Sunday, December 03, 2017

The Fortunes: You've Got Your Troubles



Another of those great Sixties records that you have always known without being sure who recorded it.

The Fortunes were a Birmingham band  The article on Brumbeat gives the story of this, their greatest hit:
Decca gave the band one last chance. The Fortunes fifth single was a new composition written by then-unknown songwriters Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook with the recording featuring lavish instrumentation as well as the now trademark 3-part harmonies by the group alongside Rod Allen's lead. 
Produced by Noel Walker at Decca he recalled; "The Fortunes contract came up for renewal and Decca didn't want to renew it. I told Decca that they sung wonderfully and deserved another chance. I wanted to use them as singers backed by professional musicians". 
The song titled 'You've Got Your Troubles', suited the band's image perfectly with the record almost reaching the top spot in the British charts in August of 1965 and also climbing to Number 7 in the U.S. charts. 
The composers Greenaway and Cook were initially dismayed to discover an "unknown" group had recorded their composition but were happy with the song's success and still regard the Fortune's version to be the definitive one. 
The Fortunes had hits into the 1970s and a version of them (with no original members) is still active today.

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