The Sandpipers

The Sandpipers
File:Sandpipers publicity still.jpg 1966 publicity photo. L-R Mike Piano, Richard Shoff, Jim Brady
Background information
Origin	California
Genres	Folk rock
Years active	1966–1975
Labels	A&M
Past members	Jim Brady Mike Piano Richard Shoff Pamela Ramcier Ralph Nichols Gary Duckworth

The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock with their vocal harmonies and innovative arrangements of international ballads and pop standards. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic Top 10 hit in 1966, and their Top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The Sterile Cuckoo in 1970.

Career

Founding members Jim Brady (born August 24, 1944, Los Angeles), Mike Piano (born October 26, 1944, Rochester, New York) and Richard Shoff (born April 30, 1944, Seattle) first performed together in the Mitchell Boys Choir, before forming the Four Seasons with friend Nick Cahuernga. Due to the rising popularity of a group with that name from New Jersey, they changed their name to the Grads and continued as a trio.

Although the Grads did not enter the charts with their early recordings, they performed well enough to secure a residency at Harrah's Lake Club (now Harveys Lake Tahoe) where a friend brought them to the attention of Herb Alpert of A&M Records. Alpert was impressed with the Grads, but after one single without success the group agreed to a name change, choosing the Sandpipers out of a dictionary. After the name change, their producer, Tommy LiPuma, recommended they record the Cuban anthem "Guantanamera" and they had their first hit. The use of a female singer (Robie Lester, uncredited) to add background vocals on "Guantanamera" established a trend that the Sandpipers would incorporate in multiple future studio recordings and live shows.

Along with the name change came a fourth member. Although consigned to the shadows behind the original trio for live performances, Pamela Ramcier had now become an integral part of the group. Her lyricless vocals were used much like second strings, adding an ethereal quality to the Sandpipers' sound.

For the Sandpipers' first live show in San Diego, their management hired two females, the well-known folk singer Penny Nichols and Pat Woolley. Early pressings of the Guantanamera LP showed a five person group -- two females with Piano, Shoff, and Brady -- on the back cover while later pressings had just the male trio. Subsequent albums depicted only the original trio. Other backup singers followed including Diane Jordan and Kathy Westmoreland in 1969. Some pressings of the 1970 Come Saturday Morning LP credit "solo voices" Patrice Holloway, Carolyn Willis, and Susan Tallman.

"Guantanamera" charted in the United States in September 1966, and in the United Kingdom the following month, and remains the group's biggest hit. Nevertheless, they had many lesser chart entries including cover versions of "Louie Louie", "The French Song" (Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes), and songs from the movies The Sterile Cuckoo and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

The record sleeve for their 1966 album Guantanamera was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. Dolores Erickson was featured as part of the front cover artwork.

In 1967 they recorded a cover version of The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" for their album Misty Roses. Their 1971 album A Gift of Song contained multiple covers including "It's Too Late", "An Old Fashioned Love Song", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Never My Love".

In 1968 they participated at the Festival di Sanremo in Italy, a highlight on the Italian music calendar. They were, as then usual, alongside Anna Identici one of the two performers of the song "Quando M'Innamoro," which attained sixth place. The song would become more popular in the interpretation by Gigliola Cinquetti. The English version by British pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck, "A Man Without Love", became a global hit.

Singing in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Tagalog, the Sandpipers had seven separate album entries in the Billboard 200 from 1966-1970, and over a dozen charted singles. In the mid-1970s, Ralph Nichols (later with The Lettermen) replaced Mike Piano. Gary Duckworth joined Brady and Shoff for the final album, Overdue, in 1977. The final 1979 single, "Singapore Girl", featured only Shoff and Brady.

Other Sandpipers

1. In 1965-66 an American girl group from Pensacola, Florida briefly toured and recorded as the Sandpipers, backed by an early Gregg and Duane Allman band called the Allman Joys. After "Guantanamera" was released they became the Daisies.
2. There was a South African folk rock group active in the 1960s also named the Sandpipers.
3. Another group known as the Sandpipers (or sometimes the Golden Sandpipers) sang for Golden Records, most notably the theme to Mighty Mouse, the version that is now the best known and perhaps the original.
4. A New York group released one single as the Sandpipers in 1966 on the Kismet label.
5. A Detroit group released one single as the Sandpipers in the mid-60s on the Giant label.
6. A Miami trio released one LP, The Singin', Swingin' Sandpipers, in 1965 on the Art label.
7. A Malaysian group released two EPs as the Sandpipers in the 1960s: "Hey Tak Malu" on the Maria label and "Nyatakan Lah Pada Ku" on the Playboy label.
8. The psychedelic rock group The Lemon Pipers overlapped the Sandpipers' years of success in the late 1960s and the two groups were frequently confused.

