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I presume everyone here has heard the A and B sides of this 1958 single (Teenage Love/'Jean Dorothy?

Both are on youtube..

I presume this the first recording by Hank and Bruce?

I think they are. I first heard them (as well as The Vipers' single "Summertime Blues"/"Liverpool Blues") during a Dutch radio show documenting the Cliff Richard & The Shadows story, back in October, 1991. Certainly a very primitive recording, but quite nice to hear Hank and Bruce's first efforts.

According to a reliable website, the record was released in July 1958. That probably means that it was recorded in June or possibly as early as late May. This could have been as little as six weeks after Hank and Bruce alighted at King's Cross from the Newcastle train.

http://www.45cat.com/record/db4165

Quote (from that page):

From Pete Frames book "The Restless Generation"

Hank & Bruce had fallen in with drummer/songwriter Peter Chester son of famous comedian Charlie Chester. In conjunction with singer and harmonica player Gerry Furst and piano player Neil Johnson they made a record as The Five Chesternuts - financed by Leslie Conn , then the UK representative of the NY based Carlton label. A one-off deal with Columbia, "It was never going to be anything permanent as Neil & Gerry already had careers mapped out but it was a roaring little band"

Columbia 45-DB 4165 (the Chesternuts record) was only the twenty-fifth release on the newly-designed green Columbia 45rpm label and is thirteen Columbia releases ahead of Move It (45-DB 4178), which is listed as released in August 1958 (that'll have to have been late August).

It struck me that, even then, Hank and Bruce could sing very well in the Everly Brothers' style...on the Chesternuts record, the Drifters vocal records and of course, the Shadows vocals..

Who were of course a big influence..John and Paul in the Fabs, Alan Clarke and Graham Nash in the Hollies and many others...two young fellas singing harmony, two acoustic guitars.. and you were off to the races!

I've got The Five Chesternuts disc on 78 as well as (very scratchy!) 45. By the way, Gerry Furst played beautiful harmonica on Cliff's Evergreen Tree from his Me And My Shadows LP.

I suppose you could say that The Five Chesternuts were the first British Boy Band long before Take That, I remember seeing Bruce and Hank singing Feeling Fine on Oh Boy in 1959 as part of The Drifters .I don`t suppose any recording of the show still exists .

The Chesternuts even performed the single on the "Six Five Special" TV program on 12. July 1958. Most likely nor recording of this show has survived.

(I wanted to attach the above pic of a Melody Maker article from 12.07.1958 upright, but surprisingly I got the message: "The image must be at least 0 pixels wide, 0 pixels high and at most 600 pixels wide and 340 pixels high. The submitted image is 285 pixels wide and 459 pixels high." There have been quite larger pics been posted here in the past. Perhaps someone in the know can explain.)

Best wishes,
Ulrich

Derek, there's a pic of The Drifters singing Feelin' Fine on Oh Boy! in Mike Read's book - but you can actually remember seeing it! And that newspaper cutting is a piece of history, Ulrich. Thanks both!!

I see that the misspelling of Bruce's surname goes right back to the beginning!

Tony