September 24, 2021 —– Chart #110
Hello Musical Friends,
Welcome to Friday, fall weather and the 110th edition of Chart of the day. I have a deep cut for you today, a song from 1966. “Winchester Cathedral” is a song by The New Vaudeville Band, a British novelty group established by the song’s composer, Geoff Stephens, and was released in late 1966 by Fontana Records. Bet you haven’t heard this one in a while!
It reached No.1 in Canada on the RPM 100 national singles charts and shortly thereafter in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call “vaudeville”), so he wrote “Winchester Cathedral” in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée soundalike (John Carter) singing through his hands to imitate a megaphone sound. Although the song was recorded entirely by session musicians, when it became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, with Fontana trying unsuccessfully to recruit the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The recording is one of the few charting songs to feature a bassoon. The band toured extensively under the tutelage of Peter Grant, who later went on to manage The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.
The song won the 1967 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Recording, despite not being a rock and roll song. An initial long-playing album including the song was issued in late 1966 by Fontana Records, also titled Winchester Cathedral. Stephens received the 1966 Ivor Novello Award for “Best Song Musically and Lyrically”.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the song’s release, a new version by Geoff Stephens was released on CD by Signum Classics, sung by members of the Winchester Cathedral Choir. The premier performance of this version was to take place during a Gala Concert in Winchester Cathedral on March 12 to help raise funds for the Cathedral’s Appeal.
The tune went to No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. It went all the way to the top in the U.S., displacing “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by the Supremes on December 3, 1966. After a one-week run at No. 1, “Winchester Cathedral” was knocked off the summit by the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations”, only to rebound to the top spot the following week. After two additional weeks, it was knocked off the top for good by “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees. “Winchester Cathedral” also topped the Billboard Easy Listening chart for four weeks. Global sales of the single were over three million, with the RIAA certification of gold disc status.
The original version of the New Vaudeville Band was an assemblage of studio musicians, specifically gathered by Geoff Stephens to record the song “Winchester Cathedral”, which he both wrote and produced. The lead vocal was sung by John Carter, formerly of The Ivy League, who had sung on the demo of the song, which Stephens decided to keep for the commercial release.
When Stephens received several requests for the New Vaudeville Band to tour and to record a full-length album, he had to put together a group, for the song had been recorded by session musicians hired only for the recording. He contacted the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which played similar music at the time. Only Bob Kerr from that group was interested, so he left the Bonzos in order to help Stephens form a touring version of The New Vaudeville Band, which included original session drummer Henri Harrison. Meanwhile, John Carter had no interest in continuing with the group as a singer, though he still co-wrote the occasional song with Stephens for use by the group. The new lead singer of the group was Alan Klein, who was billed as ‘Trista, Seventh Earl of Cricklewood’. Klein also wrote some of the group’s material. Mick Wilsher, on guitars, also sang occasional lead vocals. The official line-up as of late 1966 was:
- Tristam, Seventh Earl of Cricklewood: vocals
- ‘Moody’ Mick Wilsher: guitar, vocals
- Stan Haywood (aka Stanley K. Wood): piano
- ‘Mad’ Henri Harrison: drums, spoons, washboard, percussion and effects
- Robert ‘Pops’ Kerr: trumpet, multiple instruments
- Neil Korner: bass
- Hugh ‘Shuggy’ Watts: trombone
Stephens was not officially part of the group, but produced and arranged their recordings, wrote or co-wrote much of the original material, and selected the cover tunes that the group played.
An initial long-playing album by this line-up was issued in late 1966 by Fontana Records, also titled Winchester Cathedral. This album contained the Geoff Stephens/Les Reed composition “There’s A Kind Of Hush”, which was quickly covered by Herman’s Hermits who had a hit with the song in most of the world in early 1967. However, the New Vaudeville Band version of the tune was issued as a single in Australia and South Africa, and became a significant chart hit in both those territories.
Studio version:
Live (sort of), complete with megaphone: https://youtu.be/4AYUVKHuYQI
Leon Redbone probably loved these guys!
Keep rockin’ my friends,
Stan