- For the Christian charismatic movement, see The
Move (Sam Fife).
The Move were one of the leading British
rock bands of the 1960s
from Birmingham,
England.
The Move were led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy
Wood, who composed all the group's UK singles and from 1968
also sang lead vocal on many of them. They were extremely successful in
Britain
in their early career, scoring nine Top 20 UK singles in five years,
but they were not as well known in the United
States, mainly because they did not tour there until the latter part of
their career. Nevertheless, they have been credited as an influence on
many later groups on both sides of the Atlantic.
The group evolved from several mid 1960s Birmingham based
groups, including Carl Wayne and the Vikings, the
Nightriders and the Mayfair Set. Strongly influenced by The
Beatles, Motown
and the emerging American 'West Coast' sound, The Move quickly
established a reputation as one of the most accomplished and exciting
live acts of the period. The group's name seems to refer to the move
various members of these bands made to form the group. Beside Wood, the
original members of The Move in 1966 were drummer Bev Bevan,
bassist Chris "Ace" Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne and guitarist Trevor
Burton. The concluding members in 1972 were the trio of Wood, Bevan and
guitarist-pianist Jeff Lynne, who transitioned
the group into The Electric Light
Orchestra.
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Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 Legal
issues
- 1.2 Continued
success
- 1.3 New
directions
- 1.4 Final
movements
- 2 Selected
discography
- 2.1 Singles
- 2.2 EPs
- 2.3 Albums
- 2.4 Compilations
- 2.5 Reissues/Remasters
- 3 Cover
versions of songs by The Move
- 4 References
- 5 Videos
- 6 External
links
|
History
Their early career was marked by a series of publicity stunts,
high-profile media events and outrageous stage antics masterminded by
their manager, the flamboyant Tony Secunda, such as Wayne's taking an
axe to television sets, Cadillacs and busts of Adolf
Hitler and Rhodesian leader Ian Smith. They played their first shows
in early 1966, and became known for their
elaborate vocal arrangements, and for their taste in soul
music, and American West Coast bands The
Beach Boys, the Byrds,
Love
and Moby
Grape. Their manager, Secunda (who also managed Birmingham's
other major pop group of the day, The
Moody Blues), got them a weekly residency at London's Marquee
Club which had recently been vacated by The Who
where they appeared dressed in gangster regalia, however the band
members reportedly remained resident in the Midlands. They secured a
production contract with independent record
producer Denny Cordell (Joe
Cocker, Procol Harum) but even this was turned
into a media event by Secunda, who famously arranged for the band to
sign their contracts on the back of a topless female model. Roy Wood
wrote their first single, "Night of Fear", a Number 2 hit in the UK
singles chart in January 1967 which began the Move's practice of
musical quotation (in this case, the 1812 Overture
by Tchaikovsky). Their second
single, "I Can Hear the Grass
Grow", was another major hit, reaching Number 5 in the UK.
Legal issues
"Flowers in the Rain" was the
first track played on Radio 1, when it began broadcasting on
30 September 1967, introduced by Tony
Blackburn. The song, which reached Number 2, was less
guitar-oriented than their previous two singles, and featured an
inventive woodwind arrangement by producer Tony
Visconti. The song generated controversy when the band were sued by the
Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom, Harold Wilson, for libel after Secunda
produced a cartoon postcard to promote the single of Wilson in bed with
his secretary, Marcia Williams, with whom he was
allegedly having an affair. The group lost the court case and had to
pay all costs, with all royalties earned by the song being given to
charities of Wilson's choice, a ruling which remained in force even
after Wilson's death in 1995. For their fourth single, the group had
planned to release "Cherry Blossom Clinic", a lighthearted song about
the fantasies of a patient in a mental institution, backed by the
satirical "Vote For Me". However, they had been thoroughly unnerved by
their court experiences; they and the record company felt it unwise to
pursue such a potentially controversial idea, and the single was
shelved. "Vote For Me" remained unreleased until it began to appear on
retrospective collections from 1997 onwards, while "Cherry Blossom
Clinic" became one of the tracks on their first LP,
also called The Move.
