Paul Franklyn "Legs" Barrett (14 December 1940 – 20 January 2019) was a UK agent and manager of 1950s style
Rock and Roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
artistes, an author and previously a singer, songwriter and film actor. Barrett is the discoverer, mentor and first manager of the singer now known as
Shakin' Stevens
Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.
His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...
during the 1960s and 1970s, but has also represented and promoted many more of the genre's greats during a long and varied career.
Early years
Barrett was born in
Blackwood, Monmouthshire
Blackwood ( cy, Coed Duon) is a town, community and an electoral ward on the Sirhowy River in the South Wales Valleys administered as part of Caerphilly County Borough. It is located within the historic county of Monmouthshire.
The town hous ...
, in 1940 but moved to
Penarth
Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay.
Penarth is a weal ...
near
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, at an early age, where he has lived ever since. His father was a brass moulder and his mother was a housewife and author. His parents named him Paul after
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...
the black American singer, actor and radical activist, and Francis after
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...
. However Barrett always disliked his middle name and formally changed it in 1961 to Franklyn, because he preferred the name and admired
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
.
![Earl Fuggle and the Electric Poets 1966](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Earl_Fuggle_and_the_Electric_Poets_1966.jpg)
He was educated at
Cogan School, King's College, Cardiff and Victoria Road School, Penarth. On leaving secondary school Barrett had several mundane jobs including photographer's assistant, market barrow-boy, door-to-door salesman, council labourer, brewery worker, warehouseman, plastics-moulder, potato-packer, railway-signalman, shop assistant, grassmower, hospital porter and hotel receptionist.
During the 1950s he developed a passion for American rock and roll music. In his spare time he started acting as agent and manager for Penarth's first rock group, the Backbeats. He began promoting teenage dances at the local venue, the Paget Rooms, that would continue until the early 1980s. Barrett was active in promoting events during the annual ''Penarth Holiday Fortnight'' each July.
A supporter of American Rock and Roll DJ
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
, Barrett also organised film nights at the Paget Rooms. He also opened a specialist rock and roll record shop on Glebe Street.
To cash in on the 1960s psychedelic movement in British music the Backbeats briefly shifted to performing as the 'flower power'-style ''"Earl Fuggle and the Electric Poets"''. Barrett himself took the persona of Earl Fuggle on lead vocals. The idea developed into a performance group named ''"The 98% mother and Apple Pie West Coast Rock and Roll Band"''.
Shakin' Stevens
Cardiff teenager Michael Barratt (later
Shakin Stevens
Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.
His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...
) was a fan of the Backbeats, and sometimes performed a guest vocal with the band. He became referred to as 'Rockin' Louie II'.
[Barrett, Paul; Hayward, Hillary (1983). ''Shakin' Stevens''. W. H. Allen (London). ] By the mid 1960s however, Barratt had formed his own rock band, named the Olympics, then the Cossacks, then finally the Denims, who became a support act to the Backbeats. When the Denims broke up, Barratt formed a new group named the Rebels. Paul Barrett reluctantly went to see the Rebels after a recommendation early in 1969. Although unimpressed with the band, Barrett saw something in their young singer. He offered to manage Michael Barratt on the condition that he left the Rebels and, secondly, find a new stage name. Barratt agreed, left the Rebels and renamed himself Shakin' Stevens.
[Heatley, Michael (2005). ''Shaky''. Michael O'Mara Books (London). ]
![Walsall 1974 Shakin Stevens and the Sunsets](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Walsall_1974_Shakin_Stevens_and_the_Sunsets.jpg)
Barrett would manage Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets until 1977, even appearing on stage with them as a vocalist. When Shaky began rehearsals for ''Elvis!-The Musical'', the Sunsets used Rockin' Louie as their frontman, until Stevens was free from his commitment to the show. This worked okay until one night at the Rock Garden, London when the audience became disappointed by the non-appearance of Shakin' Stevens and nearly rioted. The venue's management used this to negotiate a rebate from Paul Barrett, a suggestion which nearly ended in a violent confrontation.
The Sunsets persisted for a few more years with Barrett arranging tours of the
Netherlands
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and Ireland as well as many one night gigs in the UK. Barrett negotiated Rockin' Louie's recording of an album titled 'It Will Stand' for Charly records that became a minor seller in European markets and a minor hit in the
Southern US states. When Louie finally left the Sunsets and reformed the Backbeats, Barrett decided the time had arrived to sever his association with the Sunsets. Several years later the Sunsets started performing again with original members, but with no further association with Barrett.
