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Les Humphries Singers | |
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 Les Humphries Singers performing at St. Michael's Church, Hamburg in 1972 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Hamburg, Germany |
| Genres | Pop,gospel,country,R&B,psychedelic,folk-pop |
| Years active | 1969–1980 |
| Past members | Members |
TheLes Humphries Singers was apop vocal group formed inHamburg, West Germany by English singer Les Humphries.[1] Active from 1969 until 1980, the group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The group, whose music drew heavily fromgospel,country,folk,R&B andpsychedelic influences, was notable for its large number of members, which at times numbered over a dozen to 30. Several of its members, includingJohn Lawton,Jürgen Drews andLiz Mitchell, went on to have notable careers of their own.
Les Humphries was bornJohn Leslie Humphreys on 10 August 1940 inCroydon, Surrey, England. He served in theRoyal Navy, where he was a member of the naval band and attained the rank ofband sergeant major. In 1969, inspired by the success of theEdwin Hawkins Singers gospel group, he formed Les Humphries Singers in Hamburg, where he had relocated. The original line-up included Humphries,Jimmy Bilsbury, and Malcolm Magaron as lead vocals, supported byJürgen Drews, Judy Archer, En David, Myrna David, Peggy Evers, Dornee Edwards, Henner Hoier, Heike Kloen,Liz Mitchell, Victor Scott and Tina Werner.
The group consisted of a large number of singers of diverse ethnic origin, some of whom such asJohn Lawton also performed with other groups. Another member wasJürgen Drews,[2] who later started a long-running solo career, starting with his 1976 hit in Germany, "Ein Bett im Kornfeld", acover version of "Let Your Love Flow" byThe Bellamy Brothers. Linda Thompson (born 21 September 1948 as Linda Übelherr, not to be confused with English singerLinda Thompson), who had previously been a member of the Cornely Singers and Love Generation, was a member from 1973 to 1974; she later joinedSilver Convention, had a solo career as Linda G. Thompson, sang as a duo with Jerry Rix, and joined The Hornettes.[3][4][5] Henner Hoier (born 19 April 1945), who was a member from 1970 to 1971, had been a member of the Rivets from 1964 to 1968 and ofthe Rattles from 1968 to 1970. From 1972 onwards, he had a solo career, and from 1988 to 1993 he was a member of the Rattles and from 1994 of the Rivets. He has also composed and produced music, and appeared in the musicalOnly You.[6][7]
Additional members included Mitchell, later frontwoman withBoney M., and Lawton, who also sang for the Germanprogressive/hard rock bandLucifer's Friend and would go on frontUriah Heep.
In 1974, the Les Humphries Singers starred in the German movieEs knallt - und die Engel singen, directed byRoberto Leoni (as Butch Lion) and produced by Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion.
Humphries died on 26 December 2007 inBasingstoke, England from a heart attack after a severe bout of pneumonia.[8]
The Les Humphries Singers performed a mix ofpop andgospel covers and had some success in Europe with this approach. Like the contemporary disco actBoney M., their music focused onrhythm and blues, gospel, anddisco, but often with psychedelicphasing orflanger effects on solos and bridges, and, much likeJames Last, larger background choruses in the studio to emulate a live atmosphere.[citation needed] The Les Humphries Singers at the time brought something from the flair of thehippie movement into contemporary German-produced (but English-sung) pop music, especially due to their mixed ethnic background and unusual fashion sense.[citation needed]
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Two of their earliest and best known hits were "Mexico" (1972) which was based on the 1957Jimmy Driftwood country hit "The Battle of New Orleans", and "Mama Loo" (1973), based on "Barbara Ann" byThe Beach Boys. On later albums they released "Mexico" with different lyrics, most likely due to copyright problems (plagiarism).[citation needed] In 1976 they represented Germany at theEurovision Song Contest with theRalph Siegel title "Sing Sang Song", reduced to only six singers (their usual line-ups consisted of 20 performers and up), and came in 15th place, which they regarded as their beginning of the end as a band. (They were initially the runner-up in the national final behindTony Marshall who was later disqualified) At the same time, they were the resident vocal band on the internationally syndicated TV seriesThe International Pop Proms, working withJames Last and other renowned artists.
They disbanded shortly thereafter the same year, but enjoyed a short comeback as a pure live act from 1991 until 1993, performing their old hits.
In 2006, the original band members formed "The Original Singers" without Humphries, but with new members Chris Dakota, David Tobin, Jay Jay van Hagen and Willi Meyer, re-recording their old hits and also releasing new material.
The former members, Jürgen Drews, Tina Kemp-Werner, Judy Archer and Peggy Evers-Hartig, formed a group called the "Les Humphries Singers Reunion" in 2009.[10]
| Preceded by | Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 | Succeeded by |
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