| The Sandpipers | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | California, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1966–1975 |
| Label: | A&M |
| Past Members: | Jim Brady Mike Piano Richard Shoff Michael Brady Gary Duckworth Ralph Nichols |
The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock with their vocals and innovative arrangements of international ballads and pop standards.[1] They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic top 10 hit in 1966, and their top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The Sterile Cuckoo in 1970.
Singing in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, and Tagalog, the Sandpipers had seven separate album entries in the Billboard 200 from 1966–1970, and over a dozen charted singles.
Founding members Jim Brady (born August 24, 1944, Los Angeles), Mike Piano (born October 26, 1944, Rochester, New York) and Richard Shoff (born April 30, 1944, Seattle) first performed together in the Mitchell Boys Choir,[2] before forming the Four Seasons with friend Nick Cahuernga. Due to the rising popularity of a group with that name from New Jersey, they changed their name to the Grads and continued as a trio.[1] [3] [4]
Although the Grads did not enter the charts with their early recordings, they performed well enough to secure a residency at Harrah's Lake Club (now Harveys Lake Tahoe) where a friend brought them to the attention of Herb Alpert of A&M Records.[1] [5] Alpert was impressed with the Grads, but after one single without success the group agreed to a name change, choosing the Sandpipers out of a dictionary.[6] After the name change, their producer, Tommy LiPuma,[2] recommended they record the Cuban anthem "Guantanamera" and they had their first hit.[1] The use of female singers[2] (including Robie Lester)[7] to add background vocals on "Guantanamera" established a trend that the Sandpipers would incorporate in multiple future studio recordings and live shows.
Initially Kathy Westmoreland (de) (later with Elvis Presley) toured with the group[8] [9] to provide the lyricless vocals that were used much like second strings, adding an ethereal quality to the Sandpipers' sound. Later Pamela Ramcier was the primary back-up vocalist.[1] [10] [11] At times two or more back-up vocalists were used. For the Sandpipers' first live show in San Diego, two female singers were on stage, the well-known folk singer Penny Nichols and Pat Woolley. Early pressings of the Guantanamera LP showed a five person group—two females with Piano, Shoff, and Brady—on the back cover while later pressings had just the male trio. Subsequent albums depicted only the original trio. Other backup singers followed including Stormie Sherk in 1967,[12] and Diane Jordan and Kathy Westmoreland in 1969.[13] Some pressings of the 1970 Come Saturday Morning LP credit "solo voices" Patrice Holloway, Carolyn Willis, and Susan Tallman.
"Guantanamera" charted in the United States in September 1966 and in the United Kingdom the following month, and remains the group's biggest hit, earning 1967 Grammy Award nominations for Best Performance by a Vocal Group and Best Contemporary Group Performance, plus gold record awards for the single and the album.[14] They also had many lesser chart entries including cover versions of "Louie Louie",[2] "The French Song" (Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes), and songs from the movies The Sterile Cuckoo and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.[1]
The record sleeve for their 1966 album Guantanamera was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album Cover - Photography. Dolores Erickson was featured on the front cover artwork. In 1967 the Baldwin Piano Company signed the group to promote the company's line of musical instruments.[15]
In 1968, following a South Africa concert tour, they participated at the Festival di Sanremo in Italy, a highlight on the Italian music calendar.[16] They were, as then usual, alongside Anna Identici as one of the two performers of the song "Quando M'Innamoro," which attained sixth place. The song would become more popular in the interpretation by Gigliola Cinquetti. The English version by British pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck, "A Man Without Love", became a global hit.
In 1969, the group embarked on a European tour with appearances in London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Madrid, and Berlin.[17] In 1970 "Come Saturday Morning" was nominated for Best Original Song and was performed by the Sandpipers at the 42nd Academy Awards ceremony. In the mid-1970s, Michael Piano left the group and was replaced in turn by Michael Brady, Gary Duckworth and Ralph Nichols (later with The Lettermen). The final 1979 single, "Singapore Girl", featured only Brady and Shoff.
Original member Michael Piano died on December 29, 2014, in Kauai, Hawaii.[18] Jim Brady died on May 5, 2019, in Durango, Colorado.
U.S. releases on A&M Records unless otherwise noted. Some releases in U.K. and other countries had different titles, alternate covers, and variations in track lists.
