The Frays

In 1964 The Sneakers, released a 45 on the Columbia label Bald Headed Woman which was produced by Shel Talmy, and it was The Sneakers that The Who (as The High Numbers) had played with at the start of their run of Tuesday nights at the Marquee Club, which would become the stuff of Maximum R&B legend.

In 1965 they changed the name to The Frays and recorded an LP that was never issued. However, the holy grail of British Rhythm and Blues survived on a single acetate. With the exception of the song titles the only other information on the disc labels was words, The Frays, Marquee Club.

At the time the recording was made The Frays were Brian Howard on Vocals and Harmonica, Johnny Patto on Guitar, Clive Howse on Bass and Barry Gilford on Drums. They recorded the 12 track album at Marquee Studios which was situated behind the club. It secured a deal with Decca records. The Frays first release for the label was Walk On backed with the stunning group original Keep Me Covered.

The single failed to chart, the album remained unreleased so the band called it a day. But had this sole Frays LP been issued at the time it would have stood shoulder to shoulder with the great British R&B albums of the era.

The Frays album 90 Wardour Street (the address of Marquee), has been finally been released by Acid Jazz Records as part of its Rare Mod Series. Including the single, and a limited edition poster with the vinyl version, the band can now be appreciated as the very best in British R&B.