The Cobblers (EP) (Herald ELR 1073) 1966 UK *
The Cobblers are certainly one of the more interesting of the early British Christian bands, with one foot in the beat scene, the other in nightclub lounge. Fortunately the lounge factor is minimized on this four-song EP, making it more consistent than their Warm Are The Sounds album. There’s a solid beat alongside the bass and electric guitar, but it’s the (cheesy) organ that gets all the solos – pretty cool sounding too. Side one contains a strolling cover of ‘Peace In The Valley’, followed by the lively ‘Tenderly He Watches’. Side two has ‘There Is A Green Hill’ (to the tune of ‘House Of The Rising Sun’) and ‘Just The Same’ (to the tune of ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’). Back cover says they started as a result of a Billy Graham Crusade in Manchester. The group’s name was inspired by William Carey who was cobbler before he was a minister and missionary. (The Archivist by Ken Scott, 4th Edition).
Tracks:
01. Peace In The Valley
02. Tenderly He Watches
03. There Is A Green Hill
04. Just The Same
I like their “lounge” side myself, but this one is well worth getting, just for “Just the same”.