Amen Corner

Started by Ron Phillipchuk, August 13, 2018, 09:34:43 AM

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Ron Phillipchuk

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Amen Corner was a Welsh rock group, formed at the end of 1966 in Cardiff, Wales.

The band takes its name from The Amen Corner, a weekly rotation of the disc at Victoria Ballroom (later to become The Scene Club) in Cardiff, Wales, where every Sunday night Dr. Rock would play the best soul music in the United States.

Initially they specialized in a blues and jazz-oriented style, but were driven by their record labels to a more commercial sound. Their first singles and albums appeared on the subsidiary label Decca, Deram - see "Discography" below - but at the end of 1968 they went to join Immediate, [1] where they were immediately rewarded with a number 1, "(If Paradise is) Half at Nice" at the beginning of 1969, followed by another top 5 with the composition of Roy Wood, "Hello Susie".

After recording an album in the final studio, Farewell to the Real Magnificent Seven, with a cover version of the Beatles "Get Back" published as their swan song, they broke up at the end of 1969. [2] The band also appeared themselves in the The horror of 1969, Scream and Scream Again, sings the eponymous acronym of the film.

While saxophonist Allan Jones continued to form Judas Jump, guitarist and singer Andy Fairweather Low led Dennis Bryon (drums), Blue Weaver (organ), Clive Taylor (bass) and Neil Jones (guitar) into a new band, Fair Weather. The band has achieved success in the United Kingdom n. 6 with "Natural Sinner" in 1970 and recorded an album before he broke up after Blue left to join The Strawbs a year later.

Fairweather Low has successfully continued in a solo career in the 70s, in particular with the movie Top 10 "Wide Eyed and Legless" (1975); He became a regular player with Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Roger Waters. Blue Weaver joined The Strawbs as a substitute for Rick Wakeman and later after a 1974 tour with Mott the Hoople, and joined the Bee Gees, where Dennis Bryon was now the drummer. Blue Weaver also played keyboards for many artists as a session player and later as a Fairlight programmer.

The Decca back catalog of Amen Corner was reissued as part of the "Collection" series; and their immediate work, including their singles, the live album and the recorded material for an unpublished studio album, was published in If Paradise Was Half at Nice: The Immediate Anthology.
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leonegle

#1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cZO3jXZuGs

"(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" is a popular 1969 single by Amen Corner.

Originally written by the Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti for La Ragazza 77, alias Ambra Borelli, in 1968 as "Il paradiso della vita" ("The paradise of the life"), and later in 1969 for Patty Pravo as "Il Paradiso" ("The paradise"), it was translated into English by Jack Fishman. When it was offered to The Tremeloes as a potential single, they rejected it. It was recorded by Amen Corner as their debut single for their new record label, Immediate Records, and was produced by Shel Talmy.[1] The most successful of the band's six hit singles, it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1969, and number 34 when it was reissued in 1976.

There are two differing versions of the song by Amen Corner; one with orchestra and a prominent horn through the middle eight, and one version without either. However, the basic track and vocals appear the same in both.[citation needed]

In 1978, Northern Irish pop rock band Rosetta Stone recorded the song and released it as a single.

In 1987, Bucks Fizz member Cheryl Baker recorded the song and released it as a single.
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