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When Greg Ridley wrote me a nice letter a couple of years ago, he made a few references to one of his first groups - the VIPs from Carlisle, and was particularly interested in getting a copy of any old records. Subsequent conversations with the man confirmed that he was especially fond and nostalgic about this band and rally rated them. They revolved around Greg Ridley, Luther Grosvenor, Mike Harrison and Mike Kellie - i.e., the future Spooky Tooth - without Gary Wright - but with Keith Emerson latterly.
What transformed the VIPS, for me, was an experience in the last month or so, where I saw a Best of VIPs CD advertised on ebay in Australia, and I invested in it for just the price of a regular CD. I was on my third play, and starting to really appreciate it, when I hit track 19 for the first time - it's called called "Talking About My Baby"...when the very familiar vocals from the end of Humble Pie's "Rolling Stone" came thundering through the hi fi. Playing it again (and again) the song starts with a bit of a guitar solo - not unlike "Rolling Stone", actually. Well,I guess I always thought it was Pie just ad libbing, and it's taken me only 33 years to get a bit more educated!
It's clear to me that this is where Humble Pie got it from (from Greg). At this point - whether it's a VIPs original or (more likely) a cover, I have no idea. But it was more than a touch spooky to have this blast out from nowhere in the very week of Greg's Memorial Concert (20 November, 2004)!
The VIPs write-up (below) is based around an article in Record Collector Magazine by Andy Neill. (same Andy Neill whom we often see on his stall at the Small Faces Convention, and author of the brilliant Fortnight of Furore, about the Australian trip by the Who and the Small Faces) and augmented somewhat by myself.
From Carlisle, the VIPs (originally vocalist Mike Harrison, guitarist Jimmy Henshaw and Frank Kenyon, bassist Greg Ridley and drummer Walter Johnstone) may not have made a huge splash in the pop world of the 1960's, but in their short career they recorded for at least four different record companies. They were first signed to RCS in 1964 for a lone single "Don't Keep Shouting at Me". When the record flopped the group suddenly sound themselves superfluous. Before finding a welcome home at Chris Blackwell's Island label the released a one-off single "Wintertime"/"Anyone" for CBS - as the VIPPs (currently valued at $90) - in 1966.
Curiously, a second Vipps single appeared in the US only on the Philips label, overseen by future Deep Purple producer Derek Lawrence. The "A" side a sterling cover of the Don Covay classic "Mercy, Mercy" was more similar in style to the blue eyed soul of the Spencer Davis Group than the swagger of the Rolling Stones version (on Out of Our Heads), while the "B" side "That's My Woman", composed by Lawrence, is a mid-tempo plodder saved from extinction by an excellent Harrison vocal.
The VIPPs (sic)
"Mercy, Mercy" / "That's my Woman"
7" US Philips 40837, 1966
Why the single remained exclusive to the American market remains a mystery and for many years it was thought that it only originated in promo form. However a stock copy does exist. One copy was mailed in 1968 to radio station WRMC in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which was on Island's promo mailing list. Music Director Neil Kempfer Stockfer had contacted Muff Winwood at the label's Neasden Office , who agreed to send the station two copies of each Island single and album for exposure on the East Coast. White label promo copies if this single are valued at around $120, while the more elusive stock copy is worth around $230.
While with Island the group released two more singles, "I Wanna be Free" and the excellent "In a Dream". Soon after, the VIPs metamorphosed into Art, and produced one of the authentic psychedelic albums of the British summer of love in 1967. Called "Supernatural Fairy Tales", it was wrapped in a stunning full blown psychedelic sleeve designed by Hapdash and the Coloured Coat. Although, Greg refers to vaguely knowing Steve Marriott from around the scene and through girlfriends...Mr Marriott's work at the controls on the title track of this album may well have been a historic pre-cursor.
Eventually, Art evolved into the mighty band called Spooky Tooth, whose first two albums "It's All About" and "Spooky Two" are top drawer and contain a handful of tracks which would grace any "Best Of Greg Ridley" compilation - from the amazing bass sounds of "Society's Child" to rock anthems like "Better By Me, Better By You" and "Evil Woman".
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