Label / Cat. No: HIRA HL 8536
First Released: 1972

What The Album Blurb Says…

In the grooves of the record contained within this sleeve is a wealth of talent performed by one family of four people – mother, father, daughter and son.

Don’t run away with the idea tha this highly popular family foursome became a versatile show overnight. What they are today is the product of many years experience in the world of entertainment. The mother and father, Ellen and Eddy, were both playing individually in concert parties when they met and married in their early 20′s. Ellen is an organist and vocalist and Eddy is an organist, accordionist and pianist.

The musical twosome continued for a number of years but it was a forgone conclusion tha their two children, Sharron and Adrian, would follow in their parents’ footsteps.

Sharron had just reached the age of 10 when she was considered proficient as an alto saxophonist and was introduced into her parents’ well-presented show. As years went by, she added clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophones, bass guitar, vibraphone and her contralto voice and is now a very accomplished young lady – a versatile musician with a charming personality.

Adrian was introduced into the show two years later at the age of eight and his terrific personality showed through in his ability as a percussionist and guitarist. Now he is a young man with a wealth of experience behind him and is a very polished performer.

It was at this point that “The Kaye Family” was born and Sharron and Adrian soon proved their worth by helping to obtain rave notices in “The Stage” and other newspaper media.

The family went on to appear at many top venues throughout the country in every field of the variety entertainment industry – theatres, halls, commercial studios, clubs, cabaret, restaurants and the like.

success followed success and now HIRA RECORDS place The Kaye Family before you to perform at your command in your own home. This high quality long-playing record shows clearly some of the many facets of this fascinating family.

Sit back and relax and dwell in the wonderland of sound that the Kaye Family presents to you – and you alone!

Drift along on clouds of romance, feel philosophical, hear the swirling colours of sun-drenched Spain, linger upon lonely seashores, fly amongst the stellar constellations, go for a trolley ride, swing with the up-tempo big band style beat.

yes, all this comes to you everytime you fall under the magical spell of the sound of The Kaye Family.

Happy listening!

Martin Philips

What I Say

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back. Hello. Sorry for the delay…. The real world took over for a while. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

And what a way to come back, a return visit to The Kaye Family everyone’s favourite family musical combo.

After hearing the ‘Live!’ album, I just had to go back to the charity shop where I’d bought it to see if there were any others there, and Bingo!, this little beauty was in my hands in a matter of moments.

Pre-dating ‘Live!’ by a couple of couple of years, this album is so much more fulfilling. The production values here are vastly superior, and we have a clear sound rather than the somewhat muddy live recording. Having said that, I’m not sure if that’s entirely a good thing. After all, you can actually hear Sharron (note, two ‘r’s – very showbiz) and Ellen’s arch vocals, combining to provide a sound that I find slightly scary. Listen to ‘You’re Just In Love’ and tell me you haven’t been even slightly traumatised.

The album is of course worth every penny, if only for the sleeve notes. At last I get to know all their names. Ellen and Eddy – what a pairing. A partnership made in the stars, names that chime together. And let’s not forget the second generation, Adrian and Sharrrrrron, virtuoso musicians in their own right. And please note, I’ve been very realistic here, and made sure that I didn’t run away with the idea tha this highly popular family foursome became a versatile show overnight. Only a fool would do such a thing.

Musically there’s not much of a surprise – I can’t see that they took any major direction changes between this and ‘live’. I mean, I would love to have found that this was their forgotten psychedelic masterpiece, or they’d made an experimental jazz album. But this is again simply a series of standards set to a bontempi bossa nova beat.

Which takes me back to Adrian. I may have suggested in my last review that he was conceived just because Ellen and Eddy needed a drummer for the band. I take it back of course. After all, he’s not exactly prominent – throughout the whole of side one I couldn’t tell if it was Ade or the organ’s built in rhythms that were providing the percussion – some of the fancier fills during Telstar testify to a human hand. His playing is subdued, almost unnoticeable. If only Keith Moon had been more like Adrian Kaye, things would be very different today. Ah, the benefit of hindsight.

The choice of songs seems to show their club roots – a couple of ‘modern’ tracks, and plenty of old favourites for the mums and dads. Of course, with Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron being a clarinettist, ‘Stranger on the Shore’ was a given – I suspect she’d just taken her Grade 5 exam, and that was one of the set pieces, so the family recycled it into their set, chuck in a bit of an inappropriate fancy rhythm and Bob’s your uncle. You know, Bob Kaye. Everyone knows Bob.

So, er…. yes. This was pretty much as I’d expected. I’m glad I revisited this fine family. I can’t decide if it’s a good or a bad thing that this kind of act isn’t around any more. Or maybe it is – maybe I should’ve been watching ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ to discover the 21st Century’s ‘Kaye Family’ rather than listening to 35 year old oddities. All I know is that my world is marginally richer thanks to Ellen, Eddy, Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron and Adrian. Thanks guys, you’ve been great.

As a special treat, you too can listen to ‘The Kaye Family Album’. I’ve stuck the whole thing up HERE though you may have to endure some scantily clad girls in your area to download the file. Sorry. Just scroll down a bit, wait for the counter to hit zero (it’s only a few seconds delay), type in the code, and there you have it, The Kaye Family Album in all its glory. I’m good to you people, I really am. Oh, and you can see the full size cover by clicking on the image at the top of the entry. Really, I should stop being this good. It hurts.

Tracks

Side 1

1. The Wonder Of You
2. Blowin’ In The Wind
3. Stranger On The Shore
4. You’re Just In Love
5. Telstar

Side 2

1. Trolley Song
2. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
3. Espana
4. The Wedding
5. Ticket To Ride / ‘A’ Train / Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Final score:

7 out of 10