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THE HERGS
Cadillac (Vince Taylor*) Australia 1967 #5 Adelaide *The writer credit on this record is mistakenly given to Chuck Berry. Original Hergs drummer Barry Sincock told Garage Hangover, "We didn’t know who wrote it, so we decided Chuck Berry was a good candidate." Single on Parlophone. The arrangement is the one popularised in Scandinavia by The Renegades. Adelaide band The Hergs shared their manager Darryl Sambell with Johnny Farnham, then establishing himself as a solo artist. The Hergs were:
"Hergs" was coined by Peter Luckins and Robin "Eddy" McPherson. You won't find it in any dictionary (unless the definition is "the name of a band from Adelaide").
Drummer David Potter replaced Barry Sincock soon after Cadillac was released, as Barry had been called up to serve in Vietnam. David recalls: The Hergs came to Melbourne as the record started to climb the Adelaide charts, along with other hopeful groups of budding, star struck and very ambitious people who also included Thursday Children from Brisbane and Zoot from Adelaide, together with groups from Western Australia and New Zealand: doing 3 or 4 jobs a night and country gigs. Life was an absolute blast. I would not have missed it for quids. Sources: Information from Hergs drummer David Potter. Further details from Mary McPherson. Further reading: Detailed post on The Hergs at Garage Hangover drawing on information from original Hergs drummer Barry Sincock. Thanks to Michael for suggestion.
THE HEP STARS
Cadillac (Vince Taylor) Sweden 1965 #1 Sweden #1 Norway Single on Olga by popular mid- to late-60s Swedish band. After the The Hep Stars broke up, organist Benny Andersson went on to found ABBA with his writing partner Bjorn Ulvaeus. This was some popular band! Cadillac was the #2 hit overall for May and June 1965, kept from #1 for both months by The Hep Stars' own Farmer John. During August they went to #1 with Bald-headed Woman, and in October they were back at #2 for two weeks with No Response. See also the B-side of Cadillac, Mashed Potatoes. Further reading: 1. Hep Stars history at Marleen Janssens' fine site devoted to Bjorn and Benny [archived pages]. 2. Swedish charts July 1962-March 1966 via hitsallertijden.nl Thanks to Erik Alm.
THE RENEGADES
Cadillac (Vince Taylor [Arr. by Kim Brown - Denys Gibson - Graham Johnson - Ian Mallett]) UK 1964 Influential version *Writer credits on this record are to members of The Renegades who arranged the Vince Taylor song. Further reading: Comprehensive Renegades history at the Brumbeat website.
VINCE TAYLOR & THE PLAY-BOYS
Brand New Cadillac (Vince Taylor) UK 1959 Original version Vince Taylor (Brian Holden, 1939-1991) was a London-born rock'n'roll singer whose family moved to the US in the mid-50s after his sister married an American. He returned to England and launched his recording career in 1958, but he was signed to a French record label after appearing in Paris in the early 60s. Vince Taylor stayed in France pursuing an often troubled career until the early 80s, when he moved to Switzerland. Personnel on Brand New Cadillac included two future Shadows, Brian 'Licorice' Locking and Brian Bennett, as well as Joe Moretti, of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates fame. Earlier than this, future Beatles associate Tony Sheridan had briefly been a Play-Boy. Vince Taylor features in Van Morrison's song Goin' Down Geneva (Back On Top, 1999): References: 1. Vince Taylor at The Van Morrison website [archived page]. 2. Vince Taylor biography at Black Cat Rockabilly. Other versions:
BO DIDDLEY
Cadillac (Ellas McDaniel [Bo Diddley]) USA 1960 Red herring
On Chess album Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger. Also recorded, among others, by The Kinks (on The Kinks, 1964) and Van Morrison (with Linda Gail Lewis on their You Win Again, 2000). Corrections or comments? Contact the writer. |
