Geoff Turton
| Geoff Turton | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Geoffrey Turton |
| Also known as | Jefferson |
| Born | 11 March 1944 |
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Years active | 1960s-present |
| Labels | Pye/Pye Piccadilly |
| Associated acts | The Rockin' Berries |
Geoffrey Turton (born 11 March 1944, Birmingham), who also recorded under the name Jefferson, is a British singer. His musical career began as the falsettist lead singer, and rhythm guitarist of The Rockin' Berries in 1961, who scored a number of hits in the UK and Europe. The group was best known for its covers, and Turton did much of the searching and decision work as to what was to be sung.[1]
When the group broke up in 1968, Turton started a solo career, releasing a single, "Don't You Believe It", on Piccadilly Records. It flopped, and Piccadilly head John Schroeder suggested that Turton change his name to Jefferson. The single "Montage" failed to chart, but its follow-up, "Colour of My Love", was a hit in the UK (peaking at #22 in the UK Singles Chart),[2] and US (reaching #68 on the Billboard Hot 100),[3] and an LP was issued following its success. A third single, "Baby Take Me in Your Arms", was not a hit in the UK, but cracked the Top 40 in America, peaking at #23 and justifying the release of a stateside album. At the time of this single's success, Turton was hurt in a car crash, and so he did not make any live appearances. After a six-month hospital stay, Turton had a second record which was never released by his label and a career on hiatus in the UK. He began touring the US, where he was still able to get gigs based on the success of "Baby Take Me in Your Arms". He then secured a recording contract with Polygram Records, who released another album and a single, "I Love You This Much" (later a hit in Europe for Mouth & MacNeal).
He resumed under his given name when The Rockin' Berries reunited in the late 1970s, and toured with them (as well as doing solo shows in the UK) into the 1990s. In 2001, Castle Records released The Colour of My Love -- The Pye Anthology, a CD composed of his 1969 album "The Colour of My Love" plus much of his previously unreleased Pye material.
See also
References
- Notes
- Sources
- Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000
- Jefferson at Allmusic.com
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