The Nashville Teens
Arthur Sharp - vocals Ray Phillips - vocals Michael Dunford/John Allen - guitar John Hawken - piano Pete Shannon - bass guitar/harmonica Roger Groom/Pete Lace/Barry Jenkins -
drums After returning to England in '64, they again worked as a backup band
for a legendary American star, this time Bo Diddley. Under the management of Don Arden and the guidance of producer Mickie
Most, they made their first record in '64, a cover of John D. Loudermilk's
"Tobacco Road". The follow-up, another Loudermilk
composition, "Google Eye", also made the top ten, but after
that the band made little impact. The blame for this mainly lies with
their record company, Decca, who did little to promote them and often gave
them material which was unsuitable to their style. They were also
frustrated in their attempts to break into the American market when visa
restrictions curtailed a US tour with The Zombies. In 1965 the Teens appeared in the film "Pop Gear"
alongside the Animals. In the late Sixties they reverted back to working for American artists
touring Britain, backing up Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry. Jenkins left to
join the Animals in '66 and was replaced by one of his predecessors, Roger
Groom. Hawken later played with ex-Yardbird Keith Relf in Renaissance. Singles Jun '64 Tobacco Road/I Like It Like That Decca F 11930 UK#6 Oct '64 Google Eye/TNT Decca F 12000 UK#10 Feb '65 Find My Way Back Home/Devil-In-Law Decca F 12089 UK#34 May '65 This Little Bird/Whatcha Gonna Do Decca F 12143 UK#38 Oct '65 I Know How It Feels To Be Loved/Soon Forgetten Decca F 12255 - Jan '66 The Hard Way/Upside Down Decca F 12316 UK#45 Aug '66 Forbidden Fruit/Revived 45 Time Decca F 12458 - 1966 That's My Woman/Words Decca F 12542 - E.P. 1964 The Nashville Teens - I Need You Baby/Parchment Farm/Bread
And Butter Man/How Deep Is The Ocean? Decca DFE 8600 Re-issue
1997 Tobacco Road - Tobacco Road/Mona/Need You/Bread And Butter
Man/Hurtin' Inside/Hoochie Coochie Man/Google Eye/Too Much/Parchment
Farm/I Like It Like That/How Deep Is The Ocean/La
Bamba/TNT/Devil-In-Law/Find My Way Back
Home
The Nashville Teens came from
Weybridge in Surrey and were formed in 1962 from the remnants of two rival
groups. They spent most of their first year working the clubs of Hamburg,
where they also served as Jerry Lee Lewis' backup band, playing with him
on his "Live At The Star Club"album.
