Daniel Boone (singer)
Encyclopedia
Daniel Boone is an English
pop music
ian who became a one-hit wonder
in the U.S.
with the single
"Beautiful Sunday" in 1972. The song
was written
by Boone and Rod McQueen and racked up millions in singles sales worldwide. It peaked at No. 15 on The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
in the summer of 1972, having already reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart
earlier that same year. In 1972, Boone was the recipient of the "Most Likeable Singer" award from Rolling Stone
magazine
.
) as a singer/songwriter and changed his stage name from Peter Lee Stirling to Daniel Boone
, after the American folk-hero. His first release for the label was a ballad called ‘Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast’, written by Geoff Stephens
and Peter Callander
and it rewarded him with his first, and only, top-twenty hit in the UK, peaking at number 17. Boone then collaborated with Rod McQueen, another songwriter working for Penny Farthing, to produce a suitable follow up. The result was ‘Mamma’, which although it exploited a theme similar to that of ‘DDYWSF’, failed to make any impact on the charts.
What happened next is explained by Terry Noon who, at that time, was the Managing Director of the Penny Farthing Publishing Company:
“The two writers, Daniel Boone and Rod McQueen, had been signed to us for some time, and one morning they came into my office saying, "we've written this great song." And I said, "sure, fine sit down and have a cup of tea." And they said, "no, really, we've got to play you this song."
So I buzzed Larry Page and he said, "I'm coming up." Now we used to have a little room with a piano in it, and it really was little. The four of us went into this room and it was crowded. And Daniel Boone sat down at the piano and started thumping out this tune and they both sang, although some of the lyrics weren't finished, and Larry was just standing there and when it was finished he said, "that's a hit, I'm going to record that next week."
And he turned to me, and I said, "yeah, I think it's a smash." And I really did. It was the excitement of the whole thing. We were in a tiny confined space; Daniel was really banging away at the piano. They were singing out really loud. You could tell it, you could feel it, the little hairs on the back of your neck were standing out.
And there was the speed of the whole thing. We'd heard it one week and it was recorded the following week. Then Larry decided to rush it out.”.
The record was, of course, ‘Beautiful Sunday’. It was released in March 1972 and rose to number 21 in the UK charts. It fared rather better in the U.S. peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It also made the charts in: Australia and New Zealand (Gold Disc), Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Scandinavia, Holland and Germany.
.
Boone became particularly popular in Germany and released versions of ‘Beautiful Sunday’ and the follow up, ‘Annabelle’, in German. ‘Beautiful Sunday’ held the number one position in Germany from Late May to late June 1972. See Number-one hits of 1972 (Germany)
.
The song was also very popular in the Southeast Asia
region, particularly Hong Kong
, Singapore
, Malaysia and Taiwan
. and has been covered by various singers and bands there in 3 different language versions. Among them, Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Choi Lai Ching (蔡麗貞),
Juliana Luok (陸小雅) of Hong Kong
and Ervinna, The October Cherries of Singapore
recorded it in the original English
version. Three different Cantonese
versions appeared. The first one was with title name of 美好的星期天 and recorded by Chen He Mei (陳和美) of Taiwan
. The second one was 花開滿園, recorded by Choi Lai Ching (蔡麗貞) of Hong Kong
, Guo Bing Jian (郭炳堅), Lisa Wong (麗莎) of Singapore
. The third one was 好彩又到Sunday, recorded by Sandra Lang (仙杜拉) of Hong Kong
. 美麗的星期天 and 美好的星期天 were the two title names given to the Mandarin Chinese version part, recorded by Paula Tsui (徐小鳳), Yick Yue (憶如) of Hong Kong
, Kang Hong (康弘), Lin Chong (林沖), Chen Shu Hua (陳淑樺), Long Piau Piau (龍飄飄) of Taiwan
and Zhang Xiao Ying (張小英), Huang Xiao Jin (黃曉君) of Singapore
.
"Beautiful Sunday" remains the biggest selling single by an international artist on the Japan
ese Oricon
chart
(coming in 19th on the all-time singles sales list with almost 2 million copies sold). The song was translated into Russian and covered by Russian pop group Чиж и Ко, becoming a hit on the Russian Music Charts
in 1996.
It has also become a popular song among fans of Scottish football club Dundee United. Boone is known to be a lifelong Dundee United fan and has tried to invest in the club on several occasions. Boone and McQueen also wrote Blue Is The Colour the football anthem for Chelsea F. C. in West London.
