The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian and UK Top 10s. Afterwards they had a succession of hits including "Here It Comes Again" and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again"; continuing into the 1970s with more globally successful releases such as "Storm in a Teacup" and "Freedom Come, Freedom Go".

In 1966 their manager, Reginald Calvert, was shot dead in a dispute over pirate radio stations.

Biography

In 1958 two Birmingham teens, Rodney Bainbridge (born 31 March 1944) and Barry Pritchard (born 3 April 1944), were attending Moseley School and formed a duo called The Strollers, eventually adding a bassist and drummer. In 1963 The Strollers were spotted by music promoter/pirate radio pioneer Reginald Calvert and his wife Dorothy, who had started a performance school on their estate at Clifton Hall, near Rugby, Warwickshire, and invited Rodney and Barry to live there.

Among those who also attended the school at Clifton Hall were Calvert's other discoveries, such as Johnny Washington, Danny Storm, Buddy Britten and Robbie Hood (a.k.a. Mike West, who had sung with Johnny Kidd and the Pirates), who were being groomed for stardom when Rodney Bainbridge (now Rod Allen) and Barry Pritchard arrived. Reg would also go on to manage Screaming Lord Sutch and the pop group Pinkerton's Assorted Colours.

Calvert decided to pair Robbie Hood with Rod (now on bass) and Barry (on guitar) as his "Merry Men".

But after a short time, Calvert decided to break Rod and Barry off to form their own group with a singer named Johnny Washington, who was soon replaced by vocalist/guitarist Glen Dale (Richard Garforth) from Kent who was born on 24 April 1943. The new group was christened The Cliftones and featured as its roster: Rod Allen, Glen Dale and Barry Pritchard as vocalists, Chris Capaldi as piano player, Gary Fletcher as drummer and Tony Britnell (later with the group Jigsaw) as saxophone player.

The Cliftones placed an instrumental track on a compilation album, Brumbeat, issued by the local Dial record label. "Cygnet Twitch" was a working of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake", and they subsequently signed to British Decca in 1963. Their first single, a cover of The Jamies 1958 US hit "Summertime, Summertime", was credited to the Fortunes and the Cliftones. However, the vocalists (Rod, Barry and Glen) jettisoned the other Cliftones and added Andy Brown on drums and David Carr on keyboards renaming as "The Fortunes Rhythm Group", which was soon shortened to "The Fortunes". It was the group's American producer, Shel Talmy, who suggested their new name. and was a worldwide hit, including reaching Number 1 in Canada and the American Top 10. Their next two singles were "Here It Comes Again", a UK Number 4 (American Number 27), and "This Golden Ring" a UK Number 14. These sold well, but each less than the previous release.

In late 1965, the group first toured the US, which had them appearing on TV shows like Hullabaloo and playing for 10 days at the Fox Theater in Brooklyn alongside Wilson Pickett, The Toys, The O'Jays, Moody Blues, Peter and Gordon, Lenny Welch and The Vibrations

On 21 June 1966 the group's manager Reg Calvert was shot to death at his home by a former politician Major Oliver Smedley after a business dispute over their two pirate radio stations, Radio City and Radio Atlanta. Smedley was later found not guilty due to self defense.

And when Glen Dale left for a solo career in July 1966, he was replaced by Peter Lee Stirling (formerly of the Beachcombers and the Bruisers), then Scottish singer/guitarist Shel Macrae (from The Kimbos). Their first recording in 1967 was a version of the theme tune, "Things Go Better with Coke", but they are most remembered for introducing the 1969 new slogan recording, used as the main theme for Coca-Cola on both radio and television commercials — "It's The Real Thing".

In 1968 they covered The Move's hit "Fire Brigade" for the US market, but received little airplay or sales. And a recording of Jacques Brel's song "Seasons in the Sun" later that year also failed to generate any interest (but was later a big hit for Canadian Terry Jacks in 1974).

