The Shadows of Knight

The Shadows Of Knight

The band in 1966. Top, from left: Jerry McGeorge, Warren Rogers, Joe Kelley. Bottom from left: Jim Sohns and Tom Schiffour.
Background information
Origin Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Garage rock, blues rock
Years active 1964–1975; 1990–present
Labels Dunwich, Radar, Team, Sundazed, Rhino, Atlantic, Atco, Collectables
Associated acts H.P. Lovecraft, Bangor Flying Circus, Madura
Website Shadows Of Knight Official Facebook
Members Jim Sohns
Michael Gotshall
Cindy Gotshall
Greg Brucker
Rick Barr
Past members Mark Farney
Warren Rogers
Wayne Pursell
Norm Gotsch
Tom Schiffour
Joe Kelley
Jerry McGeorge
David "Hawk" Wolinski
Bruce Bruscatto
Ray Nesbit
Tom Morris
Steve "Woody" Woodruff
Roger Spielmann
Dan Baughman
John Fisher
Kenny Turkin
Jack "Hawkeye" Daniels
Paul Scarpelli
Jorge Gonzales
John Hardy
John Christy
Don Ferrone
Charlie Hess
Bob Harper
Eric Blomquist
Gary Levin
Paul Roy
John Roberts
Tom Stahl "Rabbit"
Bruce Gordon
Lee Brovitz
Michael Junkroski
David Stackman

The Shadows of Knight are an American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, formed in the 1960s, who play a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city. At the time they first started recording, the band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch," to which noted rock critic Richie Unterberger commented: "The Shadows of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate."[1]

History

Initially formed in 1964 as simply the Shadows, the band learned in spring 1965 of an existing British group, the Shadows. Whiz Winters, a friend who worked for their manager, Paul Sampson, in his record shop, came up with the name "The Shadows of Knight" to tie into the British Invasion in music of that time, and because all four of the band members attended Prospect High School in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, whose sports team had the name the "Knights".[2]

They would release three albums in their first five years of existence. Founding members included Warren Rogers (lead guitar), Roger Spielmann (rhythm and lead guitar/vocals) Norm Gotsch (rhythm guitar), Wayne Pursell (bass guitar), Tom Schiffour (drums) and Jim Sohns (vocals). Sohns was 16 at the time.[3] During 1965, Joe Kelley was recruited to play bass, replacing Pursell. Kelley swapped bass and lead duties with Rogers in late 1965 - at the time of the "Gloria" recordings. Guitarist and vocalist Jerry McGeorge replaced Norm Gotsch in late 1965 after Gotsch was drafted into the U.S. military. David "Hawk" Wolinski, who later worked with Rufus and Chaka Khan, replaced Rogers on bass in late 1966.

After performing in and around Chicago's northwest suburbs in 1964 and 1965, The Shadows of Knight became the house band at The Cellar in Arlington Heights, Illinois, owned by Sampson. They attracted more than 500 teenagers every Saturday and Sunday at the "Cellar" for more than six months until Sampson began booking other bands, giving them a break. A recording of a Shadows of Knight performance at The Cellar was released in 1992 by Sundazed Records as Raw 'n' Alive at the Cellar, Chicago 1966!.

A performance in support of the Byrds at Chicago's McCormick Place in early summer 1965 attracted the attention of Dunwich Records record producers Bill Traut and George Badonski. During that show, they performed "Gloria" by Van Morrison's Northern Irish band Them. The band signed with Dunwich shortly thereafter and recorded "Gloria" as a first effort.

Released in December 1965, "Gloria" received massive regional airplay. The band had slightly altered the song's lyrics, replacing Morrison's original "she comes to my room, then she made me feel alright" with "she called out my name, that made me feel alright" after influential Chicago station WLS had banned Them's original version. This simple change overcame the prevalent AM radio censorship of the era and got The Shadows of Knight's cover version of the song onto the playlist of WLS, which had censored the original.[4] The single reached the No. 1 position on the radio station's countdown, as well as on local rival WCFL. On the Billboard national charts, "Gloria" rose to No. 10. The secondary publication Cashbox ranked "Gloria" as high as No. 7.[5] In Canada the song reached No. 8 on the RPM Magazine charts. "Gloria" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A.[6]

There is reason to believe the Billboard charting understated the song's popularity. and the Shadows of Knight's version of "Gloria" reached No. 1 in several markets where it received airplay. But because Dunwich was not a national label, the single was released on a staggered basis around the country. This caused it to peak in certain markets before being released in others, diluting its weekly placement. Most significantly, the song received little airplay in certain major markets, such as South Florida (Miami) and California, where Morrison's release of "Gloria" had just been a major chart-topper the previous year.

