Geoffrey Turton (born 11 March 1944,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England), 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 The Rockin' Berries are a beat group from Birmingham, England, who had several hit records in the UK in the 1960s. A version of the group, emphasising comedy routines as well as music, continues to perform to the present day. History The Rockin ...

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. Jeffersonat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

When the group broke up in 1968 Turton started a solo career, releasing a single "Don't You Believe It" on

Piccadilly Records 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 Brother ...

. It flopped, and Piccadilly head John Schroeder suggested that Turton change his name to Jefferson. At that time, Turton recorded the original version of "

Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is the debut single by Edison Lighthouse. The song reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks. It also became the firs ...

" (unreleased). The single "Montage" failed to chart, but its follow-up " The Colour of My Love" was a hit in the UK (peaking at No. 22 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

) and the United States (reaching No. 68 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100), and an LP was issued following its success. A third single, " Baby Take Me in Your Arms", was not a hit in the UK but cracked the Top 30 in the U.S. (No. 23) and Canada (No. 15), justifying the release of a North American album. At the time of this single's success, Turton was hurt in a car crash, and so he did not make any live appearances. After a six-month hospital stay, Turton recorded a second which was never released by his label Pye Records, and his career stalled in the UK. He began touring the U.S., where he was still able to get gigs based on the success of "Baby Take Me in Your Arms". He then secured a recording contract with

Polygram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

, released another album and the single "I Love You This Much" (later covered by

Mouth & MacNeal Mouth and MacNeal was a Dutch pop duo that enjoyed some commercial success in the 1970s. They are best known for their million selling recording of " How Do You Do" in 1972, which topped the Dutch chart and became a US top ten hit, also reaching ...

on the album ''Pocket Full of Hits''). He resumed under his given name when The Rockin' Berries reunited in the late 1970s, and toured with them (as well as doing solo shows in the UK) into the 1990s. In 2001,

Castle Records A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

released ''The Colour of My Love -- The Pye Anthology'', a CD composed of his 1969 album ''The Colour of My Love'' plus much of his previously unreleased Pye material.

References

Notes Sources * Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Turton, Geoff 1944 births Living people English male singers English pop guitarists English male guitarists English pop singers English rock singers People from Birmingham, West Midlands

See also

References