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Shel Naylor
Shel Naylor
Shel Naylor was backed by half of Rock Legends Led Zeppelin. He had a song written for him by Dave Davis of The Kinks and if you were to buy his two singles today you would have no change from £120. He would go on to have a number one for four weeks in the UK charts. Make no bones about this Shel Nayloris an undiscovered gem, a forgotten legend of the early sixties and he was a Coventry kid. Pete Chambers investigates.
Shel’s career started at The Orchid Ballroom in Primrose Hill St Coventry, where he had entered a talent contest. The prize was a recording deal with Decca. Larry Page who ran the Orchid had persuaded American producers Shel Talmy and Mike Stone to attend. Shel (or Rob as he was then), went down a storm and ran away with the prize. The Orchids also gained their contract that night. Larry Page became his manager giving the 17-year-old the name Shel Naylor. So he was Rob Woodward one day Shel Naylor the next. Rob believes his name was a kind of tribute to his producer Shel Talmy, but like it or not that was the name Larry chose, so Shel it was. ” During the early 60’s” says Rob, “Larry Page was at that time the manager of the Orchid Ballroom who got together some local talent (Including myself) to try to match the sledgehammer impact of the ‘Liverpool sound’ -calling it The Coventry Sound. Larry became my manager and also set me up as handyman and bingo caller at the Orchid Ballroom to make sure I had some money in my pockets, although all these years later I think it was more so he could keep an eye on me”. “When I first saw Rob Woodward (Shel Naylor)” reveals Larry Page, “I thought he was the closest thing I had ever seen to Elvis Presley and so talented. It was very important to me to try and get him off the ground. We had no trouble at all getting public reaction, but nationally and record-wise it certainly wasn’t easy in those days”.
So young ‘Shel’ was to spend a little time in London to get a ‘feel’ of the business, he got to meet the likes of Larry Parnes and on a similar trip to Birmingham the legendary A&R man Mr. Dick Rowe. Then it was off to Decca’s West Hampstead studios to record his first single, despite him not really liking the songs on offer he eventually chose the Irving Berlin song How Deep Is the Ocean. That day the session guitarist was Big Jim Sullivan, a legend in the business who has played on over 1,000 chart hits. Shel’s voice was spot-on, my only gripe is the female backing singers who seem to get in the way at times. The B-side is a terrific version of La Bamba with some great Trumpet and drum fills (thanks to session great’s Benny Green, Kenny Baker, Red Price on brass and Bobby Graham on drums). Now if ever a record had a curse on it this was it. To start with it was released on November 22nd 1963, the day President Kennedy was assassinated! It then went on to be voted a ‘miss’ on TV’s Juke Box Jury (this went out on the day of Rob’s 18th birthday). The single understandably failed to chart.
As 1964 arrived Shel would record his second single, this time he was even less pleased with the choice of songs, but he opted for One Fine Day (written by Dave Davis of The Kinks another of Mr. Pages Charges). Rob also managed to record one of his own compositions Stompin’ Joe needless to say it wasn’t selected. Playing on the session was John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page, both would go onto be part of Led Zeppelin the world’s greatest rock band. Although Rob was still unhappy with his vocals, he was pleased with Jimmy Page’s great guitar solo. Despite what Rob feels about his vocals, to my mind One Fine Day is a great piece of 60’s pop. On a different day it could have been a hit, as perusal it wasn’t and One Fine Day (and it’s equally good B-side that could have easily been the A, It’s Gonna Happen Soon), were mostly lost Decca nuggets. One Fine Day was never recorded by the Kinks, it’s only other form was as an instrumental on the Larry Page Orchestra LP Kinky Music. Because of this and the Jimmy Page and Kinks connection the single is worth in the region of £75, so you may want to check your record collections.
Rob took Shel on the road as it were, playing a summer season in Great Yarmouth along with Larry Page’s other act Johnny B. Great and The Quotations (SEE JOHNNY B. GREAT) supporting the likes of Brian Poole & The Tremeloes and The Searchers. At the end of the tour his Decca contract was not renewed and a pretty disconsolate Rob Woodward (as he had reverted back to) studied his options and joined the Coventry beat group The Pretty Flamingos as vocalist and keyboard player. They included Alan Payne and Murray Winters in their ranks. They were know for their hard gigging including a 6 weeks cabaret stint in Leeds. Disaster was to strike them when their van full of equipment was stolen from Dean Street. Whether they ever got their instruments back or not is not known. What is known however that Rob’s luck was to change as he formed the experimental band Stavely Makepeace and later go on to top the charts for four week with you must have guessed by now, Lieutenant Pigeon! I asked Rob how did he think he could have handled fame at such a young age? He replied “I feel that at such a young age to be honest, I would have possibly succumbed to some of the iniquitous temptations of fame. However being part of a strong family unit I think for the most part I would have kept my feet on the ground. Ironically I would have enjoyed success at this point in my life as Rock’n’roll was still fairly young and the music scene was right up my street! Alas this was not to be!”
Shel Naylor Trivia
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