Cliff Bennett - BBC Sessions, Volume 4: 1970

Here's the fourth and final volume of Cliff Bennett playing for the BBC. For the previous three, he stuck pretty consistently to a soul-influenced sound. But for this volume, while he still had a soulful voice, he caught up to the trends of the time, and went for more of a bluesy, hard rock sound. The AllMusic review of his music around this era compares it to Humble Pie, Savoy Brown, and Status Quo. So if you like them, you'll probably like this.

Bennett had previously been backed by the Rebel Rousers for most of his music career until this point. (He actually stopped using the Rebel Rousers name in 1968.) But he dropped them, and was billed just by the name of his new band, "Toe Fat." But as the AllMusic review says, "Unfortunately, although it met with widespread critical kudos, Toe Fat's debut was a resounding commercial flop, and may now be best remembered because of its curious, Hipgnosis-designed cover art, featuring toe-headed people lounging on a beach." 

Personally, I think the band really screwed up with their bizarre name - what the heck is "toe fat" anyway? And they also screwed up with their bizarre album covers. Their second cover was just as off putting as their first. AllMusic describes it like this: "a battle scene, pitting some species of alien lard against assorted roast chicken parts and a helpless bunch of grapes." Back in those pre-Internet days, it would have been hard for people to even figure out what kind of music Toe Fat played. But on the plus side, their obscurity then means this might be a surprise discovery for you now.

In case you're curious, here are the two album covers I speak of.

As an aside, note that the A-side of their first single was "Bad Side of Moon," and it's also included here. That was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and released by Toe Fat shortly before Elton John became famous.

Note that nearly every song has "[Edit]" in the title, because even in 1970 the BBC DJs talked over most of their songs. I did the usual thing, using the UVR5 audio editing program to wipe the talking and keep the music.

Toe Fat broke up in 1971 after two studio albums. Two band members joined Uriah Heep instead. Bennett went back to a solo career, sometimes with the reformed Rebel Rousers, sometimes not. But it seems his commercial fortunes dropped low enough for the BBC to lose interest in him, because I can't find any BBC sessions he did after this.

This album is 38 minutes long.

01 That's My Love for You [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
02 Bad Side of the Moon [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
03 I Done Told You [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
04 Turns Out like the Rest [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
05 Idol [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
06 Gone [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
07 Three Times (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
08 Midnight Sun [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)
09 A New Way (Cliff Bennett & Toe Fat)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17175667/CLIFFBNNTT1970BBSessonsVlum4_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/EPEBNgH2

I could only find a few black and white photos of the Toe Fat band. I took one of those, cropped it to just Bennett's head, then colorized it using the Palette program.  

UPDATE: On September 29, 2024, I upgraded the photo with the use of the Krea AI program.

Cliff Bennett - BBC Sessions, Volume 3: 1967-1969

Here's Volume 3 of Cliff Bennett at the BBC.

The years 1967 to 1969 weren't so good for Bennett. He'd had a hit single in Britain in 1964, and another one in 1966. But his style of soul-based rock and roll quickly fell out of favor in 1967, with psychedelic music suddenly becoming the hot new trend. Bennett didn't really transition, but just kept making his soulful style of music.

He had a big chance for a hit single in 1968. Due to sharing managers with the Beatles, he was able to get an early version of the Beatles song "Back in the U.S.S.R." The Beatles didn't release it as a single (nor did they release any other singles from their 1968 double album, "The White Album"), and it was a great song done in a retro 1950s style that was right up Bennett's alley. But for whatever reason, his version didn't catch on. Nobody had a hit with it until the Beatles version was belatedly released as a single in 1976, when it was a Top Twenty Hit in Britain, finally.

Bennett kept releasing singles that didn't make the charts. However, the BBC still had faith in him, as you can see from all the songs from BBC sessions here. Many of these songs don't seem to have ever been released on record by him, such as "The Letter" and "Born to Be Wild."

As you'd expect from this time period, the BBC DJs talked over the music on many of the songs here. Those are all the ones with "[Edit]" in their names, which is all but three of them! As usual, I used an audio editing program to wipe the talking while keeping the music.

In 1970, Bennett would improve his musical fortunes a bit by being part of a new band called "Toe Fat." That'll be the subject of the fourth and final BBC volume for him.

This album is 43 minutes long.

01 You Got It Made [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
02 Use Me [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
03 Soothe Me [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
04 One More Heartache [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
05 You're Breaking Me Up [And I m Wasting Away] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
06 Stop (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
07 Good Times [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
08 Iron Out the Rough Spots [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
09 The Letter [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
10 Where You Gonna Run To (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
11 I Got You, Babe [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
12 Back in the U. S. S. R. [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
13 Danger Zone [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
14 Born to Be Wild [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
15 Memphis Street [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
16 I'm Yours and I'm Hers [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17175663/CLIFFBNNTT1967-1969BBSessonsVlum3_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/9CEaPuA3

Because Bennett's popularity went down in this period, I had a really tough time finding a black and white photo of him. I found one, and just one, where he was pictured as part of a group in 1968. I cropped the picture just to show him, exlarged it a lot, and colorized it using the Palette program.

