Les Humphries Singers
Encyclopedia
The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s musical group formed in Hamburg
, Germany
in 1969 by the English born
Les Humphries (born John Lesley Humphreys, 10 August 1940, in Croydon
, Surrey
, England
- died 26 December 2007, in Basingstoke
, Hampshire
, England
), who had been inspired to do his own version of the Edwin Hawkins Singers
.
The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end of the 1970s, after Humphries had left due to tax liabilities to his English homeland, Alton, Hampshire
.
In his later years, Humphries led a quiet life in London
. In March 2008, the German newspaper Bild reported his death on 26 December 2007 in a London hospital.
also performed with other groups. Another member was Jürgen Drews
, who later started a long-running solo
career, starting with his 1976 hit
in Germany, "Ein Bett im Kornfeld", a cover version
of "Let Your Love Flow
" by the Bellamy Brothers
. Linda Thompson (born 21 September 1948 as Linda Übelherr), who had previously been a member of the Cornely Singers and Love Generation, was a member from 1973 to 1974, and later joined Silver Convention
, and had a solo career as Linda G. Thompson, sang as a duo with Jerry Rix, and later joined The Hornettes. Henner Hoier (born 19 April 1945), who was a member from 1970 to 1971, had been a member of the Rivets from 1964 to 1968 and of the Rattles
from 1968 to 1970. From 1972 onwards, he had a solo career, and from 1988 to 1993 he was a member of the Rattles and from 1994 of the Rivets. He has also composed and produced music, and appeared in the musical Only You.
Additional members included Liz Mitchell
, later front woman with Boney M., and John Lawton, who also sang for the German progressive
/hard rock
band
Lucifer's Friend
and would go on to be the frontman for Uriah Heep
.
Other members included:
and gospel
covers and had some success in Europe
with this approach. Much like contemporary disco act Boney M., their music focused on Rhythm and blues
, gospel, and disco
, but often with psychedelic phasing
or flanger effects on solos and bridges, and, much like James Last
, much larger background choruses in the studio to emulate a live atmosphere. The Les Humphries Singers at the time brought something from the flair of the hippie
movement into contemporary German-produced (but English-sung) pop music, especially due to their mixed ethnic background and peculiar fashion sense.
country hit "The Battle of New Orleans
", and "Mama Loo" (1973), based on "Barbara Ann
" by The Beach Boys
. In 1976 they represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest
with the Ralph Siegel
title "Sing Sang Song
", reduced to only six singers (their usual line-ups consisted of 20 performers and up), and came in 15th place, which they regarded as their beginning of the end as a band. At the same time, they were the resident vocal band on the internationally syndicated TV series "The International Pop Proms", working with James Last
and other renowned artists.
They disbanded shortly thereafter the same year, but enjoyed a short comeback as a pure live act from 1991 until 1993 performing their old hits.
In 2006, the original band members formed 'The Original Singers' without Humphries, but with new members Chris Dakota, David Tobin, Jay Jay van Hagen and Willi Meyer, re-recording
their old hits and also releasing new material.
The former members, Jürgen Drews, Tina Kemp-Werner, Judy Archer and Peggy Evers-Hartig, formed a group called the Les Humphries Singers Reunion in 2009.
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1969 by the English born
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...
Les Humphries (born John Lesley Humphreys, 10 August 1940, in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, 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...
- died 26 December 2007, in Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, 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...
), who had been inspired to do his own version of the Edwin Hawkins Singers
Edwin Hawkins
Edwin Hawkins is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel and R&B musician, pianist, choir master, composer and arranger. He is one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He are best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" , which was included on the Songs of the Century list...
.
The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end of the 1970s, after Humphries had left due to tax liabilities to his English homeland, Alton, Hampshire
Alton, Hampshire
Alton is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of the English county of Hampshire. It had a population of 16,584 at the 1991 census and is administered by East Hampshire district council. It is located on the source of the River Wey and is the highest town in...
.
In his later years, Humphries led a quiet life in 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...
. In March 2008, the German newspaper Bild reported his death on 26 December 2007 in a London hospital.
Members
The group consisted of a large number of singers of diverse ethnic origin, some of whom such as John LawtonJohn Lawton (musician)
John Lawton is a rock and roll and blues vocalist best known for his work with Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep and the Les Humphries Singers.-Biography:...
also performed with other groups. Another member was Jürgen Drews
Jürgen Drews
Jürgen Drews is a German singer.-Life:In his childhood Drews lived in Schleswig. After school Drews studied medicine in Kiel at the University of Kiel, but dropped out of medical school to work as a singer....
, who later started a long-running solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
career, starting with his 1976 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in Germany, "Ein Bett im Kornfeld", a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Let Your Love Flow
Let Your Love Flow
"Let Your Love Flow" is the title of a pop song written by Larry E. Williams, a former roadie for Neil Diamond, and made popular by the American country music duo The Bellamy Brothers. It was offered to Neil Diamond first, but he turned it down...
" by the Bellamy Brothers
Bellamy Brothers
The Bellamy Brothers are an American pop and country music duo brothers David Milton Bellamy and Homer Howard Bellamy , from Darby, Florida, United States...
. Linda Thompson (born 21 September 1948 as Linda Übelherr), who had previously been a member of the Cornely Singers and Love Generation, was a member from 1973 to 1974, and later joined Silver Convention
Silver Convention
Silver Convention was a German euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention, or Silver Bird.-Career:...