Discography

Albums

U.S. releases on A&M Records unless otherwise noted. Some releases in U.K. and other countries had different titles, alternate covers, and variations in track lists.

• Guantanamera (LP-117*/SP-4117, 1966, #13)
• The Sandpipers (LP-125*/SP-4125, 1967, #53)
• Misty Roses (LP-135*/SP-4135, 1967, #135)
• Softly (SP-4147, 1968, #180)
• Spanish Album (SP-4159, 1969)
• The Wonder of You (SP-4180, 1969, #194)
• Second Spanish Album (AMLS-969, 1970) (UK release)
• Come Saturday Morning (SP-4262, 1970, #96)
• A Gift of Song (SP-4328, 1971)
• Ay, Ay, Ay, Manila! (RCA XFPLI-021, 1977) (Philippines release)
• Overdue (Satril SATL 4006, 1977) (UK release)

*Mono

EPs

• Misty Roses (A&M SP-425, 1967), 6-song jukebox EP

Compilations

• Greatest Hits (A&M SP-4246, 1970, #160)
• Softly As I Leave You (A&M AMLS 975, 1970, UK)
• Michelle (A&M/Summit SRA-250-081, 197?, Australia)
• La Bamba (A&M/Mayfair AMLB 51030, 1971, UK)
• Stars in Gold (A&M 80 828 XT, 1972, Germany)
• Foursider (A&M SP-6015, 1973)
• Portrait Of The Sandpipers (A&M AMLC4004, 1973, UK)
• O Melhor De (Opus/Columbia 413.615, 1984, Brazil)
• The Sandpipers: Digitally Remastered Best (Universal/A&M 487252, 1998)

Appearances

• Million Dollar Sound Sampler (A&M LP-9001, 1966) - "Strangers In The Night"
• Family Portrait - 16 Outstanding Selections From A&M Records (A&M SP-19002, 1967) - "Fly Me To The Moon"
• San Remo '68 (CGD FG 5038, 1968, Italy) - "Quando M'Innamoro"
• Jewel Box (A&M SP-19006, 1969) - "Cancion De Amor (Wanderlove)"
• Burt Bacharach & Friends (A&M SP-19007, 1969) - "Where There's A Heartache"
• Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls soundtrack (20th Century Fox TFS 4211, 1970) - "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls"
• The Sterile Cuckoo soundtrack (Paramount PAS-5009, 1970) - "Come Saturday Morning", "Montage", "End Walk"
• Introducing Stereo '70 (A&M AMLB 1002, 1971, UK) - "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Cuando Salí De Cuba"
• Introducing Stereo '71 (RCA/Camden CAM/S-538, 1971, Mexico) - "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Cuando Salí De Cuba"
• 10 Mayfair Hits (A&M/Mayfair SMF66-9885, 197?, Australia) - "Windmills Of Your Mind", "The Wind Will Change Tomorrow"
• The Look Of Love (Columbia P2 6020, 1973) - "The World Is A Circle"
• Family Portrait (A&M 86 768 XAT, 1975, Netherlands) - "Just An Old Fashioned Love Song"
• The Best Of Louie, Louie (Rhino RNEP 605, 1983) - "Louie, Louie"
• This Land Is Our Land: The Pop-Folk Years (Rhino R2 71834, 2003) - "Guantanamera"
• A&M Records - History 100 (A&M 90680-4, 2007, Japan, 5-CD Box Set) - "Guantanamera", "Louie Louie", "Come Saturday Morning"

