THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,365) Elli — “Never Mind”
This ‘67 A-side is “a wonderful commercial effort marrying jazz time changes with Summer of Love harmonies. Why it was not properly promoted is criminal.” (Jon “Mojo” Mills, https://www.allmusic.com/album/elli-mw0001005297) One of the many crimes against Swinging London.
Jon “Mojo” Mills tells Elli’s story:
Elli Meyer was born in Calcutta, India, in 1946, and moved to England . . . . As early as 1962, he was involving himself in the burgeoning music scene and began to sing in the local London group the Eagles, who went on to record for Pye. He then formed the Nutrons, but walked out to join the Madhatters (who had recently changed their name from the Trendsetters). They held a residency at the 007 Club . . . but split in 1965 when their lead guitarist immigrated to Australia. The ever-active Elli then joined the Infernos, but after one year with them fell seriously ill with diabetes, and had to leave . . . . Around this time he met up with two friends (Mike Finesilver and Peter Kerr) who were involved in a charitable organization for young people called the Entertainers. They decided to write a few songs for Elli and brought in Vincent Crane . . . to play piano and Drachen Theaker . . . to play drums on a demo version of “Never Mind.” Music publisher Malcom Forrester heard the tapes and was very impressed by Elli’s sweet voice; he put him into the studio to record his debut single for release on EMI. . . . [R]eleased in February 1967 [it] bombed due to its misfortune of colliding with the Beatles’ latest single [“Penny Lane”/“Strawberry Fields Forever”]. A follow-up was intended but for some unknown reason Elli’s A&R man was fired, and the record was never released. . . .
Ending with two [demos] from 1970 that should have hit the charts, it is made apparent that the multicultural, inventive unit that was centered around Indian singer Elli was managed badly and left to fall apart instead of being promoted as something special. In an era when India was incredibly fashionable, it would have been wonderful to see Elli become a star, but it was not to be.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/elli-mn0001901955#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/elli-mw0001005297
Oh, Calcutta indeed!
British Music Archive adds to the coda:
EMI w[as] keen to issue a follow-up single . . . but sadly, no follow-up single ever appeared and EMI soon lost interest in the singer. Elli Meyer continued to record, but was battling even harder with diabetes, a lifelong illness that had daunted Elli throughout most of his adult life and singing career. More recordings were made, but there were no further publishing contracts or record deals in the pipeline. Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker continued to record with Elli at their own studios in Fulham, London. . . . Drachen Theaker and Vincent Crane both joined The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown [see #783, 797, 997]. Crane later formed Atomic Rooster with John DuCann . . . . Mike Finesilver started to produce bands such as Love Sculpture (on their Forms and Feelings LP) [see #627] as well as recording a variety of new bands from the early seventies through to the early 1990s . . . . Finesilver and Ker also wrote many songs for Love Sculpture and also co-wrote the song “Fire” by Arthur Brown. They also enjoyed their own record release as Excelsior Spring for Immediate records . . . in 1968.
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