Durban may be famous for beaches, bunny chows and Boxing Day Tests, but one of its biggest exports is a Sixties’ soul-rock band known as the Flames.
The Flames would gig their way across London in the late 1960s meeting Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Keith Richards, Jerry Garcia, Miles Davis and Brian and Carl Wilson. They would later relocate to Los Angeles to record an album for the Beach Boys record label Brother, changing their name to the Flame.
Now their music has been remastered and re-released by the Retro Fresh Label, owned and run by Benjy Mudie.
The band’s 1967 third album, Burning Soul!, and the 1968 classic fourth album, Soulfire, have been given the sonic once-over and are sounding better than ever — that’s according to head Flame Steve Fataar: “When I stuck it in a sound system my initial reaction was pure delight at hearing the quality of the reproduction. The tech fundis in Holland and Peter Pearlson certainly worked wonders in that department.”
Formed in 1963 by two brothers, Steve and Edries (Brother) Fataar, the Flames would have many band members before its classic line-up coalesced. With the kid wonder Ricky Fataar on drums, voted South Africa’s greatest drummer at the age of 12, and the great guitar-playing soul singer Blondie Chaplin joining the band, things came together for the Flames.
“It’s critical to realise that the Flames were more of a working band than a recording band,” says Fataar. “We played 10 days a week for years around the country to thousands, whereas the recordings were literally three working days each, with breaks for tea and lunch.
“At the time of recording Burning Soul!, we were a tight band that had been performing continuously, so the recordings were pretty much live. They were done on a four-track analogue recorder and the sessions were quite cheerful, confident and sans stress. Essentially it was a band adventure.
“Soulfire was recorded similarly but there was more overdubs and brass tracking added,” he says. “All this was a learning curve and rather exciting — consider that Ricky and Blondie were only 14 and 15 years old at this time.”
The results are astounding. Whether listening to the band’s smash hits such as their take on Jerry Butler’s 1959 soul hit, For Your Precious Love, or their takes on songs made famous by Wilson Pickett, such as Land of a Thousand Dances, and Otis Redding, such as Knock On Wood, it is clear that the Flames were a sensational band.
Add to that covers of Jim Hendrix’s Purple Haze, Sam & Dave’s Hold on I’m Coming and Aaron Neville’s Tell It Like It Is and it’s clear that the Flames were driven by the Stax/Motown soul movement of the United States with a dash of rock ‘n roll thrown in for good measure.
By the end of 1968, the Flames were headlining their own shows in London.
“I mean, when I first left home I didn’t come back for 17 years because of apartheid.” says Chaplin. “It was a pretty tough time with apartheid. We were very popular but it wasn’t easy. The music kind of saved our lives, that was our focus, we knew what was going on and we used music to try to get out.
“We were green, we just got off the boat in Southampton. It was 1968 and everything was so exciting and new,” he says. “Things were pretty explosive at the time. We enjoyed it tremendously.”
Fataar remembers things differently, insisting the band just laughed off racial intolerance when they encountered it, all believing that the music they made together was the focus.
In 1969 Beach Boy Carl Wilson, acting on a tip-off, went to catch a Flames live show in London, hoping to sign the band to their freshly launched record label, Brother Records.
Wilson was suitably impressed and soon the Flames were hightailing their way to Los Angeles to record their new album as the Flame. “LA was crazy,” says Chaplin. “England felt free after South Africa, as you can imagine, and Los Angeles was even more open.”
“Going to England and then the States was a decision to go to the heart of the music game,” says Fataar. “It wasn’t all easy but we had some lucky breaks. What we always had on our side, though, was the capacity to deliver the music and this saw us through our hurdles.
“Meeting rock luminaries was par for the course we were on, I suppose, yet it still felt like a privilege meeting and hanging out with the likes of Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Miles Davis, Brian and Carl Wilson and Keith Richards,” he says.
“Mostly I was impressed with the humility and the helpfulness shown and, with Keith, the ‘non attitude’ he so elegantly exudes,” says Fataar.
“Hollywood in 1969 was an intriguing time to be there and a ton of the experiences there left me confused. I guess this was the only negative impact I experienced.”
Having released one record on Brother Records, the Flames disbanded and Steve and Brother Fataar returned to South Africa.
Then out of the blue Chaplin received a call from the Beach Boys manager asking him to join the band, alongside Ricky Fataar, the Flames drummer.
Chaplin jumped at the opportunity, recording three albums with them, singing the lead vocals on Sail on Sailor, a track off the band’s 1973 album, Holland.
The rest is history — a musical career that includes playing with The Band, Bonnie Raitt, David Johansen and the Rolling Stones.
Fataar says that there is a chance of a Flames reunion but no plans to record together again. “At the moment we’re in negotiations, to reunite to perform in March/April in probably four cities here in South Africa,” says Fataar. “I still perform lots of those Flames tunes and they are still well received.”