Dave Edmunds

Did You Know?

• Edmunds' first band was a piano duo called the Edmunds Bros Duo with his older brother Geoff, formed when he was 10 in 1954.
• His 1970 hit 'I Hear You Knocking' was originally intended to be a cover of 'Let's Work Together', but he adapted the arrangement after Canned Heat released that song first.
• British DJ John Peel was so impressed by Love Sculpture's 'Sabre Dance' that he played it twice in one programme on 'Top Gear', helping it become a Top 5 hit.
• Edmunds' only acting role was as a band member in the David Essex movie Stardust.
• In 1985, Edmunds served as musical director for Carl Perkins's 'Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session' TV special, which featured George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and Rosanne Cash.

Career

Dave Edmunds came into the world on 15 April 1944 in Cardiff, Wales. When he was ten, in 1954, he started playing music in a piano duo called the Edmunds Bros Duo alongside his older brother Geoff, who was born on 5 December 1939 in Cardiff. The two brothers later joined a group called the Stompers, which eventually changed its name to the Heartbeats, formed around 1957. That lineup had Geoff Edmunds and Allan Goldsworty on rhythm guitars, Dave on lead guitar, Denny Driscoll on lead vocals, Johnny Stark on drums, and Tom Edwards on bass.

After that, Dave and Geoff played in the 99ers, a band that included scientist and writer Brian J. Ford. Around 1960, Edmunds became part of Crick Feathers' Hill-Bills, where he went by "Feathers" on lead guitar, with Zee Dolan on bass, Tennessee Tony on lead vocals, Tony Kees on piano, and Hank Two Sticks on drums. The first group he actually fronted was the Raiders, a Cardiff-based rockabilly trio formed in 1961, with Brian 'Rockhouse' Davies on bass and Ken Collier on drums.

Edmunds was the sole constant member; later additions included bassist Mick Still, drummer Bob 'Congo' Jones, and bassist John Williams, who performed as John David. The Raiders mostly stuck to playing in South Wales. In 1966, after a brief stint with the Parlophone recording band the Image alongside local drummer Tommy Riley, Edmunds moved toward a blues-rock sound. He reunited with Congo Jones and John Williams, added second guitarist Mickey Gee, and formed the short-lived Human Beans, which played mainly in London and on the UK university circuit.

In 1967, the band recorded a cover of "Morning Dew" on the British Columbia label, but it didn't make any chart impact. After about eighteen months, the core of Human Beans became Love Sculpture, again a trio with Edmunds, Jones, and Williams. Love Sculpture put out their first single, "River to Another Day," in 1968. Their second single was a fast, frantic rock version of Khachaturian's classical piece "Sabre Dance," inspired by Keith Emerson's classical rearrangements.

It became a Top 5 hit after British DJ John Peel, impressed by the track, played it twice on his "Top Gear" show. The band released two albums.