Posts Tagged ‘ 1967 ’

Del Shannon “Home & Away”

| Baroque,Pop,Sunshine

Del Shannon’s Home & Away never saw a proper release in the 1960s.   These tracks would eventually see light of day on the 1978 vinyl LP/compilation titled And The Music Plays On.  Record executives of the day were looking for heavy, underground sounds, not dense, wall-of-sound type productions that featured complex vocal arrangements, strings, harpsichords, and plenty of horns.  The music on this disc was recorded in 1967 with Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham sitting in the producer’s chair.   Home & Away was considered passe stuff for 1967 and shelved shortly after, as Del began work on his psychedelic masterpiece, The Further Adventures of Charles Westover.  The 2006 EMI reissue has excellent stereo sound and presents the LP in it’s proper context – a must own for fans of  the mid 60s Beach Boys, the Zombies and the Left Banke.

It’s useless to point out highlights on this great, lost pop album.  “Runaway ’67″ is exactly what it claims to be; a 1967 update of Del’s classic smash.  This cut has a strong Left Banke feel with it’s swirling strings and baroque arrangement.  Del’s vocals sound haunted and seamlessly mesh with Oldham’s productions.  They hit the mark on nearly every track.  This means that each song on the album flows effortlessly, whether it’s the trippy harpsichord intro to “Easy To Say, Easy To Do” or the romantic pop of “My Love Is Gone.”   My hit picks are the shimmering psychedelic pop of “Silently” and the beautiful Pet Sounds influenced gem “It’s My Feeling.”  Del only penned 3 of the LP’s tracks but he and Oldham did a good job choosing fine material from outside writers - the 3 Billy Nichols selections are pop gems.

Home & Away is just a shade or two less important than The Further Adventures of Charles Westover. It’s proof that this type of early rocker could forge on into the late 60s and make great, experimental music without losing their identity.  Del Shannon is one of those hard luck artists who made excellent music all throughout the decade but never received his due.

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“Ginny In The Mirror”

:D CD Reissue | 2006 | EMI | get at amazon ]

The Buckinghams “Kind of a Drag”

| Garage,Pop

The Buckinghams first disc is unlike anything they would ever record again. Sure, the title track was a bubblegum smash but the rest of the LP is given over to garage, blue-eyed soul, blues, and British Invasion influenced pop. It’s all good too, sung beautifully and played very tightly. You’ll be surprised when you put this gem on the turntable, if only for the two masterful garage punkers from the group’s USA tenure, “Don’t Want To Cry” and “I’ve Been Wrong.” These two tracks alone make Kind of a Drag worth a purchase.

“Sweets For My Sweet” is also given a nice garage pop reading with it’s raw guitar work and smooth organ sounds. Reissues include a powerful version of “I’m A Man”, a track that was featured on early USA pressings of this LP. Other standouts: the garage pop of “Makin’ Up & Breakin’ Up,” a superb blue-eyed soul song titled “Love Ain’t Enough” and “Beginners’ Love,” great Beatles inspired rock n roll. Even the album’s one instrumental, “Virginia Wolf,” is skillfully performed, in fact the whole album is very engaging, lacking any weak spots or noticeable mistakes. There’s lots of energy, thought and professionalism put into this music – these guys must have been one hell of a club band back in the day.

Kind of a Drag sold pretty well, so vinyl copies are very easy to find. Also recommended is the Sundazed CD reissue that was put out some years back. The youthful energy in the playing and the Buckingham’s willingness to tackle different musical genres is what makes this disc so exciting – a must if you’re into garage pop. The Yardbirds, the Kinks, and the Who were strong influences on the early Buckinghams as they had yet to fall into the bubblegum hit-making trap that was soon to come.

