Merv Benton - Be Sweet (1964)

(Heino Gaze - Noel Watson)
 Australia
Original English language version
#22 Melbourne

B-side on W&G August 1964 by popular rock’n’roll singer in the heart-throb mould.

♫ Listen at YouTube

Merv Benton did especially well in his home town of Melbourne, where he had fifteen Top 50 records 1964-67, but he retired from music after suffering disabling voice problems. I Got Burned (#3 Melbourne) was his biggest hit in Melbourne and Cincinnati Fireball (1965, #4 Brisbane #7 Adelaide) was his most successful outside of Victoria.

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The backing track heard on Be Sweet was recorded by German band Drafi Deutscher And His Magics for their single Shake Hands (February 1964).

Both sides of the Drafi Deutscher single were adapted for Merv Benton. Drafi‘s B-side Come On, Let’s Go became Merv’s A-side You’re The Dog.

Listen at YouTube:
Drafi Deutscher – Come On, Let’s Go ♫ PLAY
Merv Benton – You’re The Dog ♫ PLAY [starts at 47:30]

Merv Benton, quoted at Black Cat Rockabilly, suggests that this was a result of radio stations’ dissatisfaction with the quality of some W&G recordings, although he also cites financial arrangements with W&G’s German affiliates as a possible factor.

Both sides of a W&G single by Johnny Chester had already used backing tracks from another single by Drafi Deutscher And His Magics: see under Johnny Chester – Teeny (1963).

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English lyrics of Be Sweet and You’re The Dog are by Melbourne songwriter Noel Watson, a former vocalist with The Thunderbirds who would become a member of Merv Benton’s backing band The Tamlas when it was formed in 1965. His later career included performing and writing for country-folk-bluegrass band Saltbush.

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Further reading: 1. Merv Benton by Tony Wilkinson from Black Cat Rockabilly (defunct site, archived). Also at This Is My Story with some changes. 2. Merv Benton at Milesago. 3. Discussion at German forum Rock’n’Roll Schallplatten
Leads from stereotom and Alan Karr via 45cat.com.
Release month from Chris Spencer (comp.), Australian Rock Discography 1956-1969 (2000).

Drafi Deutscher And His Magics - Shake Hands (1963)

(Heino Gaze - Joachim Relin)
 Germany
Original version
#1 Germany

Single on Decca, February 1964 by West German band from Berlin led by prolific and versatile singer-songwriter-producer Drafi Deutscher (1946-2006). He had several hit singles 1964-1966 but after a highly publicised court conviction in 1967 he often worked under pseudonyms until a comeback in the 1980s. He was involved in a number of international hits in a variety of genres.

The B-side is Come On, Let’s Go (Christian Bruhn – Rudolf-Günter Loose), adapted in Australia for Merv Benton as You’re The Dog (see above).

Further reading: The Wikipedia article has comprehensive coverage of his recordings and projects. See also German Wikipedia for further details and a different perspective.