Mersey Beat - The Cryin' Shames

The Countdowns

                                                                

It was in 1962-63 that Dave Ferguson, Tony Bramwell, Mike Parker and John Hayton formed 'The Countdowns' but then changed the name to 'The Bumblies', a name taken from Michael Bentine's space puppets, because it sounded 'Beatlee'. Their first practice was at St. Andrew's church hall on Queens Drive before George Robinson joined them a short time later, mainly because he had a Fender Precision bass, and they then practised at Clubmoor Conservatve Hall in Broadway, Norris Green. which was also the venue for their first gig.
In 1963, after many changes to line-ups, George Robinson formed a group consisting of John Bennett on guitar and vocalist Joey Kneen. Various drummers came and went until finally, Charlie Gallagher, a brilliant drummer from 'The Calderstones' joined and with him came the very competent Phil Roberts on keyboards. They called themselves 'The Bumblies' once more.

So in 1964 the line-up was George Robinson on bass, John Bennett on guitar, Phil Roberts on keyboards, Charlie Gallagher on drums and Joey Kneen on vocals. They were rated one of the best groups on Merseyside at that time with a large following, despite Bob Wooler not wanting them at the Cavern. They started making a name for themselves around Liverpool, gaining a residency at the Rumblin' Tum in Hardman Street.
Another big change came when Charlie Crane joined the band. He had been around for a while with various bands and was a very good ballad singer and, with Joey being a good 'rocker', they were excellent together. They played at The Sink, The Iron Door, The Orrel Park Ballroom, St Luke's, Heaven and Hell and the Grave, all the popular venues, sometimes playing two a night.

After George made a contact with Joe Meek they all eventually went down to London and recorded a number of songs including 'Please Stay', which Meek really liked. However he decided that they should replace John Bennett with Richie Routledge, a 16 year old guitarist with the Liverpool based group 'Aztecs' who also worked for the music papers Mersey Beat and Music Echo both based in Liverpool. It was also decided that, as Michael Bentine had copyrighted the name 'Bumblies' they change their name to 'The Cryin' Shames'.

The distinctive tempo on 'Please Stay' was really accidental as Charlie sang the words from a piece of paper to new chords, consequently it was played slowly so that everyone could pick it up. They all liked the sound played at the slower tempo and decided to keep it that way as it was very moving the way Charlie Crane sang it. It was destined to be Joe Meek's final chart hit before that eventful day when he committed suicide in February 1967.
'Please Stay' c/w 'Whats News Pussycat' went straight into the charts after its release by Decca on the 18th of February 1966 and charted in the U.K. reaching 22 on The Melody Maker chart and 26 in The N.M.E. It was a No 1 selling record on Merseyside for a very long time after it's release and it was the No 1 selling single in Scotland on radio plays alone. The band only did one local T.V. date to promote the record and that was on Granada TV's Scene at 6-30. Brian Epstein arranged to meet the group at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool with a view to managing them but, due to disagreements concerning Brian Harvey of Music Echo who had designs on managing them, they turned him down. Refusing to join NEMS seemed a big mistake as TV appearances began to dry up and the record stopped moving in the charts.
So after mixing in exhalted company with stars such as the 'Walker Brothers', Roy Orbison and 'Martha and the Vandellas', after their second record missed the charts 'The Cryin' Shames' were instantly forgotten.

See also - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2016/06/mersey-beat-colonel-bagshots-incredible.html