As a consequence of the lawsuit fiasco, The Move fired Tony
Secunda as manager and hired Don Arden. In a 2000 interview, Carl Wayne noted
that there had been a major split within the group about Secunda's
tactics: "[Secunda] had the animals who would do what he wanted to do
in Trevor, Ace, and me – the fiery part of the stage act. I think Roy
would obviously qualify this himself, but I believe he was slightly
embarrassed by the image and the stunts – but the rest of us
weren’t.... We were always willing to be Secunda puppets."
Continued success
In March 1968 they returned to the charts in style with "Fire
Brigade", another UK top three hit, and the first on which Roy Wood
sang lead vocal. But a few weeks later, around the time of the release
of the LP, Kefford left the band due to increasing personal and musical
differences and formed his own group, Ace Kefford Stand, with Cozy
Powell on drums. They became a four-piece, with Burton
switching to bass.
It was also during this line-up transition that the band first
invited Jeff Lynne, a friend of Wood's, to join. He declined at the
time still hoping for success in his current band, the Idle
Race, another Birmingham based group.
In the summer of 1968 their fifth single "Wild
Tiger Woman", a much heavier song acknowledging the group's love of Jimi
Hendrix, failed to chart at all - in chart terms, a disaster as it
followed four top five hits. They responded with their most commercial
number yet, the evergreen "Blackberry Way", which topped the UK
chart in February 1969. This new, more easy-listening musical direction
was the last straw for the increasingly disenchanted Burton, who wanted
to work in a more hard rock/blues oriented style, and he left the group
after an altercation on stage one evening with Bev Bevan.
At around this time it was rumoured in the music press that Hank
Marvin of the recently disbanded Shadows had been
invited to join The Move. Some years later it was disclosed that this
was a mere publicity stunt; however, Marvin himself, in an article in Melody
Maker in 1973 and elsewhere has maintained that he was
definitely approached by Wood and invited to join The Move, but
declined because The Move's schedule was too hectic for him. Burton was
ultimately replaced by Rick Price, another veteran of several
Birmingham rock groups.
Ace Kefford recorded a solo album in 1968 after his departure,
but it remained unreleased until 2003 when it appeared as "Ace The
Face". Trevor Burton played bass with yet another Birmingham group, The
Steve Gibbons Band, and later
fronted his own blues group as lead guitarist.
During this period Arden sold The Move's management contract
to Peter Walsh. Walsh, who specialized in cabaret acts, began booking
the band into cabaret-style venues unsuitable for "power pop" rockers
such as The Move, which further increased the tension between Carl
Wayne and Roy Wood.
1970s
Shazam
continued their practice of musical quotation, and of elaborately
re-arranged versions of other performer's songs; "Hello Susie", which
was a top five hit for Amen Corner in 1969, quotes Booker
T. Jones' and Eddie Floyd's "Big Bird," and the album
includes a cover of a Tom Paxton song, "The Last Thing On My
Mind". It also included a slightly slower remake of "Cherry Blossom
Clinic" that began in with a proto-metallic grind and finished with an
acoustic guitar-dominated extended quotation from Johann
Sebastian Bach's "Joy".
According to the same 2000 interview, Wayne devised a
plan to revive the group's fortunes by bringing Burton and Kefford back
in; well aware that Wood was intent on setting up his new orchestral
rock project (which became ELO), he suggested that Wood could
concentrate on performing with his new band but could also continue to
write songs for The Move. However his suggestion was bluntly rejected
by the other three members, so Wayne finally quit the group in January
1970. He subsequently worked in a variety of musical ventures and
appeared on TV and radio. In 2000 he replaced Allan
Clarke as lead singer of The Hollies and performed with them as
lead singer until his untimely death from cancer in 2004.
New directions
Upon Wayne's departure, The Move promptly jettisoned Walsh as
manager and returned to Arden. Jeff Lynne joined for good, as Wood
realized that he needed a second composer in the band to relieve the
pressure on himself, and the band toured England with Arden's Black
Sabbath. From this period came the hard-rocking third album Looking On
(1970), with all songs composed by Wood except for two by Lynne. The
album included a #7 hit, Wood's "Brontosaurus", which was
the band's last recording for Regal Zonophone, but its harder-rock
focus came as a surprise to many longtime fans. The second single from
the album, "When Alice Comes
Back to the Farm," failed to chart.
