Неизвестные 60-е. Часть 57: Группа Grapefruit

Grapefruit

The group Grapefruit consisted of George Alexander (born Alexander Young on December 28, 1946 in Glasgow, Scotland), Geoff Swettenhan (born March 8, 1948), his brother Pete Swettenham (born April 24, 1949), and John Perry (born July 16, 1949) all born in London, England. All but Alexander were in a band called the Sugarbeats before becoming members of the group Tony Rivers And The Castaways, managed by Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises. Tony Rivers And The Castaways recorded a cover version of The Beatles' song, Nowhere Man, released in 1966. Paul McCartney attended a Tony Rivers And The Castaways performance at Epstein's Saville Theatre on November 19, 1967.

Terry Doran, a friend of Brian Epstein and The Beatles from Liverpool, who worked for Apple Music Publishing, signed Alexander as a songwriter for Apple. (Alexander came from a very musical family. His brother George, whose first name Alexander borrowed, was in the mid-'60s group The Easybeats and his brothers Angus and Malcolm are members of the group AC/DC.) John Perry said, "I met Doran who told me he worked for a company called Apple. Later I found out it was The Beatles' company. Had I known that I would have been down there in five minutes! We had this idea of forming a four-piece group that would replace The Beatles' pop image because they were sort of psychedelic at the time. Apple liked the idea, and it was there that I met George Alexander whose songs we liked."

The group was signed to Apple Publishing and managed by Doran. On December 11, 1967, they were christened Grapefruit at the suggestion of John Lennon (after Yoko Ono's book of the same title). On January 17, 1968, The Beatles (minus Harrison) attended a press reception at the London headquarters of RCA records (Apple did not yet have a record label) to launch Grapefruit. (Some time later, Lennon, McCartney and Starr attended a press reception for Grapefruit held at The Hanover Grand's Banqueting Rooms.) The group's first single, Dear Delilah, was released two days later.

According to several reliable publications, Lennon and McCartney visited Grapefruit at IBC Studios in London and probably participated for their debut recording session that produced the recording Dear Delilah. The Swettenhams and Perry agree none of The Beatles contributed to or were present for the recording of Dear Delilah. However, they recall Lennon and McCartney attending one of their first recording sessions. Pete remembers McCartney hanging around playing tambourine but does not think anything resulted from those first sessions.

Terry Melcher, who is listed as the producer of Dear Delilah, does not recall any of The Beatles being present for the recording and said he handled all the production by himself. (Melcher, the son of actress Doris Day, was a songwriter and producer known for his work with The Byrds and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys [see: The Beach Boys]. Melcher, no doubt came at the suggestion of The Beatles' press officer and Apple publicist, Derek Taylor, who had been a publicist for The Byrds and The Beach Boys.)

Grapefruit said they, not Melcher, produced their second single, Yes//Elevator. The group recalls McCartney being present to give advice and help (padding drums etc.) with the recording of Yes. On May 26, 1968, McCartney directed a promotional video for Elevator at the Albert Memorial Statue in London.

In July of 1968 Grapefruit's their third single, C'mon Marianne, was released. Perry said, "Lennon basically arranged the brass part of C'mon Marianne. I think Terry Melcher produced it though." Pete also remembers Lennon suggesting an arrangement for horns on C'mon Marianne. However, Mike Vickers, formerly of the group Manfred Mann, scored Lennon's ideas for the arrangement. (Vickers conducted the orchestra on the live telecast, via satellite, of The Beatles' performance of All You Need Is Love for the BBC's program, Our World, on June 25, 1967.)

Grapefruit's fourth single, Someday released in December of 1968, was followed by their first album Around Grapefruit. The album primarily consisted of the group's first four singles and a few other tracks recorded along the way. Grapefruit members said most of the album's tracks were probably recorded at Advision Studios but they also used Regent Sound, IBC, De Lane Lea Sound Centre, Trident Studios and EMI's Abbey Road Studios for some of their recordings. The album's liner notes were written by Derek Taylor. The only producer mentioned on the album is Terry Melcher. Melcher admitted he produced some of Grapefruit's first recordings in England but had to return to the U.S. Grapefruit said they took over the production role on many of their songs but Melcher did the final mixing. According to Mark Lewisohn, a noted authority on The Beatles, both Lennon and McCartney acted as uncredited executive producers of Around Grapefruit. Perry recalls, "McCartney, Harrison and Lennon stopped by during a couple of other sessions. I remember Lennon trying to get me to play something on the guitar to sound like an airplane landing. We were tied up with them quite deeply."

