some info about their performance and set list in the amazing book by John Tait (or click Google Books link here). First segment starts at 1:10 (til 1:57)
Hi @currentpeak Some of us have seen the footage from the first video before, but that second video is definitely a great find!!! According to NME, the band played five songs in their set: 1) Friday On My Mind 2) Good Times 3) What In The World 4) Hello, How Are You 5) Sha La La It’s great to go finally see the footage of the band playing with the orchestra and know that it survives! It’s a shame they didn’t use the opportunity perform “Land of Make Believe”. But the other interesting thing about the video was the Dezo Hoffman photo shoot footage. Wow, something that I didn’t know existed until now! Thank you for sharing!
No worries. Yeah, the first video footage has been around for several years now, I remember sending that video link to John Tait a few years ago. I came across the second one only recently. I am sure that there must be more, most probably a complete footage of their performance at Bratislavská lýra '68, gathering dust in the archives of RTVS (Radio and Television of Slovakia). I would love to see the Good Times especially. According to narrator, Dežo Hoffmann (at that time living in London, but originally from Slovakia) was very enthusiastic supporter of Bratislavská lýra and instrumental in recommending the bands to the festival. Later in the documentary (around 51:00, another funny part at 53:00), there is an interview with Dave Munden (The Tremeloes) and he stated that if Dežo asked them to go, they would do it for him. P.S. I haven't realised until now that Harry was singing those high backups (as can be seen in Hello, How Are You? footage). As far as I know, George was very good at imitating voices (even punching in Bon Scott's voice when doing the vocal overdubs on early Vanda&Young produced AC/DC albums), so vocally quite versatile. Now I am interested to know what tracks are they singing leads/predominant backups. I think it is George singing the leads on Can't Find Love and Harry singing those upper register backups.
Really great to see “new” Easybeats footage, thanks for posting! And interesting nugget about George, Bon & overdubs — I’d not heard that before but no surprises. George was a magician. Though I'm curious how it was discovered! Back in the day, a few of us compiled an Easybeats who-sang-what list. Consensus then was Harry sang lead on Can’t Find Love. Upper register backing vocals too is what I hear... he also had quite the versatile set of pipes. List: The Easybeats: Album by Album Thread (pt3)
Thank you for the list. I will have another listen this weekend as I think it was George, haha. It was mentioned in amazing The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC book by Jesse Fink - read here.
The Easybeats - Live - Studio and Stage ...they called it easyfever... (Raven RVCD-40, Australia) Released 5 October 1995 "Issued by arrangement with The Easybeats and Albert Productions." 1. I Keep Forgettin' (recorded 24 Nov 67; BBC broadcast date 29 Jan 68) 2. Mother-In-Law (21 Mar 67; broadcast 1 Apr 67) 3. Pretty Girl (18 Oct 66; broadcast 22 Oct 66) 4. Heaven and Hell (19 June 67; broadcast 24 June 67) 5. Made My Bed; Gonna Lie In It (18 Oct 66; broadcast 22 Oct 66) 6. Saturday Night (21 Mar 67; broadcast 1 Apr 67) 7. Who'll Be the One (21 Mar 67; broadcast 1 Apr 67) 8. Hello How Are You (19 Feb 68; broadcast 2 Mar 68) 9. Falling Off the Edge of the World (19 Feb 68; broadcast 2 Mar 68) 10. Down to the Last 500 (19 Feb 68; broadcast 2 Apr 68) 11. River Deep Mountain High (19 June 67; broadcast 24 Jun 67) 12. What In the World (19 Feb 68; broadcast 2 Apr 68) 13. Sorry (recorded 18 May 67; 3UZ broadcast date 21 May 67) 14. In My Book (18 May 67; broadcast 21 May 67) 15. I'll Make You Happy (18 May 67; broadcast 21 May 67) 16. She's So Fine (recorded 7 Nov 86; broadcast various dates in syndication) 17. Wedding Ring (7 Nov 86; broadcast various dates in syndication) 18. For My Woman (7 Nov 86; broadcast various dates in syndication) 19. St. Louis (7 Nov 86; broadcast various dates in syndication) 20. Friday On My Mind (7 Nov 86; broadcast various dates in syndication) Glenn A. Baker's final (as of this writing) compilation of unissued Easybeats material draws upon three previously unexplored bodies of work, all originally heard in the form of radio broadcasts and none of which had been previously released at the time. The first grouping of twelve tracks comes from "live-in-studio" broadcasts made for British BBC programs "Saturday Club," "The