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“Love Ain’t Enough”

:) Original Vinyl | 1967 | USA | search ebay ]
:D CD Reissue | Sundazed | buy at sundazed ]

Mark P. Wirtz “A Teenage Opera”

| Pop,Psych

Despite enjoying greater artistic freedom than in any period before or since, a handful of late sixties rock composers strove to push the creative boundaries beyond what even the industry’s patiently elastic limits would accept, resulting in the several great “lost albums” of the period. Brian Wilson’s SMiLE finally emerged complete and as intended in 2006, its compositional brilliance diminished only by the uber-perfect new digital recordings lacking the hazy beauty of those original analogue tracks that had appeared piecemeal on Smiley Smile and Surf’s Up. Pete Townshend saw the bulk of the material from his impossibly ambitious Lifehouse concept become the splendid Who’s Next album and several non-album singles from around 1970-71. And Mark P Wirtz’s A Teenage Opera, a set of nostalgic vignettes of Edwardian village life that predated Ray Davies’s similar Village Green Preservation Society, was belatedly released in 1996 as a pseudo-film soundtrack described by reissue company RPM as “as near to the original concept as can be assembled with the surviving recorded works”.

RPM’s A Teenage Opera is simultaneously fascinating, rewarding and confounding. Wirtz agreed to RPM assembling the album from his original 1967 recordings, allowing the use of the original title and enjoying having his name liberally spread over it, but has since disparaged it as a fake: an opportunistic collector’s item comprising completed tracks intended for the Opera, incomplete demos likewise, and similar but completely unrelated tracks produced during the same period. Given that some of the latter were subsequently issued by Wirtz as singles under his own and other real and spurious artists’ names, and that at least two tracks which are known to have been intended for the Opera haven’t survived, his assertion is probably true. The Opera’s original intended running order remains a mystery.

The music itself is no less enigmatic. The three amazingly ambitious tracks released as single A-sides can be considered as either masterpieces of whimsical psychedelia or as overproduced pop schmaltz, depending on your taste (and whether you recoil from dense orchestration and kiddies’ choirs). The first such release, “Grocer Jack”, credited to Keith West and retitled “Excerpt From A Teenage Opera” to whet the public’s appetite for the rest of the project, was an unexpected UK pirate radio hit; the other two, “Sam” and “(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman”, stiffed totally, leading to EMI’s final withdrawal of support and the shelving of the intended album and animated musical film. Three other songs surfaced with justification on Tomorrow’s eponymous album, Keith West and Steve Howe having contributed substantially to the Opera project. Of the instrumentals, most might appear at first exposure to be the corniest of muzak, but intent listening reveals an underlying compositional quality and deft arrangements comparable to Morricone’s incidental film music of the same period. If you’re into the “toytown” end of psych and 1960s film scores and the historical misadventure of the project appeals to you, you’ll enjoy this album; if not, you’ll probably be happier with the more esoteric complexity of SMiLE.

The troubled history of the project has been told numerous times, with variations. A reasonable third-party version is provided in the CD’s extensive and lavishly illustrated liner notes. The best reading, from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, can be found in Wirtz’s own comprehensive and candid account.

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“(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman”

:D CD  | 1996 | RPM | at amzn ]
;) MP3 Album | download at amzn ]
8) Spotify link | listen ]

Moby Grape “Live”

, , | Classic Rock,Country Rock,Garage,RnB

Something tells me, if I had been at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom in June of ’67 to witness Moby Grape at the height of their powers, scorching through their set of two-minute pop blasts, blaring triple-guitar action and five-part harmonies soaring, I might not have survived the night. None was the match of the mighty Grape in those days; the band was “flying musically” and easily the toughest act around. Moby Grape Live is the first official release to afford a glimpse into the raucous and entrancing stage performances of one of the most exciting, original, and underappreciated bands of the ’60s.

