From: philip.davies Date: Wed Nov 6, 2002 9:33 am Subject: Born To Be With You: P J Proby P J Proby Born James Marcus Smith, November 6th 1938, Houston Texas Jim grew up listening to country and black gospel; later on, he became fascinated by rockabilly, and his stepsister (allegedly) dated the young Elvis After graduating from military school in 1957, he moved to Hollywood hoping to make it in the music business. Through his boyhood friend, teen-idol singer Tommy Sands, he made some connections that included songwriter Sharon Sheeley and he soon began recording singles under the name Jett Powers( from James Dean's Jett Rink character and Tyrone Power), with little success. Check out rockers Go Girl Go on Design and Loud Perfume on Beta. In the meantime, he worked as a demo singer (for Elvis allegedly)and also did a bit of acting, appearing in several B Westerns and an episode of Gunsmoke. Meanwhile, Jim was working on his own original songs, which earned him a composition contract with Liberty at the end of 1959; some of his material was recorded by Johnny Burnette ( the great "Clown Shoes) & The Ribbons/The Searchers (Ain't Gonna Kiss Ya). Rick Nelson , Jack Scott, Leroy Van Dyke and Jackie De Shannon apparently recorded his songs too. He also allegedly joined producer Kim Fowley's studio group The Hollywood Argyles in 1960, claiming to play the wine glasses (??) on Alley Oop. In 1961 Smith changed his to P.J. Proby, the name of a childhood friend of Sheeley. Proby cut several singles from 1961-1963, ranging from rock to pop to country, again without much luck or promotion. With the single "Wicked Woman," he even resorted to changing his name to Orville Woods in hopes of getting played on R&B radio stations. Finally, in late 1963, Proby met British producer Jack Good who happened to be putting together a TV special on the Beatles that was to feature several other up-and-coming artists. Proby's demo tape impressed Brian Epstein enough for him to make the cut, and Good outfitted Proby as an aristocratic fop, complete with ponytail, frilly shirt, tight velvet pants, and buckled shoes. After the special aired worldwide, Proby's first British single "Hold Me" a rocked-up rearrangement of a 1939-vintage pop ballad associated with Dick Haymes rocketed into the U.K. Top Five in early 1964. Proby's next two singles, "Together" and West Side Story's "Somewhere," took a similar tack, and both reached the British Top Ten as well. In early 1965, Proby was booked as part of a package tour, and on one of the London dates in late January, his pants ripped open from the knee all the way up. Proby claimed it was an accident, but when the same thing happened at the next show (much to the audience's delight), the censors descended and banned Proby from performing on television or in theatres. UK tabloids went after him as they had targetted Jerry Lee and Terry Dene in the 50s. Rushed out shortly after the ban, "I Apologise" just missed the Top Ten. Proby continued to release singles over the next two years, scoring another Top Ten hit with another W Side Story cover, "Maria," in late 1965. (Oddly, the preceding single "That Means a Lot" flopped despite being penned by Lennon & McCartney ) .The lack of promotional opportunities began to hurt Proby's chart placements, though, and he was also beset with financial problems. He attempted to crack the American market in 1967 and actually did land a Top 40 hit with "Niki Hoeky," which proved to be the extent of his success in his native country. Proby was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1968; in 1969, he recorded an album, 3 Week Hero that featured studio backing from all four future members of Led Zeppelin By this time, though, the hits had dried up. Thanks to Jack Good again, Proby appeared in Catch My Soul (alongside Lance LeGault), a musical version of Othello, in 1970, and subsequently became a regular on Britain's cabaret circuit. UK Liberty issued the California License lp under the name Jett Powers, not vintage material but contemporary sides cut with Emile Ford's old band the Checkmates. In 1973, Proby cut a less-than-stellar album, I'm Yours under somewhat shady circumstances for Ember. He also made headlines with his engagement to Dean Martin's daughter Claudia and his subsequent arrest for brandishing a shotgun. Proby re-emerged in 1978 to record an album with the Dutch prog-rock group Focus, Focus Con Proby and shortly thereafter starred in a Jack Good produced musical about Elvis (from which he was fired for improvising). Proby recorded sporadically during the `80s, including a series of more contemporary covers, and was also beset by marital difficulties and occasional run- ins with the law over flashes of temper. He was living in a terraced house in Bolton, Lancashire for a while. He nearly died after collapsing in 1992, and went completely sober afterwards.During the doldrums he's kept the wolf from the door by working in supermarkets, as a janitor and selling outlandish tales to the tabloids. In 1993, he appeared in the Good's biographical musical Good Rockin' Tonite and two years later in the Big O tribute show Only The Lonely. He toured with the Who's Quadrophenia musical. Proby attempted a recording comeback in 1997 with the EMI album Legend. Probably the best chronicle of his 60s lifestyle/fall from grace has been the novel I'm Still The Greatest Says Johnny Angelo written by Nik Cohn (would make a great Tarrantino movie). Cohn was a fan of Proby's, devoting a whole chapter to him in the seminal Awopbopaloobop etc book. Despite the many hyped claims the guy's a survivor and you can't knock him for hanging in there all thses decades Phil Davies Recommended listening Both Jett Powers 45s Available on Vintage RnR /Jett Powers Freedom cd Clown Shoes by Johnny Burnette Elvis Stage Show lp Astoria Bits of California License on Liberty See For Miles Legendary PJ Proby Magnum lp Clown Shoes Recommended Reading (with liberal pinches of salt) Now Dig This no. 90 Now Dig This no. 223 Nik Cohn's books mentioned earlier Recommended web site http://home.planet.nl/~kilkens/proby.htm