, and had a solo career as Linda G. Thompson, sang as a duo with Jerry Rix, and later joined The Hornettes. Henner Hoier (born 19 April 1945), who was a member from 1970 to 1971, had been a member of the Rivets from 1964 to 1968 and of the Rattles
The Rattles
The Rattles are a rock band from Germany. Their biggest selling record was their 1968 recorded song, "The Witch", which sold over one million copies globally.-Career:...
from 1968 to 1970. From 1972 onwards, he had a solo career, and from 1988 to 1993 he was a member of the Rattles and from 1994 of the Rivets. He has also composed and produced music, and appeared in the musical Only You.
Additional members included Liz Mitchell
Liz Mitchell
Liz Mitchell is a singer, best known as the former lead singer of the 1970s disco/pop band, Boney M.-Early life:...
, later front woman with Boney M., and John Lawton, who also sang for the German progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
Lucifer's Friend
Lucifer's Friend
Lucifer's Friend was a 1970s German Rock band. Allmusic author, Eduardo Rivadavia, noted the group as, "early practitioners of heavy metal and progressive rock." They also incorporated elements of jazz into their music. The band have also been cited as one of the pioneers of doom metal.-History:The...
and would go on to be the frontman for Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
.
Other members included:
- Jimmy BilsburyJimmy BilsburyJames Robert "Jimmy" Bilsbury was a pop singer and songwriter most famous for co-writing the Boney M hit Belfast and as a member of the Magic Lanterns and the Les Humphries Singers.-Career:...
(1969–77, 1982, 1992) - Earl Jordan (1972–76, 1982)
- Barry St. John (1972–73)
- Victor Scott (1970–76, 1982, 1992)
- Christopher Yim (1971–76, 1992)
- Peggy Evers (1970–76)
- Judy Archer (1970–76)
- Elvira Herbert (1972–75)
- Dave O'Brien (1973–76)
- Sheila McKinlay (1973–75, 1982, 1992)
- Enry David-Fascher (1970–72)
- Myrna David (1971–72)
- Malcolm Magaron (1970–72)
- Claudia Schwarz (1974–76)
- Emily Woods-Jensen (1974–76, 1992)
- Dornée Edwards (1970–71)
- Maddy Verhaar (1975–76)
- Lil Walker
- Don Adams (1975)
- Tina Kemp-Werner (1970–74)
- Barbara Johnson
- Gail Stevens (1974)
- Goldy Kloen-Evert (1970–71)
- Irene Bendorf (1971)
- Renate Andersen-Bilsbury (1974–76, 1982)
Musical background and style
The Les Humphries Singers performed a mix of popular musicPopular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
covers and had some success in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with this approach. Much like contemporary disco act Boney M., their music focused on Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, gospel, and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, but often with psychedelic phasing
Phaser (effect)
A phaser is an audio signal processing technique used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs is typically modulated so that they vary over time, creating a sweeping effect...
or flanger effects on solos and bridges, and, much like James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
, much larger background choruses in the studio to emulate a live atmosphere. The Les Humphries Singers at the time brought something from the flair of the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
movement into contemporary German-produced (but English-sung) pop music, especially due to their mixed ethnic background and peculiar fashion sense.
Hits and later reunions
Two of their earliest and best known hits were "Mexico" (1972) which was based on the 1957 Jimmy DriftwoodJimmy Driftwood
James Corbitt Morris , known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was a prolific American folk music songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Tennessee Stud"...
country hit "The Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans
"The Battle of New Orleans" is the title of a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the 1815 Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the lyrics are evidently intended to be comical. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated...
", and "Mama Loo" (1973), based on "Barbara Ann
Barbara Ann
"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert and performed by The Regents in 1961. The recording reached a peak position of #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart....
" by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
. In 1976 they represented Germany at 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...
with the Ralph Siegel
Ralph Siegel
Ralph Siegel is a German record producer and songwriter. He is married to the opera singer Kriemhild Jahn. He has three daughters, one of them Giulia Siegel divorced from German entrepreneur Hans Wehrmann....
title "Sing Sang Song
Sing Sang Song
"Sing Sang Song" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed in German by the Les Humphries Singers.The Les Humphries Singers had had a series of hits Continental Europe and Scandinavia in the early 70s, most notably "Mexico" and "Mama Loo" . The group's usual line-ups...
", reduced to only six singers (their usual line-ups consisted of 20 performers and up), and came in 15th place, which they regarded as their beginning of the end as a band. At the same time, they were the resident vocal band on the internationally syndicated TV series "The International Pop Proms", working with James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
and other renowned artists.
They disbanded shortly thereafter the same year, but enjoyed a short comeback as a pure live act from 1991 until 1993 performing their old hits.
In 2006, the original band members formed 'The Original Singers' without Humphries, but with new members Chris Dakota, David Tobin, Jay Jay van Hagen and Willi Meyer, re-recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
their old hits and also releasing new material.
The former members, Jürgen Drews, Tina Kemp-Werner, Judy Archer and Peggy Evers-Hartig, formed a group called the Les Humphries Singers Reunion in 2009.
Hit singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
AT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
CH Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
NL | ||
| 1970 | "To My Father's House" | — | — | — | 1 |
| 1971 | "(We'll Fly You to The) Promised Land" | 13 | — | — | 26 |
| "We Are Goin' Down Jordan" | 3 | — | 3 | 9 | |
| 1972 | "Old Man Moses" | 14 | — | 4 | 17 |
| "Take Care of Me" | 31 | — | — | — | |
| "Mexico" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1973 | "Mama Loo" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| "Carnival" | 14 | — | — | — | |
| 1974 | "Kansas City" | 2 | 15 | 1 | — |
| "Do You Kill Me or Do I Kill You?" | 46 | — | — | — | |
| "Do You Wanna Rock and Roll?" | 50 | — | — | — | |
| "New Orleans" | 33 | — | — | — | |
| 1976 | "Sing Sang Song" | 45 | — | — | — |