The Shadows of Knight

The Shadows of Knight was an American rock band formed in Mt. Prospect, IL, in 1964 as The Shadows. They later learned that there was already an English band called The Shadows, , so they renamed themselves The Shadows of Knight (the "Knight" came from the sports team in Mt. Prospect High School, which they all attended, called the Knights). The original band members were lead guitarist Warren Rogers, rhythm/lead guitar/vocalist Roger Spielmann, rhythm guitarist Norm Gotsch, bass guitarist Wayne Pursell, drummer Tom Schiffour and vocalist Jimy Sohns. The band released several albums over the next five years and went through some personnel changes. Pursell left and was replaced by Joe Kelley, Gotsch was drafted into the army and replaced by Jerry McGeorge and Hawk Wolinski was added as a bass player. They played the Chicago suburb circuit for a few years, then became the weekend house band at The Cellar Club in nearby Arlington Heights. They developed an enthusiastic following and filled the club on the nights they played. In 1965 they played on the same bill with The Byrds at Chicago's McCormick Plaza and were contacted by executives from Dunwich Records. They liked the version of Van Morrison's "Gloria" the band performed at the gig and had the band record it as their first single. Released in December of 1965, the song was a major hit in the Chicago region, getting large amounts of airplay (what also helped was the fact that many area radio stations, especially the huge Chicago station WLS, had refused to play Morrison's version because of "suggestive" lyrics, but played the Shadows' version because they changed those lyrics). The song went to #10 on the Billboard national charts and to #7 on the CashBox charts. The record wound up selling more than one million copies. The band released a "Gloria" album and a follow-up album, "Back Door", in 1966. They also released several follow-up singles to "Gloria", but none were as successful. In 1967 the band broke up, with its members forming their own bands or joining existing ones.