The Easybeats

The Easybeats
The Easybeats (1968)
General information
origin	Sydney
Genre (s)	Beat music
founding	1964, 1986
resolution	1969, 1986
Founding members
singing	Stevie Wright († 2015)
Rhythm guitar	George Young († 2017)
Lead guitar	Harry Vanda
bass	Dick Diamonde
Drums	Gordon "Snowy" Fleet (1964–1967, 1986)
former members
Drums	Tony Cahill (1967-1969)

The Easybeats were an Australian beat band that had their biggest hit with Friday on My Mind in November 1966.

Band history

Friday on My Mind (label of the single from 1966)

The Easybeats were founded in Sydney in 1964 . The band members all came from families who had immigrated from Europe . Singer Stevie Wright was from London , rhythm guitarist George Young , the older brother of the AC / DC musicians Malcolm and Angus Young , came from Glasgow , Harry Vanda (lead guitar) came from The Hague , Dick Diamonde (nee Dingeman van der Sluijs) (bass ) was from Hilversum , and drummer Gordon "Snowy" Fleet was from Liverpool .

In 1965 the Easybeats became Australia's most successful pop band and triggered a hysteria - similar to Beatlemania in Europe - which was soon referred to as "Easyfever". The band produced a number of hits, initially written by Wright and Young, and from November 1966 exclusively by Young and Vanda, including For My Woman (# 33 on the Australian charts), She's So Fine (# 3), Wedding Ring ( # 7), Sad and Lonely and Blue / Easy as Can Be (# 21), Women (Make You Feel Alright) (# 4), Come and See Her (# 3) and Sorry (# 1). For the Australian Coca-Cola advertising they were also used with two sung jingles , as was not uncommon at the time .

On July 14, 1966, Easybeats traveled to Great Britain with the reference of four previous Australian top hits to record some records here. In September 1966, under the studio direction of Shel Talmy, four recordings were made in London's Olympic Studios in eight hours, including Friday on My Mind / Made My Bed, Gonna Lie in It . Talmy chose Friday on My Mind, featuring the distinctive intertwined riffs of two guitars, completed in just one take . His idea was the short drum solo shortly before the end, which introduces the last chorus. These two tracks were released as a single on October 14, 1966, along with 63 other competing singles. Friday on my Mind developed through the intensive airplay of the pirate stations in particular into the much-covered anthem (over 140 cover versions) of the working class about the anticipation that began on Monday for the last working day on Friday. In Great Britain, 250,000 records were made and reached sixth place, worldwide the million mark was exceeded and in May 1967 the gold record was awarded for this. Talmy produced 16 tracks for Easybeats, spread over eight singles, which could not repeat the initial success.

In 1967 Tony Cahill joined Snowy Fleet as the new drummer. Other hits were (And the Music) Goes Round My Head in January 1968, Hello, How Are You (two versions: one soft, one rockier) and Falling Off the Edge of the World (March 1968) and St. Louis (mid-1969 ).

In 1969 the Easybeats broke up. Vanda and Young remained as songwriters and producers, including for Sha Sha (1971) from Grapefruit and for John Paul Young ( Love Is in the Air , Standing in the Rain , Lost in Your Love ) and AC / DC (where Youngs younger brothers Angus Young and Malcolm Young play). Vanda / Young then started a comeback under other names at the end of the 1970s on Flash and the Pan with hits like Hey St. Peter , Down Among the Dead Men , Midnight Man , Early Morning Wake Up Call and Ayla . In 1986 the original line-up of Easybeats got together again for a few gigs as part of the revival boom. In 2005 the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame .

Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	UK	US	AU
1967	The Easybeats (DE) / Good Friday (UK) / Friday on My Mind (US, AU) United Artists 6588 / World Record Club 4801	-	-	-	US180 (5 weeks) US	AU*AU	First published: May 1967 in AT not published in AU until 1970 Producer: Shel Talmy

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

* The Australian album placements are currently not available, see also the chart format template .

More studio albums

• 1965: Easy ( Parlophone 7527; release: September 23)
• 1966: It's 2 Easy (Parlophone 7530; release: March 24th)
• 1966: Volume 3 (Parlophone 7537; release: November 3rd)
• 1968: Vigil / Falling Off the Edge of the World (UK, US) (Parlophone 7551 / United Artists 6667; release: June 18)
• 1969: Friends ( Polydor 184246; release: November 3rd)

Live album

• 2006: Live - Studio & Stage… They Called It Easyfever… (previously unreleased recordings; for the 20th anniversary of the 1986 Reunion Tour; Raven 40)