Separated into four sides, this double LP takes us to performances from the same weeks their infamously overhyped masterpiece Moby Grape was released, to their few high-octane minutes at the legendary Monterey International Pop Festival, jumping forward to a 1969 performance in Amsterdam featuring cuts from Wow and ’69, and ending back at the start: a full side of  ”Dark Magic,” recorded New Years Eve, 1966. This one’s worth the purchase for Side 1 alone. The rabid energy of the band, issuing rapid-fire gems like “Rounder” and “Looper,”  hits a high point in “Changes” into “Indifference” featuring Jerry Miller’s careening lead guitar. Skip Spence turns in a beautifully honest vocal to cap the blistering set with “Someday.” The highlight for me, however, are the post-Skip tracks from 1969 on Side 3. “Murder in my Heart for the Judge” shows the band at their loosest, the slack and soul of the rootsier Grape a refreshing contrast. “I am Not Willing,” one of their best songs, gets a grooving drawn out treatment and it’s interesting to hear a matured group attack earlier hits “Fall on You” and “Omaha.” The closing 17-minute raga, “Dark Magic,” is more than a piece of rock music history, an actually listenable and fascinating performance, it features inspiring guitar leads, primitive electronic squeals, Skip’s far out vocal, and the driving force of sound that made Moby Grape one of the hottest band of the era.

Sundazed has curated an important document here. Hardcore Grape addicts should note much of this material has been featured on bootlegs over the years (notably the tracks from Monterey Pop and “Dark Magic”) but none of this has ever been officially released, and never with such pristine sound quality. David Fricke’s notes are the icing on the cake. After the essential debut record, this is the Moby Grape record I would recommend next.

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“Murder in My Heart for the Judge” (1969, Amsterdam)

:) 180 Gram Vinyl | 2-LP | 2010 | Sundazed | buy at sundazed ]
:D CD | 2010 | Sundazed | buy at sundazed ]

The Liberty Bell “Reality Is The Only Answer”

, | Garage,Psych

With the notable exception of the Zakary Thaks (both groups shared a similar sound and influence), the Liberty Bell were probably Corpus Christi’s top rock n roll group. They were talented musicians who wrote fine, original material and played with a conviction and skill that most lack.  While the Liberty Bell never recorded an album, they released 5 excellent singles on the J-Beck and Back Beat labels.  Back in the mid 90′s, Collectables issued a good compilation collecting all their singles and a couple of outtakes, titled Reality Is The Only Answer.  The sound quality and liner notes are iffy but the music is fine if underappreciated garage/psych.  Also, if you look hard enough, Reality Is The Only Answer can still be found for under $10.

The group started out life in Corpus Christi, Texas as the Zulus.  Upon manager/record label owner Carl Becker’s suggestion, they changed their name to the Liberty Bell.   Their first single (J-Beck) was released in 1967 – a rocking cover of the Yardbirds’ “The Nazz Are Blue.”  The flip side was a fine, fuzzy take on ”Big Boss Man.”  This single met with some local success prompting Becker to release their second 45, “For What You Lack/That’s How It Will Be.”  Both sides of this 45, also released in 1967, are pounding slabs of prime garage punk that should have put the Liberty Bell on the map.  All the ingredients were there too, attitude, lots of fuzz guitar and an overpowering energy but no success.  Another track cut at the same session, “I Can See,” is a brash garage number that’s worth a spin as well.  Amazingly, these 3 songs were cut on one of the first eight-track machines available in the U.S.  Their third J-Beck single was a solid blues number (“Al’s Blues”) with strong guitar work.  This track was backed by another good garage pop number that probably should have been the A-side, titled “Something For Me.”

In 1968 the Liberty Bell added ex-Zakary Thaks lead singer Chris Gerniottis to the fold.  That spring they went into the studio to record some tracks that would never be released.  “Reality Is The Only Answer,” written by Chris, is perhaps the group’s finest moment.  A scintillating acid punker, this cut features ferocious Keith Moon-like drumming and creative psych guitar effects – it’s explosive.  That summer the group forged on, releasing “Thoughts and Visions” and “Look For Tomorrow.”  These cuts were solid psych numbers with diverse influences ranging from the Small Faces to the Jefferson Airplane.  The Liberty Bell closed the year out with “Naw, Naw, Naw” and the superb fuzz laden psych B-side “Recognition.”

