- The Newbeats
-
The Newbeats Origin Shreveport, Louisiana Genres Pop Years active 1964–1974 Labels Hickory
Buddah
PlayboyPast members Larry Henley
Dean Mathis
Mark MathisThe Newbeats were a popular music vocal trio, best known for their 1964 hit, "Bread and Butter", which was released on the Hickory Records label.[1]
Contents
Members
The group's members were:
- Larry Henley (born Lawrence Joel Henley, June 30, 1941,[2] Arp, Texas[1])
- Dean Mathis (born Louis Aldine Mathis, March 17, 1939, Hahira, Georgia[1])
- Mark Mathis (born Marcus Felton Mathis, February 9, 1942, Hahira[1]).
Biography
Their mother taught brothers Dean and Mark Mathis the guitar as children, and they soon mastered other musical instruments - piano, bass guitar and drums.[1] They both played in the band at Bremen High School, Georgia and decided on a career in the music industry upon leaving education.[1] Dean joined Paul Howard's Western Swing Band in 1956 as pianist, then joined Dale Hawkins' band where his brother enrolled playing bass.[1] They stayed with the band for two years, recording "Tell Him No" as a duo for the Chess record label.[1] They then started their own eight piece band and played in their hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. It was here that they met Larry Henley who auditioned for the band. A parting of the ways ensued when Henley tried his luck as a solo artist, and the brothers worked as a duo, both recording independently for Wesley Rose.[1]
After about eighteen months they jointly made a demo of a song entitled "Bread and Butter", sent it to Hickory Records and were asked to formally record the track.[1]
"Bread and Butter" was the group's first hit. Written by Larry Parks and Jay Turnbow, the record reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[1] It sold over one million copies in the U.S.[1][3] Three more singles followed in 1964 and 1965. "Run Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)" reached as high as number 12 that fall, but it was the trio's penultimate chart entry, although they remained with Hickory until 1972.[4] Brief stints at Buddha and Playboy followed before the Newbeats dissolved in 1974.[4]
Several of the Groups singles were rediscovered by the Northern Soul movement in the early 1970s. "Run Baby Run" made #10 in the UK. Pop Charts (higher than its original U.S. position), whilst Don't Turn Me Loose and Crying My Heart Out Over You are popular tracks with the 'Soul Crowd'.
Henley is probably now best known as the co-songwriter of "Wind Beneath My Wings". In 2002, Bruce Channel and Ricky Ray Hector recorded a project with Larry Henley, billed as Original Copy.[5]
The Newbeats' track "Bread and Butter", features on the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy-drama film, Simon Birch; and was used for an advertisement campaign for Schmidt's Blue Ribbon Bread. It was also featured in the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Singles discography
Year Title
(Songwriter)US[6] UK[3] AUS 1964 "Bread and Butter"
(Larry Parks and Jay Turnbow)#2 #15 #8 1964 "Everything's Alright"
(John D. Loudermilk)#16 - #53 1965 "(The Birds Are for the Bees) The Birds Are for the Bees"
(Bob Finnicum, Larry Parks and Jay Turnbow)#50 - #41 1965 "Break Away (From That Boy)"
(Louis Al and Marcus Mathis)#40 - #7 1965 "Run, Baby, Run (Back Into My Arms)"
(Don Gant and Joe Melson)#12 #10 † #66
† UK hit belatedly in October 19711966 "Shake Hands (And Come Out Crying)"
(Doug Kershaw)#92 - - 1969 "Groovin' (Out On LIfe) / Bread And Butter See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 179–180. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Pages.prodigy.net
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 393. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b "Biography by Jason Ankeny". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p24665/biography. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ Cdbaby.com
- ^ ((( The Newbeats > Discography > Singles )))
External links
- Allmusic
- The Newbeats Discography, Hickory Sessionography and Reviews archived page 14 November 2007 at Internet Archive
Categories:- American vocal groups
- Musical trios
- Musical groups established in 1964
- Musical groups disestablished in 1974
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