P.J. Proby

Although his formative years unfolded mostly in Texas, rock and roller P.J. Proby failed to achieve substantial domestic success, yet his performances that split his trousers onstage propelled him to authentic stardom in England amid the British Invasion’s peak. Born James Marcus Smith in Houston on November 6, 1938, he absorbed country and black gospel while growing up; fascination with rockabilly followed, and his stepsister dated the young Elvis Presley. After finishing military school in 1957, he relocated to Hollywood in pursuit of a music career. Connections came via boyhood friend, teen-idol singer Tommy Sands, among them songwriter Sharon Sheeley—who was involved with Eddie Cochran and had penned “Poor Little Fool” for Rick Nelson—so Smith soon cut singles as Jett Powers, though without notable impact. Concurrently he supplied demo vocals and took minor acting roles in several Westerns plus an episode of Gunsmoke.

He continued developing original material, securing a composition deal with Liberty by the close of 1959; his songs were subsequently recorded by Johnny Burnette (“Clown Shoes”), the Searchers, Leroy Van Dyke, Rick Nelson, and Jackie DeShannon, among others. In 1960 he briefly participated in producer Kim Fowley’s studio outfit the Hollywood Argyles. The following year Smith—prudently, it seems—adopted the alias P.J. Proby, borrowed from a childhood acquaintance of Sharon Sheeley. Between 1961 and 1963 he issued several singles spanning rock, pop, and country, yet again with scant promotion or fortune. For “Wicked Woman” he even tried recording as Orville Woods in an attempt to reach R&B airplay.

Late in 1963 Proby encountered British producer Jack Good, then assembling a television special about the Beatles that would include other rising performers. His demo convinced Beatles manager Brian Epstein to include him, and Good dressed Proby as an aristocratic dandy complete with ponytail, frilly shirt, tight velvet pants, and buckled shoes. Once the special aired globally, Proby’s debut British single, “Hold Me”—a revved-up reworking of the 1939 pop standard linked to Dick Haymes—surged into the U.K. Top Five early in 1964. The next two releases, “Together” and the West Side Story number “Somewhere,” followed the same approach and likewise entered the British Top Ten. Early 1965 found him on a package tour; during a late-January London date his trousers tore from the knee upward. Proby maintained the rip was accidental, but when the mishap recurred at the subsequent show—to the crowd’s evident pleasure—censors intervened and barred him from television and theater appearances. “I Apologise,” issued hurriedly after the prohibition, nearly reached the Top Ten, though critics largely ignored its tone.

Over the ensuing two years he kept issuing singles, notching another Top Ten entry with yet another West Side Story selection, “Maria,” toward the end of 1965. (Curiously, the prior release, “That Means a Lot,” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, failed to chart.) Diminished promotional prospects began to erode his chart standing, while financial pressures mounted. An attempt to break the American market in 1967 yielded a lone Top 40 placement with “Niki Hoeky,” the sum of his homeland achievements. Bankruptcy followed in 1968; the next year he recorded the album Three Week Hero, supported in the studio by the four musicians who would form Led Zeppelin. Hits, however, had ceased. Through Jack Good, Proby joined the 1970 cast of Catch My Soul, a musical adaptation of Othello, and thereafter became a fixture on Britain’s cabaret circuit.

In 1973 he made the lackluster album I’m Yours for Ember under questionable conditions. Headlines also arose from his engagement to Dean Martin’s daughter Claudia and his subsequent arrest for wielding a shotgun. Proby resurfaced in 1978 to cut the album Focus Con Proby with the Dutch prog-rock band Focus, then starred briefly in a Jack Good-produced Elvis Presley musical before being dismissed for improvising. Sporadic recordings continued through the 1980s, among them updated covers, while marital strains and occasional legal troubles stemming from outbursts persisted. After collapsing in 1992 he nearly died, prompting complete sobriety; he appeared in the Jack Good biographical musical Good Rockin’ Tonite the following year and in the Roy Orbison tribute Only the Lonely two years later. A recording return came in 1997 with the EMI album Legend.