UK DOO-WOP KESTRELS 78 IN THE CHAPEL IN THE MOONLIGHT

	£		50
	$		66

TWO REALLY FABULOUS SIDES ON THIS MEGA RARE UK DOO-WOP 78 FROM THE KESTRELS ON PYE NIXA

IN THE CHAPEL IN THE MOONLIGHT

Kestrels - In The Chapel In The Moonlight

b/w THERE COMES A TIME

THE KESTRELS

The Kestrels were a vocal harmony quartet from Bristol, England, most notable as the group through which the songwriting team of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway first met and started composing jointly. They were one of the busiest vocal groups in England during the late 1950s and early 1960s, singing back-up behind Joe Brown, Billy Fury, Eden Kane, and Benny Hill, among many others, and made dozens of television appearances between 1958 and 1964.

The quartet's origins go back to the mid 1950s, when they were in their early teens at school together. Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, and Roger Maggs' earliest influences were skiffle and rock and roll, and they began getting booked to play local dances. The trio expanded to a quartet with the addition to Geoff Williams, who extended their harmonies upward into the falsetto range. They quickly started to focus on singing and became established as a harmony vocal group rather than a skiffle outfit. Their main influences were American rhythm and blues harmony groups such as The Platters and The Penguins, whom they did their best to emulate vocally.

The group members went through the Army at the same time, continuing to work together whenever possible, and it was during this period that they got their name. They initially started working together as the Beltones and the Hi-Fi's, but their manager, taking his lead from the manufacturer of the pencil he had in his hand at the time, decreed that they should become The Kestrels. It also fit in with an American tradition of harmony vocal groups that were named after birds (the Crows, the Penguins etc.)

This was not just a conceit. Listening to their records 40 years on, it is possible to hear the quality and dedication of their music making. Comparing themselves to The Platters might seem overly ambitious, especially as they also later covered country numbers like "Wolverton Mountain" as well as they did, but there is respect there for the sound of groups like The Platters and The Penguins. They were definitely English, not American, but they had a fresher sound than virtually any rival singing group in England.

The Kestrels' debut single for Pye Records, "In The Chapel In The Moonlight," originally released as the B-side of their cover of Jack Scott's "There Comes A Time," came close to charting and probably would have if they had been able to promote it. The Army came first, however, and it just missed getting them on the charts in late 1959.

The group bounced briefly over to Decca before returning to Pye Records, and a long-term contract to record for that label's Piccadilly imprint. Their subsequent releases failed to chart, but they remained busy on their own performances and also backing Pye's resident star, Lonnie Donegan, on some of his records and his live performances. The Kestrels finished their military service early in 1960, and were able to resume their music work full-time. They carried on, trying several different approaches to choosing their songs, but mostly covering American hits, which may have been part of their problem.

By 1964, it was clear that any moment that the Kestrels might have seized as their own was past. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Kinks, and the other new wave of rock and roll artists were playing a heavier, more formidable brand of music than the Kestrels could ever emulate. There were still live engagements and lots of session work, however, and when Pete Gullane left, he was replaced by Roger Cook.

Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway went on to form one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the late 1960s, initially providing material to The Fortunes, a harmony group remarkably similar to (but luckier than) the Kestrels, in the form of "You've Got Your Troubles," a #2 UK hit, and even tried their hand at recording as a duo, christened David and Jonathan, through which they enjoyed a short string of their own hit records. Tony Burrows sang lead with The Flower Pot Men, and also became a busy session singer whose work included recordings by Elton John (including the Madman Across the Water album) and Matthew Fisher, among numerous others.

DISC DETAILS

UK PYE NIXA N 15234   10" 78rpm HEAVY VINYL

SIDE 1 :-  IN THE CHAPEL IN THE MOONLIGHT

SIDE 2:-   THERE COMES A TIME

Condition = EX / EX-   PLAYS GREAT BUT HAS VERY TATTY LABELS 

WONDERFUL RARITY!

 DON'T MISS IT !

BID NOW!!

POSTAGE STUFF

I LIKE TO BE AS HELPFUL AS I CAN SO DO CALL ME ON 01223 872 937  IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR A PROBLEM

I AM HAPPY TO OFFER A POSTAGE REBATE  FOR EVERY EXTRA 78rpm RECORD BOUGHT THAT GOES IN THE SAME POSTAL PACKET

10" 78 RPM RECORDS NEED CAREFULLY PACKING, AND I CLAIM TO HAVE THE BEST PACKAGING IN THE WORLD FOR DISPATCHING THEM!!

 THE GREG'S GREAT'S SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A SPECIALLY DESIGNED INNER BOX MADE OUT OF 1" THICK POLYSTYRENE, WHICH THEN GOES INSIDE A DOUBLE CORREGATED STIFF OUTER CARDBOARD CARTON. THE BOXES CAN TAKE UP TO 21 RECORDS,

USUALLY FOR MAILING OVERSEAS, I RECOMMEND NO MORE THAN 7 IN A BOX, OTHERWISE IT GOES OVER THE AIRMAIL SMALL PACKET MAXIMUM WEIGHT OF 2Kgs WHICH CAUSES A LARGE HIKE IN POSTAL RATES.

I PACK VERY VERY SAFELY BUT I AM NOT FAST!!

MY STANDARD DISPATCH TIME IS TEN WORKING DAYS!

I SEND OUT ON AVERAGE ABOUT 30 PARCELS A WEEK AND DISPATCH IS NORMALLY DONE ONCE A WEEK - SO IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR RECORD WITHIN A WEEK, PLEASE DON'T BE TOO SURPRISED!! 

IF YOU REALLY HAVE AN URGENT REQUIREMENT FOR THE RECORD - BIRTHDAY PRESENT, WEDDING, FUNERAL etc PLEASE TELL ME AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET IT OUT FOR YOU URGENTLY.

IF A RECORD ARRIVES CRACKED OR BROKEN DESPITE MY BEST EFFORTS WITH THIS FANTASTIC PACKAGING I WILL REFUND THE MONEY IN FULL. - JUST SEND ME A QUICK SCAN - IF IT IS A VERY RARE RECORD I MAY ASK YOU TO SEND IT BACK OTHERWISE IT WILL BE YOURS TO KEEP OR DISPOSE OF