Truly due for rediscovery.

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“Reality Is The Only Answer”

:D CD Reissue | Collectables | at amazon ]

Nashville West “Nashville West”

| Americana,Country Rock

Sierra-Briar Records released the original Nashville West vinyl LP in 1978.  Initially panned by rock critic Noel Coppage in ‘Stereo Review‘ magazine, the Nashville West album has since been proclaimed one of the “20 Essential Country Guitar Albums” (Guitar Player magazine) and has seen subsequent releases in Italy, Holland, and England.

Nashville West is indeed a solid record that features the talents of Gib Guilbeau (vocals), Wayne Moore (bass), Gene Parsons (drums), and of course Clarence White (guitar).  These recordings were laid down live at the Nashville West Club in El Monte, California (1967).  The four musicians traveled back and forth from Bakersfield to LA in a beat up 1954 Mercury station wagon, playing all the local dive bars and clubs along the way.  These songs were recorded before Guilbeau formed Swampwater and also before Parsons and White would become full-time members of the Byrds.  The group’s name was actually the Reasons and these recordings were laid down before the invention of the B-Bender – Clarence White played it straight, with just a tele.

The song selection is eclectic (blues, cajun, rock, country, and instros) and the sound quality a bit rough in spots but this gives the Nashville West album its intimate feel and unique character.  No bullshit here, just hard hitting drum work via Gene Parsons and dazzling Clarence White guitar solos.  The early version of “Nashville West” kicks things off nicely.  Many of the performances are low key but forceful, give a good listen to “Sweet Mental Revenge” and “CC Rider”  for an example of this.  My favorite number is the instrumental “Ode To Billy Joe.”  This cut features outstanding, slightly spacey guitar work that sounds pretty fresh 40+ years after the fact.  Other worthy cuts are “By The Time I Get To Pheonix,” a sturdy rendition of “Love Of The Common People,” “Greensleeves,” and “Mom & Dad’s Waltz.”  The band’s sound here is bar-band tight and Gib’s vocals are appealingly world weary.

Nashville West was really the beginnings of country-rock.  The performances are fun, honest and the guitar playing is absolutely top notch.  A very good disc.  The Sierra Records CD is the best version to get, as it features a handful of bonus tracks and nice liner notes.

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“Ode To Billy Joe”

:D CD Reissue | 2001 | Sierra | buy at sierra | at amazon ]

Timebox “Beggin’”

, , | Classic Rock,Psych,RnB

You could say Timebox got a pretty fair deal out of life when compared to other bands we feature here in these pages.  They had a top 40 hit with the Four Seasons’ “Beggin’,” are represented by two terrific cd reissues and their story has been told countless times by all the serious rock n roll magazines/fanzines (Record Collector, Mojo, Shindig, and Ugly Things).   Timebox’s roots lay in the Take 5, a group who came from Southport, England (near Liverpool) and featured talented drummer/guitarist/vibraphonist Peter (Ollie) Halsall.

The group’s classic lineup didn’t really stabilize until early 1968.  By that time Timebox looked something like this: Mike Patto (lead vocals), Ollie Halsall (guitar, vibes and vocals), Chris Holmes (keyboards), Clive Griffiths (bass), and John Halsey (drums).  Prior to these personnel shifts Timbox had released three 45s in 1967.  Piccadilly issued the first two 45s which were largely instrumental efforts but in the cheerful Swingin’ London style.  The A-side of the first 45, ”I’ll Always Love You,” was an excellent pop-soul number, similar in style to the early Action or Small Faces – in other words real mod pop.  In late 67 the group switched over to Deram and released one of the jewels in their crown, a superb cover of Tim Hardin’s “Don’t Make Promises” backed by the soulful acid pop of “Walking Through The Streets Of My Mind.”  Timebox’s version of “Don’t Make Promises” was rather special in that Ollie Halsall played sitar and vibes; the song was dramatically rehauled into something imaginative.  The next single was Timebox’s run at the big time.  “Beggin’” topped out at 38, their highest chart entry by some distance but it was again, a great remake of the Four Seasons classic.

