LAURA's GARDEN 1 (incorporating SFA38)

L A U R A' s G A R D E N
~ further exp-laura-tions in the shrubbery of UK Psychedelia & Bendy Pop ~


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If you walk in Laura's Garden you will hear her mind......Listen!
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contact: lauras_garden@msn.com
No. 1 [ incorporating S.F.A. (no. 38) ]

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This, the very first, issue of LAURA's GARDEN is dedicated to the Love We've Lost; to the memories of John Peel, Syd Barrett, David Oscar Monckton Glendale Thubron, and Sanctuary Records. R.I.P. ye most beatific beauties, may your heavenly star burn longer and brighter than did your earthly one.

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CONTENTS:
Intro: Welcome to the Garden
Not Much Cheer For The People Living Here
The Herd: Paradise Lost
Holly: Paradise Found?
Monomania
The Light that burns twice as bright burns half as long
By Spaceship To The Psyche
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
P/Reviews
Kites
Hello Enid, Goodbye Edythe
Bric-a-Brac Corner
Outro: next issue
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INTRO
Hello my lovelies, and welcome to the Garden.
The garden, the hortus deliciarum, the rosarium, has since time immemorial been a metaphor, and metonymy, for the happy place: Eden being the place from which we all came and to which we all long to return ~ "We are stardust, we are golden, And we got to get ourselves back to the garden" sang some goofy bird long, long agos and worlds apart. The Beatles begun their run of psychedelic-inspired recordings (with 'Rain'), and ended it (with 'I Am The Walrus') "sitting in an English garden". Gandalf's Garden was the mag which most effectively summed up the truly outré nature of the 1960s psychedelic revolution in consciousness John's Children played (rather roughly) in the same garden; childhood play and pastoral-horizontalism were dominant themes in UK '60s pop; the Electric Garden was both a strange club and even stranger song (by The Illusive Dream); and the Orange Bicycle gave us a rococco masterpiece in the form of 'Laura's Garden', one of britpop's bestest ever flights of fancy. Between this track's shimmering bee-wings-strings intro & outro was presented a multi-perspective bee's-eye view of the mind-garden, full of blissful visual imagery and delightful sensations. Directly cerebral, florid, experimental, grand, yet without the swollen pretensions of the worst prog rock, 'Laura's Garden' remains highly ambitious, its beauty resulting from those artistic ambitions being held in check by pop's gossamer threads, never allowed to spiral off into grandiloquence or inaccessibility.
In this very first issue of LAURA's GARDEN, Joe MacFarland is diagnosed as suffering from a highly-contagious case of monomania; we take a few trips into some of the garden's poppier corners; and Paul Martin reminds us that it was lino in the front (best!) room, outside loos (with Izal tracing paper to wipe with!), no central heating, once-a-week-baths with carbolic, only one week off a year (at Butlin's in Skeggie), and all that were the grim reality for most bands (and the mass of the UK population) in the "psych-era". Contrary to what many young "mods" say, the 1960s are not so easily made to fit into the "good old days" box. To do so does the period a disservice, betrays and misrepresents the facts. It was the very tension between wild desire and cold grey reality which generated the energy of the Psych Revolution: the urgent need to get off the factory floor and "back into the garden".
Thank you for glistening,
Paul Cross
MANY THANKS: I am very grateful to a great many people (including Joe McFarland, David Wells, Mary Lago, Stefan Granados, Marcello Carlin) for easing the birthing pains of this new mag; but I must deliver a most especial "ta muchly" to the following - MICK CAPEWELL (for much marvellousness avobe & yebond the dute of cally); PAUL MARTIN (for the speediest, most effective psych-fingers on any PC keyboard); MEG GREENHORN (for splendiferous kindness & patience); RAY GLYNN (from that most fabulous of bands, THE MIRAGE, for being such a thoroughly good egg); and most especially and most muchly of all, to the delicious MARIELLA THUBRON (for simply being Mariella Thubron, and being so delicious to boot). My LOVE to you all ~ PC xxxxx
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‘NOT MUCH CHEER FOR THE PEOPLE LIVING HERE’: ‘60s pop 45s as social documents by Paul Martin
Themes amongst British pop 45s of the late 1960s included portraits of attitudes towards urban living rather more simple than perhaps we have today. No second house hunting for a rural or seaside weekend retreat whilst working in London all week. Oh no. Not even a first let alone a second annual foreign holiday! The aural character and geographical sketches drawn in these musings were often derisory about working class people on holiday. Kaleidoscope’s ‘Holiday Maker’ or Prowler’s ‘Jaywick Cowboy’ (a novelty throwaway gracing the B side of their ‘Pale Green Hmmm Driving Man’) are typical English self parody. Almost like an updated aural Donald McGill postcard. However, the other side of the coin are songs about urban and blue collar entrapment. One very sweet example is the toy town whimsy of Monopoly’s ‘We’re All Going To The Seaside’. A 1967 topside of Monopoly’s second Polydor single. The band would later become Frogatt, but here they are in empathetic mood with the trapped paper mill worker and his long suffering family:

The Monopoly ~ 'We’re All Going To The Seaside'
Father looks tired as he walked through the gate,
hasn’t had a holiday for years.
