Jimmy Powell And The 5 Dimensions - I've Been Watching You (1969)

Jimmy Powell was born in Selly Oak on 13 October 1942, and grew up in the West Heath area of Birmingham, where he attended Turves Green Boys School. After leaving school, he apprenticed as a lathe operator in Kings Norton, while at night he fronted a local band called The Detours, and his powerful vocal style soon began to attract attention. In 1961 he turned professional after joining an up-and-coming local group called The Rockin' Berries, who were one of the UK bands who had a residency at the Star Club in Germany, often sharing the stage with The Beatles. The following year, The Rockin' Berries were auditioned by TV pop producer/Decca Records talent scout Jack Good, who showed little interest in signing the band to a contract but indicated their vocalist Jimmy Powell had some potential. The rejected group went back to Germany to continue their bookings at the Star Club, but by the summer of 1962, Powell left and returned to Birmingham, where he contacted Good, who promptly signed him up to a recording contract. His first release for Decca Records label was an energetic cover of Buster Brown's 'Sugar Babe', after which two more singles followed, but by 1963 The Beatles were making a big impact on the British charts. and singing groups rather than solo performers were the new "in" thing. 

Powell went down to London where he became involved with the local blues scene at London's famous Marquee Club, and his manager introduced him to a hot blues act that he'd named The 5 Dimensions. Powell was soon given the position of lead vocalist, and about 6 months later they added a second vocalist/harmonica player called was Rod Stewart. Stewart stayed as part of the line-up for about a year, but rivalry between the two singers led to him leaving and taking some of the band with him to back Chuck Berry on a British tour. In 1964, The Dimensions were hired to provide backing for Jamaican singer Millie Small on her hit recording of 'My Boy Lollipop', and although it has long been thought that Rod Stewart played harmonica on the record, Powell claims that it was actually him who played on the session. The band signed to Pye Records in 1964, and their first single was the Powell original 'That's Alright', backed with Bo Diddley's 'I'm Looking For A Woman'. Due to changes in the group line-up, the second Pye single - a re-make of 'Sugar Babe' - had future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on guitar and bass, along with drummer Clem Cattini, and this version may be the definitive one, as it shows Powell in fine form. 

In 1966, Powell recruited an existing Manchester group called The Puzzle, consisting of Steve Bolton on lead guitar, Alan Stone on bass, Paul Smith on tenor sax and Mick Green on drums, and he renamed them Jimmy Powell and the Dimensions (dropping the "5"), but they soon split up, and Powell took over a Coventry band called 'Willy's Cult', comprising Dave Fulford on vocals, Rod Godwin on guitar, Willy Morris on bass, Alan Shepherd on sax and flute, Stan Byers on trumpet, and Tom "Duke" Russell on drums. They performed together regularly on the British club and university circuit until 1968, and released two singles for Decca, with 'Unexpected Mirrors' coming out in 1967 and 'I Just Can't Get Over You' appearing in 1968. The singles failed to register with the public, however, despite a high-energy sound strongly reminiscent of the early Stones, and Powell formed a new version of the Dimensions in 1968, with Ray Spiteri on guitar, Bob Spiteri on bass and Derek Bunt on drums. They performed in Germany and on the UK college circuit, releasing four singles on the Young Blood label between 1969 and 1970, again without success. Later in the 1970's, Powell worked as the part-time manager of a furniture company, while still performing in pubs with a band, the Survivors, but during his time with the various incarnations of the (5) Dimensions he had already recorded enough material to be able to produce an album by 1969, just before his actual debut solo record, and this post shows what it could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 I've Been Watching You

02 Sugar Babe
04 Time Mends Broken Hearts
04 That's Alright
04 I Just Can't Get Over You
06 Love Me Right
07 Unexpected Mirrors
08 Roosevelt & Ira Lee

09 I'm Looking For A Woman
10 Slow Lovin' Man
11 Real Cool
12 Nine Live Wire
13 Gonna Find A Cave
14 I Can Go Down