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Dave Edmunds | |
|---|---|
 Edmunds performing withRockpile at theDanforth Music Hall in Toronto, 1980 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | David William Edmunds (1944-04-15)15 April 1944 (age 81) Cardiff, Wales |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1968–2017 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944)[2] is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist andrecord producer.
Edmunds was born 15 April 1944 inCardiff,Wales.[3] As a ten-year-old, he first played in 1954 with a band called the Edmunds Bros Duo with his older brother Geoff (born 5 December 1939, Cardiff); this was a piano duo. Then the brothers were in the Stompers, later called the Heartbeats, formed around 1957 with Geoff Edmunds and Allan Goldsworty on rhythm guitars, Dave on lead guitar, Denny Driscoll on lead vocals, Johnny Stark on drums, and Tom Edwards on bass. Then Dave and Geoff were in the 99ers along with scientist and writerBrian J. Ford. After that Dave Edmunds was in Crick Feathers' Hill-Bills formed in about 1960, with Edmunds ("Feathers") on lead guitar, Zee Dolan on bass, Tennessee Tony on lead vocals, Tony Kees on piano and Hank Two Sticks on drums.[4] The first group that Edmunds fronted was the Cardiff-based 1950s style rockabillytrio the Raiders formed in 1961, along with Brian 'Rockhouse' Davies on bass (born 15 January 1943, Cardiff) and Ken Collier on drums. Edmunds was the only constant member of the group, which later included bassist Mick Still, Bob 'Congo' Jones on drums (b. 13 August 1946,Barry, South Wales) and John Williams (stage nameJohn David) on bass. The Raiders worked almost exclusively in the South Wales area.[citation needed]
In 1966, after a short spell in aParlophone recording band, the Image (1965–1966), with local drummer Tommy Riley, Edmunds shifted to a moreblues-rock sound, reuniting with Congo Jones and bassist John Williams and adding second guitaristMickey Gee to form the short-lived Human Beans,[5] a band that played mostly in London and on the UK university circuit. In 1967, the band recorded acover of "Morning Dew" on the BritishColumbia label[6] that failed to have anychart impact. After just eighteen months, the core of Human Beans formed a new band calledLove Sculpture that again reinstated Edmunds, Jones and Williams as a trio. Love Sculpture released their debut single "River to Another Day" in 1968. Their second single was a quasi-noveltyTop 5, a reworking ofKhachaturian's classical piece "Sabre Dance" as a speed-crazed rock number, inspired byKeith Emerson's classical rearrangements.[7] "Sabre Dance" became a hit after garnering the enthusiastic attention of British DJJohn Peel, who was so impressed he played it twice in one programme on "Top Gear".[7] The band issued two albums.
After Love Sculpture split, Edmunds had a UKChristmas Number 1 single in 1970 with "I Hear You Knocking",[8] aSmiley Lewis cover, which he came across while producingShakin' Stevens and the Sunsets' first album entitledA Legend. The recording was the first release on Edmunds' manager'sMAM Records label. This single also reached No. 4 in the US, making it Edmunds' biggest hit by far on either side ofAtlantic Ocean. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded agold disc.[9] Edmunds had intended to recordWilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together", but when he was beaten to that song byCanned Heat, he adapted the arrangement he intended to use for it to "I Hear You Knocking". The success of the single caused EMI'sRegal Zonophone Records to use an option that it had to claim Edmunds' album, 1972'sRockpile, and the momentum from the single's success on a different label went away.
Edmunds' only acting role followed, as a band member in theDavid Essex movieStardust.[10] After learning the trade of producer, culminating in a couple of singles in the style ofPhil Spector, "Baby I Love You" (No. 8 in the chart) and "Born to Be with You" (No. 5 in the chart), he became linked with the pub rock movement of the early 1970s, producing (among others)Brinsley Schwarz,Ducks Deluxe,Flamin' Groovies, and blues rock bandFoghat, using a stripped down, grittier sound.
Edmunds had bought a house inRockfield,Monmouth, a few miles away from Charles and Kingsley Ward'sRockfield Studios, where he became an almost permanent fixture for the next twenty years. His working regime involved arriving at the studio in the early evening and working through till well after dawn, usually locked in the building alone. Applying the layered SpectorWall of Sound to his own productions, it was not unusual for Edmunds to multilayer up to forty separately recorded guitar tracks into the mix.
