Glasgow Mods - R&B, British Beat Music, Motown, Northern Soul

Although he had been gigging relentlessly since the late 1950’s it wasn’t until 1964 before Alex Harvey had his first record issued on vinyl. This was a cover of the standard blues number I Just Wanna Make Love To you b/w Let The Good Times Roll on Polydor, although chartwise it made little impression, it did however give an indication how the rest of his recordings in the 1960’s would be.

1964 seems to be the year in the 1960’s that Alex Harvey was most productive, another 45 was soon released by Polydor Got My Mojo Working b/w I Ain’t Worried Baby. Two LP’s were also released, and are very rare and sought after, they are titled Alex Harvey And His Soul Band and The Blues. Although the first LP was released six months before Georgie Fames LP Rhythm And Blues, the fact that Alex Harvey was stuck out in Germany at the time, his recordings were mainly ignored in favour of Georgie Fame who was based in London. These Polydor records were actually produced and manufactured in Germany, and imported here for the UK market.

The next offering from Harvey was released on Fontana and has already featured on the site, was Agent 00 Soul from 1965. It was a full year before Fontana released the next 45, by this point Harvey was back in Glasgow when Work Song b/w I Can Do Without Your Love, he had become very embittered and under the headline in Showbeat Monthly 1966 “I Was A Fool” he was very outspoken with regards to what life for a musician was really like, with broken promises and squalid living conditions.

London was calling for Alex Harvey again in 1967 and two further 45’s were released by Decca. The Sunday Song b/w Horizon’s one can start to hear the Eastern influences on these tracks which was typical of the sounds emerging at that time. The other Maybe Some Day b/w Curtains For My Baby the A side was taken from the first LP by the Incredible String Band, which was a gentle folk tune, by the time Harvey had finished with it, it was an achievement that the track was still recognisable. At the time it was stated that the B side to this single was a re-reading of the Blues standard St. James Infirmary, yet again the artist was out of luck.

Before the 1960’s era had finished, Alex Harvey was to release one more 45 in 1969 titled Midnight Moses b/w Roman Wall Blues and an LP titled Roman Wall Blues, on the Fontana label. By the time he became a big hit with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB) it was not a case of overnight success. This artist grafted hard for the limelight, whereby others had fallen at the wayside, one has to wonder what motivated this individual for so many years, too reach the top. It’s obvious that this individual had talent, why else would Polydor, Fontana and Decca, three of the biggest names in music, sign him !

Here at Glasgow Mods we have attempted to bring together most of Alex Harveys early records to give a clearer picture of his early career. If you’re going through a pile of records and the name Alex Harvey appears it’s well worth a purchase.

written by Mods \\ tags: 1960s beat, alex harvey soul band, Decca, Fontana, glasgow, MODS, Polydor, SAHB

More famed for his time in the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB), and tragically dying of a heart attack on 4th February 1982, a day short of his 47th birthday, in Zeebrugge, Belgium, Alex Harvey was considered too be one of the best showmen on the pop circuit.

Born in Govan, Glasgow, on the 5th February 1935, legend has it that Alex Harvey had over 36 jobs before setting out on a career as a performer and started of playing the trumpet circa 1955, before he moved to a singer/songwriter. After several name changes they decided on the Alex Harvey Soul Band circa 1962. It was considered at the time, that the Scottish R+B scene was a few years ahead of artists such as Georgie Fame and his Blueflames, and Graham Bond, but as these artists were London based they got the recognition for being the pioneers of this sound.

In 1963 Alex Harvey leaves Scotland for Germany and is playing clubs in Hamburg like “The Top Ten Club” as there isn’t enough work for him here, and by all accounts built up an atmosphere with the crowd at his gigs, considered to be way ahead of anything better than what the Merseybeat sound could offer.

Polydor signed up Harvey, but his original band were back in Scotland, and so the backing band, was mainly members from Kingsize Taylor And The Dominoes, mainly due too the fact it was contractual and sadly we never get to hear the real Soul Band. What was put out was an LP for the German market, and so it never got the acclaim it richly deserved.

It wasn’t until February 1964 that The Soul Band debuted in Londons Jazz Club, 100 Oxford Street and further gigs in Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow followed. A second LP was recorded in Hamburg in June 1964 and was recorded over two days. By 1965 the band was in debt and disbanded, but recorded an excellent version of Edwin Starr’s soul classic “Agent 00 Soul” but unfortunately that sound wasn’t commercial enough and the song didn’t chart.

Alex Harvey returned to Scotland in 1966, musically a different place to the one he left three years earlier and was now embittered about the way his music career was heading. Another 45 was soon released, this time a version of “Work Song” and sadly yet again never made any impression on the charts.

This was to be the same outcome for Harvey over the next few years until the formation of the SAHB. These two classic Alex Harvey 45s “Agent 00 Soul” and “Work Song” are hear for all too enjoy, and to give an insight to what was being played on the Scottish club scene in the mid 1960s. There is a book by an Edinburgh publisher on the life of Alex Harvey, they have recognised the glasgowmods.co.uk appreciation for the band. If your interested in buying the book you can get here BirLinn Publishers.

written by Mods \\ tags: alex harvey soul band, govan glasgow, SAHB, sensational alex harvey