Sunday, April 29, 2018

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: Pre-Wimple Winch Just Four Men

JUST FOUR MEN-There's Not One Thing US Tower 163 1965



















Capitol records Tower subsidiary had a brief brain storm in 1965 where they backed 45's by Freddie & The Dreamers with tracks by other British artists. The first was April 1965's "You Were Made For Me" (Tower 127) which was backed by The Beat Merchant's "So Fine". Today's specimen was released in October 1965 with Freddie & Co's "Send A Letter To Me" backed by a cut from a Liverpool combo called Just Four Men (confusingly they were previously known as "The Four Just Men" and had a Tower 45 all to their own, "That's My Baby/Things Will Never Be The Same", Tower 118 January 1965).  "There's Not One Thing" was previously an A-side in the UK in February as Parlophone R 5241 where it was backed by "Don't Come Any Closer".  Freakbeat scholars will tell you that by 1966 the group morphed into the legendary Wimple Winch.























"There's Not One Thing" is a moody beat ballad. It's tempo and key bring to mind the Zombies at their most forlorn (think "Leave Me Be" or "I Must Move") and it's precision double tracked vocals and jazzy guitar licks make it a beat group classic. It was included in the now out of print Wimple Winch CD anthology "The Wimple Winch Story 1963-1968".  The Freddie and the Dreamers A-side "Send A Letter to Me" is crap.  It starts out with a nifty Seekers style guitar lick but its a god awful song that needs to be in a landfill somewhere....

Hear "And There's Not One Thing":

https://youtu.be/EXXc99vYpRg

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