The Swinging Blue Jeans

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The Swinging Blue Jeans
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genres	Beat music, pop music
Years active	1960s - present
Labels	HMV
Website	Link
Members
Ray Ennis
Former members
Ralph Ellis Norman Kuhlke Terry Sylvester Colin Manley John Ryan Bruce McCaskill Mike Gregory Mick McCann Jim Rodford Hedley Vick Les Braid

The Swinging Blue Jeans are a four piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the HMV label; "Hippy Hippy Shake", the follow up, Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly", and "You're No Good", a Clint Ballard song that provided a change of pace and furnished the group's most enduring achievement. But subsequent singles released that year and the next made no impression. In 1966 their version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Don't Make Me Over" peaked at #31 in the UK Singles Chart, but the group never charted again.^[1]

Contents 1 Career 2 Band members 3 Discography 3.1 Singles 3.2 Albums 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Career

The group was founded by Ray Ennis and Les Braid in 1957, as a jazz influenced skiffle sextet group, called the Blue Genes. The skiffle group line-up included Bruce McCaskill on guitar and vocals, Tommy Hughes on banjo, Norman Kuhlke on washboard, and Spud Ward on oil drum bass. Ralph Ellis later joined on guitar, and Ward moved to Rory Storm's band, and eventually Les Braid took over the bassist spot. Hughes and McCaskill left, the former for the army and the latter over personal disagreements, replaced by Johnny Carter and Paul Moss, respectively. By 1962, they were working full-time and playing skiffle at venues in Liverpool and at the Star Club in Hamburg. However the German audiences booed them off the stage, and the group rapidly changed direction and focus.^[2]

They switched to rock and roll, and with a name change to reflect their attire, to the Swinging Blue Jeans. This earned them a recording contract with HMV with record producer, Walter Ridley. With the departure of banjo player Paul Moss soon after, they were left as a quartet comprising Ray Ennis (rhythm guitar, vocals), Les Braid (bass, keyboards), Ralph Ellis (lead guitar), and Norman Kuhlke (drums). Nevertheless, they made their recording debut as a quintet, with an Ennis penned original, "It's Too Late Now," which made the UK Top 40.^[2]

The Swinging Blue Jeans performed on many popular TV shows in the United Kingdom and Europe, appearing with The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Searchers, and The Merseybeats. The Swinging Blue Jeans had the standard Shadows line-up of two guitars, a bass guitar and drums and achieved local fame with their appearances at the Cavern Club. They had a three year spell of success, rising and falling with Merseybeat itself.^[2]

An album Hippy Hippy Shake was released in 1964 by EMI on their HMV label. In Canada it was issued by Capitol Records (T6069), and in the US on Imperial Records (LP-9261).^[3] A second album, Blue Jeans a' Swinging was also released.^[4]

Ralph Ellis who, with Ray Ennis was one of the two songwriters in the group, left in early 1966, and was succeeded by Terry Sylvester from The Escorts. The band carried on for a couple years, but eventually retired to the cabaret circuit.^[2]

The Swinging Blue Jeans, with at least one original member, continue to tour to this day.^[2]

[edit] Band members

• Ray Ennis - Vocalist / Guitarist - born Raymond Vincent Ennis, 26 May 1940, Huyton, Liverpool
• Ralph Ellis - Guitarist - born 8 March 1942, Liverpool
• Les Braid - Bassist / Keyboardist - born William Leslie Braid, 15 September 1937, West Derby Road, West Derby, Liverpool — died 31 July 2005, Fazakerley Hospital, Fazakerley, Liverpool
• Norman Kuhlke - Drummer - born 17 June 1942, Liverpool

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• Terry Sylvester - Singer, Guitarist - born 8 January 1946, Liverpool. Sylvester came from The Escorts in 1966, before leaving to replace Graham Nash in The Hollies.
• Colin Manley - Guitarist - born 16 April 1942, Liverpool — died 9 April 1999 (ex-guitarist with The Remo Four)
• John Ryan - Drummer - born 5 April 1953, Pinehurst Avenue, Liverpool (ex-drummer with Liverpool Express)
• Bruce McCaskill - Guitarist / Vocalist - born 15 January 1940
• Mike Gregory - Bass guitarist - born Michael Gregory, 7 November 1946, Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Liverpool (ex-bassist with The Escorts)
• Mick McCann - Drummer - born 2 February 1949, Liverpool; occasionally deputised for Kuhlke in 1967/8
• Jim Rodford - Bassist - born James Rodford, 7 July 1941, St Albans, Hertfordshire
• Hedley Vick - Guitarist - 24 April 1953, Birkenhead, Merseyside; 1975/6 including tours of UK, Europe and New Zealand; brother of opera director, Graham Vick

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

• "It's Too Late Now" / "Think of Me" (HMV POP 1170, 1963) - UK #30
• "Hippy Hippy Shake" / "Now I Must Go" (HMV POP 1242, December 1963) - UK #2; US #24
• "Good Golly Miss Molly" / "Shaking Feeling" (HMV POP 1273, March 1964) - UK #11; US #43
• "You're No Good" / "Don't You Worry About Me" (HMV POP 1304, May 1964) - UK #3; US #97
• "Don't Make Me Over" / "What Can I Do Today" (HMV POP 1501, January 1966) - UK #31
• "Tremblin'" / "Something's Coming Along" (with Kiki Dee, Madeline Bell), (HMV POP 1596, July 1967)

^{[1] [5]}

[edit] Albums

• Hippy Hippy Shake (1964) - US #90
• Blue Jeans a' Swinging (1964)

^[6]

[edit] See also

• List of bands from Merseyside
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• List of British Invasion Artists

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Short biography at Allmusic