Guitarist/vocalist Brian O'Hara and best friend guitarist/vocalist Joey Bower formed The Two Jays in 1957, changing its name to The Four Jays in September 1959 when bass guitarist/singer Billy Hatton and drummer Brian Redman joined the group. The Four Jays played around Liverpool in 1961, including the Cavern Club in March, and in November rhythm guitarist/singer Mike Millward joined the Four Jays in November 1961, followed by drummer/singer Dave Lovelady in September 1962. The band changed its name to The Fourmost in October, and the following year they signed a management contract with Brian Epstein, which led them to an audition by George Martin, who signed them to EMI's Parlophone record label. With Epstein as their manager, The Fourmost had access to early Lennon–McCartney compositions before they were recorded by The Beatles, and their first two singles were written by John Lennon. 'Hello Little Girl' was released on 30 August 1963 and reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart, and the follow-up single, Lennon/McCartney's 'I'm in Love', was released on 15 November 1963 and reached No. 17 in the UK. It was also notable as one of the earliest Beatles-penned songs to be released in the United States but, as with The Fourmost's other singles, it failed to chart there. Their biggest hit was their next single, with Russ Alquist's 'A Little Loving' reaching No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in mid-1964. From then on, none of the group's singles cracked the Top 20 in the UK, and they tried covers of other's hits, such as the Four Tops' 'Baby I Need Your Loving' and Elvis Presley's 'Girls Girls Girls', even though they had a talented songwriter in the group, with O'Hara penning most of their songs, many of which were used as b-sides, including 'Waitin' For You', 'That's Only What They Say', and 'You Got That Way'.
In 1965 they released their only 1960's album, with 'First And Fourmost' appearing in September 1965, and it included Jackie DeShannon's, 'Till You Say You'll Be Mine', alongside Jimmy Radcliffe's 'My Block', and their take on 'The In Crowd', which featured the brass section from Sounds Incorporated. In early 1966, the band was rocked by the sudden death of rhythm guitarist/vocalist Millward from leukaemia, and so they recruited George Peckham as replacement, and in August 1966 they re-visited the Beatles' songbook, covering 'Here, There And Everywhere. followed by a cover of George Formby's 'Auntie Maggie's Remedy' in November 1966, which highlighted the comedic element to some of the group's recordings. By 1968 they had moved to CBS Records, where they recorded 'Apples, Peaches And Pumpkin Pie', an R&B hit by Jay & the Techniques, followed by 'Rosetta' (suggested by Paul McCartney, who played piano on it), and 'Easy Squeezy'. Around 1969 the group stopped recording, and became popular on the cabaret circuit, but they will mostly be remembered for their early run of hits singles. It's surprising that after three Top 20 hits in the UK that Parlophone didn't offer them an album before their 1965 debut, as they could easily have scraped together enough material for a 1964 release, which could have sounded something like this. It's a fairly typical record of the period, containing fourteen tracks, and yet only running to just over half an hour.
Track listing
01 Just In Case
02 I Love You Too
03 Waitin' For You
04 Hello Little Girl
05 Baby I Need Your Loving
06 Why Do Fools Fall In Love
07 A Little Loving
08 You Got That Way
09 That's Only What They Say
10 I'm In Love
11 Respectable
12 How Can I Tell Her
13 My How The Time Goes By
14 If You Cry
