John Askew (born 8 December 1936), known as Johnny
Gentle, is a British pop singer best remembered for having briefly toured
Scotland with the Silver Beetles – later known as the Beatles – as his backing
group in 1960.
John Askew was born and grew up in Liverpool. After
leaving school he was apprenticed as a carpenter, and, using a borrowed book
for instructions, made his own guitar. He teamed up with Bobby Crawford and the
pair began performing at local clubs, singing Everly Brothers songs, before
Askew took a job working on a luxury ocean liner. On his return, he entered
talent competitions as a solo singer, and changed his stage name, first to
George Baker and then to Ricky Damone.
He moved to London and worked on a building site, before
winning a talent competition at the Locarno Ballroom in Streatham. He was
auditioned by manager Larry Parnes, who won him a recording contract with
Philips Records in 1959, and gave him the stage name Johnny Gentle.
Gentle released two singles on Philips in 1959 – the
self-penned "Wendy", followed by "Milk From The Coconut" –
but they did not make the charts, and nor did an EP, The Gentle Touch,
combining the two singles. In early May 1960, Parnes co-promoted, with Allan
Williams, a show at Liverpool Stadium starring Gene Vincent supported by local
groups Cass and the Cassanovas, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Gerry and the
Pacemakers.
Parnes thought it
would be a good idea to use Liverpool groups as backing bands for his artists,
who included Billy Fury, and held auditions on 10 May 1960. This resulted in
the Silver Beetles being selected to back Gentle on a short Scottish tour.
George Harrison on stage with Johnny 1960 |
Although the group themselves were not specifically credited in tour publicity, being billed as "Johnny Gentle and his group", informally McCartney used the pseudonym Paul Ramon, Harrison called himself Carl Harrison, Lennon was "Long John", and Sutcliffe was known as Stuart de Staƫl. Their repertoire included "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", "Raining in My Heart", "I Need Your Love Tonight", "Poor Little Fool", "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do", "C'mon Everybody" (a tribute to Eddie Cochran, who had died while on tour with Gene Vincent a few weeks earlier), and "He'll Have to Go".
Gentle wrote a song on the tour, "I've Just Fallen
For Someone", reputedly with help from Lennon. The song was later recorded
by Adam Faith on his second album. Gentle also claims to have suggested that
Parnes sign the group, but Parnes at the time was only interested in managing
solo singers. After their return to
Liverpool, Gentle sang onstage with the
group at one of their performances, but, by the time he next needed a band to
tour with, they were unavailable as they had travelled to Hamburg.
Johnny with Billy Fury |
Johnny Gentle released three further singles on the
Philips label – "Darlin' Won't You Wait", "After My Laughter
Came Tears" (both 1960) and "Darlin'" (1961). He also made
several appearances on TV and radio shows. Changing his stage name to Darren
Young, he released his own version of "I've Just Fallen For Someone"
on Parlophone in 1962, again without success. By 1964, he had joined the
Viscounts.
He later moved to Jersey, where he worked as a joiner. He
is now retired and lives in Kent, and has made occasional appearances at
Beatles fan conventions. In 1998 he co-wrote a book, Johnny Gentle & the
Beatles: First Ever Tour. (Info Wikipedia)
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