Euphonious Voyage 5... On The Event Horizon

April 13, 2019

Euphonious Voyage 5... On The Event Horizon

The 45 RPM was introduced by RCA in 1949 as a durable, higher fidelity alternative to the brittle 78. By the end of the 1950’s the monaural upstart was completely dominant in the music stores and the period known as the “Golden Age of the 45” reigned until the later 60’s.

Perhaps the most interesting point in history for the 7” disc was the mid 60’s, when commercial artists often featured their more experimental, less accessible works, on the B-side. Imagine the young teen who purchased the bouncy Third Rail hit “Run, Run, Run” only to flip it over to find the oddly psychedelic, deathbed experience of “No Return”. Or flipping over the poppy garage single “It’s Been A Long Time Comin’” and listening to the Off Set’s raga-psych experience of “Xanthia”.

The 45 was often a doorway to altered perceptions for young teens who might not otherwise experience the more deeply trippy LP experiments of their favorite bands. But by the very late 60’s, with the advent of FM and growing perception that the 45 was for the bubble gum set, the slow decline of the portable vinyl was in the cards.

And now... enter through this doorway to an alternate dimension of perception... a euphonious voyage with mind bending ports of call:

1 Warner Brothers Vinyl Promo

Warner Brothers Vinyl Promo

2 Mary Jane - EVERLY BROTHERS
When 1967 rolled around, the Everly Brothers golden path of harmony-laden hits lay behind them. Like so many former teen music sensations from the early 60’s, the duo valiantly tried to modify their approach to more closely match the sounds currently emanating from car radios.

However, instead of attempting to craft the songs and style themselves, the brothers relied on a variety of individuals to provide the hip veneer on their newest release, The Everly Brothers Sing. Terry Slater, their bassist, contributed the most overtly psychedelic track “Mary Jane”, which Warner Brothers featured as the A-side on a single from September 1967.

Mary Jane

3 L.S.D. 25 Ou Les Métamorphoses De Margaret Steinway - LES 5 GENTLEMEN

The 5 Gentlemen were a French mod outfit originally known as Les Ambitieux. The young garçons recorded a string of très chic singles and EP’s on the Riviera label during 1966 and 1967. “LSD 25” was written by the group’s vocalist and bass player Jean Fredenucci and was featured on the B-side of their 1966 single “Qu’As-Tu Katioucha”. They also released recordings in both Italy and England under the alter ego “The Darwin’s Theory”.

L.S.D. 25 Ou Les Métamorphoses De Margaret Steinway

4 Legend Of A Mind - MOODY BLUES

The bulk of the Moody Blues catalogue is littered with brutally pretentious prog rock, though occasionally they journeyed into a pleasant mind expanding territory. Recorded in January 1968, and featured on their LP In Search of the Lost Chord, “Legend” was written by the band’s flutist Ray Thomas, and is noteworthy for its complex structure of signature changes.

Legend Of A Mind

5 Soul Sitar - SOHAIL RANA

Sohail Rana is a Pakistani known primarily for the prolific soundtrack work which graced multiple films in his homeland throughout the 60’s and 70’s. In 1970, Rana attempted a concept album designed to musically evoke the imagery of a freight train traveling through Pakistan. The resulting LP Khyber Mail has since become a cult classic, due in part to its success with straddling multiple genres.

Soul Sitar

6 Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?) - CAT STEVENS

“Lovely City” was recorded during some contentious production skirmishes on Stevens sophomore LP New Masters. The songwriter had just dismissed producer Mike Hurst, leaving the studio a literal battleground between lawyers and Decca records execs. Some attribute the album’s uneven nature to this litigious minefield. The platter performed miserably on the charts, though fared better when re-released in the US years later. “Lovely City”, was ultimately left off that LP, but released as a single in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?)

7 Walkin’ - SILVER APPLES

1967 saw the emergence of a truly unique duo specializing in the newly blossoming electronic genre. Utilizing a homemade synthesizer (consisting of a patchwork of oscillators, filters, and radio equipment), keyboardest Simeon Oliver Coxe III and drummer Danny Taylor became a cause célèbre in the underground music scene as Silver Apples.

The band was signed to Kapp Records and saw surprising success with their first release Silver Apples, surfing the Billboard Top 100 for seven weeks. After production was complete for their third long player The Garden, Kapp found itself in turmoil as their owner UNI was consumed by MCA. Because of the corporate chaos, the LP would not see the light of day until two decades later.

It's never a good sign when the pilots seem poised to eject

Walkin'

8 Burn Like A Candle - PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS

Something Happening was Paul Revere & The Raiders’ eleventh LP since their inception in 1962 and marked the debut of front man Mark Lindsay at the production reigns. This was also the first platter recorded after the resignations of Phil Volk, Mark Smith and Jim Valley; their departures coinciding with Paul Revere’s ever fading presence.

