 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2010) |
| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical group |
| Founded | 1964 United Kingdom |
| Founder | John Schroeder Johnny Pearson |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
Key people | John Schroeder (founder) Johnny Pearson (founder) |
Sounds Orchestral was a British studio-based easy listening group, assembled by John Schroeder with Johnny Pearson in 1964.
John Schroeder had worked with Johnny Pearson previously over at Oriole Records, producing Johnny Pearson's first solo album. Moving to Pye, Schroeder was quick to assemble the line-up which would become Sounds Orchestral, intended to be a competitor group to EMI's successful Sounds Incorporated. Johnny Pearson (piano), Kenny Clare (drums and percussion), and Tony Reeves (bassist, who later played with Curved Air) filled out the group. Other members included Peter McGurk on bass, who died in June 1968. McGurk's position was assumed by Frank Clark. Generally in the studio, there would be a trio, backed by other instruments led by Tony Gilbert, who would play violin on many of the tracks. On the second last album in 1975, members had changed to Johnny Pearson on piano, Ronnie Verrell on drums, and Russ Stapleford on bass guitar.
Sounds Orchestral's version of Vince Guaraldi's 1962 instrumental "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" hit No. 1 on the 1–15 May 1965 US Adult Contemporary charts and No. 10 on 8 May 1965 Hot 100. [1] With Sound Orchestral's peak that week, the British Commonwealth came closer than it ever had or would to a clean sweep of a weekly Hot 100's Top 10, lacking only a hit at number two instead of "Count Me In" by the US group Gary Lewis & the Playboys. [2] [3] "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" sold over one million copies and achieved gold disc status. [4] The track peaked at No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart some three months earlier. The follow-up, "Moonglow" (1965) reached No. 43 in the UK. [5]
Sounds Orchestral made one last original album, in 1977 for K-tel, featuring 20 of the most current and popular television and movie themes. By the close of 1977, Sounds Orchestral had released sixteen different record albums, twelve vinyl 7" singles and three vinyl EPs, besides those in the United Kingdom, which had many differently packaged versions of the latter, particularly singles.
Pianist Johnny Pearson is featured on all the Sounds Orchestral albums. When Sounds Orchestral had effectively come to an end in 1977, Pearson had already established a successful solo career on other record labels. He was also music arranger on the UK BBC television programme, Top of the Pops .
At the end of the late 1980s, the CD era arrived. A number of Sounds Orchestral albums were re-released for the first time on compact disc. Most notable was the reissue in 1991, of the fourth 1966 Sounds Orchestral album, Sounds Orchestral Play Favourite Classical Melodies. Retitled Classical Classics, but with eight new tracks by Schroeder and Pearson, the album was dedicated to the memory of Sounds Orchestral members who had died, including McGurk, Clare, and Gilbert. Pearson himself died on 20 March 2011.
In Australia, some of these were released through Astor, the forerunner to Polygram. Some releases were released in New Zealand through Astor, others through Polygram, New Zealand. In Canada and the US, Sounds Orchestral was released through Parkway and easy listening independent record labels. From 1970, see also Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra.
All the above were 12-inch LP vinyl. Cassettes were also issued for the later titles. Some of the above have been repeated on CD. Various releases on CD occur through Castle UK and other labels, starting 1989.
Donovan Phillips Leitch, known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world music. He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and—since at least 2008—in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.
Golden Earring was a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ten in the United Kingdom, and went to number thirteen on the United States chart, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts and released 25 studio albums.
Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhood of Man (1975–1979). The label changed its name to PRT Records in 1980, before being briefly reactivated as Pye Records in 2006.
Penny Farthing Records was a British independent record label, established in 1969 by the British record producer Larry Page as a progression from his mildly successful 1960s record label, Page One Records. The label signed some artists of note. It released a number of hit songs, including "Venus" by Shocking Blue, "Beautiful Sunday" by Daniel Boone, "Blue Is the Colour" by the Chelsea football team, and "Sleepy Shores" by the Johnny Pearson and His Orchestra.
The Searchers were an English Merseybeat group who emerged during the British Invasion of the 1960s. The band's hits include a remake of the Drifters' 1961 hit, "Sweets for My Sweet"; "Sugar and Spice" ; remakes of Jackie DeShannon's "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk in the Room"; a cover of the Orlons' "Don't Throw Your Love Away"; and a cover of the Clovers' "Love Potion No. 9". With the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Searchers tied for being the second group from Liverpool, after the Beatles, to have a hit in the US when their "Needles and Pins" and the Swinging Blue Jeans' "Hippy Hippy Shake" both reached the Hot 100 on 7 March 1964.
Kenneth Daniel Ball was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.
John Valmore Pearson was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist. He led the Top of the Pops orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the theme music to television series.
Jackie Lee is an Irish popular music singer, who has recorded under various stage names.
The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock with their vocals and innovative arrangements of international ballads and pop standards. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic top 10 hit in 1966, and their top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The Sterile Cuckoo in 1970.
"It's My Party" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lesley Gore from her debut studio album I'll Cry If I Want To (1963). It was released as the lead single from the album on April 5, 1963, by Mercury Records. The song was collectively written by Herb Wiener, John Gluck Jr., and Wally Gold, whilst production was helmed by Quincy Jones.
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is an American jazz instrumental selection by Vince Guaraldi; later, a lyric was written by Carel Werber. It won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1963.
This is the discography of Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist Donovan.
Geoffrey Turton, who also recorded under the name Jefferson, is a British singer. His musical career began as the falsettist lead singer and rhythm guitarist of The Rockin' Berries in 1961, which had a number of hits in the UK and Europe. The group was best known for its covers, and Turton did much of the searching and decision work as to what was to be sung.
John Stanley Livingstone Harris was a Scottish composer, producer, arranger, conductor, and musical director. He lived in the United States from 1972 until his death.
John Francis Schroeder was a British pop and easy listening composer, arranger, songwriter and record producer. In 1961, Schroeder won an Ivor Novello Award for co-writing "Walkin' Back to Happiness".
Anthony Reeves is an English bass guitarist/contrabassist, noted for his "distinctive and complex bass sound" and use of electronic effects.
"That Same Old Feeling" is the title of a pop song composed by John Macleod and Tony Macaulay which in 1970 was a Top Ten UK hit for Pickettywitch, an English band fronted by Polly Brown. In the US the Pickettywitch single vied with a rival version by The Fortunes, with both versions scoring well-enough regionally to reach the Top 70 of the Hot 100, the national hit parade maintained by Billboard magazine.
The Wild Angels is an English rock and roll group. The group got their name from the 1966 Roger Corman film The Wild Angels starring Peter Fonda.
Irving Martin is an executive producer, creative director and record producer. Not including other record labels he worked with, during the 1960s, he produced more than forty-five singles that were released on the CBS label. He produced Guy Darrell's Top 20 hit, "I've Been Hurt" and had further chart success with the London Philharmonic Choir. In addition to producing solo artists and bands, he has either produced or composed music for television shows or films such as Return of the Saint, The Sweeney, Space 1999 and The Jigsaw Man, and has appeared on Make 'Em Laugh. He has often worked with Brian Dee and has also worked with Des Champ.
"Fanlight Fanny" is a song written in 1935 by George Formby, Harry Gifford and Fred E. Cliffe, and recorded by Formby in May that year. Another notable version was released in 1962 by Clinton Ford.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