Compilations

• 1967: The Best of the Easybeats + Pretty Girl (Parlophone 7541)
• 1969: The Best of the Easybeats Volume 2 (Parlophone 7555)
• 1972: Let's Dance with the Easybeats ( Sunset 50 162)
• 1977: The Shame Just Drained: The Vanda & Young Collection Vol. 1 (Albert 026)
• 1980: Absolute Anthology 1965 to 1969 (2 LPs; Albert 1/2)
• 1981: The Easybeats (Hammard 062)
• 1982: The Raven EP LP Vol. 2 (Raven 06)
• 1985: Best of the Easybeats Featuring Friday on My Mind ( Rhino 124)
• 1989: The Easybeats Collection (Line Music / Impact 9.00823)
• 1992: The Definitive Series (Albert 472 297)
• 1995: The Best Of ... (Repertoire 4542)
• 1996: The Definitive Anthology: Aussie Beat That Shook the World (2 CDs; Repertoire 4505)
• 1999: Gonna Have a Good Time (Retroactive 9005)
• 1999: Best: Friday on My Mind (Zounds 2700020094)
• 2003: The Singles As & Bs (repertoire 5039)
• 2003: The Very Best of the Easybeats: Friday on My Mind ( Varèse Sarabande 302 066 437)
• 2004: The Complete Easybeats (6 CDs; Albert 337 582)
• 2005: The Best of the Easybeats (Repertoire 5040)
• 2014: Extended Play (Albert 88843083612; release: August 15)

EPs

• 1965: She's So Fine (Parlophone 70025; release: October)
• 1966: Easyfever (Parlophone 70032; release: August 4th)
• 1967: Friday on My Mind (Parlophone 70041; release: August)
• 1967: Pretty Girl (Parlophone 70046; release: September)
• 1967: Easyfever Vol. 2 (Parlophone 70048; release: November)
• 1979: Mean Old Lovin ' (Raven 01)
• 1980: Son of Easyfever (Raven 08)
• 1980: Son of Son of Easyfever (Raven 11)
• 1986: HistorEasy: Tour '86 Souvenir Medley (Albert 1871; release: October)
• 1989: Little Bit of Gold ( Rhino 73053; release: October)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	UK	US	AU
1965	For My Woman / Say That You're Mine She’s So Fine (EP)	-	-	-	-	AU33 (23 weeks) AU	First published: March 18, 1965 Authors: George Young , Stevie Wright
	She's So Fine / The Old Oak Tree She’s So Fine (EP)	-	-	-	-	AU3 (24 weeks) AU	First published: May 27, 1965 Authors: George Young, Stevie Wright
	Wedding Ring It's 2 Easy	-	-	-	-	AU7 (15 weeks) AU	First published: August 1965 Authors: Harry Vanda , Stevie Wright
	Sad and Lonely and Blue / Easy as Can Be It's 2 Easy	-	-	-	-	AU21 (18 weeks) AU	First published: November 4, 1965 Authors: George Young, Stevie Wright
1966	Women (Make Me Feel Alright) It's 2 Easy	-	-	-	-	AU4 (18 weeks) AU	First published: January 13, 1966 Authors: George Young, Stevie Wright
	Come and See Her / I Can See It's 2 Easy	-	-	-	-	AU3 (18 weeks) AU	First published: April 1966 Authors: George Young, Stevie Wright
	Easyfever (EP)	-	-	-	-	AU1 (17 weeks) AU	First published: August 4, 1966
	Sorry / Funny Feelin ' Volume 3	-	-	-	-	AU1 (17 weeks) AU	First published: October 13, 1966 Authors: George Young, Stevie Wright
	Friday on My Mind Friday on My Mind	DE10 (5 weeks) DE	AT16 (8 weeks) AT	UK6 (15 weeks) UK	US16 (14 weeks) US	AU1 (19 weeks) AU	First published: November 1966 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
1967	Who'll Be the One / Do You Have a Soul Friday on My Mind	-	-	-	-	AU14 (12 weeks) AU	First published: March 1967 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
	Heaven and Hell / Pretty Girl Pretty Girl (EP)	-	-	-	-	AU8 (11 weeks) AU	First published: June 2, 1967 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
	The Music Goes' Round My Head Vigil	-	-	-	-	AU33 (10 weeks) AU	First published: December 1967 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
1968	Hello, How Are You Vigil	-	-	UK20 (9 weeks) UK	-	AU34 (11 weeks) AU	First published: March 1968 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
	Land of Make Believe / Good Times Vigil	-	-	-	-	AU18 (13 weeks) AU	First published: July 18, 1968 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
	Lay Me Down and Die / See Line Woman Vigil / Friday on My Mind	-	-	-	-	AU59 (7 weeks) AU	First published: November 14, 1968 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
1969	St. Louis Friends	-	-	-	US100 (1 week) US	AU21 (18 weeks) AU	First published: June 1969 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
	Peculiar Hole in the Sky Friends	-	-	-	-	AU53 (4 weeks) AU	First published: September 25, 1969 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
	I love Marie Friends	-	-	-	-	AU93 (4 weeks) AU	First published: November 1969 Authors: Harry Vanda, George Young
1980	Friday on My Mind (Reissue) Absolute Anthology 1965 to 1969	-	-	-	-	AU92 (1 week) AU	Re-release: October 1980

More singles

• 1967: Falling off the Edge of the World (release: September 5th)
• 1970: Who Are My Friends (April 17th)
• 1970: Friends (release: May)
• 1976: Gonna Have a Good Time (Good Times)

swell

1. ^ John Tait, Vanda and Young: Inside Australia's Hit Factory , 2010, p. 62
2. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 223
3. ^ ARIA Hall of Fame. Australian Recording Industry Association , accessed August 6, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE AT UK US

Web links

Commons : The Easybeats  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Easybeats at Allmusic (English)
• The Easybeats at Discogs (English)
• The Easybeats at 45cat.com
• The Easybeats related to AC / DC ( Memento from May 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )