The Silkie

The Silkie were an English folk music group. Their name derived from an Orcadian song The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry, which they sometimes performed. They were briefly considered to be the English equivalent of Peter, Paul and Mary, with their common repertoire of Bob Dylan songs, and the original Australian folk group, The Seekers. The original quartet were Hull University students and consisted of Sylvia Tatler (vocals), Mike Ramsden (guitar and vocals), Ivor Aylesbury (guitar and vocals) and Kevin Cunningham (double bass). The group received help from John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison to record their cover version of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" on 9 August 1965 at the IBC Studios at about the same time as The Beatles' own version was being released on their album Help! The song charted in the UK at # 28 and also reached # 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the same year. John Lennon produced while Paul McCartney played the guitar and George Harrison kept time by tapping his guitar and also playing the tambourine. When the recording was completed, Lennon was so pleased with it that he rang Brian Epstein, played it over the phone to him, and told him that they had just recorded a Number 1 hit. The Silkie had been scheduled to tour the United States in December 1965 and had even been booked to appear on both the Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand, but were unable to obtain the necessary visas and work permits so the tour was subsequently cancelled. Two further singles released in 1966 failed to make the UK or U.S. charts and The Silkie finally split up.