The following text is a free translation taken from Pop Thing!, a site I recommend in the section "Better than me" of this blog, since they are doing a very good job from many years ago. I wrote to them few days ago, and asked for permission for the traslation of the text they have in their website on The King's Boys. They kindly gave me what I asked for the same day! Many, many thanks!! Please, have a look to Pop Thing! in order to corroborate what I am saying.
NOTE: [...] mine.* mine.
"During the 60s Barcelona there were a lot of bands, many of them with ephemeral lives, and just stressed beyond his inner circle. A few, the big names, signed to major labels and became famous. And
then there is a third class of bands, like The King's Boys: those
who had a significantly more important role, that even recorded music,
but now almost unknown. Josep Maria Bagur, the drummer of the quintet The King's Boys, recalls for us.
A few days ago, Josep Maria commented on the band at Loog!. He was not identified as a member of the band, but we assumed he had something to do with them and asked about it. We discover that he was the drummer of The King's Boys. Of course, we asked him to tell the story, to which he agreed immediately:
Josep
Maria Bagur: "The King's Boys were formed in Barcelona in 1961 till 1969. Enric Garcia was the singer, Juan Manuel Torquemada
played lead guitar, Manuel Tejada rhythm [guitar], I was the drummer, and Jordi
Oliveira was the bassist .
Jordi deserves special mention because, besides being the soul of the
band, was admired by all other bassists of those times. Simply listen
to the recordings we made to realize. Jordi had been to The Meteors and
was disputed by The
Mustang and by The Catinos, but [he] chose to join The King's Boys. He and I
complemented each other perfectly in rhythm. That, and the voice of
Enrique Garcia, did not tardásemos to record an [EP] with Belter, a
company that was very important then."
"The
first and second EP came out in 1964. Later, in 1965, recorded the
third and the last one, and that in 66 the band began to disperse.
Manuel Tejada had to leave due to family problems. I also announced that
I left
to devote to the family business, but only when they found a
replacement with sufficient guarantees. The chosen one was Rafael Carrasco, who
had been the drummer of Los Sirex. By consequence of all this, Enric Garcia
left. [The] others [members], flagged by the fantastic Jordi
Oliveira, continued, but did not return to record a disc over
and early 1970, after a tour throughout Spain, [along] with Franciska
and Eliseo del Toro* (which was unsuccessful) The King's Boys were
dissolved. The only thing,
for quality, continued long involved with music, acting and
accompanying various famous singers then, was Jordi, who died recently. "
*Franciska
and Eliseo del Toro are brothers.
"In
our most successful period, from 1963 to 1966, [we] acted in famous
landmarks such as El Pinar, the San Carlos Club, El Palacio de los Deportes
(where were made some major music festivals with bands many Sunday
mornings)
and major nightclubs in Catalonia. During the summers, we played in
different towns of the Costa Brava, which is very common in most
renowned groups of those years. We tended to Blanes, San Feliu de
Guixols and mainly ,
Lloret de Mar. In one of the festivals held in the Palacio de los Deportes (which
was at Lleida St. - Barcelona), the national police suspended
the act, because we caused uproar when our singer jumped into the
yard seats, to a mad audience. Thanks to the timely intervention of our manager, police prevented retaliate against us. "
"The
King's Boys opened the legendary San Carlos Club and act on it during
the first season. Afterwards, as we had some prior commitments, we could
not continue longer and were replaced by one of the great bands of the
time: Los Sirex .
The day was over, we played together and the two bands, to effect
change, we chose a piece of Ray Charles. Undoubtedly, the public could
attend an extraordinary performance of both bandss, among other things, due
to the rivalry
between Luis Gomis and I. Both were regarded as two of the best
drummers of the moment. As you know, The Sirex dedicated a song to this
hall, which incorporated to one of their discs, and entitled 'San Carlos Club', is was a customized version of 'Route 66' that made the Stones ".
"Our
band, like others of the beloved sixties, deserves all the
recognition of those who now have the most sophisticated systems for
both their live performances, and for the recordings. As an example of the
difficulties of the time, [...] Belter studies were in the theater of La Alianza
del Poble Nou. Guitars were connected directly to the recording
equipment, so we could not hear what the two
guitarists and bassist were playing .
This also applied to my case, because the drums were settled in one of
the boxes, taking advantage of the same resonance. Of course, I did not
hear anything at all, and had to faithfully interpret the songs,
without
missing a beat, or get ahead or back, as it was the only point of
reference for guitars. A mid-sixties, in Spain, there was no "cut and
paste": If following the recording, it was the slightest
fault, had to re-record it all again. And last but not least, the
record company pushed for you that it took as little as possible, since
the costs of the study were very expensives. Of course, had to finish within
hours the four pieces that made an EP and could not return the next
day, because that would have recording too expensive. "
Let us now listen this cover of
"Just one look", by Doris Troy, and The Hollies. Enjoy!
