Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth in 1975. Left to right: Alan Shacklock, Dave Hewitt, Jenny Haan, Ed Spevock, and Steve Gurl.
Background information
Origin	Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England
Genre(s)	Blues rock, Progressive rock
Years active	1971–1976, 2005–present
Former members
Jenny (Janita) Haan Dave Hewitt Dick Powell Dave Punshon Alan Shacklock

Babe Ruth is a rock music group, primarily active through the 1970s, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. Their characteristically 'heavy' sound is marked by powerful vocals from Janita Haan and full arrangements by Alan Shacklock. They are acknowledged as having more commercial success in North America than in their home country.

When the group was first formed in 1971 (year in music), they were called Shacklock after their guitarist Alan Shacklock. Members included Janita Haan and Dave Hewitt, with Dave Punshon and Dick Powell later joining. The first release was their single "Elusive"; their first album, First Base, went gold in Canada. In 1973, Ed Spevock replaced Powell and Chris Holmes replaced Punshon on the second album. In 1975, Steve Gurl, keyboardist from Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey replaced Holmes for the third album. The same year, Shacklock exited and Bernie Marsden (Wild Turkey) joined the team for the fourth album. After this, Haan and Hewitt left.

Though no original member remained, the group incorporated Ellie Hope and Ray Knott for the fifth album in 1976. Shortly before Babe Ruth disbanded, they were joined by the young 17 year old Birmingham born Simon Lambeth who made a few appearances on their last tour. Lambeth's hauntingly naive sound on rhythm guitar, behind the lead of Marsden, promised much but sadly it was too late; Marsden moved on to bigger things and joined Whitesnake. Simon changed careers and sadly was lost to the music scene.

Ellie Hope did an outstanding job on the lp and later had a solo effort in the booming disco era but later efforts are hard to pin down.

A disco cover of Babe Ruth's classic "The Mexican" appeared in the late 70s, performed by the Bombers. This version inspired an electro/freestyle cover produced by John Jellybean Benitez in 1984, for which he managed to recruit Haan on vocals - the cover subsequently becoming noted for its popularity as an underground dance hit.

Between late 2005 and early 2006, Haan (now Janita Haan Morris), Shacklock, Punshon, and Hewitt recorded new material together in Nashville ^[1], with Spevock recording his drums in London. The album was completed September 2006, and after being made available in digital form via the band's official web site, it is scheduled for release on CD in the first quarter of 2009. ^[2]

Members

• Jenny (Janita) Haan: vocals, 1971-1975 (born Janita Haan, 9 May 1953 in Edgware, Middlesex)
• Dave Hewitt: bass and vocals, 1971-1975 (born David Hewitt, 4 May 1950, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire)
• Dick Powell: drums and percussion, 1971-1973
• Dave Punshon: electric piano and piano, 1971-1975
• Alan Shacklock: guitars, vocals, organ, percussion, and string arrangements, 1971-1975 (born 20 June 1950, in London)

Other Members

• Jeff Allen: drums, 1971 (born Jeffrey Allen, 23 April 1946, in Matlock, Derbyshire).
• Ed Spevock: drums, 1973-1976 (born Edmund Spevock, 14 December 1946, in London)
• Chris Holmes: keyboards, 1973 (born Christopher Noel Holmes, 12 September 1945, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire)
• Steve Gurl: keyboards, 1975-1976
• Bernie Marsden: guitars, 1975-1976 (born Bernard John Marsden, 7 May 1951, in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire)
• Ellie Hope: vocals, 1976
• Ray Knott: bass, 1976
• Simon Lambeth: guitars and backing vocals, 1976

Discography

Albums

1. First Base, 1973, Harvest SW-11151. U.S. #178^[3]
2. Amar Caballero, 1973, Harvest SHVL 812. U.S. #75^[3]
3. Babe Ruth, 1975 LP Harvest 11367, 1993 CD One Way 56845. U.S. #169^[3]
4. Stealin' Home, 1975
5. Kid's Stuff, 1976
6. Que Pasa, 2007 (Digital download from BabeRuthBand.com and forthcoming CD release in early 2009 on Revolver Records)

Singles

• "Rupert's Magic Feather" / "Flood", 1971, Decca F 13234
• "Wells Fargo" / "A Few Dollars", 1972, Harvest HAR 5061
• "Ain't That Livin'" / "We Are Holding On", 1973, Harvest HAR 5072
• "If Heaven's On Beauty's Side" / "Doctor Love", 1974, Harvest HAR 5082
• "Wells Fargo" / "The Mexican", 1974, Harvest HAR 5087
• "Private Number" / "Somebody's Nobody", 1975, Harvest HAR 5090
• "Elusive" / "Say No More" (Spevock / Gurl), 1976, Capitol CL-15869
• "The Duchess of New Orleans" / "The Jack O'Lantern" / "Turquoise", 1976, Harvest SPSR 377

Compilations

• Greatest Hits, 1977
• Grand Slam: The Best of Babe Ruth, 1995.
• First Base / Amar Caballero, 1998, BGO CD 382. Two albums remastered with a comprehensive article about the band and photos.
• Babe Ruth / Stealin' Home, 2000, BGO CD 452. Two albums, remastered with a comprehensive article about the band and photos.

Video

• Babe Ruth in Concert, DVD of 1975 Montreal concert.

Bootleg

• CD of a live recording from the BBC, 1975. Program called "The Archive Session" introduced by Alan "Fluff" Freeman. Tracklisting:

1. Intro
2. Joker
3. Black Dog
4. King Kong
5. Amar Cabellero pt. 2
6. Isn't that so
7. Gimme som leg
8. Baby Pride
9. Outro

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ ^{a b c} Billboard, Allmusic

• The Tapestry of Delights - The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963-1976, Vernon Joynson, ISBN 1-899855-04-1

External links

• Official site
• Bobby Shred's Babe Ruth Tribute Page (Unfortunately "Bobby Shred" has passed away, just hope that the web continues //Vic Thompson
• Alex Gitlin's site
• Vic Thompson's tribute site site