Jimmy Young Show" and "The Pete Brady Show." These "live" musical tracks were recorded at the BBC-owned Playhouse Theatre in London by BBC-employed engineers, each recording completed shortly before actual broadcast. In a few cases the BBC allowed previously recorded backing tracks to be remixed and overdubbed to create versions slightly different to those heard on record but many of these are fresh recordings made exclusively for radio broadcast and noticeably different than their familiar officially-released counterparts. The voice of program host Brian Matthew is occasionally heard during song introductions but overall quality is excellent throughout. Baker chose twelve selections from a possible total of eighteen individual tracks recorded for the BBC. Tapes of these BBC recordings were not intentionally preserved at the time but have survived due to their use on programmed discs for a syndicated radio program called "Top of the Pops," distributed to individual radio stations around the world (photo below). Tracks 13 - 15 survive from a live broadcast of an Easybeats appearance at Festival Hall, Melbourne on 18 May 1967. Radio Station 3UZ recorded both The Easybeats' and The Twilights' appearances on that day and broadcast edited highlights in a short program three days later. The tape of this transmission was preserved in the station's archives and was discovered by the intrepid Baker years later. It is thought that The Easybeats' portion of the program contained a couple more songs which Baker did not use as those titles were repeated elsewhere on the disc in alternative versions. Tracks 16 - 20 were recorded in Sydney on the Easybeats' 1986 Reunion Tour. Though not approved for release on CD at the time, the performance was mixed and syndicated to Australian Radio Stations. A copy of the finished tape now rests in the Australian National Sound and Film Archive (NFSA). Tracks 1 - 12 recorded at The BBC Playhouse Theatre, London on dates indicated above. Tracks 13 - 15 recorded live on stage at Festival Hall, Melbourne, dated as indicated. Tracks 16 - 20 Recorded live on stage at Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, dated as indicated.
The Raven CD, while nice to have, seems to me to have been a missed opportunity. We have seen in this thread that there was enough BBC material to justify a whole CD of those recordings alone, and while the 1986 reunion tour recording was a nice souvenir for those who got to go, I would rather have had the whole of the 1967 show (Raven had, after all, released the whole set by the Twilights). With the amount of material doing the rounds these days on BBC transcription discs and Youtube clips, this could easily have been a double CD, or at least one CD of BBC recordings and one of live performances (in addition to the Melbourne concert, we know that there are live recordings made in Germany (e.g. "Loving Machine") and it is possible that complete sets exist from the shows in Slovakia and what was then Yugoslavia) and if the 1986 recordings needed to be released, why not a whole CD? Still, we should be thankful for what we have... and wait patiently for a proper reissue campaign that might tie up these loose ends.
100% argue. There is enough material for a proper live Easybeats set. When Raven did this back in 1995, The Beatles Live At The BBC album had been released a year before, so there was a precedent already set. Also, why exclude the interviews? I know the banter between Brian Matthew's and Stevie and George isn't as witty as The Beatles was on their BBC CD (in the Oct '66 Saturday Club interview, The Easybeats come off as shy newcomers. Very much in awe of being interview by BBC), but it gives the feel of a live broadcast and some context. On another critical note - that artwork is appalling! It looks like something knocked up by a bootlegger. I'm not trying to discourage people from tracking this down (it's now deleted), but a bit of effort wouldn't have gone astray.
Just to clarify - I 100% AGREE with Gareth. No argument, just a lack of proof reading and phone posting.
Photos of the band taken by Stephen Fleay in 1969 in Orange, NSW. Recently posted on FB. If somebody has time to repost them all here, you're welcome to do so. Alexis J Favenchi
I found a Cashbox story that listed some of the dates: August 1967: 23-KRNT Theater, Des Moines Iowa 24-Davenport IA 25-Joliet IL 26-Expo Gardens Peoria IL 27-Omaha NE 28-Sioux Falls SD 29-Waterloo IA 30-Brooklyn MI 31-Windsor Ontario September 1967 1-Dane County Coliseum Madison WI 2-Milwaukee WI 3-Evansville IN 4-Sound Bend Indiana