During the lengthy recording sessions for the next album,
which included continuous overdubbing of new instruments by Wood and
Lynne while the rest of the group idled, Rick Price left to form the
band Mongrel, Price later joined Wood in Wizzard,
and the shortlived Roy Wood's Wizzo Band, playing steel guitar for the
latter, then went to work in musical management, and also formed the
duo Price and Lee with Dianne Lee formerly of the duo Peters
and Lee. The remaining members -- Wood, Lynne and Bevan -- completed
the final Move LP, Message From The
Country (1971), an eclectic collection widely
regarded as The Move's best album. Lynne's compositions displayed a
strong Beatles and Bee Gees influence. Wood's "Ben Crawley Steel
Company" featured a Bev Bevan lead vocal that was obviously modeled on Johnny
Cash, while Bevan's "Don't Mess Me Up" (sung by Wood) paid homage to Elvis
Presley, complete with fake Jordanaires. Nevertheless, in 2005 Bevan
referred to this album as his least favorite from The Move.
The album was followed by two more Wood-penned hit singles, "Tonight"
and "Chinatown". For several television
appearances behind these songs, The Move added two musicians who became
members of the group after its transition into ELO: Bill Hunt (horns,
winds, piano) and Richard Tandy (guitar, bass).
Final movements
As the release of the first Electric Light Orchestra
album drew near, The Move released what turned out to be a farewell
disc, a "maxi-single" in 1972 consisting of "California
Man", "Ella James" (from Message), and "Do Ya." "California
Man", a Number 7 UK hit featuring baritone saxophones, a double bass,
and a riff borrowed from George Gershwin, was an affectionate
tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis (the double bass had
"Killer," Lewis' nickname, written on it) with Lynne and Wood trading
verses and lines. It was one of the first records to kick off the 1950s rock and roll
revival in the early 1970s
in Britain.
Like all UK Move hits, it was a Roy Wood composition. Meanwhile,
Lynne's "Do
Ya" became the Move's best-known song in the U.S.;
it was The Move's only song to reach the American Top 100 charts, if
only the lower rungs (#93). (The Electric Light Orchestra's
remake of "Do
Ya," recorded after Wood's departure, was a significant US hit in 1977).
With the release of the album The Electric
Light Orchestra, The Move completed its
transition into ELO. Wood and Lynne were joint leaders; it was Wood who
played many of the album's classical instruments (such as cello and
flute), with Lynne on piano, and articles of the time discussing the
new group noted how Wood would repeatedly overdub until he had become
more familiar with each instrument. The group recruited new musicians
to recreate their sound live, retaining the Move trio at the center,
and started recording tracks for a second album.
But after several disappointing live performances and growing
disagreements about musical direction, Wood decided to leave and form
his own band, catching Lynne by surprise. Wood's aspirations to combine
rock and jazz elements, incorporating saxophone players such as
himself, seemed at odds with the group's experimental classical style
and Lynne's desire to keep touring until the band jelled. Of the eleven
ELO songs recorded by both Wood and Lynne, seven were Lynne
compositions, which may also have contributed to Wood's unrest.
Wood released a solo album in 1973, Boulders,
and went on to front the glam rock band Wizzard,
while Lynne and Bevan kept touring and finally achieved massive success
with The Electric Light Orchestra.
Message from the Country,
the band's highly acclaimed 1971 album, was remastered and released on
the original labels, Harvest in the UK in 2005 and Capitol
in the US in 2006.
Although never as popular in the United States as they were in
their native England,
the Move were a seminal pop/rock group of the era, and are often cited
as one of the main progenitors of power pop. Cheap
Trick recorded a version of "California
Man" on their Heaven Tonight LP, while Glen
Matlock of the Sex Pistols admitted that one
of the guitar riffs on "God Save The
Queen" was inspired by that on "Fire Brigade".
In 1997, the single "Feel Too Good" was featured on the
soundtrack of the American movie Boogie
Nights, and in 2006 the single "Do Ya" was featured
on a US TV commercial, giving The Move a long-overdue burst of success
in America, which had been elusive during their existence. In 2004,
after the death of Carl Wayne, Bev Bevan formed "Bev Bevan's Move"
(without either Wood or Lynne) to capitalize on The Move's continuing
reputation and belated success.
