Babe Ruth (band)

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Babe Ruth


Img_capt = Babe Ruth in 1975. Left to right: Alan Shacklock, Dave Hewitt, Jenny Haan, Ed Spevock, and Steve Gurl.
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Origin = Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England
Genre = Heavy rock
Years_active = 1971–1976, 2005–present
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Past_members = Jenny (Janita) Haan
Dave Hewitt
Dick Powell
Dave Punshon
Alan ShacklockBabe Ruth were a rock music group active in the 1970s from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. They had a heavy sound marked by powerful vocals from Janita Haan and full arrangements by Alan Shacklock. They had more success in North America than at home.

When the group was first formed in 1971 (year in music), they were called Shacklock after their guitarist Alan Shacklock. Members included Janita Haan and Dave Hewitt. Then Dave Punshon and Dick Powell (brother of Slade drummer Don Powell) joined. The first release was their single "Elusive". The first album, "First Base" went gold in Canada. In 1973, Ed Spevock replaced Powell and Chris Holmes replaced Punshon on the second album. In 1975, Steve Gurl, keyboardist from Wild Turkey replaced Holmes for the third album. The same year, Shacklock exited and Bernie Marsden (Wild Turkey) joined the team for the fourth album. After that Haan and Hewitt left. Though no original member remained, the group got Ellie Hope and Ray Knott for the fifth album in 1976. Shortly before they disbanded they were joined by the young 17 year old Birmingham born Simon Lambeth who made a few appearances on their last tour, his hauntingly naive sound on rhythm guitar behind the lead of Marsden promised much but sadly it was too late; Marsden moved on to bigger things and joined Whitesnake. Simon changed careers and sadly was lost to the music scene.

A disco cover of Babe Ruth's classic "The Mexican" appeared in the late 70's, performed by the Bombers. This version inspired an electro/freestyle cover produced by John Jellybean Benitez in 1984, for which he managed to recruit Haan on vocals. It was a huge underground dance hit.

In late 2005 and early 2006, Haan (now Janita Haan Morris), Shacklock, Punshon, and Hewitt were recording new material together in Nashville [http://www.bobbyshred.com/baberuth.html] , with Spevock recording his drums in London. The album was completed September 2006, and is now available. [http://www.baberuthband.com/news.asp]

Members

* Jenny (Janita) Haan: vocals, 1971-1975 (born Janita Haan, 9 May 1953 in Edgware, Middlesex)
* Dave Hewitt: bass and vocals, 1971-1975 (born David Hewitt, 4 May 1950, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire)
* Dick Powell: drums and percussion, 1971-1973
* Dave Punshon: electric piano and piano, 1971-1975
* Alan Shacklock: guitars, vocals, organ, percussion, and string arrangements, 1971-1975 (born 20 June 1950, in London)

Other Members

* Jeff Allen: drums, 1971
* Ed Spevock: drums, 1973-1976 (born Edmund Spevock, 14 December 1946, in London)
* Chris Holmes: keyboards, 1973 (born Christopher Noel Holmes, 12 September 1945, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire)
* Steve Gurl: keyboards, 1975-1976
* Bernie Marsden: guitars, 1975-1976 (born Bernard John Marsden, 7 May 1951, in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire)
* Ellie Hope: vocals, 1976
* Ray Knott: bass, 1976
* Simon Lambeth: guitars and backing vocals, 1976

Discography

Albums

# "First Base (album)" (featured cover art by Roger Dean), 1973, Harvest SW-11151
# "Amar Caballero", 1973, Harvest SHVL 812
# "Babe Ruth", 1975 LP Harvest 11367, 1993 CD One Way 56845
# "Stealin' Home", 1975
# "Kid's Stuff", 1976
# "Que Pasa", 2007 (Download only [http://www.baberuthband.com/news.asp] )

Singles

* "Rupert's Magic Feather" / "Flood", 1971, Decca F 13234 [http://www.rockdetector.com/artist,786.sm]
* "Wells Fargo" / "A Few Dollars", 1972, Harvest HAR 5061
* "Ain't That Livin'" / "We Are Holding On", 1973, Harvest HAR 5072
* "If Heaven's On Beauty's Side" / "Doctor Love", 1974, Harvest HAR 5082
* "Wells Fargo" / "The Mexican", 1974, Harvest HAR 5087
* "Private Number" / "Somebody's Nobody", 1975, Harvest HAR 5090
* "Elusive" / "Say No More" (Spevock / Gurl), 1976, Capitol CL-15869
* "The Duchess of New Orleans" / "The Jack O'Lantern" / "Turquoise", 1976, Harvest SPSR 377

Compilations

* "Greatest Hits", 1977
* "Grand Slam: The Best of Babe Ruth", 1995.
* "First Base / Amar Caballero", 1998, BGO CD 382. Two albums remastered with a comprehensive article about the band and photos.
* "Babe Ruth / Stealin' Home", 2000, BGO CD 452. Two albums, remastered with a comprehensive article about the band and photos.

Video

* "Babe Ruth in Concert", DVD of 1975 Montreal concert.

Bootleg

* CD of a live recording from the BBC, 1975. Program called "The Archive Session" introduced by Alan "Fluff" Freeman. the tracks are:
# Intro
# Joker
# Black Dog
# King Kong
# Amar Cabellero pt. 2
# Isn't that so
# Gimme som leg
# Baby Pride
# Outro

References

* "The Tapestry of Delights" - "The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963-1976", Vernon Joynson, ISBN 1-899855-04-1

External links

* [http://www.baberuthband.com Official site]
* [http://www.bobbyshred.com/baberuth.html Bobby Shred's Babe Ruth Tribute Page]
* [http://www.alexgitlin.com/baber.html Alex Gitlin's site]
* [http://www.vic-thompson.com/babe_ruth/index.html Vic Thompson's site] (complete with music sample and lyrics), [http://www.baberuthband.co.uk mirror site]