According to Perry and the Swettenhams, the backing track of the song Lullaby from Around Grapefruit was produced and engineered by McCartney and Lennon at Advision. (This explains why a demo acetate of Lullaby was discovered many years later among John Lennon's personal belongings that some mistook to be an unreleased Beatles' demo.) Spencer Davis, who also attended the session, said McCartney handled most of the duties and thinks Paul sang in the background as well. Perry and the Swettenhams do not recall McCartney or Lennon performing on Lullaby or playing on any other recordings of theirs. Geoff said, "I think I would remember if Paul had played something on one of our tracks." Grapefruit later decided to add an orchestra to the recording. Perry recalls, "Lennon and McCartney wanted to put Lullaby out as a single. We didn't like their version. Can you believe it? How bloody stupid can you get?"

Though Grapefruit was the first group signed to Apple Publishing, they never appeared on Apple Records. Perry did, however, end up appearing on one of Apple Records' releases, Hey Jude. He recalls, "I was in Trident Studios and Paul ushered me over to the microphone to sing on the chorus; when I put on the headphones they were very loud, and I shouted an obscenity." (Perry's remark can be faintly heard at about 2:58 into the recording.)

Grapefruit's association with Apple Publishing ended in November 1968. During The Beatles' recording sessions for the album Let It Be in January 1969, John Lennon suggested the as-then-yet-unreleased Beatles' song, Two Of Us, might be suitable for Grapefruit to record. Grapefruit never recorded the song. (Several months later the Apple group Mortimer recorded Two Of Us; but they too never ended up having a release on the label and their version remains unreleased.)

Grapefruit released a second album through RCA in 1969 titled Deep Water and a single, Sha-Sha//Universal Party, in 1971 on the Deram label before disbanding. Geoff worked with Badfinger (see: Badfinger) briefly, almost joining the group. He is now an accountant. Pete remained involved in music for a time and assisted Geoff Emerick with the sound engineering of Paul McCartney's 1974 album Band On The Run. He is currently a project manager for a communications company. John Perry has maintained his musical career concentrating on Christian and gospel recordings. He has also worked with Cliff Richard (singing on Devil Woman among other songs). All three members reside in England. George Alexander was last known to be living in Germany.

Terry Doran and Derek Taylor went on to become assistants for George Harrison for a time. Taylor returned to work for the revived Apple Records label in the 1990s but died of cancer in 1997. Doran, who has worked much of his life in auto sales, currently lives in London. Terry Melcher owns and operates a restaurant in California but is still involved in the music business and recently wrote a number of songs for The Beach Boys.

Recording Data

Record 126 title:
Around Grapefruit

Label / Catalog number:
Repertoire/REP 4363-WP

Jacket/Inserts:
Standard international design in jewel box / 6 page CD booklet
Media:
Album 5" CD




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song 126a title:
C’mon Marianne

Release date / Country:
Aug 93 (recording first issued: Jul 68) / Germany

Producer:
Grapefruit & Terry Melcher
Track details/time:
side 1, track 5 / 2 min 36 sec.

Composer:
Brown-Bloodworth

Recording location / date:
(probably) Trident or Advision Studios, London, U.K. / 1968


Musicians:
John Perry: Lead Vocals & Electric Guitar; Pete Swettenham: Acoustic Guitar & B. Vocals; Geoff Swettenham: Drums & B. Vocals; George Alexander: Bass & B. Vocals; John Lennon: Horn Arrangement


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song 126b title:
Lullaby

Release date / Country:
Aug 93 (recording first issued: Jan 69) / Germany

Producer:
Paul McCartney &
(probably) John Lennon
Track details/time:
side 1, track 6 / 3 min 29 sec.

Composer:
G. Alexander

Recording location / date:
Advision Studios, London, U.K. / Mar-Apr 68 or (possibly) Jan 68


Musicians:
John Perry: Acoustic Guitar; Pete Swettenham: Acoustic Guitar & B. Vocals; Geoff Swettenham: Drums & B. Vocals; George Alexander: Bass & Lead Vocals


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song 126c title:
Yes

Release date / Country:
Aug 93 (recording first issued: Apr 68) or (possibly) Jan 68 / Germany

Producer:
Grapefruit & [Paul McCartney]
Track details/time:
side 1, track 4 / 2 min 20 sec.

