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In the halcyon days of the British Invasion, Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde notched an impressive eleven Hot 100 singles and six Top 100 albums in the United States.  Their appealing blend of folk and pop, with soft, often hushed vocals and tight harmonies, earned them the attention of Columbia Records, where they recorded five albums before disbanding.  Cherry Red’s RPM imprint has recently released a 2-CD, 57-track collection bringing together Chad and Jeremy’s early recordings for Ember (in the U.K.) and World Artists (in the U.S.) including two stereo albums, a host of mono singles, live tracks, alternates, and previously unreleased versions.  Yesterday’s Gone: The Complete Ember/World Artists Recordings includes hits such as “Yesterday’s Gone,” “A Summer Song,” “Willow Weep for Me,” and “If I Loved You.”

David Stuart Chadwick met Michael Thomas Jeremy Clyde when both were attending London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.  Soon, Chad and Jeremy were performing in a band called The Jerks, and finally, as a duo.  After graduation, Jeremy went into repertory theatre while younger Chad began writing songs including “Yesterday’s Gone,” but it wasn’t long before they rekindled their performing partnership.  They were playing a London coffee bar when they caught the ear of patron John Barry, already well-known as leader of The John Barry Seven and on his way to becoming one of the most venerated film composers of all time.  Barry introduced them to Ember Records, where he was working in A&R, and the label signed the young pair on July 30, 1963.  They were immediately ushered into the studio on August 1 with Barry as producer to record “Yesterday’s Gone” and a cover of Will Holt’s “Lemon Tree,” popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary.  Ember also recorded them in a live setting at the Mayfair Theatre, though the tracks were held back until 1965 for release on a various artists LP.  In November, “Yesterday’s Gone” entered the U.K. chart, peaking within the top 40 at No. 37.  They continued to record with John Barry while coming to the attention of the small U.S. label World Artists.

World Artists deployed great effort to spotlight its new British pair.  “Yesterday’s Gone” was heavily promoted in the U.S. on television programs like The Hollywood Palace, The Steve Allen Show, and The Mike Douglas Show.  It made it all the way to No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and as it was climbing the chart in the U.S., Chad and Jeremy were back in London recording – this time with Chicago-born U.K. transplant Shel Talmy at the helm.  Talmy produced and Johnnie Spence arranged “A Summer Song,” co-written by Chad, which would be released as Chad and Jeremy’s third U.K. single.  (The second had been the Barry production “Like I Love You Today.”)  Sensing its potential, it was placed on the larger United Artists label, but failed to click at home – as would Chad and Jeremy’s future recordings.  In the U.S., however, “A Summer Song” became their most beloved and enduring recording, reaching No. 7 on the Hot 100.

The Yesterday’s Gone LP, released in the U.S. on World Artists in July 1964, featured the two Barry A-sides and ten Talmy productions including “A Summer Song,” folksinger Ewan MacColl’s “Dirty Old Town,” Tom Springfield’s “No Tears for Johnnie,” and standards such as “September in the Rain” and “Willow Weep for Me” (a No. 15 U.S. hit).  The No. 22 LP opens RPM’s collection on Disc One, and is followed by sophomore set Chad and Jeremy Sing for You, issued the following March.  Sing for You was recorded in New York with producer Jimmie Haskell and boasted songs from Lennon and McCartney (“From a Window”), Antonio Carlos Jobim (“The Girl from Ipanema”) and John Kander and Fred Ebb (“My Coloring Book”) as well as the minor U.S. hit “What Do You Want with Me,” written by Chad and Jeremy themselves.  In October 1965, Ember finally issued the early Mayfair Theatre tracks as part of the Live Folk album; those six songs (including a parody version of The Coasters’ “Ain’t That Just Like Me” in beat style) round out Disc One of this new collection.

Though Chad and Jeremy’s biggest hits were behind them, Columbia Records had faith in their talent, and signed them.  At Columbia, they placed five more sides on the Hot 100 (plus three more that “bubbled under” including one credited to Chad and wife Jill Stuart) and produced some of their most innovative recordings as they moved into the pop-psych realm.  Ember exploited their catalogue with a different Sing for You LP in the U.K.; the label also licensed their recordings to Capitol in the U.S. for release on LP and 45.  Chad and Jeremy quietly broke up at the end of the decade, but have sporadically reunited since on record and in live appearances.

