Bruno Ceriotti also uncovered the eight (!) line-up changes of the predecessor band the Lonely Ones (with photographs of two of them) and the personnel changes in the Soul Agents as well.
This is an example of the level of detail that Bruno Ceriotti put into his descriptions: “The Lonely Ones added a rhythm guitarist called Jim Sach (b. James Victor George Raphael Sach, Saturday, May 13, 1944, George, South Africa) known to friends as ‘Jimmy’ or ‘Jimbo’. Jim started to play guitar in the spring of 1961 with an unnamed High School band that included singer Kevin Finn (aka Danny Finn of The New Seekers’ fame). They only performed once, at the school concert. Jim left school in the summer of 1961 and formed a band called The Avengers with friends from school and the youth clubs, but gigs were few and far between so he jumped at the opportunity of joining The Lonely Ones in early 1962 changing his day job to accommodate the heavy schedule of gigs that The Lonely Ones were enjoying.”
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In 1960, four young men from southwest Hampshire assembled themselves as an R&B band, first taking the name the Stallions and then settling on the name the Lonely Ones in January 1962. The initial line-up was Jerry Bromley (bass guitar), Tony Good (guitar), Johnny Keeping (vocals), and Chris Warman (drums). As noted above, Jim Sach joined as rhythm guitar, and Ray Taylor helped out as a second vocalist and roadie. Gene Anthony was added as a permanent second vocalist in the summer of 1962. The band went through several drummers between the summer of 1962 and August 1963 and made an appearance on June 17, 1963 on a local TV show called Home Grown.
In August 1963, the Lonely Ones “went pro”, losing Jerry Bromley in the process, so Jim Sach switched to bass guitar; otherwise, through the beginning of 1964, the Lonely Ones were back almost to its original line-up: Tony Good (guitar), Johnny Keeping (vocals), Gene Anthony (vocals), Chris Warman (drums), and Jim Sach (bass guitar).
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For the month of December 1963, the Lonely Ones performed seven days a week at a club called Storyville in Cologne (Köln), Germany (almost exactly one year after the last of the Beatles’ several residencies in Hamburg, Germany took place). British singer Paul Hanford was a sometime “guest vocalist” over this period; he previously had a hit in the U.K. with “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” (Brian Hyland had the original hit in 1960 with “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”). At this point, the band still had more of a pop sound but would transition to a harder R&B band the following year.
Gene Anthony and Chris Warman left the band in January 1964; and in March 1964, Don Shinn was added on organ. His strong keyboard work was essential to the band’s sound from then on. The Lonely Ones officially changed its name to the Soul Agents on April 2, 1964. The bandmembers were Tony Good (guitar and harmonica), Johnny Keeping (vocals), Jim Sach (bass guitar). Don Shinn (organ), and Roger Pope (drums).
(May 2014)