Composer:
J. Perry

Recording location / date:
Advision Studios, London, U.K. / Mar-Apr 68 or (possibly) Jan 68


Musicians:
John Perry: Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar; Pete Swettenham: Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards & B. Vocals; Geoff Swettenham: Drums & B. Vocals; George Alexander: Bass & B. Vocals

Вчера впервые услышал эту группу! Потрясающе, четвёртый раз переслушиваю единственный имеющийся у меня альбом Around Grapefruit!
От песни Cmon Marianne вообще впадаю в экстаз!

А есть ли у кого-нибудь ещё записи Grapefruit???

От Кощея!

Personnel:

GEORGE ALEXANDER bs A
JOHN PERRY ld gtr A
GEOFF SWETTENHAM drms A
PETE SWETTENHAM gtr A

ALBUMS:

1(A) AROUND GRAPEFRUIT (Stateside S(S)L 5008) 1969 SC
2(A) DEEP WATER (RCA Victor SF 8030) 1969 SC

45s:

1 Dear Delilah/The Dead Boot (RCA Victor RCA 1656) 1968 21
2 Elevator/Yes (RCA Victor RCA 1677) 1968 -
3 C'mon Marianne/Ain't It Good (RCA Victor RCA 1716) 1968 31
4 Someday Soon/Theme For Twiggy (Stateside SS 8005) 1968 -
5 Round Going Round/This Little Man (Stateside SS 8011) 1969 -
6 Deep Water/Come Down To The Station (RCA Victor RCA 1855) 1969 -
7 Lady Godiva/Thunder And Lightning (RCA Victor RCA 1907) 1969 -
8 Sha Sha/Universal Party (Deram DM 343) 1971 -

The band was formed when the Swettenham brothers and Perry decided to form their own outfit after a brief spell with Tony Rivers and The Castaways, a harmony group who later evolved into a MOR vocal group, Harmony Grass.

Dear Delilah, an imaginative effort with a rich organ backing, attracted considerable publicity, reaching No 21 in February 1968. None of their subsequent work attained such success, although C'mon Marianne charted at No 31 in August of that year. Their albums contain some interesting music, with a psychedelic taint, but did not attract much attention. Their early songs were good harmony pop but later on they veered towards a very unappealing sort of funk. The group broke up soon after Pete Swettenham left in early 1969.

However, in 1971 Alexander reformed the group which included Harry Vanda and George Young from The Easybeats, but after one single, Sha Sha, for Deram it disintegrated.

George Alexander was the elder brother of George Young of The Easybeats, but passed over the chance to join the rest of his family when they emigrated to Australia. He'd earlier been in My Dear Watson.

Geoff Swettenham became an occasional session musician.

Of their two albums only the first is recommended.

Это сообщение было перемещено из темы "Неизвестные 60-е. Часть 57: Группа Grapefruit".

Grapefruit - Around Grapefruit

[ Features an older brother of Angus and Malcolm (AC/DC) ]

GRAPEFRUIT Around Grapefruit (REPERTOIRE 1969)

Songs / Tracks

1. Another Game
2. Yesterday's Sunshine
3. Elevator
4. Yes
5. C'mon Marianne
6. Lullaby
7. Round Going Round
8. Dear Delilah
9. This Little Man
10. Ain't It Good
11. Give It One More Try
12. Someday
13. (Bonustrack) Dead Boot

Biography

Grapefruit were one of the better Beatlesque late-'60s British pop-rock bands. In 1968 they seemed on the way to stardom, with a couple of small hit British singles and, more importantly, some help from the Beatles themselves. Led by George Alexander, brother of the Easybeats' George Young, the group were at the outset cheerful harmony pop/rockers with similarities to the Easybeats, Bee Gees, and some Paul McCartney-penned tunes from the Beatles' own psych-pop era. Not quite as incessantly chipper as the Easybeats, not as melodramatic as the Bee Gees, and certainly not as inventive as the Beatles, they were nonetheless similarly skilled at blending melodic pop with sophisticated arrangements that employed baroque/psychedelic touches of strings, orchestration, and several varieties of keyboards. A disappointing second album, however, helped sink them out of sight, and the Beatles couldn't be of help as they were preoccupied with their own imminent dissolution.

