-"Family Affair", the well known UK Group since the sixties
have received recognition belatedly with their latest CD
of 60's music titled
"Hanging Around".
BBC Radio 2 played this song on the Brian Matthews
Saturday Morning Show 'Sounds of the 60s' on 3rd July 2004.
They paid tribute to Hermon Fernando, Keyboard Player
who passed away on 7th June 2004.
"Family Affair"
is described as:-
"Curio dating originally from the 60's
Noel Cream & Herb Fernando capture the fresh and positive feelings
that coursed through the first summer of love.
Recorded at EMI Manchester Square Studios, London,
this has the harmonic influence of the West Coast Mamas School
as well as a smile on every note played.
Lighten your load and keep truckin".
"Family Affair" compositions by Noel Cream and Herb Fernando
can be FREELY DOWNLOADED from the ALBUMS section of the "Family Affair" Band Website :-
WWW.FAMILYAFFAIRMUSIC.COM
and other websites :-
www.myspace.com/familyaffairmusiconline
www.myspace.com/srilankacricketbaila
www.myspace.com/famaf
and more info on:-
www.myspace.com/familyaffairsounds
Please send your requests to
BBC Radio 2
Brian Matthews' Saturday Morning Show
"Sounds of the 60s", by email to:
sots@bbc.co.uk
Or by post to:
"Sounds of the 60s",
BBC Radio 2,
Western House,
99 Great Portland Street,
London W1A 4WW.
Contact "Family Affair" by email at :-
hfernando@freeuk.com
or herbfernando@gmail.com
"Family Affair" Biography --
The "Family Affair" started in 1965 with the Sri Lankan brothers
Hermon Fernando (keyboard) and Herb Fernando (Drums) and Noel Cream (Guitar/Vocals).
The Group was joined by Sri Lankan Ralph Reid (Guitar/Vocals) and American Steve Whitman (Bass Guitar), known then as
"The International Five" , they recorded 3 songs at EMI Manchester Square Studios, London W1 in August 1967 with recording engineers Ron Randall and Ron Hill , two original compositions:
'Hanging Around' ; 'World of Sunshine' ;
which were two of their best recordings by the Group and
'Just as Much as Ever' (a Cover version of a Nat King Cole song)
The band line up changed with Noel Cream's sister Linda Cream replacing Ralph Reid as a vocalist and Annie Keefer replacing Steve Whitman as Bass Guitarist. The group name changed to "Family Affair"
Hermon Fernando was replaced in 1969 by another brother Milroy Fernando.
Milroy and Herb were joined by Ralph Reid , who returned to the Group,
Sri Lankan Valentine Manikkavasseger (Bass Guitar / Double Bass)
and American Dan Armstrong (Guitar) concentrating on Jazz, Latin and
Baila Music.The group recorded Sri Lankan Music and Baila at EMI Manchester Square Studios in 1976 again with Ron Hill as the Recording Engineer.
"True Peace & Goodwill" was sung by the Choir of the Five Precious Wounds Church in Stonebridge Park, London NW10 at the Carol Service as well as the Christmas Midnight Mass in 1983.
A 'Dream come true' for Herb was when the Song was sung at the birthplace
of Jesus in Bethlehem at the Mass celebrated by the group leader,
the late Rev Fr Kenneth Campbell and sung by the "Special Pilgrimages" Travel Group , which included eleven members of Herb's family .
Another milestone for Herb was when the song was sung on the Feast Day of 'Our Lady of Assumption' at the 'Little Church' of our Lady's Apparition in front of the 'Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima' in Fatima , Portugal .
The Rector of the Basilica , Monsignor Guerra introduced the Fernando family to the Congregation before the singing of the song and the music was played by Denis and Glenn on the Organ and Lester on Flute. The Flute , especially
sounding great in the night air , as it was well past midnight.
The London Borough of Brent gave a Millennium Award to Herb to produce one thousand copies of the Song in 2001, which were distributed among schools in the Borough.
For further information click on
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/FAMAF
Sri Lanka won the "Cricket World Cup" and Herb produced
"Sri Lanka Champions of 1996"
For further information click on:-
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SRILANKACRICKETBAILA
The song was played on
Sky SportsTV on Charles Colville's program "The Pavillion End"
on BBC.TV "Gower's Cricket Monthly",
and BBC. TV"Grandstand".