By this time the Patto/Halsall songwriting partnership had began to solidify into something productive.  The group began crafting records that were both experimental but also radio friendly.  Timebox needed a hit 45 for survival.  Their next Deram release was a baroque soul pop number titled “Girl, Don’t Make Me Wait.”  While this track was respectable enough,  it was the brilliant, swirling psychedelia of the B-side that caught my attention most.  “Gone Is The Sad Man” is comparable to a really good track off the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour: dense, tripped out psych rock.  This single stiffed as did Timebox’s next two Deram releases.  The best of these were “Baked Jam Roll In Your Eye/Poor Little Heartbreaker.”  The A-side was another slice of skewed psychedelia that recounts the tale of two dozen martians who are led by Galloping Klaus (a German martian?).  It’s flip side edged comfortably toward classic rock and is a fine slice of metallic angst.

After so many failures Timebox finally broke up around 1969/1970.  Out of the ashes of Timebox came Patto, the great progressive rock outfit formed by Mike Patto and Ollie Halsall.  Timebox is usually remembered as a table setter for Patto, who would release 3 classic progressive LPs in the early 70s.  RPM’s Beggin’ (2008) collects all Timebox’s 45s (including a rare French release) and much of the Moose On The Loose sessions.  These sessions were recorded in 1968/1969 for what would have been a projected Timebox album.  The group recorded about a dozen tracks at Morgan Studios in Willesden.  Decca heard the results and hated it.  They pulled out, leaving this unheard gem in the vaults for many years.   To my ears Moose On The Loose would have been a fascinating album, close in sound to Traffic’s self-titled 2nd LP.  There’s catchy psych pop (“Promises,” “Tree House,” and “Barnabus Swine”), effective Traffic-like forays into roots rock (“Love The Girl,” “Country Dan and City Lil,” and “Stay There”) and blazing hard rock (“Black Dog”) that point to the future direction Patto and Halsall would take with their progressive outfit.  These recordings highlight Patto’s soulful vocal approach and Ollie Halsall’s wizardry on guitar and vibes .  The Moose On The Loose tracks deliver the goods and prove once and for all that Timebox was one of England’s great lost pop groups.

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“Walking Through The Streets Of My Mind”

:D CD Anthology | 2008 | RPM | buy at amazon ]

Dantalian’s Chariot “Chariot Rising”

| Pop,Psych

Chariot Rising

The sudden arrival of British psychedelia threw up some odd stories, but surely none odder or more notorious than that of Dantalian’s Chariot. Like other established acts – the Beatles, the Stones, Donovan, the Pretty Things, even the homely Hollies – these experienced Beat-era musicians drastically changed tack to embrace the new counterculture, yet no others did it so publicly, nor with such apparent commitment, nor did they fail so spectacularly in spite of critical acclaim and huge hype.

Keyboardist/vocalist George “Zoot” Money had helmed his Big Roll Band since 1961, playing fiery R’n’B to enthusiastic Soho Mod club dancers whilst selling precious few records. Seeing the psychedelic scene suddenly burgeon around them, Money, guitarist Andy Somers and drummer Colin Allen threw themselves bodily on to the bandwagon, announcing abruptly in July 1967 that the Big Roll Band no longer existed and that henceforth they would be Dantalian’s Chariot – Dantalian being a Duke of Hell, referred to in The Key Of Solomon. To emphasise the point they kitted themselves out completely in white – kaftans, guitars, amps, even a white Hammond – and put together a light show so sophisticated that the Pink Floyd hired it on occasions. From their first self-penned recording sessions EMI released a single, “Madman Running Through The Fields”. Despite critical approval it stiffed chartwise, and a subsequent attempt to release an album, appropriately titled Transition, on CBS subsidiary Direction also stalled when the label insisted that its psychedelic elements be diluted with more familiar Money fare and the release credited to the Big Roll Band. This too sank without trace, and a miffed Money finally junked the Chariot in April 1968. Retrospectively, “Madman” became THE essential Brit psych track, much sought after by aficionados as it appeared only rarely on anthologies. The other tracks from the initial sessions attained legendary “lost” status for almost thirty years, until compilers at tiny label Tenth Planet decided to assemble them as the “true” Dantalian’s Chariot album, this finally appearing on vinyl in 1995 with an extended CD release the following year.

