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Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band are an England-based soul band.
Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band
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| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Soul |
| Years active | 1965–1968, 2005–present |
| Labels | Piccadilly, Pye, Castle, Marble Arch |
| Past members | 1967–1968 Geno Washington Pete Gage Lionel Kingham Buddy Beadle Geoff Pullum (aka Jeff Wright) John Roberts Herb Prestidge |
| Website | Geno Washington Website |
The Ram Jam Band were formed around 1964 by Pete Gage and Geoff Pullum. Before taking on Geno Washington, whom Gage knew from performing at the RAF Bentwaters US Air Force base, they had a Jamaican Blue Beat singer by the name of Errol Dixon front the band as they embarked on the London club circuit. Gage approached Washington to finance his demobbing to the US and to return to front the band as it seemed essential to have an American to perform US soul rather than the West Indian alternatives in London at that time.
Geno Washington was a US airman stationed in East Anglia who became well known for his impromptu performances in London nightclubs. In 1965, guitarist Pete Gage needed a singer to front his new band and replace the previous singer Errol Dixon, and asked Washington to join. When Washington was discharged from the US Air Force, he became the band's frontman.
Their first single featuring Geno, "Shake, Shake, Senora" / "Akinla" released on Columbia[1][2] was not a commercial success.[citation needed] At some stage the band had recorded a demo of the Barbara Lynn hit "You'll Lose a Good Thing".[3][4]
They released two live albums. Hand Clappin, Foot Stompin, Funky-Butt ... Live! was released in 1966, reached no.5 on the UK Albums Chart, and remained in the charts for 38 weeks. It was followed up by Hipster Flipsters Finger Poppin' Daddies in 1967, which reached no.8 on the chart.[5] They also had some moderate hit singles released by the Pye label: "Water", "Hi Hi Hazel", "Que Sera Sera" and "Michael (the Lover)".
They managed to build up a strong following with the crowds and due to their touring and energetic performances. Like their Pye label mates and rivals, Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, they became popular with the mod scene.[citation needed]
The band's name came from the Ram Jam Inn, an old coaching inn on the A1 (Great North Road) at Stretton, near Oakham, Rutland.[6]
The new single "Hi Hi Hazel" was reviewed in the 16 July, 1966 issue of Disc and Music Echo in the Penny Picks the Pops section. Reviewer Penny noted that the Troggs were going to record the song as a single. recalling that the band had a previous hit, she predicted the same for this single.[7]
It was reported by Record World in the 17 August, 1968 issue that there were very few English soul bands. But Jimmy James' band and Washington's bands were the two biggest soul bands and were among the ten highest paid bands of any kind there.[8]
The band broke up in the autumn of 1969 and the band members went their own ways while Geno Washington continued as a solo artist before returning to the United States. Keyboard player Geoffrey K. Pullum became an academic linguist, and is today a professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh. He was also a linguistics blogger at the Language Log and Lingua Franca websites.[9]
The album Sifter Shifters & Finger Clickin' Mamas was listed as one of the best selling albums from Pye by Cash Box in the magazine's July 5, 1969 issue.[10]
Washington temporarily reformed the band between February and June 1971 with new band members Dave Watts (organ), Mo Foster (bass), Mike Jopp (guitar) and Grant Serpell (drums)
Since 2005, Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band have been constantly playing shows. The line-up of the band is in early 2024: Greg Lester (Guitar and Backing Vocals); Nick Blake (Brass), Geoff Hemsley (Drums); Steve Bingham (Bass and Backing Vocals) and Geno Washington (Lead Vocals).[11]
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