Ronnie Wells was one of the founding members of British pop/rock & roll trio the Viscounts (not to be confused with the American act of the same name founded in the same year), who achieved some modest U.K. chart success in the early '60s, most notably with the singles "Shortnin' Bread" and "Who Put the Bomp." Born c. 1941 in the historic town of Farnborough, Hampshire, England, Wells was the son of a dance band pianist and church organist who encouraged his singing. At age ten he took up the harmonica and after leaving school served a stint in the TV variety act Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang, before he and two of the other members, inspired by the then-new rock & roll sound, left to form the Viscounts. After the band broke up, Wells found work during the '70s and '80s as a session player and vocalist, his harmonica playing appearing on TV theme songs and on records by Elton John and Lulu. In the '90s, after an appearance on the 50 Wartime Songs compilation for which he was paid the meager fee of £25, he decided to get back into recording. Teaming up with a local producer and securing a deal with the marketing company AWAL (Artists Without a Label), he released his debut solo album, Let There Be Love, which was followed in 2009 by his sophomore effort, Sixties Night. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi