The Blue Flames
The Blue Flames were a popular British R&B band in the 1960s that had a few hits as Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames .
Band history
Originally, the Blue Flames were Billy Fury's backing band . In 1961 Georgie Fame joined them as a pianist. At the end of the same year, Fury fired the entire band and they decided to go on alone. Soon they were one of the hippest live bands in London .
During the band's history, members of the Blue Flames were Georgie Fame (keyboards, vocals), John McLaughlin / Colin Green (guitar), Mick Eve / Peter Coe (saxophone), Tony "Tex" Makins / Boots Slade / Cliff Barton (bass), Red Reece / Phil Seaman / Micky Waller / Bill Eyden / Mitch Mitchell (drums), Speedy Acquaye (congas), Johnny Marshall / Glenn Hughes (saxophone) and Eddie Thornton (trumpet).
The group's first singles received little attention, but Yeh Yeh became number 1 in England in early 1965 . The first album was a live recording from the Flamingo Club . Two more albums followed, and with Get Away the Blue Flames had another number 1 in 1966.
In September 1966, however, the band broke up. In 1974 there was a brief, unsuccessful reunion.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
|||
| Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames | |||
| 1965 | Yeh yeh |
US137 (3 weeks) US |
|
| 1968 | The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde |
US185 (4 weeks) US |
|
More albums
- 1964: Rhythm and Blues At The Flamingo
- 1965: Fame At Last
- 1966: Sweet Things
- 1998: 20 Beat Classics
Collab albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1996 | How Long Has This Been Going On |
DE83 (5 weeks) DE |
UK76 (3 weeks) UK |
US55 (11 weeks) US |
with Van Morrison
|
EPs
- 1964: Rhythm and Blue Beat - Madness / Tom Hark Goes Blue Beat / Humpty Dumpty / One Whole Year Baby
- 1964: Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo - Night Train / Parchment Farm / Work Song / Baby Please Don't Go
- 1965: Fame at Last - Get on the Right Track Baby / Point of No Return / I Love the Life I Live / Gimme That Wine
- 1965: Fats for Fame - No No / Blue Monday / So Long / Sick and Tired
- 1965: Move It on Over - Move It on Over / Walkin 'the Dog / Hi-Heel Sneakers / Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
- 1966: Get Away - Get Away / See Saw / Ride Your Pony / Sitting in the Park
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames | |||||||
| 1964 | Yeh Yeh Yeh Yeh |
- | - | - |
UK1 (12 weeks) UK |
US21 (8 weeks) US |
B-side: Preach And Teach
|
| 1965 | In the meanime |
- | - | - |
UK22 (8 weeks) UK |
US97 (2 weeks) US |
B-side: Telegram
|
| Like We Used to Be |
- | - | - |
UK33 (7 weeks) UK |
US97 (2 weeks) US |
B-side: It Ain't Right
|
|
| Something |
- | - | - |
UK23 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
B-side: Outrage
|
|
| 1966 | Get away |
DE32 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK1 (11 weeks) UK |
US70 (7 weeks) US |
B-side: El bandido
|
| Sunny |
- | - | - |
UK13 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
B-side: Don't Make Promises
|
|
| Sitting in the Park Sweet Things |
- | - | - |
UK12 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
B-side: Many Happy Returns
|
|
| Solo singles Georgie Fame | |||||||
| 1967 | Because I Love You |
- | - | - |
UK15 (8 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Try My World |
- | - | - |
UK37 (5 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde The Third Face of Fame |
DE9 (10 weeks) DE |
AT5 (20 weeks) AT |
CH2 (11 weeks) CH |
UK1 (13 weeks) UK |
US7 (14 weeks) US |
Chart entry in DE / AT / CH / US only in 1968
|
|
| 1969 | Peaceful |
- | - | - |
UK16 (9 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Seventh Son Seventh Son |
- | - | - |
UK25 (7 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1971 | Rosetta |
DE43 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK11 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
with Alan Price
|
| 1986 | Samba (toda menina baiana) |
- | - | - |
UK81 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1996 | That's Life How Long Has This Been Going On |
- | - | - |
UK92 (1 week) UK |
- |
with Van Morrison
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More singles
- 1964: Do the Dog / Shop Around
- 1964: Do-Re-Wed / Green Onions
- 1964: Bend a Little / I'm in Love with You
literature
- Willmore, Mike: Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames . In: Shaw, Greg: Bomp! The British are coming. From the childhood days of English rock music . German by Walter Bengs. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag, 1983, pp. 150–153