David Carr left the Fortunes in August 1968 due to back issues and moved into production work in the US. Scottish keyboardist George McAllister eventually succeeded Carr in 1970.

In 1970 they recorded an album, That Same Old Feeling, for the US World Pacific record label, with the title track, "That Same Old Feeling" (written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod), charting for the Fortunes but proving to be a bigger hit for another UK group Pickettywitch. The Fortunes then signed with Capitol in both the UK and US in 1971.

Then followed a steady succession of singles, some of which were hits outside of the UK and US. And it was during this period they had worldwide hits with "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" and "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" in 1971, along with "Storm in a Teacup" in 1972.

On 10 January 2008 Rod Allen died after suffering for two months from liver cancer. And during 2008, the regrouped band recorded a new album Play On and appeared in Las Vegas, the Netherlands and Belgium as well as the UK. They toured Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, in addition to the UK during 2009.

The band had a busy schedule in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Italy during 2010 and 2011 appearing in Belgium at the Vostertfeesten Festival in August 2010.

Drummer Paul Hooper left the band in early 2010 and was replaced by Glenn Taylor, formerly of Marmalade. The band then released a new studio album, Another Road.

The keyboard player in the original line-up, David Carr, lived and worked in Hollywood, California, doing session work, frequently working with The Ventures and also Kim Fowley. Carr died on 12 July 2011 from a heart attack.

Since 2011, the Fortunes have continued to appear on various 1960s theatre package shows with other artists of the era. Additionally, they have appeared in their own Past and Present theatre show and in 2015 released the accompanying Past and Present live album.

In 2018 the Fortunes successfully toured Australia and keyboard player Bob Jackson retired later in the year due to ill health. He was replaced by ex-Merseybeats and Tornados keyboard player and vocalist Chris Hutchison.

The band continues to feature on 1960s theatre shows such as "Sensational 60s" and "Sixties Gold" as well as cruise appearances and toured the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in 2022.

Former Fortunes singer Glen Dale died at a hospice care facility after a battle with heart disease, on 13 January 2019, at age 79. Singer Shel Macrae died in 2022 at the age of 77.

Streaming Hits in the 2020s

In 2021 the Fortunes had two hit singles on the Amazon, Spotify and iTunes download charts with "Never Too Far" (Smitham/Mooney) and "One Special Moment" (Smitham) the band's first chart entries since 1972. The band resumed a UK theatre tour as part of the Sensational 60s Experience package in October 2021 and released an album "Special Moments" in December 2021.

The Fortunes then signed to US label "Creative & Dreams" in 2022, releasing the singles "Hello My Friend" and "One Special Moment (US Remix), both hits on the UK Heritage Chart, hosted by Mike Read.

In 2023 the Fortunes again charted in the Heritage Charts with their live cover of Dusty Springfield's 60s hit "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself". This was from the "Sixty Years" album released in March 2023.

Members

;Original members

  • Rod Allen (born Rodney Bainbridge, 31 March 1944, Leicester – 10 January 2008, Eastern Green, Coventry) – lead vocals, bass (1963–2008)
  • Barry Pritchard (born Barry Arthur Pritchard, 3 April 1944, Birmingham – 11 January 1999, Swindon, Wiltshire) – lead guitar, vocals (1963–1995)
  • Andy Brown (born Andrew Brown, 7 January 1946, Birmingham) – drums (1963–1978)
  • Glen Dale (born Richard Garforth, 1939, Deal, Kent – 13 January 2019, Chesterfield, Derbyshire) – rhythm guitar, vocals (1963–1966)
  • David Carr (born 4 August 1943, Leyton, London – 12 July 2011)– lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1966–1978)
  • George McAllister (born 6 December 1945) vocals, keyboards - (1970–1977)
  • John Trickett (born Birmingham) – drums (1978–1984)
  • John Davey (born 13 September 1955, Watford) – vocals (1978–1983)
  • Rick Persell (born 19 October 1954, Ruislip) – guitar, vocals (1978–1981)
  • Paul Keatley - guitar, vocals (1981-1983)
  • Dave Pritchard - guitar, vocals (1981-1983)
  • Steve Wilson - guitar, vocals (1983)
  • Paul Hooper (born 20 August 1948, Wolverhampton) – drums (1984–2010)