UPDATE: On September 29, 2024, I upgraded the photo with the use of the Krea AI program.

Cliff Bennett - BBC Sessions, Volume 2: 1966-1967

Here's the second of four albums of Cliff Bennett at the BBC.

As I mentioned with Volume 1, Bennett may not be well known in the US - I'm American, and I'd never heard of him until recently - but he was a soul star in Britain. He'd had a few hits during the time period covered for Volume 1. Then, during the time period of this album, he had a lucky break due to having Brian Epstein as his manager, who also managed the Beatles. Thanks to that, he was able to hear an early version of the Beatles song "Got to Get You into My Life" before it came out on the album "Revolver" in 1966. The Beatles didn't release it as a single, but Bennett did, and it was the biggest hit of his career, going all the way to Number 6 in Britain.

Not surprisingly, he did a version of that for the BBC. That song was a Beatles homage to the soulful Motown sound. Many of the other songs here are in a similar vein. He was into other soul sounds as well. In particular, he seems to have been influenced by the duo Sam and Dave, covering three songs made famous by them ("Hold On, I'm Coming," "You Don't Know like I Know," and "I Take What I Want").

As with Volume 1, all the performances here are officially unreleased. The sound quality is excellent throughout, since everything is sourced from pristine BBC reels. The songs with "[Edit]" in their names had BBC DJs talking over some of the music, but I used audio editing software to wipe the talking and keep the underlying music.

This album is 46 minutes long.

01 Need Your Loving Tonight [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
02 You Can't Love Em All (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
03 Whole Lotta Woman [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
04 See Saw [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
05 Ain't Love Good, Ain't Love Proud (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
06 Close the Door (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
07 Stop Her on Sight [S. O. S.] [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
08 Hold On, I'm Coming (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
09 See See Rider [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
10 Stop, Look and Listen (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
11 Got to Get You into My Life (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
12 Barefootin' (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
13 Never Knew Lovin' Could Be So Doggone Good (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
14 It's a Wonder (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
15 You Don't Know like I Know [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
16 Ease Me Baby [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
17 I Take What I Want [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
18 I'll Take Good Care of You (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15226552/CliffBen_1966-1967_BBSessionsVolum2_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from 1966. It was in black and white, but I used the program Palette to colorize it.

 

Cliff Bennett - BBC Sessions, Volume 1: 1964-1965

I must admit that before I started working on my big BBC project, I'd never heard of Cliff Bennett, so don't feel bad if you haven't heard of him either. But the BBC loved him: this is the first of four albums of BBC studio sessions he did. 

I'm American. I suppose the odds of knowing about Bennett is much better if you're British. In the 1960s, the British music industry had a problem. The British public discovered soul music around 1964, and fell for it in a big way. Suddenly, it seemed every British band was doing soul covers. But very few vocalists had an authentic sounding, talented soul voice. Steve Winwood was one. Cliff Bennett was another. As such, he caught the attention of Brian Epstein, the manager for the Beatles, who also became the manager for him and his group, the Rebel Rousers, in 1964. He soon had a Top Ten hit in Britain, "One Way Love." But that was the only big hit he had for the time period of this album, though he had a couple more minor ones.

Here's his Wikipedia page, if you want to know more:

Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers - Wikipedia

The vast majority of songs here are soul covers. What I like is that he avoided most of the usual suspects, the songs that it seemed practically every British band was doing at the time. It's also interesting that he was flexible enough to cover a Bob Dylan song, "Maggie's Farm." But, as far as I know, he and his band didn't really do originals at this point.

Nothing here has been officially released, but everything sounds great due to BBC transcription reels surviving in pristine condition. Typical of the era, lots of the songs had BBC DJs talking over the music. That's why so many of the songs have "[Edit]" in their titles. But I did the usual thing of using an audio editing program to wipe the talking while keeping the music.

This album is 51 minutes long.

01 Don't Put Me Down like This (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
02 One Way Love (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
03 You Make Me Happy [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
04 I'll Take You Home (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
05 Getting Mighty Crowded (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
06 I Can't Stand It (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
07 Do You Love Him [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
08 Ain't That Loving You Baby (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
09 [Ain't That] Good News [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
10 Three Rooms with Running Water (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
11 Baby, Baby, Baby (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
12 Try It Baby (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
13 Crazy 'bout My Baby [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
15 Do the Boomerang (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
16 I Have Cried My Last Tear (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
17 Maggie's Farm [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
18 Out of Sight (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
19 Waiting at the Station (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
20 My Sweet Woman [Edit] (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
21 Shake and Fingerpop (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)
22 Who's Cheatin' Who (Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15206079/CliffBen_1964-1965_BBSessionsVolum1_atse.zip.html

It seems Bennett isn't that well remembered today, even in Britain, because I didn't find many good photos of him. This was the best I could come up with, from 1964. However, most of the guys in it had their eyes closed or were not looking at the camera. Bennett, in the middle of the bottom row, had his eyes closed. I found another photo of him with his eyes open and pasted that in, using Photoshop. I also used Photoshop to make the two guys on the left look at the camera. That left the guy on the bottom right with his eyes closed. I decided to let him be.