The Shadows of Knight

The Shadows of Knight

The Shadows of Knight were a 1960s American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, who played a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city (see Chicago blues). The band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and Yardbirds took the Chicago Blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch.", to which noted rock critic Richie Unterberger commented as follows: "The Shadows of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate. Although this mid-'60s garage band from the Windy City did not match the excellence of either their British or African-American idols, the teen energy of their recordings remains enjoyable,if not overwhelmingly original. The group took a tamer version of Them's classic 'Gloria' into the American Top Ten in 1966, and also took a Yardbirdized version of Bo Diddley's 'Oh Yeah' into the Top 40 the same year."

History

As described by one reviewer, "Though best remembered today for their classic take on Van Morrison's 'Gloria'--probably the definitive version of that oft-recorded song--the Shadows of Knight started out in the suburbs of Chicago as a tough little white blues band, specializing in punky recastings of the gems coming from the Chess studios on South Michigan Avenue. Being so close to the source, the Shadows of Knight captured the mystery of the blues much more clearly than most."

Initially formed in 1964 as simply The Shadows, the band learned in spring 1965 of a preexisting English group, The Shadows. A friend of theirs, Max Winters, who worked for their manager, Paul Sampson in his record shop, came up with the name "Shadows of Knight" to tie into the British Invasion in music of that time, and because all four of the band members attended Prospect High School in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, whose sports team had the name the "Knights."

They would release three albums in their first five years of existence. Founding members included Warren Rogers (lead guitar), Norm Gotsch (rhythm guitar), Wayne Pursell (bass guitar), Tom Schiffour (drums) and Jim Sohns (vocals). During 1965, Joe Kelley was recruited to play bass, replacing Pursell. Kelley would swap bass and lead duties with Rogers in late 1965 at the time of the "Gloria" recordings. Guitarist and vocalist Jerry McGeorge replaced Norm Gotsch in late 1965 after Gotsch was drafted into the U.S. military. David "Hawk" Wolinski, who later worked with Rufus and Chaka Khan, replaced Rogers on bass in late 1966.

After performing in and around Chicago's northwest suburbs in 1964 and 1965, the Shadows of Knight became the house band at The Cellar in Arlington Heights, Illinois, owned by Sampson. They attracted over 500 teenagers every Saturday and Sunday at the "Cellar" for over six months until Sampson began booking other bands, giving them a break.

A stellar performance in support of The Byrds at Chicago's McCormick Place in early summer 1965 attracted the attention of Dunwich Records record producers Bill Traut and George Badonski. During that show, they performed "Gloria" by Van Morrison's Northern Irish Them band. The band signed with Dunwich shortly thereafter and recorded "Gloria" as a first effort.

Released in December 1965, "Gloria" received massive regional airplay. The band had slightly altered the song's lyrics, replacing Morrison's original "she comes to my room, just about midnight " with "she comes around here, just about midnight" after influential Chicago station WLS had banned Them's original version. This simple change overcame the prevalent AM radio censorship of the era, and got the Shadows of Knights' cover version of the song onto the playlist of WLS that had censored the original.The single reached the #1 position on the radio station's countdown, as well as on local rival WCFL. On the Billboard national charts, "Gloria" rose to #10. The secondary publication Cashbox ranked "Gloria" as high as #5.

There is reason to believe the Billboard charting understated the song's popularity. and The Shadows of Knight's version of "Gloria" reached number one in several markets where it received airplay. But, because Dunwich was not a national label, the single was released on a staggered basis around the country. This caused it to peak in certain markets before being released in others, diluting its weekly placement. Most significantly, the song received little airplay in certain major markets, such as South Florida (Miami) and California, where Morrison's release of "Gloria" had just been a major hit the previous year.

The Shadows of Knight soon released the Gloria album, followed by the "Back Door Men" LP in summer 1966. Subsequent singles included their version of the Bo Diddley song "Oh Yeah" (which reached #39 nationally and was introduced to their lead singer, Jimmy Sohns by Max Winters), "Bad Little Woman" (#91) and the powerhouse "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" (#90), which can be seen as a precursor to hard rock. However, none of these releases approached their initial commercial success. Failure to find a winning followup to "Gloria" handicapped the band's earning power, and led to its disintegration. Tom Schiffour left the band in Spring 1967. McGeorge departed for acid-rock band H.P. Lovecraft shortly thereafter, while Kelley left to front his own blues band. Hawk Wolinski also left the band to form Bangor Flying Circus with Schiffour, guitarist Alan De Carlo and drummer Michael Tegza, also of H.P.Lovecraft.