Mother went to greet him like she always does,
fighting back her overworked tears.
(Chorus)
We’re all going to the seaside, the seaside, the seaside
We’re all going to the seaside,
If we can save enough money, money
Father said something but I couldn’t make it out
to try and bring a smile to her face.
Round about August, we’ll all take a rest
and go to a bright Summer place.
Chorus
Middle eight
Over and over, we say that we must take a holiday
Over and over, but how many years must we wait?
Chorus
Paper mill chimneys reach high in the sky,
everybody wishes they could fly.
Out of the smoke ‘cause they’re windows are broke
Watching their young years go by
Chorus, end
(The Monopoly, Polydor Records, 1967.
A Terry Kennedy production)

Conversely, Jonathan Gill, whilst recognising the drudgery and entrapment of the residents of his ‘Isandula Road’, cannot help being drawn back there himself. Perhaps he was a young man who escaped its factories, but could not quite break away completely. He questions his inevitable return to (presumably) his roots that the road represents, but almost unwillingly. Although recorded in 1973, it sounds every bit a 1968 record and is way out of wack with the prevailing pop ethos of the time.
Jonathan Gill ~ 'Isandula Road'
Isandula Road by the factory, smell the beer from the brewery,
Not much cheer for the people living here.
Isandula Road, by the railway line, noisy trains run all the time,
Not much cheer for the people living here
Chorus
Is-an-du-la, dating back a hundred years or more
What is it about the street, that makes me stop and turn my feet,
back again to Isandula Road?
Isandula Road, where your grandma lives, she can see all the world go by,
Not much cheer for the people living here
Isandula Road by the factory, smell of beer, from the brewery
Not much cheer for the people living here
Chorus, repeat and fade
(Humphries / Gill, Pye Records, 1973
produced, arranged and conducted by John McLeod)

Then we have a more enlightened understanding of urban entrapment in David and David’s ‘In The City’. In this song, the subject is caught in a dilemma between remaining in the city he had come to but despises, because his lover is of and will not move from the city, and fleeing to the open spaces of the countryside his heart tells him are calling. Enlightenment and understanding do not in this instance serve to resolve his predicament and we leave him still torn and still musing on his options.
The two Davids were Davis Seys and David Mindel, the latter was soon to form Espirt de Corp of Rubble fave ‘If’ (see the David Mindel interview in SFA 34) .
David and David ~ 'In The City'
In the morning, long before she starts to wake, I watch tomorrow fill the sky.
Only shrouded by the smoke of chimneys reaching way up high.
And I can see no grace for living in this place, she loves I know,
She’d never go away and yet I know I cannot sleep
Chorus
For I am dying here amongst the factories and cars,
amongst the tenements and bars that all surround me.
But whilst I’m laying here, collecting thoughts I’ve had so long,
I know where I belong, her arms around me, since she found me
Through the window coloured brightly by the rain, I will face the morning once again
In my thoughts though, only pastures, trees and hills can light my way
Through weather shaded eyes, the curse of pride denies the right to share
But when she’s there this is the only place I want to be
Chorus
For I am dying here amongst the factories and cars
Amongst the tenements and bars that all surround me,
But whilst I’m laying here, collecting thoughts I’ve had so long,
I know where I belong, her arms around me, since she found me….In the city.
(David Mindel, Columbia Records, 1970
prodused by Gus Dudgeon in association with Tony Hall arranged by Paul Buckmaster)
Graham Gouldman in the 1960s was a purveyor of incisive and melodic pop singles dealing cleverly and knowingly with themes of love, growing up and life in general (‘Schoolgirl’, ‘Impossible years’ etc). Amongst the songs he wrote but did not record himself is the excellent ‘Tallyman’ recorded by Jeff Beck (reaching No.30 in 1967) and Herman’s Hermits (though remaining unreleased by them). In this slice of working class life, Gouldman regales us with the delights of new clothes and goods bought on the never never via the tallyman and his weekly collection round. The tallyman should not be confused with the loan shark for instance. The tallyman was (perhaps still is in places) one of the few forms of consumer credit working class people on low incomes could easily obtain. I well remember my mother buying many of my early teen year clothes from such a tallyman. A two-tone (tonic) suit c.1971 I remember especially well. Also my first pair of Levis (shrink to fit in the bath even though Mum cut the legs short before letting me sit in the bath with them on!) and a pair of black leather penny loafers, I looked then the part of a 14 year-old suedehead once I’d got the crombie coat as well! The tallyman for many people, as long as their incomes were regular, offered something to look forward to as he brought them the goods they ordered, long before internet mail ordering was even an idea in anyone’s head. Conversely of course, he also meant a regular outgoing of scarce income. Perhaps he was as much resented as welcomed for this reason. Nonetheless, the tallyman was a significant part of urban working class economics and culture and I’m glad Gouldman wrote such a song. It doesn’t celebrate the guy, nor does it denigrate him, rather it acknowledges him as a fact of their lives!
