Done Me Wrong-Ember Beat Vol.2
CD, 2009

Done Me Wrong-Ember Beat Vol.2 (1965 - 66)

The Couriers were a London band, who toured South Africa and wound up starring in the musical comedy film Africa Shakes. Between 1963 and 1964 they recorded two albums for South African label Renown. The A-side of their one Ember single was a cover of Take Away , which had been the flipside of The Tams hit, Hey Girl Don t Bother Me . For the B-side the group chose an original, Done Me Wrong", a popular item among collectors of the British R&B/freakbeat scene, who will pay up to £30 for the single, or £100 if the scarce picture sleeve is intact. Chad and Jeremy scored just one British hit with their John Barry-produced debut single Yesterday s Gone , but were immensely successful in the States, eventually relocating to California and signing to Columbia. Done Me Wrong cherry-picks two tracks from their first Ember LP, including the Lennon/McCartney composition From A Window , plus the single What Do You Want With Me? , and two tracks from the duo s second Ember album. From their 1965 Ember album Dave Clark Five And The Washington DC's, Little One appears along with two unreleased recordings, which may have been intended for a single. There is also a previously unissued recording by Warwick-based The Midnights, plus both sides of their only Ember single. Grant Tracy was no stranger to Ember, having released four singles between 1961 and 1962. In 1965 he re-signed to the label for the Mark Wirtz-produced Tell Her I Lied c/w Never Let It Be Said , bringing the singer s relationship with Ember to a close. Mel & The Brothers Grimm released one single on Decca before signing to Ember as simply The Brothers Grimm for their second and last single A Man Needs Love , penned by George Fischoff and Tony Powers, the writers of 98.6 and Lazy Day (hits for Keith and Spanky & Our Gang respectively). (Flipside Looky Looky can be heard on Ember soul compilation Good To The Last Drop, fvcd019.) In 1965 Ember released Liverpool Today "Live At The Cavern". The whole album has been reissued by Fantastic Voyage (fvcd015) but here you can sample local heroes Earl Preston's Realms performing Daddy Rolling Stone . The rest of the tracks assembled here were originally issued on the Ember album Ireland's Greatest Sounds: Five Top Groups From Belfast s Maritime Club, which was released in1966 and presumably intended to exploit the success of Them featuring Van Morrison, who had emerged from this scene back in 1964. There is a track apiece from The Alleykatz, The Bats, Luvin' Kind, Just Five and The People (who evolved into rock group Eire Apparent and recorded an album with Jimi Hendrix.)