The Shadows of Knight soon released the Gloria album, followed by the Back Door Men LP, in the summer of 1966. Subsequent singles included their version of the Bo Diddley song "Oh Yeah" (which reached No. 39 nationally), "Bad Little Woman" (No. 91), and the powerhouse "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" (No. 90), which can be seen as a precursor to hard rock. However, none of these releases approached their initial commercial success. Failure to find a winning followup to "Gloria" handicapped the band's earning power and led to its disintegration. Tom Schiffour left the band in spring 1967, first to be replaced by a young local fan of the band, Bruce Bruscato. He was subsequently replaced by Tom Morris. The original band fragmented further when McGeorge departed for acid-rock band H.P. Lovecraft, while Kelley left to front his own blues band. Hawk Wolinski also left the band to form Bangor Flying Circus with Schiffour and guitarist Alan De Carlo. Schiffour was later replaced by drummer Michael Tegza, also of the (by then-defunct) H.P. Lovecraft.

By mid-1967, the only original member of the Shadows of Knight remaining was vocalist Jim Sohns, who, through simple default, inherited the band's name and legacy.[7][8] In 1968, Dunwich sold the master tapes to its Shadow of Knight recordings to Atlantic Records for one dollar. Sohns then moved the band from Chicago to New York, where it signed with Buddah Records.[2] Sohns had hoped to take the band in a British power-rock direction, but the Super K record label pulled them into a more commercial orientation, pairing the band with bubblegum groups such as the 1910 Fruitgum Company and the Ohio Express on tour. In 1969, the second generation Shadows of Knight released "Shake" on Buddha's short-lived subsidiary Team Records; the track eventually climbed to No. 46 (No. 37 Canada Dec.68). That same year, without the band's knowledge or consent, the unsuccessful update "Gloria '69" was released by Dunwich. It consisted of new bass and guitar tracks overdubbed by Peter Cetera (later of Chicago) and Jim Donlinger (a member of Aorta), both Chicago rock veterans.

"Shake" and its B-Side, "From Way Out to Way Under" were actually recorded by Sohns and a number of studio musicians, on the understanding that a Shadows of Knight reassembled by Sohns would record the follow-up album. That album, Shadows of Knight is today regarded as a distinct recording oddity, being an attempt to mix punk and bubblegum music.[9]

The four years after the breakup of the original Shadows was a dark creative period with little financial success. The band's repertoire consisted mostly of pop cover songs, which allowed them to survive by playing clubs. The second iteration of the band consisted of John Fisher, former lead guitar of the Glass Menagerie, on bass, Woody Woodruff and Dan Baughman on guitars, and Ken Turkin on drums. Turkin was replaced in early 1969 by Paul Scarpelli, and in 1970 Jack "Hawkeye" Daniels replaced Woodruff on guitar. The band's lineup remained the same for two years, and it recorded "I Am the Hunter," which did well in several B markets. John Fisher was replaced by Edgar Winter alum Jorge Gonzales on bass in 1971, who was subsequently replaced by John Hardy the next year. He was then replaced by studio bassist Don Ferrone.

Over subsequent decades, Sohns fronted varying incarnations of the group on the oldies circuit. He also spent a period of time reflecting on his future in the music business, choosing to become the road manager of the band Skafish from 1978 to 1980. He would join the band to sing "Gloria" as the band's encore. In 1978, Sohns punched Sid Vicious at the Harrah club in New York City, throwing him down a flight of stairs.

Commencing as of the 1990s, the Shadows of Knight enjoyed a resurgence in public interest, in significant part due to the 1998 release of their first two albums, in remastered form, by Sundazed Records. In 1992, Performance Records (aka "Donewitch" Records) released The Shadows Of Knight-Live, Featuring "Gloria". This was an unreleased performance recorded live in Rockford, Il, in 1972. The performance featured Lee Brovitz on bass (later of Blue Angel)[10] and Paul Roy on guitar. As one reviewer noted in relation to the album, "If you subscribe to the theory that the '60s actually survived a couple of years into the 1970s, then this is a prime slice of 1960s garage punk." The album is also noted as containing "a wonderfully blistering guitar-laced extended version of Willie Dixon's 'I Just Want to Make Love to You'", which is nearly twelve minutes long.[11] Also in 1992, another live recording, Raw 'n' Alive at The Cellar, 1966, was released by Sundazed Records. As noted by Richie Unterberger, "This is one of the very few live garage band tapes from the mid-'60s of relatively decent sound quality (considering the standards of the era). The song selection of this set should also please fans of one of the most famed '60s garage bands, captured here at a club in their home turf of Chicago in December 1966."[12] In 1994, Rhino Records released Dark Sides: The Best of The Shadows of Knight. Unterberger had mixed feelings about this collection, particularly in view of the absence of "I Just Want to Make Love to You".[13] "I Just Want to Make Love to You" was included in a 2005 Atlantic release, Rhino Hi-Five: The Shadows of Knight, a five song EP that also included "Gloria" and "Oh Yeah".

