Albert Embankment - As Tears Go By/ Cover Me

Intense cover of the Stones penned track with gravely male vocals and Joe Cocker's backing singers

Label: Decca

Year of Release: 1971

The back catalogue of Decca in the early seventies is perplexing to say the least. The label had lost their cash cow by that point (The Rolling Stones) and seemingly their sense of direction as well. They staggered forward like a corporate zombie, scoring the occasional middle-of-the-road hit almost by chance, then moving on taking whatever else happened to fall in their path. 

Sometimes this approach worked, but worryingly frequently it didn't. Anyone heard of Ditch Cassidy, Country Jug, Farnborough Firework Factory, Music Room, Rivington Pike or Colin Pilditch? Bonus points offered if you've ever even seen a copy of any of these artist's singles - some of them are absurdly scarce, and no, I've absolutely no idea what most of them sound like (I did bid on the Farnborough Firework Factory 45 on eBay not long ago, but the winning bidder was too enthusiastic for my cautious self). The label was financially propped up by the handling of MCA's British arm and manufacturing and distribution of Jonathan King's initially extraordinarily successful UK Records, but in its own right was worryingly dizzy.

Albert Embankment always seemed to me to be yet another example of a one-single wonder on the label, as rare as it was mysterious. The A-side is a cover version of the label's old boy wonders The Stones, but is a distinctly empassioned version, ignoring Marianne Faithful's take and instead incorporating throat-shredding lead vocals and gospel styled backing vocals. Without wishing to accuse anyone involved in the recording of unoriginality, it was clearly put together by people who either admired Joe Cocker or noted his success with "A Little Help From My Friends", and tried applying the same technique to the Rolling Stones catalogue.

Sadly, my copy of it is quite scratched and I'm highly unlikely to come across another one soon (if ever). Nevertheless, it's not ruined and you can hear that the recording works well, putting a new spin on an old classic which will delight some listeners and leave others cold. It all depends on how tied you feel to the intentions of the original. 

The Joe Cocker comparisons I made when I first heard this were obviously not as idle as I worried, too. The producer Michael Flick dropped the 45Cat website a line to state that the whole thing was recorded in Canada by an artist known as Jay Caress for release on the Decca affiliated New Syndrome label. Howard Leese took on arrangements, keyboards and guitar, while Flick handle drums and Terry Gottlieb played bass. Apparently Cocker's backing vocalists The Blackberries were also involved in the session, which explains why the mood feels so damn familiar.

So far as I can tell, the single didn't go on to get a Canadian release, so why it managed one in the UK, and why it appeared under the name "Albert Embankment" (also Decca's UK address at that point) is a mystery not just to me, but apparently everyone involved. It seems likely that the recording was brought to a UK Decca Executive's attention and seemed just as worthy of a punt as a lot of the other material they were pumping out at the same time. When it completely flopped, presumably nobody involved in the work was really informed.

Mike Flicker would later go on to work on numerous huge hits, not least Heart's records throughout the seventies, whereas Howard Leese worked with Tom Middleton and Terry Gottlieb also worked on some Heart records and other acts throughout the era. All had some success in other guises, though their old employers Decca were quickly absorbed by PolyGram in January 1980 and ceased to be a major label in its own right.