Forgotten Rock Bands: Four Jacks & A Jill

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this episode of Forgotten Rock Bands I will feature the South African folk-rock group known as the Four Jacks & A Jill, which achieved international success in the late 1960's.

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Transcript

In this episode of Forgotten Rock Bands I will feature the South African folk-rock group known as the Four Jacks & A Jill, which achieved international success in the late 1960's.

Four Jacks & a Jill were formed in 1964 in South Africa. However, the group’s history begins in 1962 when eighteen year old Clive Harding met Graham Woods, who was in a band called The Atoms. When Clive was asked to join the band, he agreed to join under the condition that he would be the leader. After joining the group, the band’s name was changed to The Nevadas. In 1963, Graham was involved in a car accident and died from his injuries. The original group members were Clive Harding, Tony Hughes, Bruce Bank and Keith Andrews. Just like other bands, they would later go through several personnel changes. Then they changed the group’s name again to The Zombies, not to be confused with the UK band of the same name. 

In 1964, The South African Zombies were the first band to wear Beatles haircuts. During a concert in Cape Town, they met solo recording artist Glenys Lynne Mynott and soon she joined The Zombies. The band’s name was then changed to Glenys and the Zombies.

Glenys was from Bokesburg, South Africa.  She began singing when she was twelve years old, and at the age of fifteen, she won the “Search For Talent” contest. When she was sixteen years old, she recorded a debut album titled “Teenage Time’ on the Columbia Records label. After graduating from school, she sang with the Harold Roy Band for a short period of time.

Once she joined the Zombies, the group performed on a South African tour gaining success and popularity. In January 1965 they appeared as the supporting act for the UK duo Peter and Gordon. As Beatlemania was influencing other South African groups to adopt long hair and copy the Zombies, they decided to change their appearance by cutting their hair and then changed the band’s name finally to Four Jacks And A Jill. However not only did they change their appearance and name, they changed their style, choice of material and technique. In 1965, they recorded and released a single titled “Jimmy Come Lately”.  The single became an instant hit and reached the number two position in the South African chart and stayed on the LM radio hit parade for sixteen weeks. By 1967 Four Jacks And a Jill had established themselves as a successful and popular South African band, performing in several venues in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The group then recorded and released a single titled  “Timothy”, which quickly climbed the charts reaching #1 for two weeks on Springbok’s Top Twenty. It also remained on the Hit Parade for twenty weeks in November 1967. The single earned the group their first Gold Record.  

Here is the #1 South Africa hit,  “Timothy” 

Their next single titled “Master Jack” was released in South Africa in late 1967 and entered the Top twenty chart at number fourteen.   Just three weeks later the B-side to “Master Jack” titled “I Looked Back”, also became a Top Twenty hit. In March 1968, “Master Jack” reached the number one position and remained on the charts for twenty-one weeks. The single also became a number one hit in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Rhodesia. It also managed to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in the US at number eighteen. Surprisingly even though it was also released in the UK, it failed to enter the chart.

“Master Jack” was a song written by David Marks. The meaning of the lyrics’ was initially interpreted as criticism of South Africa’s Apartheid.  However as conveyed by the group’s lead vocalist, the song’s origin is quite different. In some mines, the foreman is referred to as the Master Jack. The song’s lyrics relate the story of a laborer who works for the master for several years, then decides to go out on his own and pursue his goals and become something other than a laborer.

The next release titled “Mr. Nico”, became their last US hit, which just managed to enter the Hot 100 at #98. The group continued to record and enjoyed several hits primarily in South Africa.  “ Master Jack” was later covered four times, most notably by Trini Lopez.

On June 1st, 1968, Clive married Glenys, then the group performed in several countries, which included Germany, the UK, Canada and the US, where they appeared in the WVOK Summer Spectacular along with Herman’s Hermits, The Troggs, Boyce and Hart, The Ohio Express, and The Buckinghams. They also performed on the Jerry Lewis Telethon and in several US cities. In early 1971 the group began a three-month tour of New Zealand and Australia, performing in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Scarborough, Narrabi, Adelaide, and Auckland. From the 1970's to the early 1980's, they continued to tour in South Africa, but in 1983 Clive disbanded the group.  Later, Clive and Glenys concentrated on recording and performing Gospel music.

The discography of Four Jacks and A Jill includes seven albums, twelve singles, four Gospel albums, five albums supporting The Animal Anti-Cruelty League, two albums supporting the Institute for the Blind, two albums supporting the National St. Giles Association, two albums supporting the Council for Persons with Disabilities, and nine instrumental albums.

Here is the US #18 hit from 1968, “Master Jack”.

This has been the history of one of the Forgotten Rock Bands on Rock and Roll Flashback, a group that hailed from South Africa, The Four Jacks and A Jill. And until next time, I’m your host Bill Price.