Long Live Love: RPM Collects Sixties Sound of The Stormsville Shakers

June 25, 2015 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

Phillip Goodhand-Tait has had his songs recorded by artists ranging from Gene Pitney to Roger Daltrey and has also fronted a number of bands in his many decades in the music industry. Cherry Red Group imprint RPM has collected 27 tracks by singer-musician-songwriter Goodhand-Tait, solo and with his bands The Stormsville Shakers and Circus as One and One is Two: Complete Recordings 1965-1967.

Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Goodhand-Tait began his music career while still in his teenage years. In his new liner notes penned especially for this release, he recalls receiving the sum of five pounds for assembling a five-piece band to play a dance at the local drill hall in 1960. After flirting with names The Royphillians, Phil Tone and the Midnighters, and The Vibrants, the group settled on The Stormsville Shakers in 1961. The band, fronted by Goodhand-Tait on piano, included Paul Demers on drums, Ivor Shackleton on guitar, and Kirk Riddle on bass. By 1963, the band was earning bookings in central London, with some personnel changes. Dick Forcey replaced Paul Demers on drums, and Steve Howard filled out the sound with his saxophone. By 1965, two new saxophonists had joined the line-up. Though there had been occasional forays into the recording studio before (including a session with The Yardbirds’ impresario Giorgio Gomelsky), the group was on the cusp of a breakthrough when they recorded Chris Andrews’ composition “Long Live Love.” As these things happen, though, Sandie Shaw released her version of the song first, which soared to No. 1 in the U.K. and deprived The Stormsville Shakers of a potential hit.

Parlophone took a chance on the band, but it took the band another year to get a record out. A French EP on the Odeon label also arrived in 1966. By that time, however, the band’s mod brand of R&B and soul was being slowly replaced by more psychedelic acts. The Shakers transformed themselves into Circus, and recorded a number of tracks with Mike D’Abo of Manfred Mann fame. But as he writes, Goodhand-Tait’s heart wasn’t in the direction music was taking: “Supporting Jimi Hendrix at the Saville Theatre in London finally convinced me that I could not empathize with these latest feedback-laced, guitar-led indulgences. I knew then, in 1967, that I was a song man…” And so began his career as a songwriter for groups including Love Affair.

Goodhand-Tait’s early years are chronicled on this comprehensive set which includes his Parlophone and Odeon recordings plus six previously unreleased bonus tracks including the Lennon/McCartney title track. In addition to writing the liner notes, Goodhand-Tait compiled the set with John Reed and remastering engineer Mark Stratford. One and One is Two: The Complete Recordings 1965-1967 is available now from RPM Records at the links below!

The Stormsville Shakers and Circus, One and One is Two: The Complete Recordings 1965-1967 (RPM RETRO967, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

I’m Gonna Put Some Hurt on You (Parlophone R 5448, 1966)
It’s a Lie (Parlophone R 5448, 1966)
No Problem (Parlophone R 5498, 1966)
What More Do You Want (Parlophone R 5498, 1966)
The Society for the Protection of Love (Odeon MEO 148, 1966)
Gettin’ Ready (Odeon MEO 148, 1966)
L’Amour Se Lisait Dans Ses Yeux (Odeon MEO 148, 1966)
Number One(Odeon MEO 148, 1966)
You Can’t Take Love (Parlophone R 5547, 1966)
C. Greasburger (Parlophone R 5547, 1966)
Long Live Love (rec. 5/18/65)
I’ll Do the Best I Can (rec. 5/18/65)
There You Go (rec. 6/23/65)
Do What You Wanna Do (rec. 6/23/65)
Where Were You on Our Wedding Day (*)
One and One is Two (*)
I Feel Good (Live) (rec. 2/20/66)
Have You Ever Had the Blues (Live) (rec. 2/20/66)
Turn on Your Love Light (Live) (rec. 2/20/66)
Gone are the Songs of Yesterday (Parlophone R 5633, 1967)
Sink or Swim (Parlophone R 5633, 1967)
Do You Dream (Parlophone R 5672, 1967)
House of Wood (Parlophone R 5672, 1967)
Yes is a Pleasant Country (*)
Something to Write About (*)
The Patience of a Fool (*)
Who Will Love Her (*)

(*) denotes previously unreleased track

Tracks 1-4, 11-19 performed by Phillip Goodhand-Tait and the Stormsville Shakers
Tracks 5-8 performed by The Stormsville Shakers
Tracks 9-10 performed by Phillip Goodhand-Tait
Tracks 20-27 performed by Circus

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Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul

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Phillip Goodhand-Tait, The Stormsville Shakers

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.