Johnny Kongos & The G-Men - Over the mountain

Описание: South African band that transformed from “The Dukes”, a band formed in Johannesburg by Johnny Kongos in 1961 (when he was 15 years of age). “The Dukes” performed at “The Fireplace” in Benoni, a club owned by Johnny’s mother, Sylvia. “The Dukes” were:

• Johnny Kongos – vocals, guitar
• Harry Frandsen – guitar
• Ian Sinclair – bass
• Errol Sanders – drums
• In 1962 Hank Squires (guitar) joined the band, and their name subsequently changed to Johnny Kongos & The G-Men

Johnny Kongos (John Theodore Kongos) is a South African artist born in Johannesburg on 06 August 1945. He had great success in South Africa, both as a solo artist and with his group Johnny & The G-Men, before going to the UK to pursue his musical career. He formed two UK based groups, Floribunda Rose (with Pete Clifford - guitar and Jack Russell - bass, vocals) and Scrugg, and spent 18 months gigging in Britain and Europe, before he released his first solo album, “Confusions About a Goldfish” in 1970. He then concentrated on song writing and began to have major success in Germany and other European countries. In 1971 he had two hit singles – "He's Gonna Step On You Again" (UK No. 4, May 1971; U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 70) and "Tokoloshe Man" (UK No. 4, November 1971), before releasing his second solo album, “Kongos”, in 1972. It reached the Top 30 on the UK Albums Chart.

He continued to work in his own London studio as a record producer, sound engineer, TV jingle, theme music composer and songwriter, as well as handling the programming of the Fairlight CMI synthesizer on Def Leppard's 1983 album, “Pyromania”.

He is married to Shelley and has four sons, Johnny, Jesse, Dylan, and Daniel, who work as a rock band under the title “Kongos”.

This song is off the album “Oh Boy!”, released in 1964. It's a cover of "Over the Mountain; Across the Sea", first released by Johnnie & Joe in 1957, and then by Bobby Vinton in 1963.

As per the sketch on the front cover of the record, the line-up of the G-Men on this album was:

• Johnny Kongos
• Hank Squires
• Jesse Somares
• Robbie Kearney

MANY THANKS TO PETER VEE FOR THE INFORMATION!