Timeline

<timeline>

ImageSize = width:900 height:600

PlotArea = left:95 bottom:80 top:10 right:0

Alignbars = justify

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/01/1961 till:01/04/2024

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =

id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals

id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar

id:bass value:blue legend:Bass

id:keyboard value:purple legend:Keys

id:sax value:tan2 legend:Saxophone

id:drums value:orange legend:Drums

id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_album

id:bars value:gray(0.9)

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1961

ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1961

BarData =

bar:Rod text:Rod Allen

bar:Eddie text:Eddie Mooney

bar:Barry text:Barry Pritchard

bar:Glen text:Glen Dale

bar:Shel text:Shel Macrae

bar:Ricky text:Ricky Persell

bar:Michael text:Michael Smitham

bar:Chris text:Chris Capaldi

bar:David text:David Carr

bar:George text:George McAllister

bar:Bob text:Bob Jackson

bar:Geoff text:Geoff Turton

bar:Chris2 text:Chris Hutchinson

bar:Tony text:Tony Britnell

bar:Gary text:Gary Fletcher

bar:Andy text:Andy Brown

bar:John text:John Trickett

bar:Paul text:Paul Hooper

bar:Glenn text:Glenn Taylor

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

bar:Rod from:start till:10/01/2008 color:vocals

bar:Rod from:start till:10/01/2008 color:bass width:3

bar:Rod at:10/01/2008 text:†

bar:Eddie from:01/01/2007 till:end color:vocals

bar:Eddie from:01/01/2007 till:end color:bass width:3

bar:Glen from:start till:01/01/1966 color:guitar

bar:Glen from:start till:01/01/1966 color:vocals width:3

bar:Glen at:13/01/2019 text:†

bar:David at:12/07/2011 text:†

bar:Barry from:start till:01/01/1995 color:guitar

bar:Barry from:start till:01/01/1995 color:vocals width:3

bar:Barry at:11/01/1999 text:†

bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1963 color:sax

bar:Chris from:start till:01/01/1963 color:keyboard

bar:Gary from:start till:01/01/1963 color:drums

bar:David from:01/01/1963 till:01/01/1968 color:keyboard

bar:Shel from:01/01/1966 till:01/01/1977 color:guitar width:3

bar:Shel from:01/01/1966 till:01/01/1977 color:vocals

bar:Shel at:22/11/2022 text:†

bar:Ricky from:01/01/1977 till:01/01/1980 color:guitar

bar:Michael from:01/01/1983 till:end color:guitar

bar:George from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1974 color:keyboard

bar:Bob from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2018 color:keyboard

bar:Geoff from:01/01/2013 till:31/12/2013 color:keyboard

bar:Chris2 from:01/01/2018 till:end color:keyboard

bar:John from:01/01/1977 till:01/01/1984 color:drums

bar:Paul from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/2010 color:drums

bar:Glenn from:01/01/2010 till:end color:drums

bar:Andy from:01/01/1963 till:01/01/1977 color:drums

LineData =

at:01/10/1965 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/06/1970 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/06/1971 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/01/1999 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/01/2004 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/01/2008 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/01/2010 color:lines1 layer:back

at:01/01/2021 color:lines1 layer:back

</timeline>

Discography

See also

  • List of Capitol Records artists
  • List of performers on Top of the Pops
  • List of artists under the Decca Records label
  • Arts in Birmingham

References

  • The official Shel Macrae website
  • The Fortunes biography in Oldies.com
  • The Fortunes in 45-rpm.org.uk
  • The Fortunes at 45cat.com