Eddy Bonte

CHRIS ANDREWS

Two years after replacing the John Barry 7 by The Roulettes in September 1961, Adam Faith was in desperate need of catching up with the new times – and sounds. So were The Roulettes, who had not seen a studio by themselves since their first single ‘Hully Gully Slip ‘n’n Slide’ on Pye in October 1962. In fact, Adam Faith did NOT use The Roulettes for his studio recordings! Anyway, by 1963 the ‘Hully Gully’ craze was dead and buried and an army of beat groups and R&B devotees was rewriting the hand-book.

Chris Andrews with Eddy Bonte, 2017

Picture © yours truly with Chris Andrews, 2017

A Time of Firsts

In came twenty year-old Christopher Andrews, a new song-writer who had already ‘done Hamburg’ and appeared in ‘Oh Boy’ with his band Chris Ravel and The Ravens. I located Chris Andrews in Germany and he was happy to share his memories.
Chris Andrews: ‘I first met Adam Faith when we performed together at the 2 I's in Soho. Adam was part of a duet called Terry and Freddy, and as far as I can remember he sang in the rockabilly and skiffle styles. I was later asked by Adam’s manager Eve Taylor if I had a song or songs for Adam. Eve booked a club in London and I sang him a couple of songs on the piano, one of these was ‘The First Time’. That was a completely new direction for Adam music-wise, but he only needed a couple of takes and it was in the bag. He gave it all in the studio and made it happen. Thanks Adam!’.

It was the first studio recording of Faith and The Roulettes, the first 45rpm to be released as ‘Adam Faith with The Roulettes’ and the teenage idol’s first real hit (no. 5) in about a year – a lifetime in the music business of that time.

It was also a time of firsts for the band.
Chris Andrews: ‘I was asked by Adam if I could write a song for his backing group The Roulettes and that’s how ‘Soon You’ll Be Leaving Me’ came about’. A 100% Merseybeat tune, Andrews comments ‘it was inspired by the Liverpool bands I had been working with at the Star Club in Hamburg’. The Roulettes had caught the current sound, but reaped no rewards.

Changing Faith

The next Chris Andrews tune was to turn the tide.
Chris Andrews: ‘I wrote ‘Bad Time’ in the car in my head, so not sitting at the piano or playing guitar. I though the opening line sounded quiet strong and all the rest just followed. I remember, I played it to the boys, singing the opening line ‘If you should walk right out of the door’.

But ‘Bad Time’ (released in March 1964) didn’t do the trick, even if the pirate DJs loved it. Chris Andrews: ‘I have no idea why it wasn't a hit as the group sang and played it so well. I was at the session when they recorded it, I think I sang some backing vocals. The Roulettes were all very talented musicians, but as Gordon Mills once told me, ‘You throw the pennies against the wall and hope they come up heads’’.

Chris Andrews would eventually provide Faith and the group with their only USA hit. ‘It’s Alright’ was just the b-side of the most moderate seller ‘I Love Being In Love With You’ (no. 33 in May 1963) until it took off in the USA many months later made it made it to no. 31 In the Billboard Hot 100 in January ‘65, triggered by appearances on the American television show Shindig on 14 October and 16 December - the latter featuring both The Newbeats and The Isley Brothers providing backing vocals and hand-clapping! A blend of sped-up rock’n’roll with R&B earthiness and haunting harmonica, it didn’t sound like anything Faith-with-the-Roulettes had recorded before.
Chris Andrews: ‘I changed the direction of Adam’s recordings with ‘The First Time’ and I loved ‘It’s Alright’. I think there was only one take. I played piano on this one and played a wrong chord on the intro, but no-one seemed worried so it stayed in! It was so new I was still learning it myself in the studio, that’s my excuse’. Would Chris Andrews agree to say that he really put the beat in Faith? The reply is a most humble one: ‘I was always a fan of R&B and Bluebeat which influenced a lot of my writing’.

By Committee?

With so many Chris Andrews song working well for Faith with the band and not working at all for the band as such, one wonders who chose which Andrews composition? Was this done by committee? Who had the last say?
Chris Andrews: ‘The way a song was decided upon was as follows. I would write a song, play it to Adam or the band and manager Eve Taylor, and they would decide who should record the song. Sort of a divided committee. John Burgess was also involved and the recordings were made at EMI’s Abbey Road studios with Burgess producing’.

Bob Henrit: ‘Chris Andrews seemed to be able to magic-up songs when necessary. I have no idea whether he wrote songs specifically for any of us but I don’t recall rejecting any. However, before this John Burgess, our A & R man at EMI records would suggest songs for us. This was at the beginning of our career when groups didn’t write their own material.

Chris Andrews’ output at the time was more than prolific, it is simply unbelievable. He penned all fourteen sides of the first LP by Faith with The Roulettes (‘On The Move’, 1964), delivered half a dozen more for their second long-player (‘Faith Alive!’, 1965) as well as providing tracks for two 1965 EPs credited to Faith alone. One EP track is titled ‘I’ll Stop At Nothing’, but Sandie Shaw was to collect the laurels.