The Cryin' Shames were a mid-1960s English

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

beat group Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music Music genre, genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British rock and roll, British and Music of the United St ...

, produced by

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer and songwriter considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording studio a ...

. They had one UK

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1966 with a

cover 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 c ...

The Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

' 1961 " Please Stay",

written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

and

Bob Hilliard Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs: "Alice in Wonderland", " In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", " Any Day Now", " Dear Hearts and Gentl ...

Career

The sextet was initially renamed from The Bumblies who were founded by George Robinson in 1963 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and was managed by Norman Eastwood. The Bumblies name came from a

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

me starring

Michael Bentine Michael Bentine (born Michael James Bentin; 26 January 1922General Register Office for England and Wales – Birth Register for the March Quarter of 1922, Watford Registration District, Reference 3a 1478, listed as "Michael J. Bentin", mother's ...

. The Bumblies comprised Charlie Crane (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), Joey Kneen (vocals), John Bennett (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), Phil Roberts ( keyboards), George Robinson (

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

) and Charlie Gallagher (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s). Roberts and Kneen came from The Calderstones that also featured Tom Evans (

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...

). After

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

their first single, The Bumblies' Bennett was replaced in early December 1965 by the then 16-year-old Ritchie Routledge from The Aztecs, who was a semi-professional musician working as a junior reporter for ''Music Echo'', a music paper owned by

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein ( ; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put hi ...

. The band changed their name to The Cryin' Shames and started working under the new name just before Christmas 1965. The Cryin' Shames' first single, "Please Stay" was released on the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

on 18 February 1966. It was destined to be Joe Meek's final chart hit before he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in 1967 . " Please Stay" was a minor hit, peaking at #26 in the UK Singles Chart, and the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

was approached by Epstein, who wanted to manage them, but they refused. The band had met Epstein in the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool and turned down his offer. The line-up changed in May 1966, when Robinson quit the band and was replaced by Derek Cleary on bass, who played on their second single release, "Nobody Waved Goodbye," which was released the following month. Robinson continued in the music business with Katie Peacock a multi instrumentalist. Playing the cabaret circuit as Class Of 59. Crane and Routledge left The Cryin' Shames and formed a new band with a new name. With a line-up of Charlie

aul An aul; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (; ) is a type of fortified village or town found throughout the Caucasus and Central Asia. They are generally built out of stone, on faces of ridges or against cliffs in order to provide protection against su ...

Crane, Ritchie Routledge (both vocals), Brian Norris (bass), Mike Espie (guitar), Pete Byrne (organ) and Paul Commerford (drums), they recorded one more single with Meek, "

September in the Rain "September in the Rain" is a popular song about nostalgia by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, published in 1937. The song was introduced by James Melton in the film ''Melody for Two''. It has become a standard, having been recorded by many artists sin ...

" / "Come On Back," which was released on 1 September 1966. It was issued under their new name of Paul and Ritchie and The Crying Shames. Routledge later led

Blackwater Park ''Blackwater Park'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001, in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collabora ...

, an English-German band in the early 1970s, and was part of Grimms. He also worked as a session singer for

The Scaffold The Scaffold are a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney, the brother of Paul McCartney), poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer John Gorman. ...

and appeared on the recording of the 1974 song "Liverpool Lou" ( UK Number 7, produced by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

). Crane went on to be the lead singer of Gary Walker and The Rain. Routledge died in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, on 8 October 2023, at the age of 73.

Discography

Singles

;as The Cryin' Shames *" Please Stay" (

Bacharach Bacharach (, also known as ''Bacharach am Rhein'') is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not with ...

, Hilliard) / "What's New Pussycat" (Kneen/Robinson) (Decca F 12340 - February 1966) (UK No. 26 ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'') (UK No. 22 ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'') *"Nobody Waved Goodbye" (Schroeder, Gold, Brooks) / "You" (Cryin' Shames) (Decca F 12425 - June 1966) ;as Paul and Ritchie and The Crying Shames *"

" (

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

, Dubin) / "Come on Back" (Crane/Routledge) (Decca F 12483 - September 1966) (UK No. 40 ''Melody Maker'')

Compilation albums

*The

English Freakbeat series The ''English Freakbeat'' series is a group of five compilation albums, released in the late 1980s, that were issued by AIP Records. The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in the early punk, proto ...

included "What's News, Pussycat" by the Cryin' Shames on the '' English Freakbeat, Volume 5'' edition. *''Friendly Persuasion: Please Stay'' (2024)

References

External links