Chad & Jeremy Biography
Chad Stuart (10 December 1943, Durham, England; vocals, guitar, banjo, keyboards, sitar) and Jeremy Clyde (b. 22 March 1944, Buckinghamshire, England; vocals, guitar) met as students at London's Central School of Speech and Drama and soon began performing together with Stuart providing the musical accompaniment to Clyde's lyrics. Their early releases for the Ember label offered a brand of folk-influenced pop similar to that of Peter And Gordon, but the duo was unable to make commercial inroads in the UK. However, their quintessential Englishness inspired four US Top 30 hits, including "Yesterday's Gone" and "A Summer Song" the latter of which reached number 7. Their acting ability made them perfect for television, and they guested on many US television shows and sitcoms, including The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hullabaloo, Laredo, Batman, and The Andy Williams Show. The 1967 concept album Of Cabbages And Kings was produced by Gary Usher and signalled a switch to progressive styles, but this ambitious and sadly neglected work was not a commercial success. The Ark, a tighter, less symphonic, altogether more successful attempt to modernize their sound, followed before the pair broke up in 1969. Clyde, who made frequent appearances on the popular television show Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In, later pursued a successful acting career. Stuart wrote for musical comedies, worked as musical director for The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour, and recorded with his wife Jill before moving into radio work. The duo reunited in 1983 to record a new album, and three years later appeared on the British Reinvasion tour.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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