THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,721) Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band — “Barefootin’”
From “quite simply the biggest character on the British rhythm and blues scene since the early 1960s” (see #726, 727, 1,106, 1,269) (http://zootmoney.org/bio/), “a romping cover” (Bournemouthbeatboom, https://bournemouthbeatboom.wordpress.com/zoot-money/) of Robert Parker’s #7 hit (#2 RE&B) “Barefootin’”. It is a “song Zoot would frequently take literally and remove not only his shoes but those of as many members of the audience he could, a procedure that invariably turned to chaos as Denson’s and Mary Janes flew through the air.” (monkey, https://monkey-picks.blogspot.com/2018/02/zoot-moneys-big-roll-band-big-time.html)
Bournemouth Beat Boom talks of the LP — Zoot! in the UK and Live at Klooks Kleek in the U.S.:
[T]hey left the confines of the studio and decamped to Dick Jordan’s Klooks Kleek club above the Railway Hotel in West Hampstead on Tuesday, 31st May 1966. The band had set an attendance record there the year before and could guarantee a packed house. On the evening of recording, hundreds of people were turned away, but the lucky few who gained entry joined invited guests Chas Chandler, Eric Burdon [see #513, 949], Georgie Fame [see ##103, 169, 634, 695, 721, 1,044], and Brian Auger [see #1,031-33, 1,312] for a night of high-octane entertainment. Future Elton John [see #1,598] producer Gus Dudgeon . . . captured the Big Roll Band at the top of their game, whipping up a storm with twelve slices of raw R&B . . . . The Record Mirror reported, “This is quite an exciting album. One of those live LPs where the artist has succeeded in putting across a variety of atmospheres, instead of just the usual frantic beat and muzzy vocals”. Downbeat, the bible for jazz buffs, gave the album five stars. This time the reviews were reflected in sales, as it climbed to a respectable number twenty-three in October 1966.
Bruce Eder writes of Zoot:
[A]dmired, respected, and sought after by his colleagues, and able to fill halls in England nightly, he never managed to sell lots of records, even in England. . . . During the mid-’50s, he discovered rhythm & blues and its younger offshoot, rock & roll, which quickly consumed his interest in music — he switched to the keyboard under the inspiration of Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, and by the beginning of the ’60s was developing a distinctive technique on the Hammond organ. He’d also picked up the nickname by which he’d be known for most of his career after attending a concert by Zoot Sims. . . . He passed through the lineups of a few groups as a keyboard player . . . . [Then] classic version of the Big Roll Band . . . . took root in London, consisting of Money on vocals, piano, and organ, [and including] Andy Somers [yes, the Police’s Andy Summers] on guitar . . . . They quickly became a popular attraction on London’s burgeoning R&B and jazz scene, partly owing to Money’s impassioned interpretations of American R&B standards and his wild sense of showmanship, coupled with the band’s overall excellence . . . . They were good enough to attract the attention of England’s Decca Records . . . . [and by] the following year, they’d moved over to EMI’s Columbia Records imprint . . . . [By] late 1966. . . . the audience for American-style R&B and soul was already giving way to a growing listenership for psychedelic sounds, and the name “Big Roll Band” sounded like something just a little bit too far from the wafts of incense . . . . [I]n 1967, they transmuted, almost Doctor Who-style, into Dantalion’s Chariot [see #727, 1,106, 1,269].
Chris Welch:
Money . . . was a charismatic personality, a soulful singer and an excellent Hammond organist. He was much loved by the mods who flocked to his band’s shows at London clubs such as the Flamingo in the swinging 60s. Members of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Animals were also among his greatest fans. . . . On leaving school Money trained to be an optician but lost his job when he kept turning up late for work after nights gigging with his Big Roll Band, formed in 1961. By 1963 the Big Rollers featured Andy Summers on guitar, Nick Newall on saxophone and Colin Allen on drums. Money also switched from piano to the funkier sounding Hammond organ. When spotted by Alexis Korner’s manager, Money was invited to play with Alexis in Blues Incorporated and moved to London. The Big Rollers rejoined him and began to play regularly at the Flamingo, where they replaced Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames as the resident band in 1964. . . . The Rollers . . . began touring extensively and released a debut single, “The Uncle Willie” (1964), followed by an album, It Should’ve Been Me (1965). . . . Money recalled the Flamingo as “a really groovy place … We loved playing to black American servicemen that came to the club and were familiar with the soul and R&B music we were trying to play. For them, it was like being at home. We also backed visiting American blues men like John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson. They were surprised we were so good.” . . . The Big Rollers packed out clubs such as Klooks Kleek in West Hampstead . . . . Money loved to entertain the crowds with his extrovert showmanship, pulling fans’ shoes off while singing “Barefootin’” and dropping his trousers on stage; but it was difficult to crack the all important singles charts and his only hit was “Big Time Operator” [see #726], which got to No 25 in 1966.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/13/zoot-money-obituary
Here is a cool clip of of the band performing “Barefootin'” before a celebrity-studded audience: https://www.facebook.com/modmayday/videos/zoot-moneys-big-roll-band-performing-barefootin-to-a-celebrity-audience-in-a-lon/545298944988147.
Live on the BBC:
Here is Robert Parker:
Here is Parker performing on THE!!!! BEAT in ’66:
Here is Wilson Pickett:
Here is Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers:
Here are the Rationals:
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