Stevens signed a new management deal with Freya Miller in 1979 and went on to national and international success. Barrett became embroiled in litigation for twenty years over unpaid royalties from several albums that had been written and produced under his guidance, but later rereleased to commercial success. In 1993 after 16 years of negotiations Shakin' Stevens found himself in Cardiff High Court alongside record producer
Dave Edmunds
David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...
facing charges of non-payment of royalties from former Sunsets Rockin' Louie, Carl Petersen, Steve Percy and Paul Dolan. The prosecution claimed that the former band members were due a share of royalties which Shaky and his management had received from the reissue of the album ''A Legend'' in the early 1980s. The judge agreed and, while the unpaid royalties only amounted to around £70,000 to be divided amongst all of them, the court costs ended up costing Shaky and Dave Edmunds £500,000.
Shaky was willing to call a truce after that court case, Paul Barrett was still angry about the non-payment of royalties from the ''I'm No J.D.'' and ''Rockin' And Shakin' '' albums. Barrett reissued both albums on a single CD in 2005 under the uncompromising title of ''How To Be Awarded Two Gold Records And Not Be Paid A Penny in Royalties'', complete with sleeve notes issuing a challenge to both
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
and
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
(who now officially own the rights to the two records) to sue him if they believed their rights had been breached.
Later career
Manager and agent
![Barrett with the Comets (filtered retouched)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Barrett_with_the_Comets_%28filtered_retouched%29.jpg)
Ever since first managing Shakin' Stevens in 1969, Barrett continued to be a professional agent, manager and promoter of 1950s style rock and roll artists including
Charlie Gracie
Charles Anthony Graci (May 14, 1936 – December 16, 2022), known professionally as Charlie Gracie, was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer and guitarist. His biggest hits were "Butterfly" and " Fabulous", both in 1957.
Care ...
,
Wee Willie Harris
Charles William Harris (born 25 March 1933), better known by his stage name of Wee Willie Harris, is an English rock and roll singer. He is best known for his energetic stage shows and TV performances since the 1950s, when he was known as "Bri ...
,
Bill Haley's original Comets,
the Jets,
Matchbox
Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc.
Matchbox
A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designe ...
,
Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers
Crazy Cavan 'n' the Rhythm Rockers (also known as Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers, Cavan & The Rhythm Rockers, Crazy Cavan & The Rhythm Rockers) were a Welsh rockabilly band associated with the Teddy Boy scene. The band formed in 1970, and ...
,
Linda Gail Lewis
Linda Gail Lewis (born July 18, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She has recorded with Stephen Ackles, Van Morrison, and with her brother, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an A ...
(sister of all time rock great
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...
) and The Class of '58. He has promoted and organised weekend long rock and roll themed events and major concerts all over the UK and on mainland Europe. ''Paul Barrett Rock and Roll Enterprises'' is now recognised as the principal agency for the genre.
Performing
Barrett's spoken and bass vocals were featured on several early Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets albums, on tracks such as "Oh Baby" and "At the Hop", he also spoke the commentary on the track "Superstar". The album "I'm no J.D." was re-released as "Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets" in the 1980s and was awarded a
Gold Record
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
. Barrett also sang live on stage with the band, adding his vocals to the Sunset's mix.
Acting
Since the 1970s Barrett has regularly appeared as an extra in several feature films, the most notable being his major featured appearance as the ''"Table Monster"'' in the
kitsch
Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste.
The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
horror film 'Bloody New Year' (aka Horror Hotel (UK), aka Time Warp Terror (US))
Bloody New Year at IMDB
/ref> directed by cult film-maker Norman J. Warren
Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as '' Satan's Slave'' (1976), ''Prey'' (1977) and '' Terror'' (1978). Warren is also known for sex comedies such as '' Oute ...
. Barrett was also featured in the rock 'n' roll movie ''Blue Suede Shoes'' and appeared in the 1987 TV drama mini-series ''Sins'' that starred Joan Collins
Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...
.
Author
During the 1980s Barrett collaborated with Hilary Heywood in writing the book ''"Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets"'' published by Star Books and W. H. Allen (London). . Barrett originally wanted to call the book "Rocky Road Blues – The Story of a Rock 'n' Roll Band". However the book was subsequently renamed and heavily promoted as a pop biography, becoming a short-lived best seller. Barrett's book was more a humorous 'warts and all' tale of many behind-the-spotlights events during the band's history and quite different to the several other official biographies.
Discography
Albums
* ''A Legend'' (1970, Parlophone)
* ''I'm No J.D.'' (1971, CBS)
* ''Rockin' and Shakin' '' (1972, Contour)
* ''Shakin' Stevens & The Sunsets'' (1973, Pink Elephant/Emerald Gem) (Awarded a UK Gold Record)
* ''Manhattan Melodrama'' (1975, Pink Elephant) (Decca's Emerald Gem Label in the UK)
* ''C'mon Memphis'' (1977, Dynamite) '' (not issued in UK) ''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Paul
1940 births
2019 deaths
People from Blackwood, Caerphilly
Welsh music managers
Welsh songwriters
Welsh pop singers
Welsh male film actors
Welsh male television actors
Welsh record producers
20th-century Welsh businesspeople