 King started the group with original members Reg King, Mike Evans and Roger Powell in August 1963 as "The Boys", who had a brief spell as a bar band in Germany, and then as a backing band for Sandra Barry, including on her single ""Really Gonna Shake" in 1964.After the stint with Barry, The band later added Pete Watson as lead guitarist, renamed themselves The Action, and got a record deal at Parlophone with producer George Martin.In the late 60s, they moved from largely covering Tamla Motown hits in a British beat group style to original songs with a psychedelic/folk rock influence, with Alan King making contributions to the songwriting.