Written by a member of the Kinks and performed by half of
Led Zeppelin, the little-known 1964 Freakbeat rocker “One Fine Day” does not
disappoint. You may listen to it above, Dear Reader, via the good wonders of
the internet. Play it loud and dance with abandon. The singer, Shel Naylor from
Coventry, is really named Rob Woodward, a bloke who went on to do some unusual
things with Stavely Makepeace and Lieutenant Pigeon. That he also played the
ukulele and clarinet—in addition to piano and guitar—should’ve offered a clue
as to his future eccentricity, but I get ahead of myself.
The Kink in question is guitarist Dave Davies, and the
members of Led Zeppelin in question are Jimmy Page (guitar) and John Paul Jones
(bass). Led Zeppelin wouldn’t materialize for a few more years, of course, but
the Kinks would become an international sensation the very same year with “You Really
Got Me” among other tunes. 1964 could’ve been worse, musically. David Bowie
recorded his first single, “Liza Jane,” and Jimi Hendrix made his first recordings
with the Isley Brothers. Also, a fellow named Rob Woodward cut two songs as
Shel Naylor for Decca: “One Fine Day” b/w “It’s Gonna Happen Soon.” The drummer
was thought to be the legendary Bobby Graham. Presumably, Messieurs Page,
Jones, and Graham were the backing vocalists. Outside, it was London, everywhere
you looked.
The Kinks might’ve recorded the song themselves, but
instead, Davies gave it to Naylor, a teenager at the time. Noting the influence
of The Ventures, an American group famous for its instrumental hit “Walk, Don’t
Run,” Davies relied on a Ventures-like chord structure in banging out “One Fine
Day” for Naylor on the piano; this, in the office of Davies’ manager.
Apparently, the Kinks made a demo, but only so Naylor could understand the
song. Given the benefit of—more than 50 years of—hindsight, I do believe that
one can hear The Ventures, The Kinks, and Led Zeppelin in “One Fine Day.” (I
also hear “Lonely Traveler” by Jimmy Lee Robinson, but that’s some archaeology
for another post.)
As for the song’s narrative situation, we can tell that the singer’s “baby” ain’t around, at present. She will, however, come back home “whoa yeahhh one fine day,” according to Naylor. She seems to have instigated the separation. He still loves her, apparently. You can interrogate his value system, or not, Dear Reader, but knowing London weather, he might be waiting for a while. In the meantime (thankfully!) everyone contented himself to strenuously rock out, in the postmodern tradition.
As for the song’s narrative situation, we can tell that the singer’s “baby” ain’t around, at present. She will, however, come back home “whoa yeahhh one fine day,” according to Naylor. She seems to have instigated the separation. He still loves her, apparently. You can interrogate his value system, or not, Dear Reader, but knowing London weather, he might be waiting for a while. In the meantime (thankfully!) everyone contented himself to strenuously rock out, in the postmodern tradition.
Shel Naylor, the music act, didn’t prosper, and Woodward
abandoned the career of his alter ego in favor of vastly different projects: first,
Stavely Makepeace, and later, Lieutenant Pigeon, which produced a 1973 chart-topping
UK hit with “Mouldy Old Dough.” The Stavely Makepeace material is collected in
a 2004 compilation album, The Scrap Iron
Rhythm Revue, which features a few interesting songs, including “Slippery
Rock ‘70s.” Critic Richie Unterberger describes the Lieutenant Pigeon sound as,
in part, “…martial percussion, century-old sounding parlor music, and weird
insertions of fifes, rickety pianos, and half-buried miscellaneous vocal
growls.” In addition to “Mouldy Old Dough,” devotees of Lieutenant Pigeon cite
“I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen” and “Desperate Dan” as worthy listens. In
every song that there’s a piano, it’s Woodward’s mother on the ebonies and
ivories.
Thus, the chord progressions of a successful American
instrumental band (The Ventures) were channeled by a member of an arriving
British megaband (Dave Davies of The Kinks) to produce a song (“One Fine Day”)
for an unknown Coventry teenager (Shel Naylor / Rob Woodward), who’d go on to
produce hits as part of two eccentric British groups (Stavely Makepeace and
Lieutenant Pigeon), but not before two future members of, arguably, the
greatest hard rock / heavy metal band ever assembled (Jimmy Page and John Paul
Jones of Led Zeppelin) would back Naylor / Woodward—by “back” we mean “blarst
forth!”—on his Decca A-side, “One Fine Day.” Whew. You get the idea. In short:
“One Fine Day” rocks. Enjoy, enjoy, hoy hoy!!!
Sources of
Information
One Fine Day
at 45cat
One Fine
Day at Discogs
Freakbeat
article at Wikipedia
Interview
with Dave Davies at Record Collector
Mag
Shel
Naylor blurb at Jimmy Page Session Man site
Bobby Graham
article at Wikipedia
Stavely
Makepeace page at Discogs
Stavely
Makepeace page at Allmusic
The Scrap Iron
Rhythm Revue article at Wikipedia
The
Scrap Iron Rhythm Revue page at Allmusic
Lieutenant
Pigeon page at Discogs
Mouldy
Old Music page at Discogs
Lieutenant
Pigeon page at Allmusic
Lieutenant
Pigeon article at Wikipedia
Ventures
page at Allmusic
Decca Biographical insert for “One Fine Day” (see photo,
above)