THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,444) Kippington Lodge — “Shy Boy”
A delightfully twee Tomorrow (see #72) song done best and first by Kippington Lodge* (see #672), 1,156), about a boy whose “hair is never right His acne looks a sight The clothes he buys don′t fit tight Everybody puts him down And calls him shy boy” — but who becomes a naughty boy!
KL is “[b]est remembered as the vehicle for the earliest Nick Lowe . . . recordings . . . stemm[ing] from Lowe’s first band . . . which he formed with school pal, Brinsley Schwarz.” (All Music Guide, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kippington-lodge-mn0001784212) The Lodge “put out five singles through Parlophone in perfect step with baroque-tinged pop-psych of the times.” (Terry Staunton, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/shy-boy-the-completerecordings-1967-1969). The band was a “groovy lite psych-pop outfit” (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2011/07/08/nick-lowe-welcomes-you-to-kippington-lodge/), “an ingratiatingly twee British psych-pop band”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/shy-boy-the-complete-recordings-1967-1969-mw0002165338).
Stefan Granados tells us of the song:
Unconvinced of the commerical potential of the Brinsley Schwarz compositions that were offered for consideration . . . . [EMI staff producer Mark Wirtz] decided that Kippington Lodge’s debut would be “Shy Boy”, a song written by Wirtz collaborator, Keith West, who had just scored a major hit that summer with the Wirtz-produced “Excerpt from a Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)”. Kippington Lodge had dutifully spent several weeks rehearsing the track, only to find upon their return to Abbey Road that Wirtz had booked session players to record the track. “It was just Brinsley singing and the backing tack was done by session men,” explains [organist Barry] Landeman . . . . “We did a BBC session to promote [it], but it wasn’t a hit,” recalls Landeman.
liner note to the CD comp Kippington Lodge: Shy Boy: The Complete Recordings 1967-1969
All Music Guide gives some history of the Lodge:
On leaving school, Lowe . . . decided to go and see some more of the world leaving Schwarz [who] . . . formed Three’s A Crowd who were signed to EMI Records in 1967. Changing their name to Kippington Lodge they released their debut ‘Shy Boy’ in October. This effective pop song was accompanied by the equally good ‘Lady On A Bicycle’. At this point, Lowe returned to England and joined his friends in time for the second single ‘Rumours’ which was produced by Mark Wirtz. . . . To supplement their lack of income from record sales, Kippington Lodge became Billie Davies’ backing group and released three further singles during 1968-69. . . . The last single, a version of the Beatles’ ‘In My Life’, came out in April 1969 and, after doing as poorly as previous efforts, left the group at a loose end. . . . the name Kippington Lodge was dropped in favour of that of lead guitarist Brinsley Schwarz.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kippington-lodge-mn0001784212
* The band was actually named after the home of the Schwarz family (see https://twitter.com/NickLoweBio/status/1297878969744842754?s=20&t=1heTeO0DrOydSgVRlKfRug for a photo).
Live on the BBC:
Here is Tomorrow:
Here it is in German by Keith West:
Here is New Zealand’s Simple Image:
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