Biography
Cliff Bennett, born near London in 1940, ranked among the strongest British rock & roll voices of the mid-1960s yet secured only two chart entries spaced roughly two years apart. Although observers expected far greater commercial reward, he helped launch numerous careers through the musicians who moved in and out of his groups. By his mid-teens, when American rock & roll first reached England, he had abandoned any prospect of steady employment in a foundry in favor of music. He concentrated on singing and acquired just enough guitar skill to back himself, discovering that an uninhibited delivery produced an authentic American sound. Local demand led to appearances at neighborhood dances, and in 1959 he assembled the initial lineup of the Rebel Rousers. Engineer Joe Meek noticed the band and produced a single that disappeared without trace.
A residency at Hamburg’s Star-Club brought Bennett into contact with the still-developing Beatles. John Lennon and Paul McCartney admired the Rebel Rousers enough to become personal friends. Throughout the early 1960s the group appeared on many “bands to watch” lists, yet the breakthrough enjoyed by the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, and the Searchers bypassed them. The Searchers in fact learned their major British hit “Needles and Pins” directly from Bennett. Parlophone issued his versions of “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and “Got My Mojo Working,” neither of which registered on the charts. In September 1964, at the Beatles’ urging, Brian Epstein signed Bennett to a management contract. The seventh single, “One Way Love” backed with “Slow Down,” finally reached number nine in Britain, while the follow-up “I'll Take You Home” backed with “Do You Love Him” peaked at number 42. Subsequent releases sold nothing, although Bennett was widely regarded as one of the few white English singers who possessed a natural affinity for American R&B and soul.
The Rebel Rousers strengthened their lineup by recruiting superior players from less fortunate bands, among them saxophonist Howie Casey of Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes. Several members later achieved prominence elsewhere: keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, pianist and singer Roy Young, bassist Frank Allen (later of the Searchers), and bassist Chas Hodges with drummer Mick Burt, who formed Chas & Dave in 1974. Early in 1966 the group opened for the Beatles on their final European tour. Lennon and McCartney offered Bennett an advance hearing of “Got to Get You Into My Life,” intended for the Revolver album but not issued as a single. Bennett recorded it under McCartney’s supervision; the resulting number-six hit carried Bennett’s own composition “Baby Each Day” on the B-side and was followed by the most fully realized album of the band’s career.
In 1968 Bennett dissolved the partnership with the Rebel Rousers, who continued with Roy Young, and recorded the solo album Branches Out for Parlophone under the name the Cliff Bennett Band. By 1970 he had joined keyboardist Ken Hensley, drummer Lee Kerslake, and bassist John Glascock in Toe Fat, a quartet signed to Parlophone and later Regal Zonophone in Britain and to Rare Earth in the United States. Toe Fat disbanded in 1971; Hensley and Kerslake entered Uriah Heep while Glascock joined Jethro Tull. Bennett next fronted the band Rebellion, releasing an album of the same title on British CBS, and also collaborated with guitarist Mick Green in Shanghai, which issued two albums in the mid-1970s. He withdrew from music during the latter half of the decade. In a twist, EMI later remixed the Rebel Rousers’ version of “Got to Get You Into My Life” to boost Beatles catalog sales, achieving notable success. By the mid-1980s Bennett had reconstituted the Rebel Rousers, coinciding with Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ revival of the 1964 hit “One Way Love.”
A residency at Hamburg’s Star-Club brought Bennett into contact with the still-developing Beatles. John Lennon and Paul McCartney admired the Rebel Rousers enough to become personal friends. Throughout the early 1960s the group appeared on many “bands to watch” lists, yet the breakthrough enjoyed by the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, and the Searchers bypassed them. The Searchers in fact learned their major British hit “Needles and Pins” directly from Bennett. Parlophone issued his versions of “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and “Got My Mojo Working,” neither of which registered on the charts. In September 1964, at the Beatles’ urging, Brian Epstein signed Bennett to a management contract. The seventh single, “One Way Love” backed with “Slow Down,” finally reached number nine in Britain, while the follow-up “I'll Take You Home” backed with “Do You Love Him” peaked at number 42. Subsequent releases sold nothing, although Bennett was widely regarded as one of the few white English singers who possessed a natural affinity for American R&B and soul.
The Rebel Rousers strengthened their lineup by recruiting superior players from less fortunate bands, among them saxophonist Howie Casey of Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes. Several members later achieved prominence elsewhere: keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, pianist and singer Roy Young, bassist Frank Allen (later of the Searchers), and bassist Chas Hodges with drummer Mick Burt, who formed Chas & Dave in 1974. Early in 1966 the group opened for the Beatles on their final European tour. Lennon and McCartney offered Bennett an advance hearing of “Got to Get You Into My Life,” intended for the Revolver album but not issued as a single. Bennett recorded it under McCartney’s supervision; the resulting number-six hit carried Bennett’s own composition “Baby Each Day” on the B-side and was followed by the most fully realized album of the band’s career.
In 1968 Bennett dissolved the partnership with the Rebel Rousers, who continued with Roy Young, and recorded the solo album Branches Out for Parlophone under the name the Cliff Bennett Band. By 1970 he had joined keyboardist Ken Hensley, drummer Lee Kerslake, and bassist John Glascock in Toe Fat, a quartet signed to Parlophone and later Regal Zonophone in Britain and to Rare Earth in the United States. Toe Fat disbanded in 1971; Hensley and Kerslake entered Uriah Heep while Glascock joined Jethro Tull. Bennett next fronted the band Rebellion, releasing an album of the same title on British CBS, and also collaborated with guitarist Mick Green in Shanghai, which issued two albums in the mid-1970s. He withdrew from music during the latter half of the decade. In a twist, EMI later remixed the Rebel Rousers’ version of “Got to Get You Into My Life” to boost Beatles catalog sales, achieving notable success. By the mid-1980s Bennett had reconstituted the Rebel Rousers, coinciding with Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ revival of the 1964 hit “One Way Love.”
Albums
