* En anglais uniquement
One of the most popular Merseybeat singers,
Billy J. Kramer (born
Billy Ashton) was fortunate enough to become a client of
Beatles manager
Brian Epstein and was gifted with several
Lennon-
McCartney songs in 1963 and 1964, some of which
the Beatles never ended up recording. Even tossing aside the considerable value of hearing otherwise unavailable
Lennon-
McCartney compositions, his best singles were enjoyably melodic pop/rock.
Kramer's cover of "Do You Want to Know a Secret" -- which featured clever production by
George Martin that hid the cracks in the singer's upper register with loud piano notes -- made it to number two in the U.K. in mid-1963, followed by another
Lennon-
McCartney effort, "Bad to Me." "I'll Keep You Satisfied" and "From a Window" were other gifts from
the Beatles camp that gave
Kramer solid hits; one
Beatles reject, "I'll Be on My Way," was even relegated to a B-side (
the Beatles' own BBC version was finally released in 1994).
Kramer actually landed his biggest hit, the pop ballad "Little Children," without assistance from his benefactors; the single also broke him, briefly, as a star in the United States, where it and its flip side ("Bad to Me") both made the Top Ten. He appeared in the legendary 1964 The T.A.M.I. Show rockumentary film, and
the Dakotas recorded some instrumental rock on their own, getting a Top 20 British hit with the
Ventures-ish "The Cruel Sea." Early British guitar hero
Mick Green, formerly with
Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, was even a
Dakota briefly. But after 1965's cover of
Bacharach-
David's "Trains and Boats and Planes," the hits ceased, as
the Beatles' and
Epstein's attention was lost.
Kramer continued recording throughout the '60s, even briefly venturing into hard psychedelic-tinged rock, and subsequently toured often on the oldies circuit. ~ Richie Unterberger