Larry Parnes

Larry Parnes (* 1930 in London , England ; † August 4, 1989 ibid), actually Laurence Maurice Parnes , was a British music manager and impresario .

The shop and pub owner Parnes became the manager of rock 'n' roll singer Tommy Hicks, whose name he changed to Tommy Steele , in 1956 . While looking for a second star, he became aware of Reg Smith, who became Marty Wilde .

Cliff Richard failed to get into the Parnes stable. 1958 came Roy Taylor, who was named Vince Eager , but remained without a hit. That same year, Parnes signed Ron Wycherly aka Billy Fury .

Other artists who worked for Parnes with varying degrees of success included Dickie Pride (Richard Knellar), Duffy Power (Ray Howard), Johnny Gentle (John Askew), Sally Kelly , Terry Dene , Nelson Keene , Peter Wynne and Georgie Fame (Clive Powell ). One of the few who successfully resisted renaming was guitarist Joe Brown , who Parnes wanted to make Elmer Twitch.

Larry Parnes' success as a music manager has been overwhelming. In 1960 he was referred to in the British press as "Mr Parnes, Shillings and Pence". He almost became the manager of the Beatles , who were touring with Johnny Gentle for some time as the Silver Beatles.

In 1967 Parnes retired from music management and devoted himself to theater and musicals. In the 1970s, he was the manager of figure skater John Curry . After suffering from meningitis , he retired entirely from the business in 1981. Larry Parnes died in London in 1989 .

Web links

• Biography of Larry Parnes (English)