(England
) area during the period 1958–1962. Their fortunes changed when they encountered Tommy Bruce
, the gravel-voiced London
singer, who had a No.3 hit in 1960 with "Ain’t Misbehavin". This and some subsequent releases had been attributed to ‘Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers’, despite the fact that the instrumental backings were provided by session musicians at EMI
. Bruce’s account of the meeting was as follows:
“I met them up in Birmingham
. They were working at the Plaza club. I was gigging there. They were great. Vocal backing, the lot. Especially Pete (Peter Green) on lead guitar. He was magnificent. I said ‘how would you like to become The Bruisers?’ They jumped in and loved it. Peter “Mac” McGinty was bass, Donald McGinty was drums, Bobby Coral was vocal backing with Pete.”
So the Bruisers started their recording career at EMI
with Tommy Bruce
and his manager Barry Mason
, who later became a famous songwriter. Peter Green released an unsuccessful solo recording of a song called “My Heart Commands Me” under the name ‘Lee Stirling’ in March 1963. Mason and (the now renamed) Stirling then collaborated on, what was for both of them, their first serious song-writing effort. Mason recalls this as follows:
“The first person I wrote with was Peter Lee Stirling, who later became Daniel Boone and was originally Peter Green. He was with a group called The Beachcombers, who became The Bruisers, who backed Tommy Bruce! And my first chart thing ever was a thing called "Blue Girl" for The Bruisers, which I wrote with Peter.”
"Blue Girl" was released on 11 July 1963 and entered the UK charts on 8 August, eventually reaching number 31. On the strength of this hit the band appeared on the Thank Your Lucky Stars (TV series)
on 26 October performing the follow up "I Could If I Wanted To". This was probably the only TV appearance of the Bruisers as a group although Peter Lee Stirling appeared solo on later editions of the programme and also on Ready Steady Go!
"I Could if I Wanted To" and the subsequent releases, "Your Turn To Cry" and "I Believe" were unsuccessful. The first use of the full name ‘Peter Lee Stirling’ was in 1964 on “Sad, Lonely and Blue”, but all eight records issued under this title (1964–1970) failed to enter the charts. However Stirling went on to write, or co-write, “I Think of You” and “Don’t Turn Around”, both of which were hits for the Merseybeats
, and co-wrote “I Belong” for Kathy Kirby
, which came second in the Eurovision Song Contest
in 1965.
The Bruisers broke up in 1967 and Stirling became the co-owner, with Bernard Mattimore, of a recording studio in London’s Whitechapel Road, which specialised in covering contemporary chart material. He subsequently joined the studio band ‘Hungry Wolf’ for one album and when they became 'Rumpelstiltskin' he worked with them for a further two albums,. He also wrote the musical scores for the films “Groupie Girl
” and “Goodbye Gemini
”.
In 1971 Stirling joined Penny Farthing Records
owned by Larry Page (singer and manager) and changed his name to Daniel Boone, whereupon he finally achieved chart success as a solo artist.
“Mama” / “Hey Girl” 1971 (Penny Farthing PEN 775)
“Beautiful Sunday” / “Sleepy Head” 1972 (Penny Farthing PEN 781) #21
“Annabelle” / “Who Turned the Light Out on my Life?” 1972 (Penny Farthing PEN 791)
“Rock and Roll Bum” / “Sunday Morning Coming” 1973 (Penny Farthing PEN 800)
“Sunshine Lover” / “In Ohio” 1973 (Penny Farthing PEN 804)
“Skydiver” / “Carrie Lee” 1973 (Penny Farthing PEN 814)
“Sunshine City” / “Cloe” 1974 (Penny Farthing PEN 845)
“Run Tell the People” / “Magic Woman” 1974 (Penny Farthing PEN 856)
“Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast” / “Say You’ll Be There” 1975 (Penny Farthing PEN 890)
“I Think of You” / “Singing Backing Vocal in a Rock ‘n Roll Band” 1975 (Penny Farthing PEN 897)
“Overland Gambling Train” / “Connections in the City” 1976 (Penny Farthing PEN 914)
"Annabelle" / "Sleepyhead" (Mercury 73339) #86
"Run Tell The People" / "Rock And Roll Bum" (Pye 71011) #93
"Blue Girl" / "Don’t Cry" 1963 (Parlophone R5042) #31 The Bruisers
"I Could If I Wanted To" / "Right From The Start" 1963 (Parlophone R5063) Lee Stirling with the Bruisers
"Your Turn To Cry" / "Give It To Me" 1963 (Parlophone R5092) The Bruisers
"I Believe" / "Now That I’ve Found You" 1964 (Parlophone R5112) Lee Stirling and the Bruisers
"Sad Lonely And Blue" / "I’m Looking For Someone To Love" 1964 (Parlophone R5158) Peter Lee Stirling and the Bruisers
"Everything Will Be Alright" / "You’ll Be Mine" 1964 (Parlophone R5198) Peter Lee Stirling and the Bruisers
"The Sweet And Tender Hold Of Your Love" / "Everybody Needs A Someone" 1966 (Decca F12433) Peter Lee Stirling
"Oh What A Fool" / "I’m Sportin’ A New Baby" 1966 (Decca F12535) Peter Lee Stirling
"You Don’t Live Twice" / "8.35 On The Dot" 1967 (Decca F12628) Peter Lee Stirling
"Goodbye Thimblemill Lane" / "Hey Conductor" 1967 (Decca F12674) Peter Lee Stirling
"Big Sam" / "Mr. Average Man" 1969 (MCA MU1093) Peter Lee Stirling
"Goodbye Summer Girl" / "Judas In Blue" 1970 (MCA MU5027) Peter Lee Stirling
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
ian who became a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Beautiful Sunday" in 1972. The song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
was written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Boone and Rod McQueen and racked up millions in singles sales worldwide. It peaked at No. 15 on The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in the summer of 1972, having already reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
earlier that same year. In 1972, Boone was the recipient of the "Most Likeable Singer" award from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
.
