Wild Oats [LP] (ONLINE ORDER ONLY)

Limited 10" vinyl pressing. In the swinging `60s, the very small town of Leiston in Suffolk was home to its own beat group: the Wild Oats. In 1963 budding producer David Nicolson put an ad for new bands in the NME and the Oats were the first to reply. The following year they were in R G Jones studios in Morden, south London, recording five rousing R&B numbers. They were issued on a custom-pressed EP on the Oak label, the catch-all imprint run by the studio. The run was only 100 discs. David went back into the studios, this time with Harry Stoneham added on piano, to cut `I'm Coming Home' and `So Long'. The latter song was written by Crispian St Peters, who added harmonies to it. A final session was recorded at Tony Pike's studios in Putney but only two tracks recorded there survived. Moving on 50 years, Ace Records were put into contact with producer David Nicolson, a fascinating `60s music business character who went on to produce Crispian St Peters on his big hits as well as records by the Mark Leeman Five, the Truth, Patsy Fuller and many more. David not only had all the master tapes of the Wild Oats EP but also the three extra RG Jones tracks and the two from the Tony Pike session. He had the original photos from the shoot on the Suffolk coast and even a couple of copies of the EP. With the extra tracks sounding at least the equal of the issued numbers Ace felt a 10'' deluxe vinyl LP would be most appropriate; the inner bag giving a chance to display the artefacts. Even better, most of the group are still performing around their home town and will enjoy this historic appreciation of their musical talents.