Selected discography
Singles
- "Night of Fear" - (Jan, 1967)
- UK #2
- "I Can Hear the Grass Grow"
(April, 1967) - UK #5
- "Flowers in the Rain" (Aug, 1967)
- UK #2 -- first record ever to appear on BBC
Radio 1
- "Fire Brigade" (Feb, 1968)
- UK #3
- "Wild Tiger Woman" (Aug, 1968)
- UK #53
- "Blackberry Way" (Dec, 1968)
- UK #1
- "Curly" (July, 1969)
- UK #12
- "Brontosaurus" (April, 1970)
- UK #7
- "When Alice Comes
Back to the Farm" (Oct, 1970)
- "Tonight" (June, 1971)
- UK #11
- "Chinatown" (October, 1971)
- UK #23
- "California Man" / "Do Ya" / "Ella
James" (April, 1972) - UK #7
Note: "Do Ya" (B-side of
"California Man" single - 1972 US #93 Billboard
Hot 100; 1974
UK; 1976 -
rerecorded by ELO)
EPs
- "Something Else From The
Move" (1968)
Albums
- The Move
(April, 1968) - #15 UK
Albums Chart
- Shazam (1970)
- Looking On (1970)
- Message from the Country
(1971)
Compilations
- Split Ends (1972)
(same as Great Move!, except omitting 'Ben Crawley
Steel Company', 'Don't Mess Me Up' and 'My Marge')
- The Best Of The Move (1974)
- Great Move!: The Best Of The Move (1994)
(same as Message reissue, except omitting alternate
takes)
- The BBC Sessions (1995)
- Movements: 30th Anniversary Anthology (1997)
(comprehensive collection through Looking On)
Reissues/Remasters
- Message from the Country
(2005)
Cover versions of songs by The
Move
- A cover of "California
Man" was released by Cheap Trick on their 1978 album Heaven
Tonight. It features a quick snippet from "Brontosaurus" in the middle
section.
- A cover of "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" was released as a single
by The
Fall in 2005, and is also included on their album Fall
Heads Roll. It was also recorded by Status
Quo on the first of their cover versions albums, Don't Stop
(1996). In addition, the song was recorded by New
York psychedelic
act, The Blues Magoos on their third LP,
Basic Blues Magoos, released in 1968.
- As an odd note, there is also a brief (uncredited) cover of
"I Can Hear The Grass Grow" on Spirit guitarist Randy
California's 1972 solo album Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous)
Twirly-Birds. It appears at the end of the sixth track
"Things Yet to Come", and is backwards and played at double-speed. Noel
Redding is the vocalist.
- "Fire Brigade" was released as a single by The
Fortunes in the U.S. in 1968, in a vain attempt to
compete with the original; neither version made the U.S. charts.
- In addition to the 1969 No. 4 hit version by Amen
Corner, "Hello Susie" was also recorded by British soul band Buddy
Curtess and the Grasshoppers as a single in 1986.
- "Do
Ya" has been recorded by Todd
Rundgren's Utopia and Ace
Frehley.
- "Flowers In The Rain" has been recorded by Nancy
Sinatra.
- "Ella James" has been recorded by The
Nashville Teens.
- "Brontosaurus" was later recorded by Cheap
Trick and released in 1997 as a 7 inch vinyl single by Sub
Pop Records. It was also included as a bonus CD single along with their
1997 album Cheap Trick.
- Cheap Trick released a live version of "Down on the Bay" on
the band's box set Sex, America, Cheap Trick in
1996.
References
- Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN
0-85112-190-X
- The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
- Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
- Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN
0-85112-072-5
- The Great Rock Discography - 5th Edition - ISBN 1-84195-017-3
Videos
External links
| The Move |
| Members:
Roy Wood | Carl Wayne
| Bev
Bevan | Jeff
Lynne | Trevor Burton | Ace Kefford | Rick Price |
| Discography |
| Studio albums:
Move |
Looking On |
Message From the Country |
| Live albums:
Something Else From The
Move | Shazam |
| Singles:
"Night
of Fear" | "I Can Hear the Grass Grow"
| "Flowers in the Rain" |
"Wild
Tiger Woman" | "Blackberry
Way" | "Curly" | "Brontosaurus" |
"When Alice Comes
Back to the Farm! | "Tonight"
| "Chinatown" | "California
Man" | "Do Ya" |
