简介： by Richie UnterbergerA British teen idol in the early days of Beatlemania, Heinz (full name Heinz Burt) was the bassist for the Tornados, t 更多>
by Richie UnterbergerA British teen idol in the early days of Beatlemania, Heinz (full name Heinz Burt) was the bassist for the Tornados, the instrumental group best remembered for topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with Telstar. He was plucked from the group by producer Joe Meek to become a solo act, and hit the British Top Five with the Eddie Cochran tribute Just Like Eddie in 1963. Over the next couple years he had several other Top 30 hits, including Country Boy, You Were There, Questions I Cant Answer, and Diggin My Potatoes. A lad with an awkward smile and shocking blond pompadour, Heinz couldnt sing well and his songs were usually exceptionally dippy and trivial even for the time, albeit catchy. The material is elevated, however, by Meeks relentlessly imaginative production — ghostly choruses, stomping orchestras, and shudderingly compressed sound — and some remarkable lead guitar playing by sessionmen including Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, and much lesser known but quite talented players like Barry Tomlinson. On occasion, Heinz did get hold of tough rock tunes like Big Bad Spider and Im Not a Bad Guy, featuring blazing guitar leads that rank among the most unsung instrumental rock performances of the period.