By mid-1967, the only original member of the Shadows of Knight remaining was vocalist Jim Sohns, who, through simple default, inherited the band's name and legacy. Sohns had hoped to take the band in a British power-rock direction, but the Super K record label pulled them into a more commercial orientation, pairing the band with bubblegum groups such as the 1910 Fruitgum Company and the Ohio Express on tour. In 1969, the second generation Shadows of Knight released "Shake" on Buddah Records subsidiary Super K Records; the track eventually climbed to #46. That same year, without the band's knowledge or consent, the unsuccessful update "Gloria '69" was released by Dunwich. It consisted of new bass and guitar tracks overdubbed by Peter Cetera (later of Chicago) and Jim Donlinger, both Chicago rock veterans.

The 1967 demise of the original Shadows of Knight was one of the factors signalling the end of Dunwich Records as an independent label. Dunwich became a production company led by Bill Traut, and had notable chart successes with The American Breed and Todd Rundgren. George Badonsky attempted a personal management enterprise behind the middling success of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as more obscure acts, but was unable to sustain the effort. He later became owner of a successful Chicago restaurant, "George's".

The four years following the breakup of the original Shadows was a dark creative period with little financial success. The band's repertoire consisted mostly of pop cover songs, which allowed them to survive by playing clubs. The second iteration of the band consisted of John Fisher, former lead guitar of the Glass Menagerie, on bass, Woody Woodruff and Dan Baughman on guitars, and Ken Turkin on drums. Turkin was replaced in early 1969 by Paul Scarpelli, and in 1970 Jack "Hawkeye" Daniels replaced Woodruff on guitar. The band's lineup remained the same for two years, and they recorded "I Am the Hunter," which did well in several B markets. John Fisher was replaced by Edgar Winter alum Jorge Gonzales on bass in 1971, who was subsequently replaced by John Hardy the following year. He was then replaced by studio bassist Don Ferrone.

Over subsequent decades, Sohns fronted varying incarnations of the group on the oldies circuit. The band later enjoyed a resurgence, sparked by the mid-90s release of the original albums in remastered form by Sundazed Records.

In 1992 Performance Records (aka "Donewitch" Records) release "The Shadows Of Knight -Live " This was an unreleased performance recorded live in Rockford Il in 1972. This performance featured Lee Brovitz on Bass (later of BLUE ANGEL) and the late Paul Roy on guitar.

In 2006, the Shadows of Knight headlined Little Steven's cross-country "Underground Garage" tour with The Romantics. The Shadows also joined the Cheap Trick's Halloween show("Cheap Trick or Treat"), along with guest appearances by members of The Romantics & The Charms ; this performance was subsequently televised on VH-1 Classic.

At shows on the 2006 tour ,they were joined onstage at various times by Rick Mullen (of Van Morrison,Commander Cody,Don McLean),Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge), Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge)and members of The Romantics.

A CD of new material was released in 2006 entitled "A Knight To Remember."

The band is working on an all star album for release in late 2008.

They are also part of a Halloween Anthology being released in Oct 2008 by Scary Monsters Magazine.

The Shadows have the lead off track an all new song "Boppin' At The Black Lagoon" written by bassist Lee Brovitz and manager Pat Horgan.

The anthology also has new tracks by Nazz, Vince Martell(of Vanilla Fudge), The Shirts,Tommy Frenzy (of Tuff Darts),The Shirts,Thunder Road and Peppy Castro (of The Blues Magoos)

New Package Tours dates have been released for 2008 under the banner "The Psychedelic Shack Tour" featuring The Shadows,Nazz,Vince Martell and at selected shows Henry Gross.

The Shadows and Vince Martell and Nazz share the same manager, Pat Horgan (who also acts as agent for Henry Gross)

In April 2008 The Shadows Of Knight inked a new record deal with Collectables Records.

The new release for Collectables Records is called Rock'n'Roll Survivors/COL-8187

=Discography

• Gloria Dunwich, 1966; CD Issue Sundazed 1998; Original Edition Atlantic, 2005.

• Back Door Men Dunwich, 1967; CD Reissue Sundazed, 1998; CD Reissue Atlantic, 2006.

• Shadows of Knight Super K, 1969; CD Issue One Way, 1994.

• Raw 'n' Alive at the Cellar, 1966 Sundazed, 1992.

• Dark Sides: The Best of The Shadows of Knight Rhino, 1994

• A Knight to Remember Bassic-Lee, 2007.

• Rock 'N' Roll Survivors Collectables, 2008.

External links

• Official website