Chad & Jeremy

Chad & Jeremy
Chad & Jeremy (2005)
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Folk, soft rock
Years active	1960–68, 1983–87, 2003–present
Labels	UK: Ember US: World Artists, Capitol, Columbia, Sidewalk, Rocshire
Website	Chad & Jeremy official website

Chad & Jeremy are an English musical duo. They began working together in 1960, and had their first hit song in the U.K. with "Yesterday's Gone". That song became a hit in the United States in the following year when they rode to fame as a part of the British Invasion. Unlike the rock music sounds of their peers, Chad & Jeremy presented a soft, folk-inflected style readily distinguished by their hushed and whispered vocals. The U.S. proved to be fertile soil for them, and they went on to have a string of successes there, including "Willow Weep for Me", "Before and After", and their biggest hit, "A Summer Song". Nonetheless, after some commercial failures and divergent ambitions between the two partners, Chad & Jeremy disbanded in 1968.

Chad Stuart continued to work in various capacities in the music industry while Jeremy Clyde devoted his energies to acting on film and stage. In the early 1980s, however, they rejoined one another for a new album and concert performances including a multi-band British Invasion nostalgia tour. Afterwards, another long period of separation ensued but in the early 2000s Chad & Jeremy began performing again and developed a semi-regular schedule of touring for many years. They maintain an online presence through their website and Stuart's independent studio Electric Paintbox, and continue to play occasional performances.

Early years

Chad Stuart was born David Stuart Chadwick on 10 December 1941 in Windermere, Cumbria, and Jeremy Clyde was born Michael Thomas Jeremy Clyde on 22 March 1941 in Dorney, Buckinghamshire.

The two met while attending London's Central School of Speech and Drama.^[1] Chad taught Jeremy how to play the guitar and by 1962 they were performing together as a folk music duo.^[1] At the same time, they formed a band called The Jerks,^[1] which Chad described as "the world's screwiest rock and roll group."^[2][3]

British Invasion years

The duo's first single, 1963's "Yesterday's Gone", for the Ember Records label, which was arranged by John Barry, was their only UK hit.^[4] However, the British Invasion of 1964 gave them their big break.^[5] Chad & Jeremy's strings-backed sound held a greater appeal in the United States, where World Artists Records released "Yesterday's Gone" and saw it rise to No. 21 in the pop music charts.^[1]

As the duo recorded this song, they developed their trademark style of singing: "whispering". "[John Barry] told us...we sounded like a locker room full of football players...in the end in desperation he said: 'Whisper it', so we kind of backed off a bit and so that sort of slightly sotto voce sound came about".^[6] Jeremy often sings the melody of a song while Chad sings higher harmonies.^[2]

Their second single, and biggest American hit, "A Summer Song", hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 17–24 October 1964. Follow-ups included a cover version of "Willow Weep for Me" (which reached No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart) and on Columbia Records in 1965, "Before and After" reached the Top 20. In total Chad & Jeremy had seven US Top 40 hits between 1964 and 1966.

In February 1966, the British music magazine NME reported that the duo had applied for U.S. citizenship. The magazine commented that as U.S. citizens, they would be eligible for military conscription, and that they had no wish to end up fighting in the Vietnam War. However, the practicalities of constantly renewing U.S. work permits were problematic.^[7]

Chad and Jill

The duo went on hiatus for about a year beginning in mid-1965 when Clyde accepted an acting role in a London stage production of The Passion Flower Hotel.^[8] Stuart stayed in the U.S., performing and recording with his wife Jill.^[8] In April 1966, Columbia released a single by Chad and Jill, "The Cruel War" backed with "I Can't Talk to You".^[9] The single reached No. 110 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.^[9] They performed the song on Hullabaloo in addition to performing Chad & Jeremy's "Funny How Love Can Be" on Shindig!

The duo performs for a television special at Marineland, 1966

Late '60s and breakup

In the fall of 1967, they released the psychedelic album Of Cabbages and Kings (as "Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde") and a 1968 follow-up, The Ark. They received critical acclaim, but they were both commercial failures.^[1]

In 1968, they composed and recorded music for the film soundtrack of Three in the Attic. The music soundtrack was released in the U.S. on Sidewalk Records. By the end of the year, however, the working relationship of Stuart and Clyde was dissolved.

1980s reunion

In 1982, Chad & Jeremy reunited to record the album Chad Stuart & Jeremy Clyde, released the following year the MCA-distributed Rocshire Records label.^[1] Plans for a second reunion album in 1984 were well-advanced when the label folded.^[11] The pair found a different sort of fame when they starred in the West End production of Pump Boys and Dinettes from 1984–85.^[12]

Returning to the U.S. in 1986 for a British Invasion reunion tour, they played 33 cities in six weeks along with Freddie and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Searchers and the Mindbenders.^[1] In his review of the show at New York City's Felt Forum, music journalist Jeff Tamarkin wrote: "The evening's unquestionable highlight was the set from Chad (Stuart) & Jeremy (Clyde), which featured such soft, folky hits as 'A Summer Song' and 'Yesterday's Gone', and even a few obscurities from their later career. The duo's harmonies were sweet, their young band tight, and their lack of tacky cover songs refreshing."^[13]

In 1987, they performed a two-week residency at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, Nevada before again going their separate ways.^[1]

2000s and beyond

In 2002, Stuart was in his private studio, Electric Paintbox, preparing the release of a recording from the Harrah's engagement, when Clyde visited and the two made a new version of "Yesterday's Gone" as a bonus track for the album, In Concert (The Official Bootleg).^[1] In 2003, PBS reunited Chad & Jeremy in the 60s Pop-Rock Reunion special, which also prompted a tour the next year. In 2008, the group released Ark-eology, an album featuring remakes of material they recorded in the 1960s. They performed at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January 2009. In September 2010, Chad & Jeremy marked 50 years of performing together with a limited-edition CD entitled Fifty Years On.

Discography

References

External links

• Chad & Jeremy official website
• "The Patty Duke Show": "Patty Pits Wits, Two Brits Hits" (1965) on IMDb
• "The Dick Van Dyke Show": "The Redcoats are Coming" (1965) on IMDb