After the hype and the wait, the music itself turns out to be rather different from the anticipated unrelenting heavy-psych trip: indeed, it’s an eclectic mix that reminds me more of the Strawberry Alarm Clock’s ambiguous psych credentials. The brilliant “Madman” offers scything backwards cymbals, floating flutes and rippling guitar figures as well as suitably lysergic lyrics, but underneath all this is a tautly constructed pop song, not one of your rambling improvs a la “Interstellar Overdrive”. Some songs follow the distinctively British whimsical personal-narrative psych groove: “Fourpenny Bus Ride” and “Four Firemen” could have come from the Kinks or S.F. Sorrow-era Pretty Things. Others seem purely ersatz psychedelia; the instrumental “This Island” resembles a Morricone spaghetti-western outtake lugubriously decorated with Somers’s electric sitar, and “High Flying Bird” sounds almost like a music industry parody of the San Fran hippie scene, like the Flowerpot Men’s infamously insincere “Let’s Go To San Francisco”. “Sun Came Bursting Through My Cloud” is a winsome acoustic pop song penned, along with two other tracks, by the staff writing team of Tony Colton and Roy Smith. Only the thunderous “World War Three” really approaches “Madman” as a heavy psych tour-de-force. And although the musicianship is excellent throughout, Zoot’s brassy, bluesy vocals simply don’t fit the psych template.

An interesting and enjoyable period piece, then, but not the anticipated Holy Grail of psychedelia, despite its enduring reputation. And what became of the musicians who had thrown themselves so wilfully into the psych stewpot? Money went on to work with Eric Burdon’s LA-based Animals and various third-division British prog acts. Bassist Pat Donaldson fell into folk-rock, helping found Sandy Denny’s short-lived Fotheringay and touring with Richard Thompson. Colin Allen drummed on John Mayall’s Blues From Laurel Canyon and subsequently joined Stone The Crows. And after a brief dalliance with Soft Machine, Andy Somers eventually changed his surname to Summers and became one-third of the Police, no less. Listen to his textural backings on “Madman” and hear unmistakeably the genesis of his unique Police guitar style.

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“Madman Running Through the Fields”

:D 1996 | Wooden Hill | search ebay ]

The Jelly Bean Bandits (self-titled)

| Garage,Psych

Jelly Bean Bandits

The Jelly Bean Bandits were the premier teen freaks of New York’s Hudson Valley; just look at them on the LP’s great front cover!  Most of the group members hailed from the Cornwall/Newburgh/New Windsor area, packing local night clubs regularly: New Windsor’s Trade Winds, Poughkeepsie’s Buccaneer Nightclub, and Burlington, Vermont’s Red Dog.  Bob Shad’s Mainstream label released their only album in 1967.

Some collectors refer to the album as a psych punk cult classic and I’d have to agree with them.  Originally known as the Mirror, the Bandits signed a three album deal with Mainstream on the strength of a three song demo.  They had one week to write the album’s songs, which would eventually be recorded in a 12 hour stretch at Columbia’s Studio “A”.   There’s lots of greasy rock n roll to be found on the Jelly Bean Bandits’ sole offering.  Tracks like “Tapestries”, “Say Man” and ‘Plastic Soldiers” are full of trippy organ work and the occasional sound effect but for the most part this LP is more garage than psych.  “Generation” is probably the album’s classic cut and has been featured on the popular garage compilation, Pebbles.  This menacing garage rocker has searing feedback and distortion, snotty vocals and thunderous drums.  I can live without the one jugband tune but overall everything else is pretty good.  For my money the best tracks are “Happiness Girl”, “Neon River” and “Poor Precious Dreams”, three terrific garage punkers with plenty of attitude and fiery guitar/organ interplay.  So overall, The Jelly Bean Bandits is one of those garage platters that’s definitely worth owning.

