The Roulettes - Stakes and Chips (Very Rare Beat Album UK 1965)

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An underrated British quartet made up of John Rogan (bass), Russ Ballard (lead guitar), Peter Thorpe (rhythm guitar), and Bob Henrit (drums), the Roulettes featured future Argent alumnus Russ Ballard on lead guitar. They were originally formed as a backing band for vocalist Adam Faith, who enjoyed a massively successful light rock & roll career in the early '60s in England. Beginning in 1963 with the start of the rock & roll explosion coming out of Liverpool, the group was somewhat reorganized, and their and Faith's work together became much more assertive; the result was Faith's last big hit "The First Time" in August of 1963.

The group began recording on their own for EMI in late 1963 and revealed themselves as an above-average group, fully competitive on a musical level with acts like the Searchers and the Hollies. Their records, though fewer in number, display many of the same virtues found on the better-known work of the Beatles and the Searchers, including soaring harmonies behind strong lead vocals, crisp guitar playing, and a good ear for memorable hooks. Ballard and Henrit also appeared on "Concrete and Clay," a major hit for the acoustic rock outfit Unit Four Plus Two, but the Roulettes' own records stubbornly failed to make the charts. By 1965, they'd split with Adam Faith, but the concentration on their own careers didn't change the inexplicably lackluster performance of their records.

The group soldiered on through 1967 without any chart success, playing shows on the European continent, where any good British rock band could still earn a decent living. Finally, Ballard and Henrit joined Unit Four Plus Two, while Thorpe and Rogan left the music business. 

Following the breakup of Unit Four Plus Two in 1968, Ballard and Henrit hooked up with Rod Argent and Chris White, late of the Zombies, and formed Argent, a quartet that, for a brief time in the early '70s, enjoyed some of the chart success that had eluded the Roulettes throughout their history.

The Roulettes were a British rock and roll group formed in London in 1962. They were shortly recruited to play as the backing group to singer Adam Faith, in order for him to compete with the beat bands then emerging from Merseyside. With Faith, they subsequently enjoyed a run of chart hits in the 1960s, billed as Adam Faith with The Roulettes on the Parlophone label. 

They backed Faith on the UK chart hits; 'The First Time', 'We Are in Love', 'I Love Being in Love With You', 'If He Tells You', and 'Someone's Taken Maria Away' (between 1964–65) In 1963, The Roulettes signed to EMI and began releasing their own material, scoring one UK chart hit 'A Bad Time' and releasing a now verey rare album for Parlophone 'Stakes And Chips', and in addition they continued to work with Faith as well until October 1965, most notably backing him on a 'Live' album. Their own later records, however, were less successful, although they toured in Europe until 1967, when the group split up.

Members Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit went on to join Unit 4 + 2 formed by original Roulettes' member Brian Parker (on whose 1965 number one song, "Concrete and Clay", they had both previously played); the two would later also become members of rock band Argent. In addition Ballard had later success as a solo artist and songwriter, whilst Henrit became a renowned session drummer and also replaced The Kinks' long serving drummer Mick Avory in their later years.

Original Album Tracks:
01. Bad Time  
02. What You Gonna Do?  
03. Settle Down  
04. Taste Of Honey
05. Find Out The Truth  
06. I'll Remember Tonight
07. You Don't Love Me  
08. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow
09. I Hope He Breaks Your Heart  
10. I Can't Think Of Anyone Else
11. Shake
12. Soon You'll Be Leaving Me  
13. Me Body  
14. This Little Girl

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The Roulettes - UK Single 1966

The Roulettes Promotion Photo 1965