The album, released by Columbia in October of 1968, continues where Revolution left off and features several pleasant, breezy flights into a treacle-layered psych atmosphere. “Too Much Talk” and “Don’t Take It So Hard” were released as singles to promote the long player, which peaked at a disappointing 122 on the Billboard Top 200.

Burn Like A Candle

9 Scarecrow - PINK FLOYD

“Scarecrow” was written by Syd Barrett and debuted as the B-side of Pink Floyd’s first single, the brilliant “See Emily Play”. It would also appear a couple months later on their album Piper At the Gates of Dawn. The song features a twelve string acoustic guitar and cello layered upon a baroque framework.

U.S. label Tower attempted to to entice record buyers no less than three times with the 7” (all listing the artist as “The Pink Floyd”) with little success. The band also shot two promo pieces for “Scarecrow”, one featuring the original line-up, and one a year later replacing Barret with Roger Waters.

Scarecrow

10 She Lives In A Time Of Her Own (mono) - 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS

“She Lives In A Time Of Her Own” was the third single release by the Austin, TX psych legends 13th Floor Elevators. It debuted November 17th, 1967 on the International Artists label, penned by Roky Erickson and electric jug player Tommy Hall. The single never charted, though the sophomore album from which it was culled, Easter Everywhere, did reach #122.

Like many releases at the time, the mono version for both the album and single were significantly different and far more difficult to obtain than the inferior stereo releases. Presented here is the mono version, featuring a more prominent presence of electric jug.

She Lives In A Time Of Her Own (mono)

11 Berlin - JULIE FELIX

While Julie Felix is a pretty well known folk performer in England and Europe, she is a virtual stranger in her American homeland. Born of Native American and Mexican ancestry, Felix possessed a striking appearance that helped earn her attention on the London streets where she performed in the early 60’s.

In 1966, Felix scored a regular performing gig on the David Frost program The Frost Report, along with a contract at Fontana Records. The following year she released Flowers (arranged by John Cameron of Psychomania fame) which featured the self-penned “Berlin”.

Berlin

12 Circus With A Female Clown - FINGERS

A band that takes the stage with a monkey named “Freak Out”, and claims said monkey produces “psychotic smells”, can’t be all bad. The Fingers were from Southend-On-Sea, and put down four singles before breaking up at the end of 1967.

“Circus With A Female Clown” was the B-side of their third single “All Kinds of People” for Columbia Records. Though the band shared a manager with Donovan (Peter Eden), they never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. The whereabouts of the aromatic monkey is still in question.

Circus With A Female Clown

13 Radio Barcelona Radio Promo

Radio Barcelona Radio Promo

14 Voces De Otro Mundos - LOS PASOS

Los Pasos were put together by producer Alain Milhaud who had been looking for someone to compete with Spain’s Los Brincos. The band included Joaquín Torres (lead guitar), José Luis González (organ and vocals), Álvaro Nieto (rhythm guitar), Martín Careaga (bass guitar) and Luis Baizán (drums).

Several of the band’s early singles possessed a sunshine pop flavor similar to American west coast bands such as The Turtles and The Byrds. It was their 1967 B-side “El Sueño Aquel” which saw their first foray into psychedelic territory. The following year they released “Voces” on the Hispavox label. ¡Eso es bueno!

Voces De Otro Mundos

15 Love For Everyone (45 mix) - HOLY MACKEREL

The Holy Mackerel is mostly known for having been Paul Williams springboard to a successful song writing career in the 70’s (Carpenters, Captain & Tennille, Three Dog Night and Helen Reddy among others). The group came together after Williams was unceremoniously sacked at White Whale records. Using his LA connections, Williams gathered ex-Jefferson Airplane guitarist Bob Harvey, former Turtles drummer Don Murray and flutist Cynthia Fitzpatrick to fill out the roster.

While given a thumbs up by Billboard, the debut album tanked and their three singles went nowhere. The final record, “Love for Everyone”, was penned by Williams and released as a “promo only” to radio stations across the country.

Five Hepcats and Cousin Oliver

Love For Everyone (45 mix)

16 Let Me Reassure You - CARTOONE

Cartoone dropped their original name, The Chevlons, after realizing their moniker sounded more like a crappy GM model rather than a hip musical outfit. A step in the right direction to be sure. They then emigrated from Scotland to England in 1968 with hopes of scoring a plum record contract. At some point they hooked up with Lulu, not in the biblical sense, and she eventually pointed them in a direction that lead them to Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic Records.