“Salesmen” and “Superhog”, two late 60′s outtakes that are in more of a psychedelic vein have been comp’d on Psychedelic Crown Jewels Volume 2 and Psychedelic States: New York Volume 1 respectively. The Mainstream album has been reissued on both vinyl and cd as well.

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“Happiness Girl”

:) Vinyl | 1967 | Mainstream | search ebay ]
;) MP3 Album | download at amazon ]
8) Spotify link | listen ]

The Enfields/Friends of the Family

, , , | Garage,Psych

The Enfields and early Friends of the Family

The Enfields were one of the countless garage bands competing for airplay in the 1960s. They released a series of quality local 45s before morphing into the more progressive Friends of the Family, of which by that time, principal songwriter Ted Munda was the only surviving member. The Enfields hailed from Wilmington, Delaware, where they were unquestionably the area’s top group.

“In The Eyes Of The World” was their first Richie 45 released in late 65/early 66. This track is really a teenbeat gem with the great reverbed hollow-body guitar work of John Bernard and plenty of ghostly harmonies via Ted Munda and Charlie Berl. “In The Eyes Of The World” did not have a B-side but sold well locally, making Wilmington’s top 40 and established the group as a force to be reckoned with. The Enfields’ next number, “She Already Has Somebody/I’m For Things You Do” was a #4 local smash and perhaps their finest moment on vinyl. Very similar to the Dovers’ material from around the same time, “She Already Has Somebody” is a minor key folk-rocker with solid hooks, lots of nervous energy and fine guitar work. By the release of their third single the Enfields began branching out into harder, more aggressive sounds. “Face to Face,” another near classic from 1966, opens with a toggle switch guitar sound (probably influenced by the Who), features tough Taxman-like riffs and a brief psychedelic guitar solo. The single’s A-side, “You Don’t Have Very Far” is musically very strong but represents somewhat of a throwback to the 1965 folk-rock sound. This is definitely a “must own”45 from 1966!

After the Enfields broke up in 1967, Ted Munda formed Friends of the Family. He recruited Wayne Watson and Jimmy Crawford from local group the Turfs. They released one disappointing 45 in 1968 but thankfullly made it into the studio for two recording sessions. Munda and his new group recorded throughout 1967 and 1968, amassing about an album’s worth of material (11 songs). While these recordings barely reached the demo stage, the music is accomplished and worth your time. Tracks like the excellent “Last Beach Crusade,” “Together” and the 6 minute “Hot Apple Betty” are progressive and sound like a jazz influenced Left Banke. These three tracks were recorded in 1968 and show the Friends experimenting with lots of keyboards, challenging guitar solos, Zombies/Beatles’ influenced vocals and complex song arrangements. “Funny Flowers,” one of the earlier songs recorded in 1967, is just as appealing but more song-based (jangly folk-rock). “You See I’ve Got This Cold,” another highlight from the 1968 sessions, is a personal favorite that reminds me of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. It’s full of psychedelic weirdness; check out the bizarre lyrics, tinkling piano, and trippy wah-wah. The band forged on into late 68 opening for The Who and Pink Floyd at the Philadelphia Music Festival. Eventually, Friends of the Family broke up and some years later Ted Munda formed Hotspur, who released an album on Columbia in 1974.

The best way to hear the Enfields/Friends of the Family saga is through Get Hip’s superb 1993 cd reissue, Classic Sounds of the 60s. Normally a patchwork reissue like this doesn’t work but Ted Munda rarely recorded anything bad, making The Enfields/and early Friends of the Family a very impressive release.

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“In The Eyes Of The World”

:D CD Reissue | 1993 | Get Hip | at Get Hip | at amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | search ebay ]