Winchester Cathedral

About Winchester Cathedral

"Winchester Cathedral" is a song by The New Vaudeville Band, a British novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff Stephens, and was released in late 1966 by Fontana Records. It reached #1 in Canada on the RPM 100 national singles charts and shortly thereafter in the U. S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call "vaudeville"), so he wrote "Winchester Cathedral" in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée soundalike (John Carter) singing through his hands to imitate a megaphone sound. Although the song was recorded entirely by session musicians, when it became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, with Fontana trying unsuccessfully to recruit the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The recording is one of the few charting songs to feature a bassoon. The band toured extensively under the tutelage of Peter Grant, who later went on to manage The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. The tune went to No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. It went all the way to the top in the U. S., however, displacing "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Supremes on December 3, 1966. After a one-week run at No. 1, "Winchester Cathedral" was knocked off the summit by the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations", only to rebound to the top spot the following week. After two additional weeks, it was knocked off the top for good by "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees. more »

Year:

1966

2:38

357 Views

Playlists:

#1

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Oooh, Winchester Cathedral, you're bringin' me down
You stood and you watched as my baby left town
You coulda done somethin', hey, you didn't try
You didn't do nothin', you just let her walk by

Now everyone knows just how much I needed that girl
She wouldn't have gone far away if only you'd started ringin' your bell

Winchester Cathedral, you're bringin' me down
You stood and you watched as my baby left town

Hey, Winchester Cathedral, you are bringin' me down
You stood and you watched as, you watched her go by, my baby left town
You coulda done somethin', but you didn't even try
You didn't do nothin', you didn't ding-dong, you let her get by

Now everyone knows just how much I needed that girl
She wouldn't have gone far away, if only you'd started ringin' your bell

Now, Winchester Cathedral, man, you've brought me down
You just stood there and watched as my baby left town!

 Become A Better Singer In Only 30 Days, With Easy Video Lessons!

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra, /sɨˈnɑːtrə/, (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and film actor of Italian origin. more »

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