Being the first British rock band on Atlantic didn’t amount to much for them. After their first tour of the US, the label unceremoniously dropped them. Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page is featured on several of the songs that appear on their debut LP. A second record was recorded, but shelved after Atlantic gave them the raspberry.

Let Me Reassure You

17 L’amour à Travers Et à Tort - ANNA ST CLAIR

For a generation that yammered a lot about authenticity, there were an amazing number of artists who changed their real names to something decidedly more “cool”. Anna St. Clair was born Nicole Rudent, and part of France’s “yé-yé” (Yeah! Yeah!) movement. The style, based on the British beat genre, was popular throughout France, Spain and Italy during the mid and late 1960’s.

Anna played a couple years on the streets of Europe before finding a home on Fontana Records. With arranger Jean-Claude Vannier (who worked with Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy and others), she cut an EP rife with social commentary and psychedelic dalliances in the summer of love. This track appeared on that 1967 release.

L’amour à Travers Et à Tort

18 Holiday Maker - KALEIDOSCOPE

On September 15, 1967 the world witnessed the release of the debut single by Kaleidoscope; quite possibly the best pop psych band to ever grace the airwaves. The “plug” side, the critically acclaimed “Flight From Ashiya”, was backed by “Holiday Maker”. While airplay was reportedly substantial, the single unfortunately languished on the charts. One of the few bands who could claim their output was consistently wonderful.

Holiday Maker

19 Open Letter To The Older Generation - DICK CLARK

It’s easy to forget that Dick Clark was not always the jovial New Years Eve host beloved by millions of older geezers. In the early 60’s, he was reviled by adults for tempting America’s youth with “devil music” and for allowing black artists onto his show American Bandstand.

When the battle between the old fogies and the youth culture came to a head in the late 60’s, Clark stoically sided with his fan base, producing “hip” films like Psych-Out and releasing his clarion call: “Open Letter To The Older Generation”.

Open Letter To The Older Generation

20 Something To Hold On To - MARILYN POWELL

Here’s a nice piece of pop psych/northern soul fusion from Marilyn Powell, a performer from Kennington London who had been performing since the age of 15. She had recorded a few singles for Fontana before joining CBS in 1968. “Something To Hold On To” was penned by the Scottish duo Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle around the same time they were scooped up by Apple Records’ publishing arm.

Something To Hold On To

Twiggy tries valiantly to promote Zenith's new "TV Chair" - a product that never took off for painfully obvious reasons

21 Umbrella Song - BILLY NICHOLLS

“Umbrella Song” was cut during the Would You Believe sessions along with a good dozen other tracks that would not see the light of day for decades. While the sprightly song is clearly influenced by Brian Wilson, Nicholls was emulating a style that had already become passe. By 1968, bouncy, harpsichord-driven slices of pop-psych had long disappeared from the Top 40. Nicholls, of course, would continue his association with Pete Townsend and The Who, opening for them throughout the 1970’s. When not on stage, he would also take the helm as the group’s musical director.

Umbrella Song

22 Someday Girl - THE MOON

The Moon was a southern California outfit who found a home on the Imperial label in 1967. Fronted by Matthew Moore, formerly of the Matthew Moore Plus Four, the band also included Larry Brown, Drew Bennett and David Marks. Like Billy Nicholls, The Moon suffered from a case of too little, too late. The highly orchestrated debut LP was released in February of 1968 with little fanfare from their label. According to Marks, the band was under the influence of LSD during most of the recording sessions. Fancy that!

Someday Girl

23 7-Up Promotional Ad

7-Up Promotional Ad

24 Time Isn’t There Anymore - STONE COUNTRY

Stone Country had already released a string of excellent singles including “Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde”, “Love Psalms” and this track before RCA got around to issuing their sole long player. The record was produced by Rick Jarrard, who was behind the boards for Jefferson Airplane’s juggernaut Surrealistic Pillow. Jarrard’s influence is undeniable, particularly with regard to the band’s acoustical guitar work and vocals.

Time Isn’t There Anymore

25 Radio Capital Peru Promo

Radio Capital Peru Promo

26 B B B - LOS SHAKERS

Like many of their American counterparts, Los Shakers early career was spent miming the look and style of The Beatles. But as the 60’s progressed, the Uruguayan band started to discover their own psychedelic voice. The band’s third LP was titled La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar, and was released by Odean Pops (EMI) in December of 1968 to strong critical acclaim.

Brothers Hugo (lead guitar and keyboards) and Osvaldo (rhythm guitar) Fattoruso were responsible for composing most of the tracks, fusing pop psych with candombe and tango music. While some called it their Sgt Peppers, sales never lived up to the promise, and it ended up being their final studio album. Despite the initial lukewarm public reception, the LP would later become a cult classic, influencing musicians from Argentina and Uruguay.