To Mark’s credit, he succeeded. The Rockin’ Horse CD ‘Yes It Is’ was released last year on the Rev-Ola label, together with bonus tracks and new interviews – and with Mark providing excellent sleeve notes.

Issued on CR REV 70, the tracks are: Biggest Gossip In Town; ‘Oh Carol, I’m So Sad’; ‘You’re Spending All My Money’; ‘Baby Walk Out With Your Darling Man’, ‘Don’t You Ever Think I Cry’; ‘Yes It Is’; ‘Stayed Out Late Last Night’; ‘Delicate Situation’; ‘Son, Son’; ‘Golden Opportunity’; ‘I’m Trying To Forget You’ and ‘Julian The Hooligan.’ The bonus tracks are: ‘Biggest Gossip In Town’ a mono 45 mix; ‘If You Say’, a non-album mono 45 b-side; ‘Julian The Hooligan’, a mono 45 mix; ‘Stayed Out Late Last Night’, a mono 45 mix; ‘Frankie Joe’ and ‘Lonely Norman.’

Mark did write the notes to the CD and they are impressively detailed. He begins by writing, “Jimmy Campbell should rightfully be considered closer to a Merseyside Bob Dylan than the sullen working class Nick Drake he is often painted as. He could have been the Poet Laureate of England! How is it that one of the greatest sonic creations in his fascinating and flawless back catalogue should be gathering dust for the past thirty-three years?”

A couple of the tracks on the ‘Yes It Is’ CD were co-written with Billy Kinsley, another brilliant Mersey composer/musician. For the co-composed tracks, Jimmy has adopted the name Sartain, which was his wife’s maiden name, in order to avoid a contractual problem with his previous publishing company. 

Discussing the opening track, ‘Biggest Gossip in Town,’ Billy comments, “There was a coffee shop that all of the bands went to in Liverpool called the Kardomah and all the biggest gossips hung out there. It’s pure pop. Jimmy said I should write the middle section so I went to another room and half an hour later I’d finished it. I tried to do a Shirelles type middle eight. I had grown up on all the Shirelles albums and I loved all the lesser-known tracks off their albums. I was very, very influenced by the, the Exciters and all that US girl group stuff.”

Billy also contributed two solo numbers to the CD, ‘Delicate Situation’ and ‘Julian The Hooligan.’ Commenting on the latter song, Billy recalls, “My wife Sandra and I were on holiday in Portugal in June, 1971 and we met another couple there who had a toddler the same age as our little girl, Sarah. They kept calling out to their little boy, ‘Julian you’re a hooligan.’ I thought, hey, that’s a great line. I wrote the lyrics right there and then.”

Rockin’ Horse comprised Jimmy, Billy, Mike Snow, Stan Gorman and Bobby Falloon.

Mark ends his notes by writing, “Today, Jimmy is battling emphysema but can occasionally be spotted taking his place alongside his old band mates in the Kirkbys and singing the rock ‘n’ roll that inspired it all. It’s criminal that such a majestic talent as Jimmy should have not enjoyed larger commercial success, but if being treasured by your close friends and respected by your fellow musicians is success, then Jimmy is at the top of his game.”

I hear that since this CD was released, followed by a further CD this year, “23rd Turnoff: The Dream of Michaelangelo,’ Jimmy has perked up and has begun writing again.

Sadly, in the very year that ‘Yes It Is’ was released, Hal Carter succumbed to cancer, as did Alby Power, bassist with the Jimmy Campbell’s groups the Kirkbys and 23rd Turnoff.

The Mersey Sound didn’t end with the Beatles and the wave of Brian Epstein’s hit artists; there were many brilliant singers, composers and groups who never emerged on the world stage but had the potential to be major stars. They included Jimmy Campbell and Billy Kinsley, along with Steve Aldo, Mike Hart, Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes, the Roadrunners, the Chants, Jackie Lomax, Beryl Marsden, the Hillsiders and several others.

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