"THE SWEET FLORAL ALBION"
"THE JOURNAL OF U.K. PSYCHEDILIA" NO. 32 (Vol 3 No8)SEPT 4
"OUT IN THE COLD L.P" by Paul Cross
"THE FAMILY AFFAIR" -
"The Family Affair"(Saga FID 2124 )1968
Saga Records Limited was a budget label in both senses of the term
(1)They issued cheaply priced product; and
(2) they themselves were cheap skates.
They spent only a few pennies on packaging (basic and/or tacky) vinyl (smooth as sandpaper)
and recording (no producer, no engineer).
In a sense they were an only ever-so-slightly more, up market,
(a hopelessly inappropriate word in this context!) version of one of these
old , 'record your own record' booths you used to find on piers,
in electrical shops and such like.
Still, despite the handicaps (or because of them, if you dig DIY low-fi vibes),
the Saga Label managed to issue some decent material, some of which is or
ought to be of great interest to the psychedelically inclined:
Five Day Week Straw People: Swinging Lodnon:
Herbie & The Royalists: Victoria Dines Alone:
and this one, the sole and eponymous album
(now, how many times has that happened???)
by the "Family Affair".
The "Family Affair" were just that , a family group, or more precisely
a families group.
They were: Noel Cream (vocals/guitar), his sister Linda Cream (vocals),
brothers Herbert Fernando (Drums) and Hermon Fernando (organ),
and Annie Keefer(Bass guitar).
The Album was cut under Saga's usual luxuriant guidelines:
(1) hire a school hall
(2) arrive at said venue
(3) wire up the instruments
(4) open the mikes
(5) roll the tape
(6) wrap things up within an hour
It comprised twelve self-penned songs. There's a good group here hiding beneath the muddy sound and inexperience microphone technique, with a disposition towards folkish harmony pop with flashes of the Everly Brothers.
However, there are a handful of curious songs which get spins at
SFA Towers and which we shall now briefly mention here:
Summer's Gone
is a dreamy little marvel with a ghostly vibe.
The vocals (male lead, female harmony),
up front Vox Continental,
and 'Onwards Christian Soldiers'melody are just perfect,
and the lyrics are rather wonderful:
Blue silver shadows are turning to grey with the dawn, etc.
It is pop syke by default. And a pop classic for sure.
Hanging Around
is sub-Mamas And Papas style
West Coast male/female harmony pop. Brisk in tempo,
mannered in vocal:oi'll give it foive
Shades of Grey
is not the song as done by Edwick Rumbold or
any song of the same title as done by anybody else
( other than the "Family Affair" ( of course ).
Again , it slides uneasily into pop syke territory
(perhaps by way of not having anyone else particularly appropriate to slide);
it is slow and magical , evocative, melodius (more like ..Shades of Buddy Holly!), far too short, and with lyrics such as:
I've seen colours and patterns
I've seen islands fading away.
I've seen colours and patterns
swiftly turn to shades of grey.
Lonely
is delightful, spirited, amateurish, yet earnest in a self consciously,
I'm a meaningful singer songwriter with a message kinda way.
It sounds far more like post-Dylan/folk rock explosion 65,
than post-flower power
Someone is Calling Your Name
is virtually a rewrite of Summer's Gone
and with all the best qualities retained to which has been added
a cynical protest singer vibe
(Something is wrong with the system we live in/we have to decide if it's better to stay or go), and a subtle yet unambiguous splash of psychedalia
look at the light and you'll see what I mean
as you look at your life through a rose coloured screen
you'll see someone is calling your name ,
as you look for the sun through a hole in the wind-driven cloud
at me
Superb stuff!
If these songs were unreleased acetates
(unpolished, hesitant they certainly do sound like demos )
they'd surely have been bootlegged / comped by now,
but as they can be found (not easily found though !)
on an LP which bears the following deadpan , off-putting rubric:
"A pleasant entertaining album featuring a boy and a girl in vocal harmony with a lively backing. The effect is most appealing and for those who like their music easy on the ear, the "FAMILY AFFAIR" is for you"
They languish in an undeserved obscurity
The " Family Affair"
is not some long lost classic, but regardless of that it is yet another dropped thread which needs to be re-woven into the multi-hued tapestry of 60s Brit Pop.
For further information and to listen and to "Free" Download, any Compositions by Noel Cream and Herb Fernando , click on the ALBUM PAGE
of the Group website on www.familyaffairmusic.com
Online Now!