Singles

Year	A/B-side Songs (Songwriters)	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. AC	UK Singles Chart	CAN	CAN AC	Label & Cat #
1962	"Once Again" / "White Steeple" (as The Grads) (DeVorzon-Chandler) / (Chandler-McKendry)	-	-	-	-	-	Valiant 6023
1964	"It Happened Once Before" / "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring" (as The Grads) (Troup) / (Troup)	-	-	-	-	-	MGM K13216
	"The Wild One" / "The Cool One" (as The Grads) (Usher-Christian) / (Mike Curb)	-	-	-	-	-	Mercury 72346
1966	"Everything In The Garden" / "Stage Door" (as The Grads) (Greenaway) / (Goffin-King)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 797
	"Guantanamera" / "What Makes You Dream, Pretty Girl?" (Joseíto Fernández) / (J. Wilson-M. Garson)	9	3	7	10	-	A&M 806
	"Louie Louie" / "Things We Said Today" (Richard Berry) / (Lennon-McCartney)	30	24	-	31	-	A&M 819
1967	"For Baby" / "La Bamba" (John Denver) / (Traditional)	-	31	-	-	-	A&M 835
	"Glass" / "It's Over" (Sheldon-Marks) / (Jimmie Rodgers)	112	-	-	-	-	A&M 851
	"The French Song" / "Bon Soir Dame" (Pease-Vincent) / (Bud Dashiell)	-	20	-	-	-	A&M 861
	"Cuando Salí de Cuba" / "Softly As I Leave You" (Luis Aguilé) / (G. Calabrese/H. Shaper/A. De Vita)	-	3	-	-	-	A&M 880
1968	"Quando M'Innamoro (A Man Without Love)" / "Wooden Heart" (Livraghi, Mason, Pace, Panzeri) / (Wise, Weisman, Twomey, Kaempfert)	124	16	33	-	-	A&M 939
	"Softly" / "Cancion De Amor (Wanderlove)" (Gordon Lightfoot) / (M. Williams-C. Mapel)	-	39	-	-	-	A&M 968
	"Let Go!" / "Suzanne" (Powell, Gimbel, DeMoraes) / (Leonard Cohen)	-	36	-	-	-	A&M 997
1969	"The Wonder Of You" / "That Night" (Baker Knight) / (Norman Gimbel-Lalo Schifrin)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1044
	"Temptation" / "Wave" (Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown) / (Antonio Carlos Jobim)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1085
	"Kumbaya" / "Yellow Days" (Traditional) / (A. Bernstein-A. Carrillo)	-	-	38	-	-	A&M 1116
	"Come Saturday Morning" / "Pretty Flamingo" (Fred Karlin/Dory Previn) / (Mark Barkan)	17	8	-	30	13	A&M 1134
1970	"Come Saturday Morning" / "To Put Up With You" (Fred Karlin/Dory Previn) / (Paul Williams-Roger Nichols)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1185 2nd release; alt B-side
	"Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" / "Santo Domingo" (Stu Phillips-Bob Stone) / (Rudy Lindt-Peter Poll-Michael Piano)	-	17	-	-	1	A&M 1208
	"Free To Carry On" / "(He's Got The) Whole World In His Hands" (Dale Bobbitt, Jim Brady) / (Traditional)	94	11	-	-	-	A&M 1227
1971	"The Sound of Love" / "The Drifter" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb, M. Gibb) / (Paul Williams-Roger Nichols)	-	-	-	-	13	A&M 1249
	"Free To Carry On" / "Chotto Matte Kudasai (Never Say Goodbye)" (Jim Brady-Dale Bobbitt) / (Loyal E. Garner-Jeanne Nakashima)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1280 2nd release; alt B-side
	"Never My Love" / "Leland Loftis" (Donald and Richard Addrisi) / (D. Bobbitt-J. Brady)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1306
	"Gift of Song" / "Never My Love" (Patty Ingalls) / (Donald and Richard Addrisi)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1314
1972	"Never Can Say Goodbye" / "An Old Fashioned Love Song" (Clifton Davis) / (Paul Williams)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 1372
	"The World Is A Circle" / "(Baby I Could Be) So Good At Lovin' You" (Bacharach-David) / (Buz Clifford)	-	-	-	-	13	A&M 1388
1976	"For The Last Time" / "Down By The River" (J. Brady) / (Neil Young)	-	-	-	-	-	Satril 111 UK release
	"Guantanamera" / "Leland Loftis" (Joseíto Fernández) / (D. Bobbitt-J. Brady)	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 7244 UK release
	"Hang On Sloopy" / "Skidrow Joe" (Wes Farrell, Bert Russell / (Brady-Bobbitt)	-	-	32	-	-	Satril 114 UK release
1977	"Life Is A Song Worth Singing" / "Island (Without A Name)" (Bell-Creed) / (Brady-Bobbitt)	-	-	-	-	-	Satril 118 UK release
	"Broken Slumber" / "Living Is A Lovin' Thing" (Brady-Seeburg) / (J. Duncan)	-	-	-	-	-	Satril 119 UK release
1978	"It Should Have Lasted Forever" / "Darling I Apologise" (Benson-Clarke-Hyams) / (Lane-Roberts)	-	-	-	-	-	Satril 127 UK release
1979	"You're A Great Way To Fly - Singapore Girl" / same (instrumental) (Bobby Hart-Fred Bongusto) / (Fred Bongusto)	-	-	-	-	-	Singapore Airlines SIA-3
Reissues	"Guantanamera" / "Cuando Salí De Cuba"	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 8526
	"Quando M'Innamoro" / "La Bamba"	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 8527
	"Come Saturday Morning" / "The Wonder Of You"	-	-	-	-	-	A&M 8544

Discography Notes

See also

• List of folk musicians
• List of former A&M Records artists
• List of artists who have covered The Beatles