save my soul cover by john kelman , d christopurlus

• published: 10 Nov 2014
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Just Four Men - Biography with Gerry and The Pacemakers and The Beatles, who had just brought in Ringo to replace Pete Best. Upon returning from Hamburg Star Club in December 1962 The Beatles had all new gear and sold off some of their old stuff, with John Kelman buying George's guitar. Having no transportation of their own, The Four Just Men travelled to gigs on buses, or, if the gig were close, pushing a pram loaded with their equipment to their destination. John Kelman had become an extremely proficient guitar player and was temporarily lured away for a spell with Freddie Starr and The Midnighters and local musician, Harold 'Lally' Stott, became his replacement. The McKiernan Agency took over The Four Just Men and provided gigs all over the North West of England. Now able to support themselves financially, and with John Kelman returning in July, the group decided to turn professional and base themselves in Manchester. Pete Turner decided to quit and Mancunian Keith Sheperd, recommended by their manager Alan Cheatham, was brought in. The group were approached by Ric Dixon who signed them to his Kennedy Street Enterprises agency, who handled The Hollies, The Merseybeats, Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, Freddie and The Dreamers, The Big Three, The Four Pennies[UK], Herman's Hermits, Dave Berry and many others. Ric obtained work for them, including a deal with Granada Television to provide background music for dramas and plays, plus the creation of the theme for the Friday Night TV show. Vocalist Pete Maclaine had been bumped out of The Dakotas and was invited into The Four Just Men. A recording artist audition was held at Regent Sound Studios for Andrew 'Loog' Oldham with Pete Maclaine on lead vocals and John Paul Jones on piano but the group was rejected. A second audition with vocalist Pete Maclaine at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, in front of Ron Richards, resulted in the group being signed in September 1964 to Parlophone. However, Pete Maclaine wanted his name included in the group's name, in order to protect his integrity as a solo performer, but Ron Richards wanted a group name without a 'leader' and Pete was left out of the group. "That's My Baby" b/w "Things Will Never be the Same" was recorded and copies of the single were pressed but a phone call was received from another group claiming the name of Four Just Men. Ric Dixon found that the name was registered and TV's Scene at 6:30 held a competition to rename them. Meanwhile, EMI repressed the single under the name Just Four Men. Tower Records in the US did not receive news of the name change and released the record under the group's original name. Dutch group Johnny Kendall and The Heralds also recorded "That's My Baby" for a B-side release. A second single, "There's Not One Thing' b/w "Don't Come Any Closer" was released on February 5 1965. Just Four Men were included in a nationwide tour headlined by Del Shannon with The Shangri-Las, Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits and Paul Dean. Upon completion of the tour, they took part in another package tour with The Rolling Stones and The Searchers. This was immediately followed by six weeks in Paris supporting David Garrick. A third single was recorded, "In the Shelter of Your Arms", written by Jerry Samuels (aka Napoleon XIV) but EMI chose not to release the record nor renew the group's contract. Back in Manchester, Burt Bacharach was being filmed at Granada TV for a special and producer John Hamp was told a new Bacharach/David song "Trains and Boats and Planes" was available for recording purposes. John Hamp suggested to Just Four Men that the song would be ideal for them. Just Four Men recorded the song with Rod Taylor on vocals but would not allow it to be released since the group wanted their own compositions to be hits. Ric Dixon passed the song over to Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas R 5285 who had a UK number 12 chart placing with the single. With no recording contract and lack of commercial success, Keith Sheperd quit the group in frustration. Stuart Sirrett (formerly in Wayne Fontana's original group The Jets) was brought in