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His own soloLP from 1975,Subtle as a Flying Mallet, was similar in style.[11] The Brinsley Schwarz connection brought about a collaboration withNick Lowe starting with this album, and in 1976 they formed the groupRockpile, withBilly Bremner andTerry Williams.[11] Because Edmunds and Lowe signed to different record labels that year, they could not record as Rockpile until 1980, but many of their solo LPs (such as Lowe'sLabour of Lust and Edmunds' ownRepeat When Necessary) were group recordings. Edmunds had more UK hits during this time, including Nick Lowe's "I Knew the Bride",Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk", Hank DeVito's "Queen of Hearts" (later a larger, international hit for American country-rock singerJuice Newton),Graham Parker's "Crawling from the Wreckage", andMelvin Endsley's "Singing the Blues" (originally a 1956 US Country No. 1 hit forMarty Robbins, then a US pop No. 1 cover for Guy Mitchell, and a UK No. 1 for both Mitchell andTommy Steele).
The albumRepeat When Necessary received a Silver Certification from the British Phonographic Industry on 20 March 1980 (for over 60,000 copies sold in the UK). The single "Girls Talk" also received a Silver Certificate from the BPI. Edmunds, with Rockpile, performed in a music video for "Girls Talk", directed by Martin Pitts and produced by Derek Burbidge and Helen Pollack. For the video, the band set up on the roof of the Warner Brothers Records building in Midtown Manhattan in the early afternoon. Unexpectedly, after Rockpile released their first LP under their own name,Seconds of Pleasure (1980), the band split.[11] Edmunds spent the 1980s collaborating with and producing an assortment of artists, includingPaul McCartney,King Kurt,Stray Cats,Fabulous Thunderbirds, andStatus Quo.
On his 1983 release,Information, Edmunds collaborated on two songs withJeff Lynne, the leader ofElectric Light Orchestra.[11] One of these songs, a Lynne composition, "Slipping Away", became Edmunds' only other USTop 40 hit, spending a single week at No. 39 while having a video clip in heavy rotation on MTV. It was not a hit in the UK. In 1984, Lynne produced six tracks on Edmunds' following album,Riff Raff. He also recorded the soundtrack for the moviePorky's Revenge!,[11] supplying the main theme, "High School Nights."
In late 1985, Dave Edmunds was the musical director and a participating band member ofCarl Perkins'sBlue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session television special recorded live at Limehouse Studios in London. Other musicians involved in the project includedGeorge Harrison,Ringo Starr,Eric Clapton andRosanne Cash.[11] In 1989, Edmunds produced the albumYo Frankie forDion.[12]
Edmunds recorded less frequently after the mid-1980s, living in Wales in semi-retirement, but occasionally touring. He joined up withRingo Starr & His All-Starr Band for tours in 1992 and 2000.[13] However, 2007 marked a return to touring for Edmunds, alongsideJoe Brown, on a lengthy tour around the UK. He made an appearance on stage alongsideStray Cats, at the Brixton Academy in London, on 10 September 2008, playing "The Race Is On" and "Tear It Up" with the band.[14]
In 1993 Edmunds was inCardiff Crown Court as a co-defendant along withShakin' Stevens facing charges of non-payment of playing royalties from former Sunsets' band members Robert Llewellyn, Carl Petersen, Steve Percy and Paul Dolan. The prosecution asserted that the former band members were due a share of those additional royalties that Stevens and Edmunds had received from the successful reissue of the albumA Legend during the early 'eighties. The judge agreed and, while the unpaid royalties only amounted to around £70,000 to be divided among the four musicians, the associated court costs to be paid by Stevens and Edmunds amounted to £500,000.[15]
On New Year's Eve 2008, he appeared onJools' Annual Hootenanny, performing "Girls Talk" and "I Hear You Knocking". He was Holland's guest again atBorde Hill Garden on 20 June 2009, on 28 August at an open-air concert atCarrickfergus Castle,[16] on 31 October atIpswich Regent, on 7 November atStoke Victoria Hall and on 14 November atNottingham Concert Hall. Edmunds also played a five-song set, including "I Hear You Knocking," "I Knew the Bride" and "Sabre Dance" with the Holland Big Band at theRoyal Albert Hall on 27 November 2009.[citation needed]
He returned and performed "Sabre Dance" onJools' Annual Hootenanny on the 2009/10 edition. An album release on 19 November 2013 called...Again, featured recordings from the 1990s, plus four new tracks, Edmunds' first for almost 20 years, with the title track released as a digital download single. In 2015, Edmunds released his first instrumental albumOn Guitar... Dave Edmunds: Rags & Classics, which featured instrumental covers of classic songs, such asThe Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" andElton John's "Your Song". The album was Edmunds' final album and after playing a final show in July 2017, he was reported to have retired from the music business.[17][18][19]