Career as Daniel Boone
In 1971 Peter Green joined Larry Page’s Penny Farthing record label (Penny Farthing RecordsPenny Farthing Records
Penny Farthing Records was established by UK record producer Larry Page, as a progression from his mildly successful 1960s record label, Page One Records. It did not repeat the top 20 hits of his earlier venture, but signed some artists of note....
) as a singer/songwriter and changed his stage name from Peter Lee Stirling to Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, after the American folk-hero. His first release for the label was a ballad called ‘Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast’, written by Geoff Stephens
Geoff Stephens
Geoffrey 'Geoff' Stephens , was one of the top British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
and Peter Callander
Peter Callander
Peter Callander is a British songwriter and record producer.-Career:Active from the 1960s to the present day, Callander has written or co-written songs that have been performed by recording artists such as Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Shirley Bassey, and The Tremeloes, among many...
and it rewarded him with his first, and only, top-twenty hit in the UK, peaking at number 17. Boone then collaborated with Rod McQueen, another songwriter working for Penny Farthing, to produce a suitable follow up. The result was ‘Mamma’, which although it exploited a theme similar to that of ‘DDYWSF’, failed to make any impact on the charts.
What happened next is explained by Terry Noon who, at that time, was the Managing Director of the Penny Farthing Publishing Company:
“The two writers, Daniel Boone and Rod McQueen, had been signed to us for some time, and one morning they came into my office saying, "we've written this great song." And I said, "sure, fine sit down and have a cup of tea." And they said, "no, really, we've got to play you this song."
So I buzzed Larry Page and he said, "I'm coming up." Now we used to have a little room with a piano in it, and it really was little. The four of us went into this room and it was crowded. And Daniel Boone sat down at the piano and started thumping out this tune and they both sang, although some of the lyrics weren't finished, and Larry was just standing there and when it was finished he said, "that's a hit, I'm going to record that next week."
And he turned to me, and I said, "yeah, I think it's a smash." And I really did. It was the excitement of the whole thing. We were in a tiny confined space; Daniel was really banging away at the piano. They were singing out really loud. You could tell it, you could feel it, the little hairs on the back of your neck were standing out.
And there was the speed of the whole thing. We'd heard it one week and it was recorded the following week. Then Larry decided to rush it out.”.
The record was, of course, ‘Beautiful Sunday’. It was released in March 1972 and rose to number 21 in the UK charts. It fared rather better in the U.S. peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It also made the charts in: Australia and New Zealand (Gold Disc), Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Scandinavia, Holland and Germany.
.
Boone became particularly popular in Germany and released versions of ‘Beautiful Sunday’ and the follow up, ‘Annabelle’, in German. ‘Beautiful Sunday’ held the number one position in Germany from Late May to late June 1972. See Number-one hits of 1972 (Germany)
Number-one hits of 1972 (Germany)
This is a list of the German Media Control Top100 Singles Chart number-ones of 1972.-References:* * ----...
.
