Billy Fury - The Early Years (Remastered) '2020

Tracks list

Tracklist

CD1
01. Wondrous Place (Remastered)
02. Colette (Remastered)
03. Gonna Type a Letter (Remastered)
04. Maybe Tomorrow (Remastered)
05. Margo (Dont Go) (Remastered)
06. Dont Knock Upon My Door (Remastered)
07. My Advice (Remastered)
08. Angel Face (Remastered)
09. Phone Call (Remastered)
10. Time Has Come (Remastered)
11. You Dont Know (Stereo) (Remastered)
12. Dont Say Its Over (Remastered)
13. My Christmas Prayer (Remastered)
14. Last Kiss (Remastered)
15. Since Youve Been Gone (Stereo) (Remastered)
16. Its You I Need (Stereo) (Remastered)
17. Alright Goodbye (Remastered)
18. Baby How I Cried (Remastered)
19. Dont Leave Me This Way (Stereo) (Remastered)
20. I Got Someone (Remastered)
21. Thats Love (Remastered)
22. My Advice II (Remastered)
23. You Dont Know (Remastered)
24. Turn My Back on You (Remastered)
25. Since Youve Been Gone (Remastered)
26. Its You I Need (Remastered)
27. Alright Goodbye (Stereo) (Remastered)
28. Dont Leave Me This Way (Remastered)
29. A Thousand Stars (Remastered)

CD2
01. Push Push (Remastered)
02. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (Ronnie Wycherley Demo) (Remastered)
03. Maybe Tomorrow (Alternate Take) (Remastered)
04. Loves A-Callin (Ronnie Wycherley Demo) (Remastered)
05. Paralyzed (Ronnie Wycherley Demo) (Remastered)
06. Well All Right (Aka Alright Goodbye) (Demo Version) (Remastered)
07. Cheating with Love (Demo Version) (Remastered)
08. Playing for Keeps (Ronnie Wycherley Demo) (Remastered)
09. Baby (Ronnie Wycherley Demo) (Remastered)
10. What Did I Do? (Demo Version) (Remastered)
11. Im Left Youre Right, Shes Gone (Ronnie Wycherley Demo) (Remastered)
12. My Advice (Demo Version) (Remastered)
13. What I Need? (Aka Its All You Need) (Demo Version) (Remastered)
14. Phone Call (Demo Version) (Remastered)
15. Dont Say Its over (Demo Version) (Remastered)
16. Since Youve Been Gone (Demo Version) (Remastered)
17. Cmon Everybody (Live) (Remastered)
18. Dont Tell Me Lies (Demo Version) (Remastered)
19. Love Love Love (Demo Version) (Remastered)
20. Maybe Tomorrow (Live) (Remastered)
21. Dont Knock Upon My Door (Demo Live) (Remastered)
22. You Wonder Why (Demo Version) (Remastered)
23. I Know Its Love (Aka Thats Love) (Demo Version) (Remastered)
24. Mean Woman Blues (Live) (Remastered)
25. Margo (Dont Go) (Live) (Remastered)
26. Thats Love (Alternate Take) (Remastered)
27. Dont Knock Upon My Door (Live) (Remastered)
28. My Babe (Live) (Remastered)
29. Phone Call (Stereo) (Remastered)
30. Dont Say Its over (Stereo) (Remastered)

