Biography
Born Eric Brown on 20 August 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and passing away on 12 May 2003 in London, England, the performer later known as Lorne Gibson first encountered country music at age 17 while employed in a café. A patron introduced him to a Hank Williams EP, prompting Gibson to remark, “The songs were simple and easy to play and sing. It was several years before I realized how good they were.” During the early 1960s, rock ’n’ roll promoter Larry Parnes sought to launch him under the “sweet rock” banner, with the stage name drawn from his guitar brand, yet Gibson instead joined forces with manager Tommy Sanderson, already guiding the Hollies and Lulu.
Seeking a domestic country artist for the BBC Light Programme, he assembled the Lorne Gibson Trio, whose core lineup regularly included guitarist Steve Vaughan and bassist Vic Arnold. In addition to frequent appearances on East Beat, his own series Side By Side welcomed guests such as the Beatles shortly after their debut releases; he later appeared on their Pop Go The Beatles! Decca issued his renditions of Jimmy Dean’s “Little Black Book” and Freddie Hart’s “Some Do, Some Don’t,” each moving 60,000 copies without producing a chart entry. Gibson never recorded an album for the label, explaining, “They wouldn’t let me. If I’d made an album it could only have been on my own terms. They didn’t want me doing country and had me listed as a calypso singer.”
He supplied the theme song for the Peter Sellers comedy Heavens Above! and portrayed the spectral figure in the pop movie The Ghost Goes Gear, with filming restricted to one profile after an accident required stitches on the opposite side of his face. Over several months “Red Roses For A Blue Lady” shifted 175,000 units yet failed to chart; Gibson observed, “I never expected to have a hit. I discovered early on that country music fans don’t buy British records. They didn’t then and, to a great extent, they still don’t.” His sets continued to feature “Devil Woman,” “Eighteen Yellow Roses,” the rapid-fire “The Auctioneer,” and Jack Clement’s whimsical “You’ve Got The Cleanest Mind In The Whole Wide World (’Cause You Change It Every Minute).” A 1978 album, For The Life Of A Song, remained unreleased, although he contributed to the 1974 Up Country collection tied to the BBC Radio 2 series.
Seeking a domestic country artist for the BBC Light Programme, he assembled the Lorne Gibson Trio, whose core lineup regularly included guitarist Steve Vaughan and bassist Vic Arnold. In addition to frequent appearances on East Beat, his own series Side By Side welcomed guests such as the Beatles shortly after their debut releases; he later appeared on their Pop Go The Beatles! Decca issued his renditions of Jimmy Dean’s “Little Black Book” and Freddie Hart’s “Some Do, Some Don’t,” each moving 60,000 copies without producing a chart entry. Gibson never recorded an album for the label, explaining, “They wouldn’t let me. If I’d made an album it could only have been on my own terms. They didn’t want me doing country and had me listed as a calypso singer.”
He supplied the theme song for the Peter Sellers comedy Heavens Above! and portrayed the spectral figure in the pop movie The Ghost Goes Gear, with filming restricted to one profile after an accident required stitches on the opposite side of his face. Over several months “Red Roses For A Blue Lady” shifted 175,000 units yet failed to chart; Gibson observed, “I never expected to have a hit. I discovered early on that country music fans don’t buy British records. They didn’t then and, to a great extent, they still don’t.” His sets continued to feature “Devil Woman,” “Eighteen Yellow Roses,” the rapid-fire “The Auctioneer,” and Jack Clement’s whimsical “You’ve Got The Cleanest Mind In The Whole Wide World (’Cause You Change It Every Minute).” A 1978 album, For The Life Of A Song, remained unreleased, although he contributed to the 1974 Up Country collection tied to the BBC Radio 2 series.
Albums