The second disc of Yesterday’s Gone has 27 rare tracks: seventeen original mono singles (including sides like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “If I Loved You” and Ervin Drake’s “It Was a Very Good Year”) plus ten alternate mixes and takes (three of which are previously unreleased) including U.S. and U.K. variations.  It all adds up to a definitive, all-encompassing look at Chad and Jeremy’s pre-Columbia period.  This package marks the first time that the live tracks have appeared on CD as remastered from original stereo tape sources; indeed, original Ember master tapes were used for this collection by remastering engineer Simon Murphy (hence the discovery of some new stereo tracks).  A copiously-annotated and illustrated 16-page booklet has full credits and informative liner notes.

Yesterday’s Gone is a welcome trip back to the days of the British Invasion.  You can order this essential set at the links below!

Chad and Jeremy, Yesterday’s Gone: The Complete Ember/World Artists Recordings (RPM Retro D 979, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. A Summer Song (Unison Vocal Intro)
2. Now and Forever
3. Dirty Old Town
4. Like I Love You Today
5. September in the Rain
6. Yesterday’s Gone (Mono Reprocessed for Stereo)
7. If She Was Mine
8. Willow Weep for Me
9. Only for the Young
10. Too Soon My Love
11. The Truth Only Hurts the Heart
12. No Tears for Johnnie
13. My Coloring Book
14. What Do You Want with Me
15. From a Window (Acoustic Guitar Solo)
16. If You’ve Got a Heart
17. No Other Baby
18. Donna, Donna
19. The Girl from Ipanema
20. Four Strong Winds
21. Only Those in Love
22. You Know What
23. Sleep Little Boy
24. My How the Time Goes By
25. If I Had My Way (Live)
26. This Morning (Live)
27. Ain’t That Just Like Me (Live)
28. If I Had a Hammer (Live)
29. Yesterday’s Gone (Live)
30. Stanley and Dora (Live)

CD 2: The Mono Singles (Tracks 1-17) plus Bonus Tracks

1. Yesterday’s Gone
2. Lemon Tree
3. Like I Love You Today
4. Early in the Morning
5. A Summer Song (Unison Vocal Intro)
6. No Tears for Johnnie
7. A Summer Song (Traded Vocal Intro)
8. Willow Weep for Me
9. If She as Mine
10. If I Loved You
11. Donna, Donna
12. What Do You Want with Me
13. It Was a Very Good Year
14. From a Window (Acoustic Guitar Solo)
15. My Coloring Book
16. September in the Rain
17. Only for the Young
18. Yesterday’s Gone (Stereo; Alternate Take minus solo guitar overdub)
19. Lemon Tree (Stereo) (*)
20. Your Mama’s Out of Town (Stereo)
21. A Summer Song (Stereo; traded vocal intro)
22. From a Window (Mono backing track)
23. If I Loved You (Stereo)
24. It Was a Very Good Year (Stereo) (*)
25. From a Window (Stereo; electric guitar solo)
26. The Nearness of You (Stereo)
27. From a Window (Stereo; Alternate Take minus solo guitar overdub) (*)

(*) denotes previously unreleased track

CD 1, Tracks 1-12 from Yesterday’s Gone, World Artists LP WAS 3002, 1964
CD 1, Tracks 13-24 from Chad and Jeremy Sing for You, World Artists LP WAS 3005, 1965
CD 1, Tracks 25-30 from Live Folk, Ember LP FA 2014, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 1-2 from Ember single EMB S 180, 1963
CD 2, Tracks 3-4 from Ember single EMB S 186, 1964
CD 2, Tracks 5-6 from World Artists single 1027, 1964
CD 2, Track 7 from United Artists single UP 1062, 1964
CD 2, Tracks 8-9 from World Artists single 1034, 1964
CD 2, Tracks 10-11 from World Artists single 1041, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 12-13 from World Artists single 1052, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 14-15 from World Artists single 1056, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 16-17 from World Artists single 1060, 1965
CD 2, Track 18 first released on Fantastic Voyage FVCD014, 2009
CD 2, Tracks 19, 24 & 27 previously unreleased
CD 2, Tracks 20 & 26 first released on Sing for You/Second Album, Repertoire REP 4286-WY, 1992
CD 2, Track 21 first issued on History of British Rock Vol. 2, Sire SASH 3705-2, 1974
CD 2, Track 22 first issued on Now and Forever, Acrobat CD ADMCD 5013, 2007
CD 2, Tracks 23 & 25 first issued on Sing for You, Ember NR 5021, 1965