The New Vaudeville Band could almost
be described as the band that never was- or at least nearly never
was. They were almost entirely the brainchild of Tin Pan Alley
songwriter Geoff Stephens. He had written a good song, 'Winchester
Cathedral' and thought it would sound best if played in the fashion
of a 1930s dance band. So he hired a group of session musicians
and recorded it. The idea of an old jazz band wasn't new; an
established band- the Temperance Seven- had played similar old
time music four years or so earlier, but Geoff's record was an
enormous success. In fact it was so successful that it reached
#1 in the USA, and #2 in Germany. Unfortunately, following this
sudden high profile, Geoff was expected to take his band on concert
tours!
Musicians were quickly gathered together
largely through the efforts of Henri Harrison- including a vocalist,
Alan Klein, who had not been on the original hit (sometimes alleged to
be John Carter from the Ivy League/ Flowerpot Men, but I am assured
that it was John Smith that did this session, a singer who called
himself Bobby Dean at the time- nevertheless probably better known
as 'John Smith and the New Sound' especially in France and Germany
where they had some success on vinyl in their own right). To cloud
the issue the new singer was cast as 'Tristram- Seventh Earl Of
Cricklewood'. This was presumably designed to sound ultra-English
for the American market. Alan Klein and the band went on the road,
while Geoff stayed in his office in Denmark Street to keep writing
the songs (he probably did so with an English travel book by his
side!) and the band managed to squeeze out a few more hits before
the novelty wore off. The band became a particular success in America
and spent most of its later existence there, finally breaking up during
the 1970s. |