Georgie Fame's biography:
Georgie Fame was born Clive Powell on June 26, 1943, in Leigh, Lancashire. He joined a local pop group called the Dominoes as a pianist at the age of 14 in 1957. In 1959, the group won a talent contest, and bandleader Rory Blackwell offered Clive a job playing piano with his band. Clive accepted and soon moved into a London flat with members of the instrumental group Nero and the Gladiators.
During a routine show with Blackwell's band, Clive was spotted by songwriter Lionel Bart, who urged him to audition for beat group/record mogul Larry Parnes. Parnes liked what he saw and snapped up Clive as his new "discovery," changing his name to Georgie Fame. Georgie worked as a back-up musician for many singers and toured with American artists like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.
In late 1961, Georgie joined Billy Fury's first back-up band, The Blue Flames, with whom he stayed until the end of that year. He then switched to organ and formed his own Blue Flames with Colin Green (guitar),Mick Eve (sax),Tony Makins (bass),and Red Reece (drums). The band's lineup was fairly flexible and changed throughout their career.
By 1963, Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames were playing R&B and had switched managers to Rik Gunnel. Andrew Oldham became the publicist. In 1963, the group became the first resident act at London's subterranean Flamingo Club, owned by Ember Records boss Jeffrey Kruger. The Flamingo was a famous R&B/jazz club, and Georgie Fame's hip "Hammond and Horns" sound made him a cult favorite among London's mod underground.
With his growing army of supporters, Georgie Fame was finally signed to a record contract by Columbia in 1963. His first three singles didn't go very far, but in December 1964, his cover of Jon Hendricks' "Yeh Yeh" hit number one on the charts in the UK and was a minor hit in the US. The success of "Yeh Yeh" earned Georgie an appearance on Ready Steady Go! and an album release, a live set from The Flamingo Club titled "R&B At The Flamingo."
Georgie Fame continued to have hits, including "Get Away" in June 1966, which went straight to number one. He disbanded the Blue Flames in September 1966 and decided to go solo, signaling his move away from strict R&B to a more mainstream pop approach. He continued to have hits with songs like "Sunny," "Sitting In The Park," "Because I Love You," and "The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde."
