The Rockin' Berries
Biography
The Rockin Berries were a beat group from Birmingham, England, formed in 1961.
Despite a brace of UK Top 10 hits in the mid 1960s, the Rockin Berries could make no inroads on the lucrative U.S. market, even at the height of the so-called British Invasion.
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The Rockin Berries were formed in the early 1960s, when guitarist Chuck Botfield was performing with the Bobcats, a Birmingham band, at the Star-Club in Hamburg. Several Bobcats bobbed off to create their own band (Jimmy Powell and The Five Dimensions) and Botfield brought in some Birmingham born friends to regroup as the Rockin Berries.
Their strength lay in their vocal arrangements. Clive Lea led the rock and roll based material, whilst falsetto Geoff Turton steered their more noteworthy harmony filled work.
Their recording career started with a couple of singles issued by Decca Records in 1963, "Wah Wah Woo" and a cover of James Rays "Itty Bitty Pieces". Both failed to chart and Decca dropped the group, who were picked up by the Pye subsidiary, Piccadilly. Following a minor hit with a cover of The Shirelles "I Didnt Mean to Hurt You," their cover of The Tokens "Hes in Town", from the songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, took them to Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, late in 1964.
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