Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth - Stealin' Home - 1975 - Capitol Records

An unusual mid seventies mix of jazz, classical, blues, reggae, blues rock and hard rock from the very underrated Babe Ruth, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The band never received much radio play in Europe, (What's new?), and were more popular in North America. (Very big in Canada). Great guitar from Bernie Marsden, and terrific vocals from Jenny Haan, sounding like a combination of Melanie Safka, Christine McVie, and Elkie Brooks. This is not the band's best album, but it's a very good one. Buy BR's "First Base" album for great jazzy, blues rock. The band's "Qué Pasa" is also a great album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 It'll Happen In Time - Dave Hewitt, Janita Haan 5:33
A2 Winner Takes All - Bernie Marsden 3:56
A3 Fascination - Ed Spevock 5:56
A4 2000 Sunsets - Janita Haan 3:46

B1 Elusive - Ed Spevock, Steve Gurl 6:40
B2 Can You Feel It - A.Seals, J.Bettis, D.Seals 4:13
B3 Say No More - Bernie Marsden 2:41
B4 Caught At The Plate - Steve Gurl 2:54
B5 Tomorrow (Joining Of The Day) - Janita Haan 5:02

BAND

Vocals, Guitar - Bernie Marsden
Bass - Dave Hewitt
Keyboards - Steve Gurl
Drums, Percussion - Ed Spevock
Vocals [Female] - Janita Haan

SHORT BIO

Babe Ruth was a rock music group active in the 1970s from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. They had a heavy sound marked by powerful vocals from Janita Haan and full arrangements by Alan Shacklock. They had more success in North America than at home. When the group was first formed in 1971 (year in music), they were called Shacklock after their guitarist Alan Shacklock. Members included Janita Haan and Dave Hewitt. Then Dave Punshon and Dick Powell (brother of Slade drummer Don Powell) joined. The first release was their single "Elusive". The first album, First Base went gold in Canada. In 1973, Ed Spevock replaced Powell and Chris Holmes replaced Punshon on the second album. In 1975, Steve Gurl, keyboardist from Wild Turkey replaced Holmes for the 3rd album. The same year, Shacklock exited and Bernie Marsden (Wild Turkey) joined the team for the 4th album. After that Haan and Hewitt left. Though no original member remained, the group got Ellie Hope and Ray Knott for the fifth album in 1976. Shortly before they disbanded they were joined by the young 17 year old Birmingham born Simon Lambeth who made a few appearances on their last tour, his hauntingly naive sound on rhythm guitar behind the lead of Marsden promised much but sadly it was too late; Marsden moved on to bigger things and joined Whitesnake. Simon changed careers and sadly was lost to the music scene. A disco cover of Babe Ruth's classic "The Mexican" appeared in the late 70's, performed by the Bombers. This version inspired an electro/freestyle cover produced by John Jellybean Benitez in 1984, for which he managed to recruit Haan on vocals. It was a huge underground dance hit. In late 2005 and early 2006, Haan (now Janita Haan Morris), Shacklock, Punshon, and Hewitt were recording new material together in Nashville , with Spevock recording his drums in London. The album was completed September 2006, and is now available. © 2008 UKPopMusic.org http://www.ukpopmusic.org/babe_ruth_(band)/index.html



BIO (WIKI)

Babe Ruth are a rock music group, primarily active through the 1970s, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. Their characteristically 'heavy' sound is marked by powerful vocals from Janita Haan and full arrangements by Alan Shacklock. They are acknowledged as having more commercial success in North America than in their home country. When the group was first formed in 1971 (year in music), they were called Shacklock after their guitarist Alan Shacklock. Members included Janita Haan and Dave Hewitt, with Dave Punshon and Dick Powell later joining. The first release was their single "Elusive"; their first album, First Base, went gold in Canada. In 1973, Ed Spevock replaced Powell and Chris Holmes replaced Punshon on the second album. In 1975, Steve Gurl, keyboardist from Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey replaced Holmes for the third album. The same year, Shacklock exited and Bernie Marsden (Wild Turkey) joined the team for the fourth album. After this, Haan and Hewitt left. Though no original member remained, the group incorporated Ellie Hope and Ray Knott for the fifth album in 1976. Shortly before Babe Ruth disbanded, they were joined by the young 17 year old Birmingham born Simon Lambeth who made a few appearances on their last tour. Lambeth's hauntingly naive sound on rhythm guitar, behind the lead of Marsden, promised much but sadly it was too late; Marsden moved on to bigger things and joined Whitesnake. Simon changed careers and sadly was lost to the music scene. Ellie Hope did an outstanding job on the LP and later had a solo effort in the booming disco era but later efforts are hard to pin down. A disco cover of Babe Ruth's classic "The Mexican" appeared in the late 70s, performed by the Bombers. This version inspired an electro/freestyle cover produced by John Jellybean Benitez in 1984, for which he managed to recruit Haan on vocals - the cover subsequently becoming noted for its popularity as an underground dance hit. Between late 2005 and early 2006, Haan (now Janita Haan Morris), Shacklock, Punshon, and Hewitt recorded new material together in Nashville, with Spevock recording his drums in London. The album, titled Que Pasa, was completed September 2006, and after being made available in digital form via the band's official web site, was released on Revolver Records in 2009.