Biography
The Fenmen issued only four scarce singles between 1964 and 1966, yet figured among the notable participants in the British Invasion for several reasons. Early in their career they functioned as the support unit behind Bern Elliot & the Fenmen, whose 1963 and 1964 covers of “Money” and “New Orleans” reached the UK charts. Two members moved into the psychedelic-era Pretty Things shortly after the group’s final release. Although their catalog as a standalone act remains modest, it demonstrates a capable vocal-harmony ensemble that drew primary inspiration from the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys, with original material appearing only near the end of their existence.
The quartet came together in a Kent suburb of England in early 1962 and initially performed under the name Bern Elliot & the Fenmen. Led by Elliot, they achieved a British number-14 hit in late 1963 with the widely recorded “Money” and a more modest follow-up success via Gary “U.S.” Bonds’ “New Orleans.” An EP and several live tracks on the compilation At the Cavern rounded out their early output, which consisted chiefly of American rock and soul covers.
After parting from Elliot in 1964, the Fenmen cultivated a style more closely modeled on American pop and rock vocal groups. Two unsuccessful Decca singles from 1964 and 1965 leaned especially toward the Four Seasons, most conspicuously in their reading of the Seasons’ “Rag Doll.” The move to CBS yielded two further singles in 1966 that likewise failed to chart, among them a version of the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” and the more distinctive Wally Waller composition “Rejected,” which signaled a growing originality built upon the group’s harmonic foundation.
The Fenmen disbanded at the start of 1967 when rhythm guitarist and vocalist Waller renewed contact with his childhood friend Phil May, lead singer of the Pretty Things. Following their joint composition of “The Sun,” May recruited Waller into the Pretty Things, and Fenmen drummer and singer John Povey soon joined the same lineup. “The Sun” appeared on the Pretty Things’ 1967 album Emotions, and both Waller and Povey helped guide the band’s shift from its earlier R&B orientation toward a more psychedelic direction in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The two Decca singles are collected on the Bern Elliot & the Fenmen CD compilation The Beat Years, while three of the four CBS tracks, together with BBC sessions and unreleased recordings, appear on the Fenmen anthology Sunstroke.
The quartet came together in a Kent suburb of England in early 1962 and initially performed under the name Bern Elliot & the Fenmen. Led by Elliot, they achieved a British number-14 hit in late 1963 with the widely recorded “Money” and a more modest follow-up success via Gary “U.S.” Bonds’ “New Orleans.” An EP and several live tracks on the compilation At the Cavern rounded out their early output, which consisted chiefly of American rock and soul covers.
After parting from Elliot in 1964, the Fenmen cultivated a style more closely modeled on American pop and rock vocal groups. Two unsuccessful Decca singles from 1964 and 1965 leaned especially toward the Four Seasons, most conspicuously in their reading of the Seasons’ “Rag Doll.” The move to CBS yielded two further singles in 1966 that likewise failed to chart, among them a version of the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” and the more distinctive Wally Waller composition “Rejected,” which signaled a growing originality built upon the group’s harmonic foundation.
The Fenmen disbanded at the start of 1967 when rhythm guitarist and vocalist Waller renewed contact with his childhood friend Phil May, lead singer of the Pretty Things. Following their joint composition of “The Sun,” May recruited Waller into the Pretty Things, and Fenmen drummer and singer John Povey soon joined the same lineup. “The Sun” appeared on the Pretty Things’ 1967 album Emotions, and both Waller and Povey helped guide the band’s shift from its earlier R&B orientation toward a more psychedelic direction in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The two Decca singles are collected on the Bern Elliot & the Fenmen CD compilation The Beat Years, while three of the four CBS tracks, together with BBC sessions and unreleased recordings, appear on the Fenmen anthology Sunstroke.