Jeff Beck ~ 'Tallyman'
To our house on a Friday, a man calls every week,
we give him a pound when he calls on his rounds.
To our house on a Friday, a man calls every week,
We give and we get and we’re always in debt.
With his plan, he carries all we’re needing, with his plan, most anything is ours,
He’s the tallyman, oh yeah, he‘s the tallyman
[Guitar solo]
Shoes and socks are wearing for the children, frilly frocks all in the latest style
He’s the tallyman, oh yeah, he’s the tallyman
To our house on a Friday, a man calls every week,
We’ve made him a friend, so he’s here til the end,
from cradle to grave, we’re expected to save,
we’ve made him a friend, so he’s here til the end.
(Graham Gouldman, Columbia 1967, a Mickie Most production)

We can take the lyrics of these songs in a context with other pop songs of the time that seem to refer to parallel themes and they help us paint a bigger picture of popular sentiment and concern of the period. For instance, demolition and new building which were a part of the modernisation of Britain in the 1960s are the subject of Idle Race’s ‘Knocking Nails Into My House’ Peter Lee Stirling’s ‘Goodbye Thimble Mill Lane’ and Turquoise’s ’53 Summer Street’ for instance. Therefore, these pop pieces are not only charming in their own right, they are also social historical documents of change and reactions to, or comments on it from young people of some forty years ago. It is too easy in our non-stop 24/7 society to simply view these songs as antique, nieve or simplistic. They are in fact voices from our near (and indeed even lived) past offering us a dialogue with that past as a way of understanding ourselves in the present and perhaps causing us to pause for thought every now and then. I for one enjoy the conversation with them.

Paul Martin (with thanks to Mark Frumento for pointing out some of these tunes to me in the first place)
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THE HERD: 'Paradise Lost' by Marcello Carlin
Another hopeful assemblage of post-Mod beat boys whom Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley used as an experimental crucible for ideas too outré even for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, featuring puppy-eyed teenage guitarist and lead singer Peter Frampton, the Herd’s time was relatively brief; "From The Underworld," their debut hit with funereal bells, undertaker’s plunking bass, Gregorian chanting and an Oedipal lyrical complex (though Scott Walker’s "Oedipus" offers a subtler and yet somehow far more hysterical variation on the same theme), still gets the occasional radio play, but the follow-up has seemingly become lost to follow-up and never gets revived. A shame, because as gaudily great as "From The Underworld" is, "Paradise Lost" is arguably much, much stranger. The kind of single which could only have appeared in 1967 – it was released at the very end of the year, reaching the Top 20 in early 1968 – its beginning is enough to make the listener wonder whether they have purchased a Frankie Vaughan single by mistake; sliding "Stripper" brass, high-kicking "Don’t Bring Lulu" drums, awaiting the arrival of top hat and cane; but then it meticulously dissolves into a sombre variant on the "Underworld" model with mournful motets of plainsong as Frampton muses: "In the deepest dungeons of my mind/I dredge the shadows" ...as I said, only in 1967 could something like this occur. As he cries over the "scene of my innocence departed," the song opens up to allow pirate radio beat boom harmonies and cavernous chambers of choir and brass.Essentially dwelling on the loss of a certain kind of sexual innocence…remember, Frampton was sixteen going on seventeen at this stage…he wanders confused, thinking of the now surrendered self-pleasures of youth ("Once I could love without desire/Her glance could warm me without fire") but sounding hurt and almost enraged about his inability to…get the real thing ("Experience has dulled my eyes/With repetition, wonder dies") or his agony over the fact that he can never experience it again for the first time ("She was my promise and my dream").As the cascades of "Teenage Opera" trumpet fanfares make metaphorically clear, "Paradise Lost" is less to do with Milton than with "Pictures of Lily" (do you see the alliteration there?), but since he hasn’t actually lost his virginity yet (the tantalisingly unreachable sweetness of the Vaughan Williams solo violin balanced with the irretrievable loss of childhood of the lullaby glockenspiel) all he can do is wearily turn the pages again and go through the mechanics as the dream fades and the crass "Stripper" stomp returns, this time not to be moved, until someone finally comes to show him the way.
Reprinted, with kind permission, from The Blue in the Air
http://garbocathedral.blogspot.com/2007/09/herd-paradise-lost.html
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HOLLY: Paradise Found? by Paul Cross

HOLLY - 'Paradise Lost' (Fontana TF 980) Rel. 22/11/68.Can you improve on perfection?
