Here’s the brief background.
In 1962 original bass player Jet Harris left the Shadows to go solo , following original drummer Tony Meehan who by that time was a producer at Decca ( who signed Jet).
They decided to team up again musically and Jerry Lordan who had written Apache, Wonderful Land and Atlantis for the Shads gave them Diamonds to record which became their third UK hit and their first number one.
Jimmy Page played rhythm and John Paul Jones played bass.
When John Illsley was recording Glass ( I may have the chronology slightly wrong) we had a brief conversation about doing an instrumental bass “associated “ track and I think I suggested a cover of Diamonds which John knew ( any guitarist or bass player who had grown up in the Sixties would have done. ).
Jet had also had a prior hit with Man With the Golden Arm ( heroin ref / Frank Sinatra starred) so that got done as well.
K Wallis B was the name of a beat group I’d briefly played in mid sixties in Yorkshire so I suggested that as a name.
So yes it was a vanity project and yes it was my fault and it sold less than Glass !
That dance mix is atrocious - no idea who did that.
Really it was just a bit of self indulgent fun - nothing more.
I don’t think anybody got paid anything.
It’s worth listening to the originals on You Tube since all the bands Mark and I played in around Leeds would have covered both ( and virtually all the Shadows repertoire. ).
It’s odd how instrumentals went from being incredibly popular to unheard now.
Hope that is of help.