The song was also very popular in the Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
region, particularly Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malaysia and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. and has been covered by various singers and bands there in 3 different language versions. Among them, Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Choi Lai Ching (蔡麗貞),
Juliana Luok (陸小雅) of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Ervinna, The October Cherries of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
recorded it in the original English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version. Three different Cantonese
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
versions appeared. The first one was with title name of 美好的星期天 and recorded by Chen He Mei (陳和美) of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. The second one was 花開滿園, recorded by Choi Lai Ching (蔡麗貞) of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Guo Bing Jian (郭炳堅), Lisa Wong (麗莎) of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The third one was 好彩又到Sunday, recorded by Sandra Lang (仙杜拉) of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. 美麗的星期天 and 美好的星期天 were the two title names given to the Mandarin Chinese version part, recorded by Paula Tsui (徐小鳳), Yick Yue (憶如) of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Kang Hong (康弘), Lin Chong (林沖), Chen Shu Hua (陳淑樺), Long Piau Piau (龍飄飄) of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Zhang Xiao Ying (張小英), Huang Xiao Jin (黃曉君) of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
"Beautiful Sunday" remains the biggest selling single by an international artist on the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
(coming in 19th on the all-time singles sales list with almost 2 million copies sold). The song was translated into Russian and covered by Russian pop group Чиж и Ко, becoming a hit on the Russian Music Charts
Russian Music Charts
The Russian Music Charts are Russian music industry standard popularity rankings compiled weekly by 2M and Tophit . Albums and tracks rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through retail data captured electronically each week from Russian music retailers...
in 1996.
It has also become a popular song among fans of Scottish football club Dundee United. Boone is known to be a lifelong Dundee United fan and has tried to invest in the club on several occasions. Boone and McQueen also wrote Blue Is The Colour the football anthem for Chelsea F. C. in West London.
Early Career as Peter Lee Stirling and/or The Bruisers
Peter Green (later to become Peter Lee Stirling) started his career as the guitar/vocalist with a band called the Beachcombers that played gigs in the BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) area during the period 1958–1962. Their fortunes changed when they encountered Tommy Bruce
Tommy Bruce
Tommy Bruce was an English rock 'n' roll singer who had most success in the early 1960s.-Life and career:He was born Thomas Charles Bruce, in Stepney, London...
, the gravel-voiced London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
singer, who had a No.3 hit in 1960 with "Ain’t Misbehavin". This and some subsequent releases had been attributed to ‘Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers’, despite the fact that the instrumental backings were provided by session musicians at EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. Bruce’s account of the meeting was as follows:
“I met them up in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. They were working at the Plaza club. I was gigging there. They were great. Vocal backing, the lot. Especially Pete (Peter Green) on lead guitar. He was magnificent. I said ‘how would you like to become The Bruisers?’ They jumped in and loved it. Peter “Mac” McGinty was bass, Donald McGinty was drums, Bobby Coral was vocal backing with Pete.”
So the Bruisers started their recording career at EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
with Tommy Bruce
Tommy Bruce
Tommy Bruce was an English rock 'n' roll singer who had most success in the early 1960s.-Life and career:He was born Thomas Charles Bruce, in Stepney, London...
and his manager Barry Mason
Barry Mason
John Barry Mason is an English songwriter, originally from the village of Coppull, near Chorley in Lancashire....
, who later became a famous songwriter. Peter Green released an unsuccessful solo recording of a song called “My Heart Commands Me” under the name ‘Lee Stirling’ in March 1963. Mason and (the now renamed) Stirling then collaborated on, what was for both of them, their first serious song-writing effort. Mason recalls this as follows:
“The first person I wrote with was Peter Lee Stirling, who later became Daniel Boone and was originally Peter Green. He was with a group called The Beachcombers, who became The Bruisers, who backed Tommy Bruce! And my first chart thing ever was a thing called "Blue Girl" for The Bruisers, which I wrote with Peter.”
"Blue Girl" was released on 11 July 1963 and entered the UK charts on 8 August, eventually reaching number 31. On the strength of this hit the band appeared on the Thank Your Lucky Stars (TV series)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (TV series)
Thank Your Lucky Stars was a British television pop music show made by ABC Television, and broadcast on ITV from 1961 to 1966. Many of the top bands performed on it, and for millions of British teenagers it was essential viewing...
on 26 October performing the follow up "I Could If I Wanted To". This was probably the only TV appearance of the Bruisers as a group although Peter Lee Stirling appeared solo on later editions of the programme and also on Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
"I Could if I Wanted To" and the subsequent releases, "Your Turn To Cry" and "I Believe" were unsuccessful. The first use of the full name ‘Peter Lee Stirling’ was in 1964 on “Sad, Lonely and Blue”, but all eight records issued under this title (1964–1970) failed to enter the charts. However Stirling went on to write, or co-write, “I Think of You” and “Don’t Turn Around”, both of which were hits for the Merseybeats
The Merseybeats
The Merseybeats are a Merseybeat band that emerged from the Liverpool scene in the early 1960s, performing at The Cavern Club along with The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers and other similar artists....