Nine months after The Herd's glorious 'Paradise Lost' fell off the charts, there was issued another version of the song by one Holly. Clearly those articulate Howard-Blaikely chappies hadn't, despite it being the Herd's least successful chart-entry, entirely given up on this colossus. But they had changed things a bit. Gone are the 'stripper'-style top & tailings, the false climaxes, all the schlock-psych window-dressing, the ghoulish harmony vocals and effervescent organ trills of The Herd's meisterwerk. All that made 'Paradise Lost' the very essence of late-'67 THINK BIG Wirtzianesque bravura. Instead, Holly's rendition (same song, same production team, even same label), whilst it retained a large-scale production, instead featured a young lady vocalist, all strident French-chanteuse-style vibrato, set all-too-smugly within a grand-dame, sub-Shirley-Bassey-type un-pop arrangement: all MOR Mike Sammes harmonies a-fluttering, angelic harps a-shimmering, and big taut kettledrums a-booming. Holly uses her voice to both wring out every drop of melodrama from the lyrics and simultaneously demolish a true work of art; transforming the whole thing from neurotic sexual psycho-drama epic into supper-club bathos: from the pretty young narcissists of the Kings Road to the bloated old farts of Talk of the Town in 3 minutes flat.
In answer to the question made explicit in the title of this piece the reply is 'No, there's no paradise here'; and to the question in my opening line, again, a resounding Non! The ambition and sheer impudence, to say nothing of the artifice and glory, of the original are jettisoned for a cynical mums-and-dads-friendly orch-fest approach. Holly's take on 'Paradise Lost' offers a rare example of Howard-Blaikely (intellectually and creatively, way above most of their peers) losing their bottle. Not that anyone noticed for 40 years. This record only briefly appeared from out of sales reps' shoulder bags, slid into (a few) record shop racks, then slid into obscurity.
Why bother mentioning it at all, then??? you may well ask. Because at least one record dealer has deceitfully hyped this as "great psych"; and, as Charles Shaar Murray once sagely informed us, records as bad as this ought never be forgotten..
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'PARADISE LOST' (lyrics by Alan Blaikley & Ken Howard)In the deepest dungeons of my mindI dredge the shadows, try to findA mem'ry dimly lit, a jigsaw piece to fitScene of my innocence departedAaaahOnce I could love without desireHer glance could warm me without fireWhere is the boy I was, who wanted her becauseShe took my loneliness and healed meExperience has dulled my eyesWith repetition wonder diesIn craving to be free, I lost a part of meShe was my promise and my dream Aaaah
(Note: These words are from The Herd's version; that by Holly has all the female pronouns changed to male.)
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MONOMANIA ----Hypothetical aural hallucinations or valid variations? A leisurely perambulation through the world of "mono" and "stereo" in the world of pop-psych---- by Joe McFarland
Well, for a long time I used to wonder: "what is this nonsense about mono and stereo?" Every time a CD would be released with mono/stereo versions of the album I would think "couldn’t they have thrown on some demos or rare tracks instead?" I still feel that way most of the time. And up until a few months ago if I had to decide between mono and stereo, especially for a psych album, I would probably have said "go stereo" if for no other reason than you’ll hear the panning from speaker to speaker or any cool headphone effect in stereo.
But lately I’ve had a revelation of sorts, a kind of mono conversion that has me looking at the back of any album and hoping that the magic word "mono" will be printed there, even if the copyright date is as far into the age of stereo as 1968! What has caused this about face? Well, as usual it seems to have started with the Beatles, and branched out from there.
Not that my first mono psych LP was a Beatles album. A few years back I got a copy of Honeybus’ "Story" in mono. I had also found a copy of the Idle Race’s "Birthday Party" in mono and not ever really paid much attention to its mono designation. It had happened to be the version I found, and I remember at the time being glad that I had the compilation "Imposters of Life’s Magazine" to hear the stereo versions of most of the songs. But when a generous and well-known psych-pop enthusiast recently sent me a CDR of that same album (showing how little I had even noticed what I had in my own collection!) I ended up listening to it with some regularity. Often, however, I would follow up by switching to the stereo mixes on "Back To The Story" or "Imposters" and thinking "that was interesting….but for the most part I prefer the stereo."
That could have been that, but mono was not to be ignored!
A few months later I came across some Beatles bootlegs with mono versions tagged on to the end. That was followed by a mono version of Sgt. Pepper. Then slowly, ever so slowly, I got sucked into the obsessive need for mono. Was it the fact that John Lennon famously announced that the definitive Sgt. Pepper was the mono mix? Was it the fact that there seemed to be endless debate on the internet over the relative merits of Pepper in mono and stereo? Was it the fact that on some songs I definitely preferred the mono, while on others the stereo sounded better? I don’t know….all of the above.