| Year | Title (A-side / B-side)[29] (Songwriters) | Peak chart positions | Label & Cat # | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 [30] | US A/C | UK [31] | CAN | CAN A/C | |||||
| 1962 | "Once Again" (DeVorzon-Chandler) "White Steeple" (Chandler-McKendry) | — | — | — | — | — | Valiant 6023 | — | |
| 1964 | "It Happened Once Before" (Troup) "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring"(Troup) | — | — | — | — | — | MGM K13216 | — | |
| "The Wild One" (Usher-Christian) "The Cool One" (Mike Curb) | — | — | — | — | — | Mercury 72346 | — | ||
| 1966 | "Everything in the Garden" (Greenaway) "Stage Door" (Goffin-King) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 797 | — | |
| "Guantanamera" (Joseíto Fernández) "What Makes You Dream, Pretty Girl?" (J. Wilson-M. Garson) | 9 | 3 | 7 | 10 | — | A&M 806 | Guantanamera | ||
| "Louie Louie" (Richard Berry) "Things We Said Today" (Lennon-McCartney) | 30 | 24 | — | 29 | — | A&M 819 | |||
| 1967 | "For Baby" (John Denver) "La Bamba" (Traditional) | — | 31 | — | — | — | A&M 835 | Guantanamera The Sandpipers | |
| "Glass" (Sheldon-Marks) "It's Over" (Jimmie Rodgers) | 112 | — | — | — | — | A&M 851 | The Sandpipers | ||
| "The French Song" (Pease-Vincent) "Bon Soir Dame" (Bud Dashiell) | — | 20 | — | — | — | A&M 861 | |||
| "Cuando Salí de Cuba" (Luis Aguilé) "Softly as I Leave You" (G. Calabrese/H. Shaper/A. De Vita) | — | 3 | — | — | — | A&M 880 | Misty Roses The Sandpipers | ||
| 1968 | "Quando M'Innamoro (A Man Without Love)" (Livraghi, Mason, Pace, Panzeri) "Wooden Heart" (Wise, Weisman, Twomey, Kaempfert) | 124 | 16 | 33 | — | — | A&M 939 | Softly Misty Roses | |
| "Softly" (Gordon Lightfoot) "Cancion De Amor (Wanderlove)" (M. Williams-C. Mapel) | — | 39 | — | — | — | A&M 968 | Softly | ||
| "Reason to Believe" (Tim Hardin) "To Put Up with You" (Paul Williams-Roger Nichols) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M AMS 730 UK release | |||
| "Let Go!" (Powell, Gimbel, DeMoraes) "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen) | — | 36 | — | — | — | A&M 997 | The Wonder of You Softly | ||
| 1969 | "The Wonder of You" (Baker Knight) "That Night" (Norman Gimbel-Lalo Schifrin) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1044 | The Wonder of You | |
| "Temptation" (Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown) "Wave" (Antonio Carlos Jobim) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1085 | |||
| "Kumbaya" (Traditional) "Yellow Days" (A. Bernstein-A. Carrillo) | — | — | 38 | — | — | A&M 1116 | |||
| "Come Saturday Morning" (Fred Karlin/Dory Previn) "Pretty Flamingo" (Mark Barkan) | 83 | 9 | — | — | — | A&M 1134 | Come Saturday Morning The Wonder of You | ||
| "Hurry to Me" (Fishman-Morricone) "Chi Dice Non Dà" (G. Calabrese-V. De Moraes-N. Gimbel-B. Powell) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 832 Italy release | — | ||
| 1970 | "Come Saturday Morning" (Fred Karlin/Dory Previn) "To Put Up with You" (Paul Williams-Roger Nichols) | 17 | 5 | — | 27 | 13 | A&M 1185 2nd release; alt B-side | Come Saturday Morning Softly | |
| "Santo Domingo" (Rudy Lindt-Peter Poll-Michael Piano) "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (Stu Phillips-Bob Stone) | — | 17 | — | — | — | A&M 1208 | Come Saturday Morning — | ||
| "Free to Carry On" (Dale Bobbitt, Jim Brady) "(He's Got the) Whole World in His Hands" (Traditional) | 94 | 11 | — | — | 1 | A&M 1227 | Come Saturday Morning | ||
| 1971 | "The Sound of Love" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb, M. Gibb) "The Drifter" (Paul Williams-Roger Nichols) | — | — | — | — | 13 | A&M 1249 | ||
| "Chotto Matte Kudasai (Never Say Goodbye)" (Garner-Nakashima) "Free to Carry On" (Jim Brady-Dale Bobbitt) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1280 2nd release; alt B-side | Come Saturday Morning A Gift of Song | ||
| "Never My Love" (Donald and Richard Addrisi) "Leland Loftis" (D. Bobbitt-J. Brady) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1306 | A Gift of Song | ||
| "A Gift of Song" (Patty Ingalls) "Never My Love" (Donald and Richard Addrisi) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1314 | |||
| 1972 | "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Clifton Davis) "An Old Fashioned Love Song" (Paul Williams) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1372 | ||
| "The World Is a Circle" (Bacharach-David) "(Baby I Could Be) So Good at Lovin' You" (Buz Clifford) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 1388 | — | ||
| 1976 | "For the Last Time" (J. Brady) "Down by the River" (Neil Young) | — | — | — | — | — | Satril 111 UK release | Overdue | |
| "Guantanamera" (Joseíto Fernández) "Leland Loftis" (D. Bobbitt-J. Brady) | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 7244 UK release | Greatest Hits Overdue | ||
| "Hang On Sloopy" (Wes Farrell, Bert Russell) "Skidrow Joe" (Brady-Bobbitt) | — | — | 32 | — | — | Satril 114 UK release | Overdue | ||
| 1977 | "Life Is a Song Worth Singing" (Bell-Creed) "Island (Without a Name)" (Brady-Bobbitt) | — | — | — | — | — | Satril 118 UK release | ||
| "Broken Slumber" (Brady-Seeburg) "Living Is a Lovin' Thing" (J. Duncan) | — | — | — | — | — | Satril 119 UK release | |||
| 1978 | "It Should Have Lasted Forever" (Benson-Clarke-Hyams) "Darling I Apologise" (Lane-Roberts) | — | — | — | — | — | Satril 127 UK release | — | |
| 1979 | "You're a Great Way to Fly - Singapore Girl" (Bobby Hart-Fred Bongusto) "You're a Great Way to Fly - Singapore Girl" (instr.) (Fred Bongusto) | — | — | — | — | — | Singapore Airlines SIA-3 | — | |
| Reissues | "Guantanamera" / "Cuando Salí De Cuba" | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 8526 | — | |
| "Quando M'Innamoro" / "La Bamba" | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 8527 | — | ||
| "Come Saturday Morning" / "The Wonder of You" | — | — | — | — | — | A&M 8544 | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||