URSINY, DEZO - DEZO URSINY THE BEATMEN/THE SOULMEN/ THE NEW SOULMEN - Let's Make A Summer - Pavian Records
price: 90,00 PLN / 22,50 EUR
"THE BEATMEN
This beat band, formed in Bratislava in 1964, was the first group in Czechoslovakia to acquaint young people with the sound of The Beatles, and it must be admitted that it did so in a very professional way! The leader of The Beatmen was the then 18-year-old guitarist, singing in perfect English, Dežo Ursiny, and with him in the band appeared the 17-19-year-old Miroslav Bedrik - rhythm guitar and vocals, Marián Bednár - bass guitar and vocals, and Peter Petro - drums. After only a few performances at big events the band, looking almost like the idols from Liverpool, won recognition and the fairly widespread opinion of the best beat band in the country - ahead of Olympics and Synkopy 61. At the beginning of 1965 the band released a debut single Break It/Let's Make A Summer containing two original compositions - which was then unheard of! Unfortunately, the only quality that Ursiny's band lacked was the ability to compose very catchy melodies! Because although it must be admitted that both mid-tempo recordings sounded like thoroughbred, juicy Merseybeat from 1964, in England things were composed a little differently... The second Supraphon seven-inch: The Enchanted Lie/Safely Arrived also came out in 1965 and again contained two tracks that were on the one hand fairly dynamic and at times even youthfully shouted (though again played at a medium tempo), but on the other hand hard to hum and somehow... sad. Strangely, on several other recordings the band could play fast and with verve, so why did something hold them back on such important records? In the same year the Supraphon label divided these four songs into two A sides and two B sides and released them on the external market (Eastern Europe) as: Break It/The Enchanted Lie and Let´s Make A Summer/Safely Arrived. I think nobody noticed the difference.
In 1966 the band went to Austria where it was made an 'offer it could not refuse', that is emigration. Dazzled and tempted by the possibility of conquering the West, the rhythm guitarist and bassist stayed, but the leader and (after a short time) the drummer returned to Czechoslovakia where Ursiny founded another, unfortunately short-lived Slovak legend - The Soulmen.
The new musicians of The Beatmen became George Eperjessy and (probably German) drummer Arno Biller and in the new line-up the single Stand Up And Go/As You Love Me was made, released by the microscopic German label Intersound, now ultra-rare and worth 400 euros. The first side of the disc, decorated with a colour sleeve with a photo, was filled by a Beatles-like, though recalling a little the early Pretty Things, very rhythmic rock piece with a splendid, fast guitar solo quoting a very popular folk theme. On side B, on the other hand, was a psychedelic, slow number close to the style of the Byrds of the time! In my humble opinion, this was better and certainly more convincing playing than both of the Supraphon discs, genuinely adored in their home country, although I am sure that Czech beat lovers would certainly curse me for this opinion!
In 2017 the label Indies Happy Trails released the CD The Beatmen Are Goin' On - Live In Bratislava 1965 containing two archival performances from October 1965, when the quartet performed before the group Manfred Mann." REVIEW BY JACEK LEŚNIEWSKI FROM A BOOK ON ROCK FROM THE FORMER EASTERN BLOC, BEGUN BUT ABANDONED AFTER HALF A YEAR (2021).
A compilation edition in a 2024 digipak, new, sealed.
URSINY, DEZO - DEZO URSINY THE BEATMEN/THE SOULMEN/ THE NEW SOULMEN - Let's Make A Summer - Pavian Recordsprice: 90,00 PLN / 22,50 EUR