It was the White Album that really did it for me. Here it wasn’t just the levels or speed of the songs that seemed different, but the whole album seemed to build and expand on the difference most detectable previously on "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the most obvious song on Sgt. Pepper where you actually hear different STUFF! It seemed that almost every song on the White Album had some sort of difference in mono. Lennon might have praised the mono Pepper, but it was the White Album that seemed to warrant the mono attention.
On "Savoy Truffle," for instance, the guitar is different, and on "Piggies" the noises are different. But as every Beatles fan reading this will undoubtedly know, the big winner of the "mono is different" prize is "Helter Skelter." It’s a completely different animal in mono. Listening to this in mono was like reading a passage from a religious text and finally having a beam of light knock you on your rear end while a large booming voice announces….LISTEN TO THE MAJESTY OF THIS MONO MIX YOU LEADEN EARED FOOL! Well, kind of like that.
Yes, "Helter Skelter" went from being what I always considered a somewhat convincing attempt to rock on the part of McCartney, to a masterpiece of heaviness in mono. The descending guitar riff blasts out of both speakers like some sort of heavy metal koan demanding to be memorized and repeated for immediate access to a state of blissful enlightenment. In addition, the Sabbath like rock is truncated about forty seconds earlier in the mono, so that we get no fade-back or "blisters on my fingers," which just makes the song that much tauter, mean, and direct. I’m not saying "better" here you’ll notice, but it was noticeably DIFFERENT. Here for the first time was a song I could say was radically different from one mix to the next. Once I had let this wash over my brain, it was inevitable that I’d hear it everywhere. Soon I was trolling the internet looking for discussions of the relative merits of mono and stereo. I was going back to the Idle Race and checking out the Tomorrow album in mono. Sure the mono would eliminate the panning effects and some of the "weirdness", but on some songs it would bring out a sound or a guitar line that didn’t show up in stereo.
The recent Bee Gees boxed set afforded a chance to compare the mono and stereo and sometimes a song would just sound better in mono…cleaner. "Kitty Can" had a clarity I hadn’t heard in stereo. The harmonies sounded nicer. The song "Idea" had a little guitar part near the beginning that was taken off of the stereo. It wasn’t just a case of the separated channels of stereo coming out of both speakers with the same information. These are songs that take on a new life in mono.
But was it as simple as "mono brings out new life to the stereo mix"? As I delved further it became more complicated. It seemed there was more than one "mono" out there. Many mid-sixties albums, like Sgt. Pepper, had been mixed for mono in a way that was different from the stereo mix, more carefully and often with help from the band. This process could take a while, so that the mono "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" was done in several sessions while the stereo was a relative afterthought. Both that album and Pepper were mixed for stereo rather quickly. This meant that there were real differences between the mono and stereo mixes in these cases.
However, there was the whole "reprocessed stereo" thing. This was that insidious practice of making a fake stereo out of redirected mono recordings. This famously dogs the American stereo "Magical Mystery Tour" LP. This is a story in and of itself and you probably know about it if you’ve read this far, or have read Nicholas Schaeffner’s "Beatles Forever" at some point in your life, where I first ran into this info many years ago.
But suffice it to say that the U.S. stereo of that album is basically a splitting up of the mono, unless you get the German copy with the true stereo. There are many Beatles sites that will go into more detail, but basically the mono "Magical Mystery Tour" tapes seem to have been easier to locate at the time. And Capitol in the U.S. went with that. Except for the song "Blue Jay Way" which in every stereo version I’ve heard has a lot more backwards stuff going on than on the mono, the U.S. stereo "Magical Mystery Tour" isn’t hugely different from the mono. But a U.S. mono" Magical Mystery Tour" long playing record is pretty rare, by dint of the fact that it was only released as an LP in the U.S. for quite a few years. You could hear the mono in the U.K. on EPs.
The German stereo seems to have ended up providing what is now the accepted "stereo" version for that album. Where these ears (admittedly not the most attuned) really notice this is the song "Baby You’re a Rich Man" which sounds better on the German stereo than the U.S. Stereo or the U.S. mono. Well, let’s just stick with the word "different" instead of "better" as it is admittedly longer in mono. And with a Beatles song, longer is usually a good thing. But if you like bass (and who doesn’t?) then the German stereo is the way to go.
So, stereo (it turns out) can actually be mono (a variant thereof in the case of "Magical Mystery Tour"), unless you track down the German stereo. Conversely, there is something called a "fold-down." That means that up until 1967 in the U.S., and 1968 in the U.K. a mono record would most likely be significantly different from the stereo. But once you get to1969 and that lovely mono copy of the "Yellow Submarine" LP (side note--if it’s in good nick you have something there folks!) and what you’re really getting is fake mono. This is a "fold-down" of the stereo album and not a different mix at all.
