Mersey Beat - Billy J Kramer

Billy J Kramer

William Howard Ashton was born in Bootle, Liverpool on the 19th of August, 1943. His original band in 1960 was the Sandstormers, who then became Billy Forde & the Phantoms before they became known as Billy Kramer & the Coasters.
( see http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2016/04/mersey-beat-coasters.html ).

About to leave the Coasters and take up a full time post with British Rail at Rugby, his then manager Ted Knibbs called him and arranged to meet him in Liverpool. They walked into a restaurant where, to Billy's surprise, Brian Epstein was seated. Ted introduced Billy to Brian who told him he wanted to manage him. It seemed that appearing on the same circuit as The Beatles and doing a lot of shows with them at The Cavern, The Majestic Ballroom, Birkenhead, and The Tower Ballroom, New Brighton, plus the fact he had come third in a popularity poll in the music paper 'Mersey Beat, had brought him to Brian's attention.

Billy signs a 6 year contract in Epstein's office.

'Gobsmacked' at the offer of £50 per week ( he was on £3 17s 6p at the time ) Billy agreed and they met again a short time later in Brian's office where John Lennon was also present. Brian said to him, “John’s come up with an idea. He thinks your name would sound much better if we added the initial ‘J’ to it. How does Billy J. Kramer sound?” Billy said: ‘That’s okay by me, but what do I say to the press if they ask me what the ‘J’ stands for?" John said ‘You can tell them it stands for Julian.’
With The Coasters refusing to turn professional and the Remo Four turning him down, Brian had to find another backing group for Billy so he made an offer to the Manchester band The Dakotas, who were backing singer Pete MacLaine at the time. They initially refused, but finally agreed on the understanding Epstein arranged for them to make records in their own right and both acts signed for Parlophone under George Martin.They were known though as Billy J Kramer with The Dakotas with the money being split 5 ways.

Billy topped the British charts with his first release, the Lennon & McCartney number ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret?', a song that had been turned down by Shane Fenton. His other Lennon & McCartney hits included ‘Bad To Me’, which reached No.1 in the charts plus ‘I’ll Keep You Satisfied’ and ‘From A Window’ but it was Billy himself who found his biggest hit 'Little Children' although he had to talk Brian Epstein into recording it. The single also made him, briefly, a star in the United States, where it and its flip side ("Bad to Me") both made the Top Ten.

Billy recalls that one day John turned up at Abbey Road studios and took him into a room where he played ‘Bad To Me’. He says 'It was a wonderful experience. I thanked him and was very grateful. But then he said to me; ‘I want your opinion on this one. Tell me what you think of it?’ and he played me ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, so I said, ‘Can I have that one? He quickly laughed and replied that they were keeping that one for themselves'.
His biggest mistake was probably when he went to see the Beatles at the ABC in Blackpool, the first time he'd asked them for a song, and Paul played Yesterday to him. Billy's response was that he wanted a rock-and-roll song.
Following his 1965's cover version of Bacharach & David's "Trains and Boats and Planes," the hits then ceased as he lost the attention of Brian Epstein and consequently access to the Beatles. He continued recording throughout the 1960's, even briefly venturing into hard psychedelic-tinged rock, without much success, and subsequently toured often on the oldies circuit.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2017/01/mersey-beat-merseybeats.html