In 2006, the Shadows of Knight headlined Little Steven's cross-country "Underground Garage" tour with The Romantics. The Shadows also joined Cheap Trick's Halloween show ("Cheap Trick or Treat"), along with guest appearances by members of the Romantics and the Charms. This performance was subsequently televised on VH-1 Classic. At shows on the 2006 tour, they were joined onstage at various times by Rick Mullen (of Van Morrison, Commander Cody, Don McLean), Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge), Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge), and members of The Romantics. Also in 2006, a CD of new material, A Knight to Remember, was released. The music on A Knight to Remember, which contains a reworked version of "Gloria", has been compared to that of The Sonics.[14]

In 2008, the band toured as part of "The Psychedelic Shack Tour", which also featured a re-formed Nazz, Vince Martell and, on occasion, Henry Gross. Also in 2008, a new CD was released, Rock 'n' Roll Survivors, containing a further reworking of "Gloria".

As of 2015, Sohns still carries on the legacy of the Shadows of Knight and performs many shows annually.

Joe Kelley (born Joseph J. Kelley in 1945 in Chicago) died on September 1, 2013, after a brief battle with lung cancer. He was 67.[15]

On 20 August, 2016, The surviving members of the Shadows of Knight reunited and performed in concert for the first time in 49 years.

Discography

Albums

References

  1. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. Biography of The Shadows of Knight at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
  2. 1 2 Biography of The Shadows of Knight; classicbands.com.
  3. ↑ See Biography of Jimy Sohns; skafish.com.
  4. ↑ The History of Banned Rock and Roll; classicbands.com.
  5. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 5/14/66. Cashboxmagazine.com (1966-05-14). Retrieved on 2012-11-10.
  6. ↑ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 212. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  7. ↑ Sohns does not currently own the band's name, despite having initially trademarked it. Guitarist See Interview with Jimy Sohns by Gary James; classicbands.com. The band name is now solely owned, via trademark registration, by current bassist and co-manager Lee Brovitz. See notice of trademark registration at Shadows of Knight Official Website: shadowsofknight.com. Brovitz' association with the band commenced as of their third album.
  8. ↑ Roger Spielmann quit the band in 1967 in order to avoid the Vietnam draft. He now lives in Canada. (citation required)
  9. ↑ As described by one reviewer, "It was supernatural. As well as crudely produced and swept into a schizoid zone all its own where it barked and drooled while trying to behave. Which it did—badly. It is one of the most incorrigible displays in a space and time renowned for incorrigibility. The album is a catalog of first takes, mistakes, outtakes, and every-other-kinda-takes as well as how NOT to produce a record; let alone one to rescue a diminishing career with some semblance of a return to form. But as far as providing true con-o-sewers with enough fuzz, junk, kicks, and yucks for its half an hour duration, it scores a big time punk 'f***, yeah!' Although not zackly up there with the likes of Basic Blues Magoos (let alone The Litter’s far more consistent Emerge) it is strange, unique, and nonplussing-as-f*** enough to earn laurels galore from those starved for more rama-lama-fa-fa-fa from the twilight zone twixt garage, heavy Rock and points beyond (Namely: ‘people like me’ as Jim Sohns once sang in his usual gutsy, adenoidal, and succinct manner.)" See Review of Shadows of Knight by "The Seth Man"/"The Book of Seth", October 1, 2008; headheritage.co.uk.
  10. ↑ A band formed in 1980 that featured Cyndi Lauper, prior to her international success as a solo artist.
  11. ↑ Leggett, Steve. Review of Live Featuring Gloria at AllMusic. Retrieved 10-10-08.
  12. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. Review of Raw 'n' Alive at The Cellar, 1966 at AllMusic
  13. ↑ "More easily available to North Americans than the British Edsel best-of, but not necessarily an improvement. Adds some tracks from both the original lineup and their unimpressive, more pop-oriented singles from the late '60s, and has more comprehensive liner notes, but also omits a few decent covers that are on the U.K. compilation, particularly their smoking, over-the-top version of 'I Just Want to Make Love to You.'" ~ Richie Unterberger, Allmusic, as reprinted in MP3.com; the original review appears to have been deleted at allmusic.com.
  14. ↑ See "similar albums" comparison, where Here Are The Sonics is considered to be similar to A Knight to Remember ; artistdirect.com.
  15. ↑ "Joseph J. Kelley Obituary". Legacy.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
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