This is almost the opposite problem from the "Magical Mystery Tour" situation. With "Yellow Submarine" what you get in mono is not a different mix, but the stereo recording coming through both speakers. In other words, you could get the same effect by hitting a "mono" switch on your stereo while listening to the stereo "Yellow Submarine," if your stereo receiver has such a switch. So while "Magical Mystery Tour" in U.S. stereo is similar to the mono version, but reveal some mono/stereo variations, the mono/stereo Yellow Submarine’s are the same exact recordings. Just the same, it helps a song like "Hey Bulldog" or "It’s All Too Much" to hear it in this "fake" mono. The stereo puts the piano of "Hey Bulldog" in one speaker and the vocals in another. Even if the mono isn’t a different mix, it sounds great to hear the riff blasting out of both speakers.
But I digress. The fact is a quick listen to the mono/stereo of the SONG "Yellow Submarine" from the similarly-titled LP will reveal no differences in the mix from mono to stereo. But if you go back to "Revolver" and do the same thing with that same song you’ll get some tasty little variations. A guitar chord can be heard at the beginning of one, and not the other. Some background vocals from John Lennon on one line can be heard where they don’t exist on the other. That sort of thing.
And while we’re visiting "Revolver" perhaps we should take a look at "I’m Only Sleeping" which seems to have different backwards guitar depending on whether you get the U.S. mono, the U.K. mono, or the stereo! Yikes. How many versions are there? Looks like three or four. Well, if that isn’t enough, the first pressing of "Revolver" in mono had a mix of "Tomorrow Never Knows" that was printed for about a day until John Lennon decided he wanted another mix and guaranteed that those "first pressing" would forever be quite collectible. I’ve heard this version on CD and can’t really say I hear a lot of difference between that first mix and the later mono mixes, but it’s widely reported that it’s there, noticeably in the seagull sounds. Well, that’s the kind of stuff you find out when you stare deeply into the abyss of Monomania.
By far the Beatles get the most attention on the internet when you start doing searches for mono or stereo. I’d heard for a long time about differences with the Stones early mono releases as well, and I’d heard of people who swear by those mono mixes. Also, Dylan albums through "John Wesley Harding" have distinct mono mixes, and there are some "fold-downs" after that. I’ve read that Jimi Hendrix doesn’t say "I’m coming to get you baby" on the mono "Foxy Lady" and that the guitar on the mono "Our Love Was" on the "Who Sell Out" album is different. Gerry and the Pacemakers reveal variations from mono to stereo, if my internet research is to be trusted. The list undoubtedly goes on and on. You get the idea.
And to make things more complicated there’s the Brazilian phenomenon. What’s this, then? Well, I stumbled upon this when I was looking to see if "Hey Jude" might have made it onto mono. It turned out it didn’t in either the U.S. or the U.K., since mono was a finished format by that point (1970). But it did in Brazil, where mono continued at least until 1972. Was this a "fold-down" of the stereo? Probably so, but if you want to hear mono versions of albums such as "Hey Jude", or "Abbey Road," or John Lennon’s "Imagine" then Brazilian copies are the way to go. Some other South American versions can be found as well. I’m not sure why a mono version of "Abbey Road" is really necessary, but it’s there, and can be heard on a Dr. Ebbet’s bootleg if you want it on CD!
Ironically, "Rain" on the album "Hey Jude" is already mono on all copies, or a faked stereo. Supposedly finding this song in "true stereo" is no easy task. This makes sense, as a b-side of a 1966 single would probably not have demanded a careful stereo mix at the time. Hence this remains on my stereo "Hey Jude" another example of the "vocals go here, guitars go there" form of "fake" stereo. It all gets pretty complicated. There is a mono single version of "Revolution" in the U.K., and the Brazilian mono of the song on the "Hey Jude" album. As I have not conducted a side by side test of those, I can’t tell you if they sound different, but I imagine a careful listener would hear something different in each mix. The "true" mono versus a "fold-down" mono? Perhaps. My Brazilian "Hey Jude" is still in the mail. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.
The bottom line for mono and stereo? For the most part you might be happy having one or the other and just getting used to it. But if you are infected with Monomania don’t be surprised if you find yourself trawling record stores and eBay looking for that elusive Brazilian mono LP. And every now and then you might find that all the hoopla is justified.
Here’s my list of some mono songs that are worth a listen, just to support the idea that mono can be different from stereo. It’s by no means complete with regard to interesting mono. If you are already addicted to this kind of thing you can no doubt add several other songs not on here. Recently the release of the mono "Piper At the Gates of Dawn" has resulted in some effusive testimonials on the internet about the superiority of the mono version. I had even read such things before it was recently released, by people truly upset that the mono version was being allowed to languish in obscurity when it had keyboards and reverb that just isn’t on the stereo version. For many, despite the lack of panning from speaker to speaker, it is the definitive version of Pink Floyd’s first album.
