Tom Springfield (born Dionysius Patrick O'Brien, 2 July 1934 – 27 July 2022) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer who was prominent in the 1960s
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
and pop music scene. He was the older brother of singer
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...
, with whom he performed in
the Springfields
The Springfields were a British folk-pop vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, who was later replace ...
. He wrote several hit songs for the Springfields ("
Island of Dreams", "
Say I Won't Be There") and later for
the Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
("
I'll Never Find Another You
"I'll Never Find Another You" is a 1964 single by The Seekers, which reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom in February 1965. It was The Seekers' first UK-released single, and it was the second-best-selling of 1965 in the UK. The song was also popu ...
", "
A World of Our Own
"A World of Our Own" is a 1965 single written by Tom Springfield and was an international hit for the Seekers. The single peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the Easy Listening charts. It reached number 3 in the U.K. and number 2 ...
", "
The Carnival Is Over", "
Georgy Girl
''Georgy Girl'' is a 1966 British romantic comedy-drama, starring Lynn Redgrave in the titular role, with Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason. Directed by Silvio Narizzano, the film was based on the 1965 novel by Margaret Forster. ...
"), whose records he also produced.
Early life
Known in early life as Dion O'Brien, he was born in
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, London, on 2 July 1934,
the first child of Gerard O'Brien and his wife Kay ( Ryle), originally from
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
. He attended the
Royal Grammar School in
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...
from 1944 to 1950.
National Service
Springfield (O'Brien) joined the army for his
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
(1952–54), and was assigned to the
Joint Services School for Linguists
The Joint Services School for Linguists (JSSL) was founded in 1951 by the British armed services to provide language training, principally in Russian, and largely to selected conscripts undergoing National Service. The school closed with the endi ...
in
Coulsdon
Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey.
History
The l ...
, Surrey. The school was known as "the Russian course", and its purpose was to train conscripts in intelligence techniques. The course provided exposure to the Russian language by studying Russian literature, films, and also songs. These were taken from a selection known as the "Samovar Song Book", which Springfield and the rest of the "Coulsdon choir" sang together (in Russian). One of these songs was a Russian folksong from 1883 called ''
Stenka Razin
Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин, ; 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1 ...
''; twelve years later Springfield used its melody as the basis of his hit song "
The Carnival is Over". Springfield was a talented pianist, and occasionally played jazz in the
NAAFI
The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs ...
with Tony Cash (later a BBC TV producer) on clarinet, and Malcolm Brown on guitar.
After Coulsdon, Springfield was assigned to the
Intelligence Corps depot in Maresfield, Sussex (1954).
While there he joined up with two other musicians to form a guitar trio playing Latin American songs, with Tom singing in Spanish and Portuguese. They recorded two songs at a small studio in Brighton; one was "El Cangaceiro" ("The Bandit" – from the 1953 Brazilian movie ''
O Cangaceiro
''O Cangaceiro'' (lit. "The Cangaceiro"; also known as ''The Bandit'' and ''The Bandits'') is a 1953 Brazilian adventure western film directed by Lima Barreto. After some reluctance by its studio Vera Cruz, Barreto shot it in 1952. After its ...
'') and the other was written by Tom and called "Magdelena".
Springfield was a founder member of vocal group the Pedini Brothers, active from 1952 to 1955. They mainly sang Latin American, plus Russian songs adapted by Tom from his course material. Colleague Nick Bowyer wrote: "Tom was extremely proficient on both piano and guitar, and played both by ear.
ealso played ragtime piano solos on gigs. We were together from 1952 until 1955, but somewhat spasmodically because of National Service."
After leaving the military, he worked in banking for a short period, before pursuing his musical career in earnest.
[
]
Career
In the late fifties O'Brien formed a duo, "The Kensington Squares", with folk musician Tim Feild
Reshad Feild (born Richard Timothy Feild; 15 April 1934 – 31 May 2016) was an English mystic, author, spiritual teacher, and musician, who, as Tim Feild, originally came to prominence as a founder member of folk-pop group The Springfields. He ...
, whom he had met while playing clubs in Belgravia
Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
, London.[ His younger sister, Mary O'Brien, was at the time performing as one of ]the Lana Sisters
The Lana Sisters were a British vocal group formed by Iris Long in 1958, along with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in ''The Stage'' for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to solo success a few years later as Dust ...
, and when that group folded in 1960, he invited her to join him and Tim to form a new folk-pop
Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...
vocal trio, the Springfields
The Springfields were a British folk-pop vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, who was later replace ...
. O'Brien adopted the stage name Tom Springfield while Mary became Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...
(Dusty was a nickname given to her when she had played football in the street with the local boys).[ O'Brien, now Springfield, sang and played guitar. Mike Hurst replaced Feild in 1962.]
Five of the group's singles were UK Top 40 hits between 1961 and 1963, and two of them reached No. 5 in the charts. These were " Island of Dreams", written and composed by Springfield, and "Say I Won't Be There", the melody of which was adapted by him from the traditional French song "Au clair de la lune
"" (, ) is a French folk song of the 18th century. Its composer and lyricist are unknown. Its simple melody () is commonly taught to beginners learning an instrument.