, and co-wrote “I Belong” for Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby was an English singer who was reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in second place...
, which came second in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 1965.
The Bruisers broke up in 1967 and Stirling became the co-owner, with Bernard Mattimore, of a recording studio in London’s Whitechapel Road, which specialised in covering contemporary chart material. He subsequently joined the studio band ‘Hungry Wolf’ for one album and when they became 'Rumpelstiltskin' he worked with them for a further two albums,. He also wrote the musical scores for the films “Groupie Girl
Groupie Girl
Groupie Girl is a 1970 British drama film based around the music scene, directed by Derek Ford and starring Esme Johns, Donald Sumpter and the band Opal Butterfly. The film was written by Ford and former groupie Suzanne Mercer....
” and “Goodbye Gemini
Goodbye Gemini
Goodbye Gemini is a 1970 thriller directed by Alan Gibson from the novel Ask Agamemnon by Jenni Hall.-Plot:Jacki and Julian Dewar, a pair of fraternal twins, arrive via bus to London; they are home from university on Spring break, and their father is in Mexico on business...
”.
In 1971 Stirling joined Penny Farthing Records
Penny Farthing Records
Penny Farthing Records was established by UK record producer Larry Page, as a progression from his mildly successful 1960s record label, Page One Records. It did not repeat the top 20 hits of his earlier venture, but signed some artists of note....
owned by Larry Page (singer and manager) and changed his name to Daniel Boone, whereupon he finally achieved chart success as a solo artist.
UK singles
“Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast” / “Tiger Woman” 1971 (Penny Farthing PEN 764) #17“Mama” / “Hey Girl” 1971 (Penny Farthing PEN 775)
“Beautiful Sunday” / “Sleepy Head” 1972 (Penny Farthing PEN 781) #21
“Annabelle” / “Who Turned the Light Out on my Life?” 1972 (Penny Farthing PEN 791)
“Rock and Roll Bum” / “Sunday Morning Coming” 1973 (Penny Farthing PEN 800)
“Sunshine Lover” / “In Ohio” 1973 (Penny Farthing PEN 804)
“Skydiver” / “Carrie Lee” 1973 (Penny Farthing PEN 814)
“Sunshine City” / “Cloe” 1974 (Penny Farthing PEN 845)
“Run Tell the People” / “Magic Woman” 1974 (Penny Farthing PEN 856)
“Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast” / “Say You’ll Be There” 1975 (Penny Farthing PEN 890)
“I Think of You” / “Singing Backing Vocal in a Rock ‘n Roll Band” 1975 (Penny Farthing PEN 897)
“Overland Gambling Train” / “Connections in the City” 1976 (Penny Farthing PEN 914)
U.S. singles
"Beautiful Sunday" / "Truly Julie" (Mercury 73281) #15"Annabelle" / "Sleepyhead" (Mercury 73339) #86
"Run Tell The People" / "Rock And Roll Bum" (Pye 71011) #93
UK singles under other names
"My Heart Commands Me" / "Welcome Stranger" 1963 (Columbia DB4992) Lee Stirling"Blue Girl" / "Don’t Cry" 1963 (Parlophone R5042) #31 The Bruisers
"I Could If I Wanted To" / "Right From The Start" 1963 (Parlophone R5063) Lee Stirling with the Bruisers
"Your Turn To Cry" / "Give It To Me" 1963 (Parlophone R5092) The Bruisers
"I Believe" / "Now That I’ve Found You" 1964 (Parlophone R5112) Lee Stirling and the Bruisers
"Sad Lonely And Blue" / "I’m Looking For Someone To Love" 1964 (Parlophone R5158) Peter Lee Stirling and the Bruisers
"Everything Will Be Alright" / "You’ll Be Mine" 1964 (Parlophone R5198) Peter Lee Stirling and the Bruisers
"The Sweet And Tender Hold Of Your Love" / "Everybody Needs A Someone" 1966 (Decca F12433) Peter Lee Stirling
"Oh What A Fool" / "I’m Sportin’ A New Baby" 1966 (Decca F12535) Peter Lee Stirling
"You Don’t Live Twice" / "8.35 On The Dot" 1967 (Decca F12628) Peter Lee Stirling
"Goodbye Thimblemill Lane" / "Hey Conductor" 1967 (Decca F12674) Peter Lee Stirling
"Big Sam" / "Mr. Average Man" 1969 (MCA MU1093) Peter Lee Stirling
"Goodbye Summer Girl" / "Judas In Blue" 1970 (MCA MU5027) Peter Lee Stirling