(Vince Taylor*)
Australia
#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:
• John
Thornton (lead guitar)
• Laurie
Lehman (rhythm guitar)
• Peter
Luckins (bass guitar)
• Barry
Sincock (original drummer)
• David
Potter (drummer 1967-1968)
• Robin "Eddy"
McPherson (original singer)
• Adrian
Russell (singer 1968)
Drummer David Potter replaced Barry Sincock soon after Cadillac was released, as Barry had been called up to serve in Vietnam.
❝ 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.❞ – David Potter
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.
(Vince Taylor)
Sweden
#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.
(Vince Taylor [Arr. by Kim Brown - Denys Gibson - Graham Johnson - Ian Mallett])
UK
Influential version
*Writer credits on this record are to members of The Renegades who arranged the Vince Taylor song.
Single by Birmingham band popular and influential in Finland (where Cadillac was a hit) and in other parts of Scandinavia and Europe.
Further reading: Comprehensive Renegades history at the Brumbeat website.
(Vince Taylor)
UK
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):
Vince, Vince Taylor lives here, nobody’s even heard of him
Just who he was, just where he fits in.
References: 1. Vince Taylor at The Van Morrison website [archived page].
2. Vince Taylor biography by Steve Leggett at All Music.
Further reading: 1. Vince Taylor reminiscences from JoeMoretti.org [archived page]. 2. The Pre-Shadows Recordings of Brian
Bennett [archived page].
Other versions:
Between them The Originals and Second Hand Songs websites list many versions of Cadillac (or Brand New Cadillac), including those by The Shamrocks (1965), De Maskers (1965), Liquorice John Death [Procol Harum] (1970),
Roberto (1977), Crapule De Luxe (1978), The Clash (1979), Milkshakes (1990), Brian Setzer Orchestra (1994), Poonanny (1998), Joe Grushecky (1999), Incognegro (1999), and Phantom Rockers (2003). Go to these pages at The Originals and
Second Hand Songs for more.
(Ellas McDaniel [Bo Diddley])
USA
Red herring
SAME TITLE BUT NOT THE SAME SONG AS
'CADILLAC' BY THE HERGS.
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).
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2024. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…