In the early days of British rock & roll, there were dozens of contenders for
stardom: Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, and Marty Wilde were among the players who
rose to the challenge for at least a few years. Billy Fury, by contrast, was the
real article from day one, and never really surrendered the title. He was also
the most prodigiously talented of his generation of British rock & roll singers,
a songwriter of considerable ability, and a decent actor as well.
He was born Ronald Wycherley in Liverpool in 1940. A sickly child, he
experienced his first bout of rheumatic fever at age six, the beginning of
chronic health problems that would take his life before age 45. At 11, he
started music lessons, taking up the piano, and he got his first guitar at age
14. By 1955, the skiffle boom had begun in England and Wycherley was leading his
own local group, while earning money working on a tugboat and then as a
stevedore. By 1958, Wycherley was playing locally, had won a talent competition,
and was writing his own songs.
He was discovered by impresario Larry Parnes on October 1, 1958, in a story that
quickly assumed the status of legend among the British youth of the period. He
attended a performance of the Larry Parnes Extravaganza. One of the featured
performers was Marty Wilde, a hot young rock & roll star who was already
well-known from his appearances on the television series Oh Boy! Wycherley went
backstage to offer his own songs to Wilde in the hope that he might perform
them; instead, he was seen and heard by Parnes, who booked him into the show
that night. The applause that Wycherley received earned him a permanent spot on
the tour, and Parnes became his agent.
In keeping with Parnes established procedure of giving his singers stage names
derived from distinctive emotions and attributes -- Marty Wilde, Johnny Gentle,
Vince Eager -- Ronald Wycherley became Billy Fury. His early performances were
so suggestive by English standards that he was forced to restrain himself from
his more overtly sexual stage moves when a curtain was brought down on one of
his shows.
Furys recording career began early in 1959 with Maybe Tomorrow, a song that he
wrote which charted soon after its release. He made his television debut soon
after, in a televised play called Strictly for Sparrows, and was soon a fixture
on musical showcases such as Oh Boy! He revealed himself to be a talented
singer, and perhaps the closest that England came to producing its own Elvis
Presley, capable of dark, brooding, intensely sexual performances such as Baby
How I Cried (another original), but also of turning in gentle, vulnerable
ballads. His mix of rough-hewn good looks and unassuming masculinity coupled
with an underlying vulnerability, all presented with a good voice and some
serious musical talent, helped turn Fury into a major rock & roll star in short
order. He was one of the very few English rock & rollers of the period who could
(and did, on-stage and on television) stand alongside the likes of Eddie Cochran
and Gene Vincent with no apology or excuse for being there, and Cochran intended
to arrange an American tour for Fury, which never came about because of the car
crash that took Cochrans life at the end of that British tour.
After a string of hit singles, Fury cut his debut album, The Sound of Fury, in
early 1960. Released in April of that year, The Sound of Fury was the best rock
& roll long-player (even though it was only a 10 platter) ever to come out of
England up to that time. Fury was singing in a killer rockabilly-type voice and
was backed by some of Englands best rock & roll musicians, including guitarist
Joe Brown, one of the few serious rockabilly players in England, and drummer
Andy White, who later played on the original released version of the Beatles
debut single Love Me Do. The album sold well and has been re-released a
half-dozen times since, and among its strongest adherents is Keith Richards,
who, in a 70s interview, declared The Sound of Fury one of the greatest rock &
roll albums of its era and one he swore by.
Furys early-60s recordings took on a more sophisticated air as, in keeping with
the trends of the times, he moved toward more of a pop/rock sound, similar to
Elvis Presleys film material. He was still a strong singer, however, and never
had to fall back on the lure of novelty tunes or romantic pop to sell records.
Whats more, on-stage he had a very compelling and popular act, backed variously
by the Beat Boys and then the Blue Flames (the latter eventually added keyboard
player-turned-singer Georgie Fame to their lineup). Even the Beatles auditioned
to back Fury on a tour during this period, but they didnt make the cut.
In 1960, Decca made a decision to soften Furys sound, at least on his singles.
Talkin in My Sleep and Dont Worry backed by the Four Kestrels were two results
of this change, but they still come off as decent rock & roll songs. It was the
orchestrated Halfway to Paradise in 1961 that began his brief assault of the top
of the charts, hitting number three; it was followed a few months later by the
number two-charting Jealousy and the number five-charting Id Never Find Another
You. One of his self-penned B-sides of this era, Furys Tune, however, was an
even better representation of Fury at his most intense and charismatic; a dark,
brooding, fiercely seductive performance that was a match for the best work of
Elvis Presley.
By 1962, Fury was the top rock & roll attraction in England, backed by the best
band of the era -- the legendary Tornados of Telstar fame -- and appeared on
television regularly; he even made a real stab acting in the feature film Play
It Cool. He also ventured to America, making little impact (as was the case with
virtually every English rock & roller at that point), but he got to meet Elvis
Presley on the set of the film Girls Girls Girls. In 1963, Fury was in a seeming
unassailable position. By this time, his one-time rivals Cliff Richard and his
backing group the Shadows had shifted their focus to a much softer, more
romantic brand of rock & roll, leaving Fury the only harder- rocking music idol
of the era. His records sold well enough to justify the release of two
full-length LPs including the live recording We Want Billy. He got a new,
seemingly permanent backing band in the guise of the Gamblers, who provided him
with the support he needed to make his records and concerts among the best of
the period.
Only the arrival of his fellow Liverpudlians the Beatles on the top of the
charts ended Furys dominance of the teen music scene in England. They werent
that different as personalities -- a look at Furys performance in the movie Play
It Cool even brings to mind images of Ringo Starr, who grew up in the same part
of Liverpool -- except that the Beatles were more guileless and less calculated
in the way they presented themselves, and they played a harder, different brand
of music, less focused on pop and more on American R&B of the period.
Fury continued to chart records into 1964, and was considered hip and viable
enough to justify appearances on programs like Ready! Steady! Go! In the summer
of that year, he starred in a semi-autobiographical movie, Ive Got a Horse, and
he got a television show of his own later that year. He continued to get good
reviews for exciting shows into 1965, but by then the handwriting was on the
wall -- his records seldom charted higher than the mid-20s. Additionally, Furys
health began to deteriorate, which took him off the road.
In 1966, he left Decca and signed a five-year contract with EMIs Parlophone
Records, with which he had some modest success, but nothing like the frenzied
stardom of his first seven years in music. Fury underwent heart surgeries in
1970 and 1971, and resumed performing the following year. By the mid-70s, there
was a rock & roll revival going on in England that saw the re-release of The
Sound of Fury LP and other parts of Furys catalog, and he toured England
successfully with his one-time idol Marty Wilde. When he wasnt performing, Fury
looked after his other interests, which included wildlife preservation.
A 1976 heart operation brought an end to Furys musical career, except for
occasional recording and television appearances. In 1978, Fury re-recorded his
classic songs for K-Tel, and in the early 80s, he recut his old hits yet again
for Polydor (which, by that time, owned Decca). A single, Be Mine Tonight, just
missed the British charts in 1981. On March 4 of the following year, Fury
collapsed and nearly died while working on his farm. He went back on tour that
summer and managed to place the singles Love or Money and Devil or Angel on the
English charts that same season. Plans for a new album and a national tour were
made, but on January 27, 1983, he was found unconscious in his home, and died
that same day in hospital. Amid numerous tributes and memorials, a posthumous
single, Forget Him, charted in England later that year. Billy Fury remains
perhaps the most fondly remembered of Englands early rock & roll stars. In
contrast to Cliff Richard, he never changed his sound, and he also -- despite a
strong dedication to animal rights and conservation -- never mixed his personal
beliefs and his music in a public way. Numerous reissues and releases of
previously unreleased material by Fury have continued to appear in the compact
disc era, such as the 40th Anniversary Anthology double CD set, Beat Goes Ons
two-on-one CD of We Want Billy, and Billy, and 2018s The Symphonic Sound of Fury
on Decca -- a reimagining of tracks from his debut album and other hits, remixed
with a newly recorded orchestral backing performed by the City of Prague
Philharmonic.

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