The Undertakers

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The Undertakers
Origin Liverpool, England
Genre(s) Pop
Years active 1961 to 1965
Label(s) Pye Records
Associated acts Jackie Lomax
Former members
Jackie Lomax
Chris Huston
Geoff Nugent
Brian Jones
Bugs Pemberton

The Undertakers were a British beat group, contemporaries of The Beatles and a leading group in the Merseybeat music scene of the early 1960s.

Their best known line-up was:

Contents

[edit] Origins

The Undertakers were originally called Bob Evans and the Five Shillings, with Nugent; lead guitarist Ike X (replaced by Pete Cook (ex The Topspots); drummer Bob Evans; bassist Billy Evans; tenor sax player Les Maguire (born Leslie Charles Maguire, 27 December 1941, in Wallasey, Cheshire) and rhythm guitarist, vocalist Mike Millward (born Michael Millward, 9 May 1942, in Bromborough, Cheshire died 7 March 1966, at Bromborough Hospital, Bromborough), who was later in The Fourmost.

Then they became The Vegas Five formed in 1959, a group led by drummer Bob Evans with Geoff Nugent; Chris Huston; lead vocalist Jimmy McManus (ex The Topspots); bassist Mushy Cooper (born David Cooper) (ex The Topspots) and Les Maguire, who was later in Gerry and the Pacemakers, replaced by alto / tenor sax player, vocalist Brian Jones (ex The Rebels). This was one of the first rock and roll groups in the Liverpool area.

[edit] Group career

When the Vegas Five were booked to play a dance, they discovered that the local newspaper had inadvertently transposed their name with the word "Undertakers" from the adjacent column. The promoter persuaded them to develop this as a gimmick, by playing the "Death March" to start their show, and to change their name. In February 1961, Evans' group merged with another group, Dee and the Dynamites, based in Wallasey, and Evans left to be replaced by Pemberton in September 1961.

The Undertakers developed a major local following for their live performances, due to the quality of Lomax's singing, the customisation of the band’s instruments and amplification by Huston, and the fact that, unlike most Merseybeat groups, they were boosted by a saxophone which enabled them to play a wider range of R&B songs including more obscure material. There is a famous photograph of fans queueing at The Cavern for what was thought to be The Beeatles when they were in fact queueing for The Undertakers.

They played at Hamburg’s Star-Club during 1962. However, on their return, they rejected a management offer from Brian Epstein, and signed a contract with Pye Records with Tony Hatch as their producer. The records they made with Pye were disappointingly weak both in terms of their sound and their commercial success, although their third single, "Just A Little Bit", managed one week on the Top 50 in the UK in 1964. The failure of their records meant that the group’s potential was never fully realised.

[edit] Later years

The Undertakers split up after a tour of the USA in 1965, with Lomax, Huston and Pemberton all remaining in the country and developing their own careers in the music industry. Bugs Pemberton still lives in Los Angeles, California.

[edit] Discography

[edit] UK Singles

[edit] US Singles

  • Just A Little Bit / Stupidity PARKWAY 909 (1964)
  • Think / If You Don't Come INTERPHON 7709 (1964)
  • I Fell In Love / Throw Your Love Away Girl BLACK WATCH 5545/6 (1965)

[edit] CD Compilation

THE UNDERTAKERS UNEARTHED (BIG BEAT CDWIKD 163, 1996) - (Do The) Mashed Potatoes / Everybody Loves A Lover / Money (That's What I Want) / What About Us / Just A Little Bit / Stupidity / If You Don't Come Back / Think / Be My Little Girl (Bickerton/Waddington) / She Said Yeah (Jackson/Christy) / I Need Your Lovin' (Gardner/Lewis/Levy/McDougal) / Tell Me What You're Gonna Do (Brown) / Tricky Dicky (Leiber/Stoller) / Irresistible You (Raye/Paul) / Love Is A Swingin' Thing (S Owens/L Dixon/W Denson) / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Penniman) / You're So Fine And Sweet (Robinson/White/Whited/Moore/Tarplin/Rogers) / Leave My Kitten Alone (John/Turner/MacDougal) / Watch Your Step (Parker) / Throw Your Love Away Girl (Jackie Lomax) / I Fell In Love (For The Very First Time) (Hollon/Mosley/Bateman)

Produced 1963-1965 by Tony Hatch (1-8) and Bob Gallo & The Undertakers (9-21)

[edit] Further information

[edit] External links