You really can't forget Don Fardon in a hurry. How could you, he stands a massive 6'7" tall with a big, big voice to match his spectacular frame.
He started his career in the early sixties at the height of Beatlemania with a band called "The Sorrows". The Coventry based "Sorrows" were next on the agenda of new trends, fortunately they were musically competent, the heavy rnb sound relied very much on the talents of their tall, lanky singer.
Within two years, Don and the boys had their first major hit single with "Take a Heart". It was to be their last in Britain. Their flirtation with success lasted just four years and in 1969 they decided to go their separate ways.
The group went off to Italy after being voted the UK's top group; Don stayed at home, disillusioned, and contemplated a job back in industry.
He was persuaded back into the rock-n-roll business for one last fling by his old record producer and the writer of "Take a Heart", Miki Dallon. In 1969 they made a record together of an old John Loudermilk composition, "Indian Reservation", and a legend was born. Within weeks it become a hit all over the world, selling like wildfire except for England, where Don admits to buying the other copy sold!
Yet on the strength of that success he toured the world once more, and for a while teamed up with the legendary Alexis Korner singing the blues. Then fate took a hand. In 1971 the movie "Soldier Blue" went on general release in Britain and caused a sensation.
On the recommendation of DJ Dave Lee Travis, Don persuaded the record company to re-release "Indian Reservation". The success and sentiment generated by the movie did the rest. The record went on to top the charts all over the world and sell over 10 million copies.
Don enjoyed a string of hits throughout the world in the wake of "Indian". "Follow your Drum", "Girl", "The Letter", "Gimmie God Lovin'". Almost by accident he was persuaded to record the theme song from a TV documentary on the life of football genius George Best, and he landed another sizeable hit when "Belfast Boy" put him back in the British charts.
In 1975 he decided to jump off the bandwagon. In 1992 he got it rolling once more when he joined the BBC and became a Radio Presenter. These days Don tours with his brilliant band "The Don Fardon Band", playing a combination of rock-n-pop-n-blues-n-country! They're a versatile lot. In the spring of 1997 Don released his first album for many years "The Next Chapter", this showed another side of Don Fardon.
Don has how put together a new show, telling the history of rock-n-roll. Don has also been signed to Sanctuary Records and released a 2-cd album entitled "Don Fardon - Coventry Boy - the Anthology". This compilation anthologises Don's career, from his mid sixties sides with The Sorrows to a fine 2006 re-cut of his ode to the Belfast Boy, the late, great George Best.