British band The Four Pennies debuted in 1962 under the name Lionel Morton Four, after their singer/rhythm guitarist, who had been an altar boy in a cathedral in his hometown of Blackburn (Lancashire), England. Joined by Fritz Fryer on lead guitar, Mike Wilsh (nee Wilsham) on bass and keyboards and Alan Buck on drums, The Four Pennies, signed to the Philips label, enjoyed success with ballads such as "Juliet" (#1 in 1964), originally released as the B-side to "Tell Me Girl". Other hits include "Do You Want Me To" (No. 47, 1963), "I Found Out the Hard Way" (No. 14), Leadbelly's "Black Girl" (No. 20), Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Until It's Time for You to Go" (No. 19, 1965), Bobby Vinton's "Trouble Is My Middle Name" (No. 32, 1966) and "Keep the Freeway Open" (No. 54, 1966). With David Graham replacing Fritz Fryer, the band recorded the original albums 2 Sides of the Four Pennies (1965) and Mixed Bag (1966), before splitting up in autumn 1966 after the release of the single "No Sad Songs for Me". Morton briefly went solo before pursuing a career in television, while Buck worked at Radio Luxembourg before dying of a heart attack on March 15, 1994. Fryer founded the band Fritz, Mike & Mo, then worked as a producer for bands such as Clannad, Horslips, Motörhead and Stackridge, before dying of pancreatic cancer in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 2, 2007.