In July 2025, Edmunds experienced a majorcardiac arrest before being revived withCPR according to his wife Cici Edmunds.[20] He is currently stable and recovering.[21]
withLove Sculpture:
withRockpile:
asDave Edmunds:
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] | US [22] | SWE [23] | NZ [24] | |||
| 1972 | Rockpile | — | — | — | — | |
| 1975 | Subtle as a Flying Mallet | — | — | — | — | |
| 1977 | Get It | — | — | 42 | — | |
| 1978 | Tracks on Wax 4 | — | — | 17 | — | |
| 1979 | Repeat When Necessary | 39 | 54 | 17 | 45 | |
| 1981 | Twangin... | 37 | 48 | 5 | — | |
| 1982 | D.E. 7th | 60 | 46 | 13 | — | |
| 1983 | Information | 92 | 51 | 20 | — | |
| 1984 | Riff Raff | — | 140 | 26 | — | |
| 1989 | Closer to the Flame | — | 146 | 36 | — | |
| 1994 | Plugged In | — | — | — | — | |
| 1999 | Hand Picked: Musical Fantasies | — | — | — | — | |
| 2013 | ...Again | — | — | — | — | |
| 2015 | On Guitar...Rags & Classics | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||
withLove Sculpture:
asDave Edmunds:
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] | US [22] | |||||
| 1982 | The Best of Dave Edmunds | — | 163 | |||
| 1993 | The Dave Edmunds Anthology (1968–1990) | — | — | |||
| 2004 | From Small Things: The Best of Dave Edmunds | — | — | |||
| 2008 | The Many Sides of Dave Edmunds: The Greatest Hits and More | 38 | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] | AUS [26] | CAN | US [22] | US Main. [22] | IRL [27] | NLD [28] | NOR [29] | SWE [23] | NZ [24][30] | |||
| 1968 | "Sabre Dance"(withLove Sculpture) | 5 | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1970 | "I Hear You Knocking" | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | x | 1 | 4 | 4 | — | 3 | |
| 1971 | "I'm Comin' Home" | 52[A] | — | 36 | 75 | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Blue Monday" | — | — | — | 104 | x | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "The Promised Land" | — | 5 | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1973 | "Baby I Love You" | 8 | 48 | — | — | x | 6 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Born to Be With You" | 5 | 96 | — | — | x | 11 | 2 | 7 | — | — | ||
| 1976 | "Here Comes the Weekend" | — | — | — | — | x | — | 28 | — | — | — | |
| "Where or When" | — | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "JuJu Man" | — | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I Knew the Bride" | 26 | 32 | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Get Out of Denver"(US only) | — | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978 | "Deborah" | — | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Television" | — | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979 | "A1 on the Jukebox" | — | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Girls Talk" | 4 | 9 | 18 | 65 | x | 11 | 24 | — | — | 23 |
| |
| "Queen of Hearts" | 11 | 59 | — | — | x | 12 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Crawling from the Wreckage" | 59 | — | — | — | x | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980 | "Teacher, Teacher"(byRockpile) | — | 83 | 31 | 51 | x | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Singing the Blues" | 28 | 67 | — | — | x | 19 | — | — | 7 | — | ||
| 1981 | "Almost Saturday Night" | 58 | — | — | 54 | 18 | — | — | — | 15 | — | |
| "The Race Is On"(withStray Cats) | 34 | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" | — | — | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | 15 | — | |
| "Me and the Boys" | — | — | — | — | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Run Rudolph Run" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | "Slipping Away" | 60 | — | — | 39 | 7 | — | 47 | — | — | — | |
| "Information" | — | — | — | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "Something About You" | — | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | "High School Nights" | — | — | — | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1987 | "The Wanderer"(live) | — | — | — | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1990 | "Closer to the Flame" | — | — | 86 | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "King of Love" | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. "x" denotes that the chart did not exist at the time. | ||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Director[32] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "Girls Talk"[33] | Martin Pitts | Repeat When Necessary |
| "Crawling from the Wreckage" | Mike Mansfield | ||
| 1981 | "Almost Saturday Night" | Twangin... | |
| "The Race Is On" | Brian Grant | ||
| 1982 | "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" | D.E. 7th | |
| "Me and the Boys" | Paul Justman | ||
| "Dear Dad" | |||
| 1983 | "Slipping Away"[34] | Peter Sinclair | Information |
| 1984 | "Information" | Paul Justman | |
| "Something About You" | Dee Trattmann | Riff Raff | |
| 1985 | "High School Nights" | Marty Callner | Porky's Revenge! |
| 1986 | "The Wanderer"[35] | Ralph Ziman | I Hear You Rockin' |
| "Paralyzed" | |||
| 1990 | "Closer to the Flame" | Michael Salomon | Closer to the Flame |
| "King of Love" | Mick Haggerty |