Were I to put together a little CDR of mono stereo differences as it might appeal to the pop-psych listener, this is what I would include:
1. The Beatles---Helter Skelter (mono) Shorter, but more intense. Reinvents the song as the progenitor of heavy metal!
The Beatles---I’m Only Sleeping (mono) different (more) backwards guitar
The Bee Gees---Kitty Can (mono) just sounds better
The Bee Gees---Idea (mono) some cool guitar at the beginning
Tomorrow---Auntie Mary’s Dress Shop (mono) disappearing harpsichord after intro and a more pronounced guitar in the middle distinguish this from the stereo version. Generally more rocking and pared down.
Pink Floyd---Interstellar Overdrive (mono) more keyboard at beginning
The Idle Race---Sitting In A Tree (mono) not better than stereo, but more forceful
Honeybus—How Long (mono) the riff is just much better in both speakers
The Beatles—Sgt. Pepper Reprise (mono) guitar and vocals different
The Beatles---Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (mono) some phasing in the "ahhhh’s" you don’t get in stereo, especially near the end of the song.
The Beatles---Hey Bulldog (mono) gotta hear that riff in both speakers even if the mix is the same
The Beatles---Tomorrow Never Knows (mono) the first day mix. I can’t say I notice any big difference here, but it’s the one they all talk about! It has everyone scouring their mono "Revolver" looking for that magic number 1 in the matrix!
The Beatles—Savoy Truffle (mono) the guitar in the middle is different
The Beatles—Dr. Robert (mono) the U.S. mono is the only one with John Lennon saying "o.k. Herb" at the end of the song (if you crank the volume), but it’s the riff again coming out of both speakers that makes it worth hearing.
Yeah, mostly Beatles on this list, but that’s what I have heard a lot of in mono. I
don’t have the Zombies in mono so I can’t comment on those. But I’ve read that "Odessey and Oracle" has some differences. By the way, the recent reissue of the July album is in mono, so don’t let anyone telling you they have a reissue mono copy jack up the price!
In the final analysis, mono provides an interesting take on a lot of the Beatles material, and on a lot of stuff from the mid to late sixties. But mono doesn’t necessarily mean "better." It can make some of the songs (Taxman comes to mind) rock a bit more. And it makes other last a few seconds longer in the fade-out (Love You To, All You Need Is Love), but even after my heavy case of Monomania, I still prefer "Baby You’re A Rich Man" in stereo even if it is shorter. While I find the mono "Blue Jay Way" interesting without the backwards vocals, a song as psychedelic as that one certainly isn’t hurt by such a blatantly lysergic addition as backwards vocals in the stereo mix.
Start with the above songs and if they whet your appetite or compulsive personality, by all means proceed on to the world of mono. It’s not just the format of the early sixties, but an interesting variant on the more psych sounds as well. Plus, mono vinyl seems to be a bit sturdier than its stereo counterpart. I’ve had some nice listening from vinyl that looks pretty bad under a strong light.
At the very least, the Beatles albums from "Revolver" through "Yellow Submarine" should be available on legitimate CDs in mono. And of course we have to hope "Saucerful of Secrets" will get the same treatment as "Piper" with mono and a nice version of "Vegetable Man" and "Scream Thy Last Scream" tacked on to the end. But that’s a whole different story, and beyond the scope of this monomaniacal screed. In this world of mixed messages, it’s nice to know that mono can bring it all together and mix it up at the same time.
[Further listening for Beatles stereophiles: Yellow Submarine Songtrack. Lots of rerecording and remixing here, but some sources on the internet seem to suggest you hear some songs in a more subtle stereo mix, making up for the primitive stereo of the mid-period and later Beatles records. Just don’t let the purists catch you, as songs like "Hey Bulldog" feature re-recorded drums by Ringo and other modern adjustments in attempt to center some of the instrumentation while maintaining stereo.]

**************THE LIGHT THAT BURNS TWICE AS BRIGHT BURNS HALF AS LONG: a Sanctuary Records Obituary by Paul Cross

"the mourners are dressed in peppermint pink, orchid, gold-apricot, sky-blue, scarlet, pale peach, mauve-pink, pomegranate, iridescent salmon (orange-persimmon-yellow), and olive green"
~ Mary McCarthy (on Pontormo's 'Deposition'), from The Stones of Florence, p. 112.
