The Fortunes are an archetypal English beat group. Formed in Birmingham, The Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the American and British Top Tens. In 1966, their manager Reginald Calvert was shot dead in a dispute over pirate radio stations.

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Classic band line-up

• Rod Allen - born Rodney Bainbridge, 31 March 1944, Leicester – died 10 January 2008, Coventry ^[1] - lead vocalist and bassist
• Glen Dale - born Richard Garforth, 24 April 1943, Deal, Kent - guitarist - up to 1966
• Shel Macrae - born Andrew Raeburn Semple, 8 March 1943, Burnbank, Scotland - co-lead vocalist, guitarist - from 1966
• Barry Pritchard - born 3 April 1944, Birmingham – died 11 January 1999 ^[2] - guitarist
• Andy Brown - born Andrew Brown, 7 January 1946, Birmingham - drummer
• David Carr - born 4 August 1943, Leyton, London - keyboards
• Ricky Persell - born london [ruislip) 19 October 1954 [guitarist vocalist]-1977-1980
• John Davy -born watford 13 september 1955 [vocalist]1977-1982
• John Trickett - born birmigham [drummer] - 1977-1980

Biography

Following in the wake of Merseybeat, and the R&B of The Rolling Stones, The Fortunes added another dimension to the sound of pop, with their sophisticated orchestration, dual lead vocals and well worked counter-melodies.

The result was a succession of distinctive hits including "You've Got Your Troubles", "Here It Comes Again" (both 1965), and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again"; even continuing into the 1970s with more globally successful releases such as "Storm in a Teacup" and "Freedom Come, Freedom Go".

Originally formed as a vocal trio backed by an instrumental group known as The Cliftones, the aggregation placed an instrumental track on a compilation LP (Brumbeat) issued by the local Dial label, "Cygnet Twitch" (like the mid-chart British hit "Saturday Nite at the Duck-Pond" by The Cougars an "instro" take on Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake) and subsequently signed to British Decca in 1963. Their first single "Summertime, Summertime/I Love Her Still," was credited to the Fortunes and the Cliftones; "Summertime Summertime", although competent, was an odd choice for a disc issued in the frenzy of the incipient Beat Boom - it went unnoticed, and as the enterprise's sax-laden sound became anachronistic overnight, the vocalists picked up guitars, jettisoned the Cliftones, and added Andy Brown on drums and Dave Carr on keyboards. The follow-up disc co-written by the singer-songwriter and future Ivy League member Perry Ford, "Caroline", was used as the signature tune for the influential pirate radio station, Radio Caroline.

The group's next two singles, Gordon Mills' co-composition "I Like The Look Of You" and a revival of The Four Esquires/Johnnie Ray's "Look Homeward Angel" - like the initial brace of releases overseen by the American ex-pat producer Shel Talmy - also failed to chart, the former likely due to confusion over the plug A-side, which was flipped by the pirate stations from the somewhat torpid "Come On Girl" to the sprightly, 12-string led "I Like The Look of You". Nonetheless, a more MOR-ish, orchestrated direction was undertaken for their 5th release-the classic Roger Greenaway-Roger Cook number, "You've Got Your Troubles" (1965) reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart and was a worldwide hit, including reaching #1 in Canada and the American Top 10. Their next two singles "Here It Comes Again" and "This Golden Ring" sold well, but each less than the previous release. Glen Dale left the band in the summer of 1966 seeking a solo career, and was replaced by the Scottish guitarist, Shel McCrae. Three more singles ("You Gave Me Somebody To Love", "Is It Really Worth Your While?" and "Our Love Has Gone") all failed to chart.

At this point, (1967) The Fortunes left Decca for United Artists. They reunited with Talmy for their next release, "The Idol", a song they had written themselves, and although it did get some airplay in the UK, it did not become a hit. Minor controversy arose when they admitted they did not play on their classic hits.

In 1968 they tried covering The Move's hit "Fire Brigade" for the U.S. market, but with little airplay or sales. In 1970, they recorded an album for the U.S. World Pacific record label, and then signed with Capitol in both the UK and U.S. in 1971.

They had a steady succession of singles, some of which were hits outside of the UK and U.S., culminating in 1972 with the release of "Storm in a Teacup". During this period, they had another worldwide hit "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling" (1971). The Fortunes were also the voices for the American Coca-Cola advertisements. ^[3] Their first recording in 1967 was a version of the theme tune, "Things Go Better With Coke", but they are most remembered for introducing the 1969 new slogan recording, used as the main theme for Coca-Cola on both radio and television commercials; "It's The Real Thing".

Present day history

Founding member, and lead vocalist, Allen continued fronting an ever changing version of The Fortunes from 1963 up to his death.

In '83 and '84 respectively, Michael Smitham and Paul Hooper joined Barry Pritchard and Rod Allen in The Fortunes. This line up of The Fortunes were awarded a gold disc in 1987, for over 100,000 sales of their All The Hits and More album.

In March 1995 vocalist/keyboard/guitar player Bob Jackson was added to The Fortunes' ranks, after founder member Barry Pritchard left through illness. Jackson, a former member of the group Badfinger, to whom he pays homage onstage, with a version of the Badfinger penned song "Without You", made famous by Harry Nilsson, and more recently by Mariah Carey. Jackson left for a year to follow other obligations and Geoff Turton who was originally a member of the Birmingham based band, The Rockin' Berries who had hits with "He's In Town" and "Poor Man's Son" stood in Jackson's place. He also had a certain amount of success under the 'nom de plume' Jefferson both at home and in the U.S. Jackson returned and Turton returned to The Rockin' Berries.

On 10 January 2008, the last remaining member of the original group, Rod Allen, died after suffering for two months from liver cancer. The remaining members of the band said they would continue touring and recruited The Dakotas lead singer Eddie Mooney. ^[4] During 2008, the band have regrouped, recording a new album Play On and appeared in Las Vegas, Netherlands and Belgium as well as the UK. They successfully toured Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, in addition to the UK during 2009.

Keyboard player in the original line-up, David Carr, has for many years now lived and worked in Hollywood, CA doing session work, frequently working with producer Kim Fowley (for example he played keyboards on the last album by Fowley's "The Runaways" titled "Young and Fast").

UK chart hit singles

• "You've Got Your Troubles" - 1965 - Number 2.
• "Here It Comes Again " - 1965 - Number 4.
• "This Golden Ring" - 1966 - Number 15.
• "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" - 1971 - Number 6.
• "Storm in a Teacup" - 1972 - Number 7 (written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker).

^[5]

U.S. chart hit singles

• "You've Got Your Troubles" - 1965 - Number 7.
• "Here It Comes Again" - 1965 - Number 27.
• "This Golden Ring" - 1966 - Number 82.
• "That Same Old Feeling" - 1970 - Number 62 (competing with the original version by Pickettywitch).
• "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" - 1971 - Number 15.
• "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" - 1971 - Number 72.

See also

• List of Capitol Records artists
• List of NME covers
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• List of artists under the Decca Records label
• Arts in Birmingham

References

1. The Guardian obituary on Rod Allen - 17 January 2008, by Dave Laing
2. Allmusic biography - accessed January 2008
3. The Fortunes official website
4. BBC.co.uk - website news - accessed January 2008
5. British Hit Singles & Albums