Shadows of Knight, The

Originally called The Shadows, Jim Sohns formed this band after graduating from Prospect High School in 1965, and for nine months, the group played gigs and parties locally.

They soon became the de facto house band at a new Arlington Heights teen club, the Cellar. owned by Paul Sampson, an independent music promoter who also managed a local booking agency.

Sampson was one of many independent promoters in the area, and he dealt with numerous local record firms in the suburbs as well as in Chicago proper.

In next to no time, the band were Chicago’s most popular group – a group that specialised in commercial blues but were still without a recording contract.

ATCO became very interested in the boys, but they had one small problem. ATCO already had the English group The Shadows, and naturally, they were not about to release records by two different groups with the same name.

So, the American Shadows became The Time, but when their (million-selling) version of Gloria was released, the name on the label read The Shadows of Knight.

“The disc jockeys were so confused,” laughed Jim, “that every time they played our record they’d call us by a different name. We were The Shadows, The Time, The Shadows of Knight, The Shadows of Time, The Time Shadows and The Knight Time. It was really funny, but I think all the confusion helped because it generated a lot of interest in this group with all the names.”

Sohns didn’t even want to record Gloria at first since the song had been a flop for Them, but Paul Sampson (now their manager) insisted, and they cut it in 35 minutes.

Released on 31 January 1966, it immediately drew heavy requests on WLS and CFL and ultimately landed the group a Billboard Top 10 hit.

Their proto-punk attack was better served, though, by their version of Bo Diddley‘s Oh Yeah.

The Shadows of Knight supported The Rolling Stones on 40 dates of a US tour, but their subsequent records failed to click, and by mid-1967, Jim Sohns broke up the group and formed a new band, who hooked up with the Team label, run by Katz & Kasenetz of future bubblegum fame.

This resulted in their second (and last) national hit, Shake. This also proved a dead end, and the Shadows of Knight ended up playing heavy-metal glitter rock at local bars.

Guitarist Joe Kelley passed away in 2013, aged 68.

Jim Sohns
Vocals
Warren Rogers
Guitar, bass
Roger Spielmann
Guitar, vocals
Joe Kelley
Bass, guitar
Jerry McGeorge
Guitar
Tom Schiffour
Drums
David “Hawk” Wolinski
Bass
Norm Gotsch
Guitar
Wayne Pursell
Bass
Tom Morris
Drums