Deadwood - Me And My Friends/ Little Joe

Sitar and string drenched summer anthem from "Black Is Black" songwriters

Label: Decca

Year of Release: 1971

Despite being released in the seventies, the Deadwood track "That Don't Help Me None", the flipside to their previous single "The Turning Of Them All", has been picked up by three psychedelic sixties compilations now. One of them, "Psychamania", mentions this follow-up disc in its sleeve notes and argues that it doesn't "carry the same weight". 

These things are relative, however. "That Don't Help Me None" is without question a frenzied piece of garage psychedelia which feels as if it fell through a timehole into 1971. Competing with such a furious, staggering monster was always going to be tough. "Me And My Friends" certainly isn't in the same ballpark sonically, but is a nice number - instead of gnashing their teeth and droning away, they opt for delicate sitar drones (themselves relatively unusual in pop by 1971) and country rock feels, all topped off with an anthemic summer chorus. 

You get a sense that Deadwood were slightly in thrall to an era that had passed over their shoulders a mere few years before, and their record company were gently nudging them along in a more contemporary direction. That tension doesn't create the wonders that it might, but does bring us a likeable bit of pop which shouldn't be completely filed away under "missed opportunities". The ambient beach sound effects on the record are also more Margate than Costa Del Sol, giving it a period charm we last heard on Starbreaker's "Sound of Summer", and you'll be humming along in no time.

The retro feels to this single become much more understandable when you realise who is behind the release. While information on the group is hard to come by, the credits to (Tony) Hayes and (Steve) Wadey on both their records suggest they at least were members. Both are probably best known for composing "Black Is Black", a huge hit for Los Bravos, as well as "Up And Down" for Eyes Of Blue. They also had their own beat 45 out in 1966 entitled "What Does She Want?" which failed to take off.

Press cuttings from the "What Does She Want" era inform us that Wadey was born in Malta and was a draughtsman who enjoyed tennis, whereas Hayes was from Buckinghamshire and was an office stores clerk who liked football, tennis and swimming. All vital information for teen pop pickers, but not much use to us here on this blog - though we can also glean that the pair served in the group The Trackers, who I doubt bear any relation to the sixties Texas group of the same name. 

This was Deadwood's second and last single, and what became of the pair once this project evaporated isn't clear, but "Black Is Black" became a deathless disc, issued in different styles by many artists, and even being put on the overhead projector as the token pop song in my infant school assemblies. Provided their publishing deal was strong, I'm sure that track kept royalty cheques clattering through their letterboxes for many years to come. 

If they're both still out there, I hope they're doing very well.

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