The Fleur De Lys (or Les Fleur De Lys as they were originally known) were formed in Southampton in 1964, and were the brain-child of Dave Jay, Southampton's answer to Brian Epstein. The original line up consisted of Frank Smith on vocals and guitar, Danny Churchill on bass and vocals, Alex Chamberlain on organ, and Keith Guster on drums. After a little over a year of continuous hard slog they came to the attention of Tony Calder, Andrew Loog Oldham's partner in the newly formed Immediate records, and he offered them the chance to make a record, with the Jimmy Page-produced 'Moondreams' being released in November 1965. The band never liked the A-Side, but agreed to record it as they had written a song to be included on the flip entitled 'Wait For Me', which they felt better represented their live sound, but when the record was issued their version was replaced by an instrumental with the same name performed by session musicians. Possibly partly as a result of this, Churchill became disillusioned with the music business and quit the band, being replaced by Gordon Haskell, who had previously been playing with The Dowlands. This new line up set off for a month long residency in Germany at the start of 1966, and it was there they met Phil Sawyer, who was an amazing young guitarist from London, who had previously been with legendary Mod/R&B band The Cheynes, alongside Peter Bardens and Mick Fleetwood. He was then playing with a band called Johnny Deen and The Deacons, but wasn't happy, and so jumped at the chance of joining Les Fleur De Lys.
On their return to the UK, Chamberlain decided to leave the band, but Immediate Records offered them the chance to record their second record, which was a cover of The Who's 'Circles', and their version has since become the definitive version of the song. Shortly afterwards, Smith left the group, leaving Guster as the only original member of the group, and so he had to recruit new members, settling on Chris Andrews, an old friend of Phil Sawyer's, on vocals and Pete Sears on keyboards. Throughout 1966 the band were constantly gigging, and they were approached by Nicky Wright and Kenny Barker, two young movers and shakers on the London scene, who asked if they could manage them. They introduced the band to Frank Fenter, who was at that time head of Atlantic records in the UK, and was married to South African singer Sharon Tandy. She had been recording for Pye Records, but through Fenter had managed to get a record deal with Atlantic, and he wanted the group to become her backing band for live shows, and so in late 1966 he signed them to Polydor records and became their manager. They began recording on Polydor almost immediately, and one of the first sessions they did featured overdubs by Jimi Hendrix, who had recently arrived in the UK, and was living with Guster and Haskell.
The band's first release for Polydor was 'Mud In Your Eye', which was a superb slice of freakbeat, but shortly after its release in December 1966, Sawyer left to join Shotgun Express, and he was replaced almost immediately by Bryn Howarth. The early part of 1967 was spent gigging, mostly on their own, but sometimes backing Tandy. In May, Sears left to join Sam Gopal's Dream, and the rest of the group started working at Polydor studios as session musicians for other artists. In June, Andrews was approached by Howard Condor, who wanted the band to record a track for him which was written by his protégé Rod Lynton, and the group agreed. The result was a one off single which was released under the name Rupert's People, and 'Reflections Of Charles Brown' / 'Hold On' has become another well-respected piece of psychedelia. It was soon after this recording that Andrews left the band to pursue a solo career under the name Tim Andrews, and the remaining trio spent an increasing amount of time playing with Tandy, and doing session work at Polydor Records. Towards the end of 1967 they issued another record under their own name, with 'I Can See A Light' being a departure from their usual style, but which was still a beautiful piece of orchestrated 60's pop, and the same day that it was issued Frank Fenter took the unusual step of releasing another Fleur de Lys recording, 'Tick Tock', under the pseudonym Shyster.
As 1968 dawned, the band were wanting to stretch out, and felt the need to get a full time vocalist on board, so Tony Head, a friend of Haskell's from his early days in Bournemouth, was soon given the job. Things were looking good for the band when, shortly after Head joined, Haskell decided he'd had enough and left to join The Flowerpot Men. Auditions were held for a new bass player and in came Tago Byers, ex member of Reading's top R&B band The Moquettes. The first single after this change was 'Gong With The Luminous Nose', which was issued in March 1968, but it was actually recorded a few months earlier and featured Haskell on lead vocals. The first job of the new line-up was to finish sessions with John Bromley for his album 'Sing', and they then began work on some new material. Ahmet Ertegun, legendary boss of Atlantic Records in America, watched the band play whilst in the UK and was so impressed that he signed them to Atlantic Records, with their first release for the label being 'Stop Crossing The Bridge', a powerhouse of a track that is now considered a high water mark of British Blue Eyed soul. Fenter tried to cash in once again by issuing another of their old recordings, 'Butchers And Bakers', this time as Chocolate Frog.
In 1969 the band set about recording new material, and by February they had finished their next single 'Liar', and also the next Sharon Tandy record, 'Gotta Get Enough Time'. and in March they began work on what was to be their last record, 'Two Can Make It Together, which was issued under the name Tony and Tandy with The Fleur De Lys. Just as the record was making an impression on radio and TV, and was selling well, Guster was involved in a serious car accident that left him with a broken neck, and he was unable to perform for three months. By the time he had recovered enough to return to London, Howarth had announced that he was leaving the UK and going to America to join Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer in his new band, and Tandy had become very ill, and was no longer able to sing. Head then went to work for Sparta Music as a session singer, and Byers and Guster joined The Amboy Dukes, leaving The Fleur De Lys as a footnote in the history of UK freakbeat and psychedelic rock. Most of their singles were superb examples of 60's freakbeat, and by 1968 they had enough material under their belt to release what would have been an excellent album, and so as they never got around to it in their lifetime, here is what it could have sounded like had it appeared some time in 1968. It includes that early b-side that was taken away from them by Immediate, plus 'Tick Tock' and 'Butchers And Bakers', as although they weren't singles by the band, they did record the tracks.
Track listing
01 Mud In Your Eye
02 So, Come On
03 Stop Crossing The Bridge
04 I Can See A Light
05 Gong With The Luminous Nose
06 Prodigal Son
07 Circles
08 Nothing To Say
09 Tick Tock
10 Brick By Brick
11 I Walk The Sands
12 You've Got To Earn It
13 I've Been Trying
14 Hammerhead
15 Butchers And Bakers
16 Wait For Me