George Alexander (born Alexander Young), who wrote most of the songs for Grapefruit, was the older brother of George Young and had stayed behind in the U.K. when the rest of his family emigrated to Australia. He was signed to Apple Music Publishing in 1967 by Terry Doran, who had been affiliated with Brian Epstein and the Beatles' organization for some time. Doran also managed the band, which was completed by several members of the light harmony pop-rock group Tony Rivers and the Castaways (who were managed by Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises). Guitarist and lead singer John Perry has remembered that the idea behind Grapefruit would be to play music in the mold of the Beatles' earlier pop image, filling a gap left empty by the Beatles' growth into psychedelia and more sophisticated territory. The Beatles also got behind the group to some extent, as John Lennon named the band (after Yoko Ono's book with the same title) and went to press receptions introducing the band to the media. Members of the Beatles pitched in ideas for Grapefruit arrangements and recording sessions, and Paul McCartney even directed a promotional video for their single, "Elevator." Grapefruit, despite all the Beatles associations, were not on Apple Records, which might have seemed their logical home. There was a pragmatic reason for this: Although Grapefruit began releasing discs in early 1968, Apple Records was not officially launched until quite a few months later.

Grapefruit just missed the Top 20 with their first single, "Dear Delilah," with its lilting melody, uplifting harmonies, and creative use of orchestration and electronic phasing. A cover of the Four Seasons' "C'mon Marianne" just missed the Top Thirty, and although there were several other singles in 1968 and early 1969, nothing else made the charts. Their first LP, Around Grapefruit, was largely comprised of songs from their first five singles.

In contrast to Around Grapefruit, their second album, 1969's Deep Water, was an utterly undistinguished effort that could have been by an entirely different band, as its routine late '60s rock was quite unlike the band's debut. Grapefruit went into a much heavier sound, with deeper traces of blues and occasionally country, and virtually abandoned the harmonies, pop melodicism, and creative multi-textured arrangements that were the strongest points in their favor. For good measure, their association with Apple Publishing ended in November 1968, although John Lennon did suggest in early 1969 that the band should record the then-unreleased Lennon-McCartney song "Two of Us" (which they didn't). Following some personnel changes, the group broke up around the end of the 1960s, although Alexander did revive Grapefruit for a 1971 single, "Universal Party"/"Sha Sha," which also featured ex-Easybeats George Young and Harry Vanda.

Subsequently Alexander worked with Vanda and Young on other production and songwriting projects, while John Perry made an unlikely return to the public eye as a member of the new wave band the Only Ones in the late '70s. Grapefruit's two albums have been reissued on CD by Repertoire with some non-LP tracks. There are also three songs from a BBC session, including two they never released on record -- "Breakin' Up a Dream" and "Trying to Make It to Monday" -- on Hard Up Heroes II, a various-artists bootleg compilation of unreleased late '60s BBC recordings. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Geoff Swettenham - Drums
George Alexander - Bass
John Perry - Guitar
Peter Swettenham - Guitar

Label: 1969/1993 Equinox/Repertoire

http://www.crabsodyinblue.com/acdcaroundgrapefruit.htm

Это сообщение было перемещено из темы "Неизвестные 60-е. Часть 57: Группа Grapefruit".

Geoff Swettenham (Grapefruit): Apple paid for our house and gave us a retainer every week. They kept us alive basically. They got us a great flat just off Baker Street...except for George, who got his own flat because he was married with a kid, but the three of us lived there and Apple paid for everything (Granados, M. Those Were the Days. p. 15).

John Perry (Grapefruit): Nems basically put us on a retainer and also gave us a car and accounts in various restaurants and clubs, so we could just sign for stuff. It was help yourself to be honest. We were told to go to Martin Wesson at Nems-who was the accountant-and we were told to go tell him how much we wanted. Nems also paid for our flats (Granados, M. p. 15).

http://www.beatlemoney.com/applecofacts.htm

New four-piece band Grapefruit must have hoped for even a fraction of the success of the pop luminaries ranged behind them (L to R: Brian Jones, Donovan, Ringo, John, Cilla Black, Paul). The occasion was a Press reception at the Hanover Grand, London, to mark the launch of the group’s debut single ‘Dear Delilah’. The band, who had been discovered by head of Apple Terry Doran, would make little impact on the charts, however. ‘Dear Delilah’ peaked at #21, while their only other chart entry was ‘C’mon Marianne’, which reached #31.

