Shadows Of Knight

"I'm not entirely sure actually whether this next record's relevant, but it's a favourite of mine, and it is typical of the kind of garage rock bands that were making records in the mid 60s, which are held by some, once again, to have been in some way influential on the formation of what we now call punk rock....and what a great record that is." (Peel introduces Light Bulb Blues, 10 December 1976.)
The Shadows Of Knight (originally known as just the Shadows before learning of the other band's existence) were an American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, formed in the 1960s, who played a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city. At the time they first started recording, the band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch," to which noted rock critic Richie Unterberger commented: "The Shadows Of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate."
Their biggest hit was a cover of Them's Gloria, which was a big hit in the US and remained a staple of their repertoire. Vocalist Jim Sohns (1946 - 2022) would join the band onstage even after he had moved into group management to sing it. (In 1978, he was involved in a fracas in a New York nightclub with Sid Vicious: Sohns punched him and threw him down a flight of stairs.)
==Links to Peel==
Peel would have come across the Shadows Of Knight during his time in the USA, with their biggest successes being in 1966 when he was working for KMEN. Their singles were issued in the UK and picked up some pirate radio airplay without attaining chart success. On 16 July 1967, after playing the track Gospel Zone, JP claimed he had owned two LPs by the Shadows Of Knight, but that they were still in America. (He may have been playing it as the B-side of the single Bad Little Woman, released in the UK on Atlantic; his other favoured track by them, Light Bulb Blues, was also a UK B-side, to the single Oh Yeah, which made the lower reaches of the Radio Caroline charts in summer 1966).
It is moot whether JP got the albums back or not, but he certainly took advantage of Radar's reissue of Gloria in 1979 to play tracks from it. The "noisy" single Light Bulb Blues was a particular favourite (rather than the ubiquitous Gloria, which he apparently never played): John claimed it was "one of very few records from the 1960s that I never tire of hearing," especially since he had previously averred that the 60s were not a golden age for music (in his view). It made the setlist of his first punk special in 1976, its brittle energy showing just how much was being borrowed from that era.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
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== Sessions ==
*None
== Other Shows Played ==
*16 July 1967: 'Gospel Zone (LP-Back Door Men)' (Dunwich) (or B-side of 'Bad Little Woman' (Atlantic))
*14 August 1967: Light Bulb Blues (7" - Oh Yeah)
*07 August 1968: Light Bulb Blues (7" - Oh Yeah)
*10 March 1975: Light Bulb Blues (7" - Oh Yeah)
*10 December 1976: 'Light Bulb Blues (7"-Oh Yeah)' (Dunwich)
*27 March 1979: 'Oh Yeah (LP-Gloria)' (Radar)
*29 March 1979: I Just Want To Make Love To You (LP - Gloria) Radar
*27 March 1979: 'Oh Yeah (LP-Gloria)' (Radar)
*02 July 1985: Light Bulb Blues (album - Gee-El-O-Are-I-Ay) Edsel ED 157
*28 October 1986: 'Oh Yeah (LP-Gloria)' (Radar)
*20 January 1990 (BFBS): 'Light Bulb Blues (7"-Oh Yeah)' (Dunwich)
*24 January 2002: 'Light Bulb Blues (7"-Oh Yeah)' (Dunwich)
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*AllMusic
* Other
Category:Artists