THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

No “Lies”, The Greatest Imitation Beatles Song Ever Was Written by Barry Gibb!

Bryan Davies — “Watch What You Say”

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This ’64 A-side — a spot-on Beatles pastiche by Aussie teen idol Bryan Davies — is the greatest early Beatles imitation I have ever heard. Sorry, Knickerbockers! And, as Aaron Carter incredulously exclaimed, “Holy sht this was written by Barry??*”

Yes, indeed, it was written by Barry Gibb! Richie Unterberger notes that “[i]t’s not well-known that the Bee Gees wrote many songs between 1963 and 1967 that were covered by Australian artists, but never recorded by the group[, m]ost . . . solo Barry Gibb compositions”. As Richie says, Barry did “excellent early Beatles imitations” — another of which he did for Davies, “I Don’t Like to Be Alone,” hit #43 in Australia.

About Davies, the First Decade of Rock says:

Born. . . in Manchester, England, Bryan was four years old when his parents moved to Australia, settling in Sydney. . . . By the time he was ten years old he was singing regularly on radio station 2SM’s Gang Show. Bryan, with his clean-cut good looks, became Australia’s answer to the American teen idols of the late Fifties and early Sixties. He made his singing debut on 27th September 1960 on Channel Seven’s television show Teen Time and in March 1961 he made his debut performance on Channel Nine’s Bandstand. He soon became a Bandstand regular and this led to him signing a recording contract with EMI Records. His first single was released in March on EMI’s subsidiary label Columbia Records but it failed to make the charts. His follow-up, a cover of American teen idol Mark Wynter’s Dream Girl . . . spent eighteen weeks in the chart, peaking nationally at number one . . . . Davies had a Top 10 hit single in October with Five Foot Two and a Top 40 hit in February 1962. In March he scored his own television program on the ABC. At seventeen-years-old Bryan became the youngest compere to host a national television show. The Bryan Davies Show ran for seventy-two episodes . . . . In October 1962, he met Norrie Paramour a top British composer, producer and conductor who was touring Australia with British female singer Helen Shapiro. Paramour was so impressed with Bryan and encouraged him to come and record in the UK. During 1963 he released two more singles but neither made any impact on the charts. In December he appeared in the surfing musical Once Upon A Surfie before sailing to London in February 1964. Although he didn’t go on to achieve international stardom the trip did stimulate him as an entertainer. Bryan returned to Australia in October with a different singing style and a new ‘mod’ appearance. Between 1965 and 1968 he recorded eight singles for the HMV label with his only chart success coming in 1967.

Kimbo adds:

Davies first hit single, a cover version of Mark Wynter’s “Dream Girl”, reached #2 in Sydney, #6 in Brisbane, #4 in Melbourne, #1 in Adelaide and #2 in Hobart in June 1961. This was a phenomenal effort for his first ever release. Davies appeared on 1960s TV pop shows, Sing! Sing! Sing! and Bandstand (from 1961). His second hit was “Five Foot Two Eyes of Blue” (October 1961), which reached #5 in Sydney and went top 20 in most other capital cities. It was originally performed by the California Ramblers in 1925 as “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?”. His other popular singles were, “Twist-N-Twirlin’/Slicin’ Sand Twist” and “Ten Pin Bowling”. He supported Jimmie Rodgers on his tour of Australia in 1961. At age 17 Davies became the youngest person in Australia to host their own TV show, The Bryan Davies Show, from March 1962. . . . From December 1963 to January 1964 Davies appeared in Once upon a Surfie, a youth oriented musical . . . . centred on the antics of Gadget . . . “a snooty surfing girl whom the rest of the cast are intent on bringing down a peg or two.” It was a parody of the then-popular Sandra Dee Gidget films. . . . In 1963 Davies met Norrie Paramour, a British composer, producer and conductor, who was impressed with the singer’s work and was encouraged to return to England in February 1964. In May that year he recorded with Paramour producing. Davies returned to Australia in October and “adopted a more Beatles-influenced style and appearance.” In February 1967 he re-entered the Sydney charts top 20 with “Alberta”, his last hit recording. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, “by the late 1960s Davies had moved into cabaret and television work.” Davies took up acting and hosting roles for TV shows . . . .

Here Davies does “I Don’t Like to Be Alone” on Australian TV:

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