Прослушал 10 раз весь альбом. Местами на столько по-битловски, что можно обманывать знакомых. Да и просто замечательная красивая музыка. Пишу с некоторым отставанием, но пока скачал, пока внимательно прослушал... Зато теперь, глядишь, тема возродится, еще кто-нибудь группу послушает, мне спасибо скажет.

Grapefruit - Deep Water
Due for release on 06/02/2006

Track List
Deep Water
Can't Find Me
Thunder And Lightning
Lady Godiva
The Right Direction
L.A. & Back Again
Come Down To The Station
A Dizzy Day
Blues In Your Head
Time To Leave
Deep Water (Mono Single Mix)
Come Down To The Station (Mono Single Mix)
Thunder And Lightning (Single Mix)
Blues In Your Head (Single Mix)
Sha-Sha
Universal Party

С 'Around Grapefruit' очень понравилась Theme For Twiggy. Весьма неравнодушна к печальным инструменталам. Сантименты...

Не напомнила House of the Rising Sun?

По совершенно правильному замечанию Valter'a, указанный список вещей не совпадает с реальным. 11-я вещь - это "Theme for Twiggy", а не "Give It One More Try". Песня отличная, да и девушка замечательная. ;-))

P.S. 2SkyElevator - нет.

Любопытно, что басист, вокалист и автор песен британской команды GRAPEFRUIT, Джордж Александер (George Alexander, ур. Alexander Young), является одним из трех знаменитых братьев-рокеров по фамилии Янг, давших миру такие замечательные группы, как австралийские EASYBEATS и AC/DC.

Corvin`у.Спасибо за уточнение!Я так примерно и подумал.Группу принял на УРААА! Это "наши" люди.А эта манекенщица в то время была ну очень своеобразной.Valter -он же Denis O`Bell.

GRAPEFRUIT Around The BBC
(2007 14-track CD album - 'Around The BBC' lets you hear the band as nature intended, offering stripped down, high energy versions of the singles 'Dear Delilah', 'Elevator', 'C'Mon Marianne' and more plus several tracks that were never officially recorded or commercially issued, with highlights including the George Alexander compositions 'Somebody's Turning On The People', 'Breaking Up A Dream' & 'Trying to Make It To Monday' and 1968 Brian Mathews interviews, complete with picture booklet containing extensive liner notes, photos and interviews with the band).
16 July 2007

1. Breaking Up A Dream
2. Dear Delilah
3. Trying To Make It To Monday
4. Elevator
5. Say You Don't Mind
6. Somebody's Turning On The People
7. C'mon Marianne
8. Interview
9. Someday Soon
10. Interview
11. Round Going Round
12. To Love Somebody
13. Deep Water
14. Thunder & Lightning

Вкусить от этого фрукта ещё раз. Их второй и последний альбом.

Grapefruit - Deep Water
http://rapidshare.com/files/162113867/Grapefruit_-_Deep_Water.rar.html

Журнал Ровесник (№11 1988г.) о песне Lullaby, которую приняли за битловскую запись.

И ещё об этом здесь:
https://www.beatles.ru/postman/forum_messages.asp...sg_id=10669&cpage=6&forum_id=1#1342555

Accept - I'm A Rebel


Казалось бы, причем здесь Accept из 80-ого года? А вот причем:

A song written by Young (aka George Alexander), "I'm a Rebel", was recorded in 1976 by his brothers' band AC/DC, but was never released. It was later covered by the German group Accept.

Accept recorded the song in 1979, releasing it in 1980 as a single as well as the opening track for their second album, I'm a Rebel. It was credited to the pseudonym "George Alexander". Not really a cover song, as it had no previous release, it is the band's only recording of a song no band member wrote or co-wrote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_a_Rebel_(song)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Young_(musician)

Grapefruit были известны в Европе. Итальянцы даже перепели их песню.

Black Birds - Dolce Delilah (1968)