Lyrics
The song appears as early as 1820 i''Le Voiture Verseés'' with only ...
" to accompany his new lyrics. The group was also successful in the US, particularly with their version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles
"Silver Threads and Golden Needles" is a country song written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes. It was first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956. The original lyrics, as performed by Jackson, contain a verse not usually included in later versions, ...
" which reached No. 20 on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
. This was the first single by a British group to reach the top 20 of the Hot 100. "Island of Dreams" was later covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by Mick Thomas
Michael James Thomas (born 7 February 1960) is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, guitarist and hotelier. Thomas was the founding mainstay of a folk rock group, Weddings Parties Anything (1984–1998), and leader of Mick Thomas and t ...
, Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, including " Poetry ...
, Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...
, Geraint Watkins
Geraint Meurig Vaughan Watkins (born 5 February 1951) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist. He has backed many notable artists, including Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Ro ...
with Martin Belmont
Martin Belmont (born 21 December 1948) is an English rock and country-blues guitarist, best known for being a founding member of Graham Parker & The Rumour.
Life and career
Belmont was born in Bromley, Kent, England. After working as a roadie ...
, and by the Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
.
After the Springfields broke up in 1963 when Dusty began her solo career, Springfield became a record producer and songwriter for the Australian folk-pop group the Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
. He wrote many of their major hits including their first UK number one, "I'll Never Find Another You
"I'll Never Find Another You" is a 1964 single by The Seekers, which reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom in February 1965. It was The Seekers' first UK-released single, and it was the second-best-selling of 1965 in the UK. The song was also popu ...
", followed by "A World of Our Own
"A World of Our Own" is a 1965 single written by Tom Springfield and was an international hit for the Seekers. The single peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the Easy Listening charts. It reached number 3 in the U.K. and number 2 ...
", and the million-selling " The Carnival Is Over", the melody of which Springfield adapted from the Russian song "Stenka Razin", though he wrote entirely new lyrics. Other hits included "Walk With Me", and "Georgy Girl
''Georgy Girl'' is a 1966 British romantic comedy-drama, starring Lynn Redgrave in the titular role, with Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason. Directed by Silvio Narizzano, the film was based on the 1965 novel by Margaret Forster. ...
", co-written with Jim Dale
Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In Britis ...
, who supplied the lyrics. This was the Seekers' most successful release in the US, reaching number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the Cashbox charts; it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...
of 1966, and for the equivalent Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
the same year. Springfield and Diane Lampert co-wrote "The Olive Tree", recorded in 1967 as a solo single by The Seekers lead singer, Judith Durham
Judith Durham (born Judith Mavis Cock; 3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian folk music group the Seekers in 1963.
The group became the first Australian p ...
whilst still performing with the group.[Songs written by Tom Springfield, ''MusicVf'']
. Retrieved 17 August 2022
Apart from his work with the Seekers, he also co-wrote (with Clive Westlake
Gerald Clive Westlake (25 December 1932 – 17 June 2000)[Frank Ifield
Francis Edward Ifield OAM (born 30 November 1937) is a British-Australian country music singer and guitarist who often incorporated yodelling into his music. After living in Australia, Ifield returned to the United Kingdom in November 1959 wher ...]
's 1964 hit "Summer Is Over", and his sister Dusty's 1964 UK Top Ten hit "Losing You". Other hit compositions include "Adios Amour (Goodbye My Love)", which was recorded by José Feliciano
José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945) () is a Puerto Rican musician, singer and composer. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' "Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song " ...
and the Casuals
The Casuals were a British pop group from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are best known for their 1968 No. 2 UK hit record, hit song, "Jesamine".
Career
Originally formed in 1960 by John Tebb (piano and vocals) and ...
; "Promises", co-written with Norman Newell
Norman Newell (25 January 1919 – 1 December 2004) was an English record producer, who was mainly active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the songwriter, co-writer of many notable songs. As an A&R manager for EMI, he worked with musicians su ...
and a UK hit for Ken Dodd
Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances.
A life ...
; and " Just Loving You", which became a 1967 top ten hit for Anita Harris.[
He composed the theme to the popular ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. He also released two solo albums in the late 1960s, ''Sun Songs'' (1968) and ''Love's Philosophy'' (1969); these were re-released on CD in 2005.
Mike Hurst reflected later on how little he knew of Tom and Dusty's private lives while he was performing with them in the sixties: "I never felt I knew them well, there was always a distance...I had no idea back then that Tom and Dusty were both gay. They were naïve times...I just wasn't really aware of such things."
After a 1970 duet single with his sister Dusty, "Morning Please Don't Come", Springfield essentially retired from the music industry as both a writer and performer. He formally changed his name by
from Dionysius Patrick O'Brien to Tom Springfield in 1977.
He jealously guarded his privacy. The only public sighting of him in later years came in 1999 on his sister’s death, when he took her ashes to Ireland and scattered them over the
.
up until his death on 27 July 2022, at the age of 88. He had disliked being in the public eye, and his death was not reported for several weeks. Former Springfields member Mike Hurst described him as "a recluse, a bohemian in the true sense – he led his life in a solitary way doing what he wanted to do."
award for "I'll Never Find Another You"
* 1965 – ASCAP award for "A World of Our Own"