The Les Humphries Singers - The Hits Collection

The Les Humphries Singers - The Hits Collection
CD (?) To Mp3 160 mbit/s
Included: CD Covers and this Info

The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s musical group formed in Hamburg, Germany by the English born Les Humphries (born 10 August 1940 - died 26 December 2007), who had been inspired to do his own version of the Edwin Hawkins Singers. The group consisted of a large number of singers of diverse ethnic origin, some of whom such as John Lawton also performed with other groups. Another member was Jürgen Drews; who later started a long-running solo career, starting with his 1976 hit in Germany, "Ein Bett im Kornfeld", a cover version of "Let Your Love Flow" by the Bellamy Brothers.

Additional members included Liz Mitchell, later front woman with Boney M., and John Lawton, who also sang for the German progressive/hard rock band Lucifer's Friend and would go on to be the frontman for Uriah Heep. The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end of the 1970s, after Humphries had left due to tax liabilities to his English homeland,Alton Hampshire.

Musical background and style
The Les Humphries Singers performed a mix of popular music and gospel covers and had some success in Europe with this approach. Much like contemporary German act Boney M., their music focused on Rhythm and blues, gospel, and disco, but often with psychedelic phasing or flanger effects on solos and bridges, and, much like James Last, much larger background choruses in the studio to emulate a live atmosphere. The Les Humphries Singers at the time brought something from the flair of the hippie movement into contemporary German-produced (but English-sung) pop music, especially due to their mixed ethnic background and peculiar fashion sense.

Hits and later re-unions
Two of their earliest and best known hits were "Mexico" (1972) which was based on the 1957 Jimmy Driftwood country hit "The Battle of New Orleans", and "Mama Loo" (1973), based on "Barbara Ann" by The Beach Boys. In 1976 they represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest with the Ralph Siegel title "Sing Sang Song", reduced to only six singers (their usual line-ups consisted of 20 performers and up), and came in 15th place, which they regarded as their beginning of the end as a band.

They disbanded shortly thereafter the same year, but enjoyed a short comeback as a pure live act from 1991 until 1993 performing their old hits. In 2006, the original band members formed 'The Original Singers' without Humphries, re-recording their old hits and also releasing new material.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Humphries_Singers Les Humphries SingersHomepage: http://www.geocities.com/lesshumphries/

Tracks:
01. Mexico - 1972
02. Sing Hallelujah - 1972
03. Put Your Hand In The Hand (Medley) - 1972 (Put Your Hand In The Hand / Che sarà / Christina)
04. Mamy Blue (Medley) - 1972 (Mamy Blue / Maggie May / Here's To You)
05. Sing Sang Song - 1976
06. Mama Loo - 1973
07. Promised Land - 1971
08. Spanish Harlem (Medley) - 1972 (Spanish Harlem / Red, White & Blue / (Is This The Way To) Amarillo)
09. We Are Going Down Jordan - 1971
10. Carnival - 1973
11. Get It On (Medley) - 1972 (Get It On / The Whitch-Queen Of New Orleans / Co-co)
12. Soolaimon - 1970
13. Never Ending Song Of Love (Medley) - 1972 (Never Ending Song Of Love / Si-si-si-senorita / Uncle Albert)
14. Old Man Moses - 1971
15. Love The One You're With - 1971
16. Amazing Grace - 1975
17. Blowing In The Wind - 1970
18. Kansas City - 1974
19. Rock My Soul - 1970
20. New Orleans - 1974
Note: Medly info and years adde by me IRON_HORSE