Sanctuary has been top dog in the UK-psych reissue-field for most of the past decade. With John Reed at the helm, and influenced by his (mod/soul/psych) musical tastes, the rights to Pye, CBS, etc., with David Wells on hand, the label had given the world such treasures as the Immediate boxed set, a plethora of Small Faces releases, the delightful Psych Pstones series of compilations, treasure from Billy Nicholls, Skip Bifferty, and the Uglys, curios from the Morgan empire....and so on. Some of the more specialist items shifted no more than 2000 units; but, thankfully for us, John saw his rôle not simply as businessman but as public servant and musical archivist. Sanctuary comps could be relied upon for legality, reasonable price, good sound quality, informative liners, and most importantly, a blinkin' good selection of tracks. Sanctuary, consistently maintaining this high quality, continued manfully until the very end, going out on top with the mighty Real Life Permanent Dreams boxed set (see review, this issue).
The latest (October 2007) situation -- and it’s not good! -- with Sanctuary is that Universal will take over everything in January 2008. The Sanctuary operation is pretty much gone! They have a few releases upcoming but it seems in very limited runs (the Real Life Permanent Dreams box & Tea and Symphony sets only received a relatively small (initial) pressing and quite limited distribution, and are already out of print! The Freak Emporium had a stash of the former, but most other sellers have none left) At the moment once an item runs out that’s it until Universal decide whether or not to repress. And with most of the psych/psych-related releases being far from big sellers it remains to be seen whether Universal will carry on with the public service. I found out all this by calling Pinnacle and Sanctuary to chase up certain things. A sad end to a glorious endeavour.
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BY SPACESHIP TO THE PSYCHE by Mike Moorcock
Reprinted from Les Spinge 12 (Jan 1964).This is the age of miniaturisation and meanness, of the carping and the cautious, of the lopsided lauding of single and singular aspects of the intellect over the spirit. It is not a generous age; it is an age of bile and bad blood, an age of interminable dissection of the human spirit into a million catchy categories; social, political, psychological, physiological, ad nauseam. It is not, of course, likely to last. It is even welcome, so long as it does not last too long, for, as the splitting of the atom resulted in the release of mighty energies, so might the splitting of the human spirit results in a similar release. But it is not nice to see so much specialisation -- a specialisation which has extended into the world of the arts, where a painter must be categorised as such and such, a novelist must be marked as a particular type, a dramatist as another. Bacon is this, Brecht is that, Becket is the other. The pity is that the gullible artist believes it and deliberately narrows himself. Those who do not, like John Cowper Powys for instance, are often ignored because they are hard to classify. Books get shorter and shorter and do not pack any more into fewer words, which would be the justification for their brevity, or else we receive our yearly score of great American novels, each greater than the last (the adjective I have found, when applied by critics, appears to describe the length of the book rather than its content, if any. Henry James, of course, wrote the Great American Novel years ago -- but he wrote it about England.) However, there is no need for pessimism; the breakthrough is showing and we may see some real novels soon. There are quite a few writers who seem to have it in them to write one: Murdoch, Golding, Heller or even Amis. And Science Fiction, so long an ultra-specialised field, is also beginning to broaden. In this field of poor, old, tired, cliche-ridden science fiction there are signs of fresh activity. A tiny handful of promising writers are busy chucking most of SF's trappings out of the window. We SF fans live in a microcosm, inflatable to any size we want, though, as we extend its size, it loses its mass, until, if we inflate it enough, it vanishes like gas. We are emotionally attached to so many inessential components of SF that we welcome a new twist on telepathy as a big advance, a slowly developed plot as good writing, or few cheap jokes as great satire. It is not our fault; we have got too involved, we can't see the wood for the trees; we need something to haul us out of this swamp and show us the rest of the terrain. One or two writers are helping us here. Jimmy Ballard and William Burroughs come to mind. The trouble with many SF fans is that they are often intelligent people with naive and distorted views. Much of the cause is clue to the fact, which continually surprises me, that a large percentage read nothing but SF: Their whole thought is coloured by the half-baked and ill-written ideas of a group of minor writers working in a sensational and, for all that's said to the opposite, narrow field, so that the sense of wonder, the curiosity about life, the original spark which attracted them to the field in the first place, slowly become jaded – dessicated because it has so little genuine stuff on which to feed. The mind of such a reader is superficially widened, but rarely deepened. It is very frustrating to see this process at work. If SF is to continue to be valuable, it requires writers who are prepared to dig deeper foundations rather than continue to build on the shaky, tottering skyscraper with their bright, but hollow, gimmick bricks. Not, I suppose, when I come down to it, that I care that much; but, as I said, I am still emotionally attached to the form, and, rather than sneer at it shall attempt to make some constructive criticism within my 1imitations, so long as the reader keeps it in mind that my opinions are given without qualification because to qualify them would take time and confuse the argument. Therefore, if I say SF is rubbish, it must be remembered that I think most SF is rubbish, which leaves an awfully large number of stories which I do not think are rubbish. There are perhaps, three kinds of SF -- which if bad by ordinary literary standards, but which is excellent SF (like Harness's TIME TRAP, for instance), SF which is bad by all standards, and SF which is good by all standards. In THE DROWNED WORLD; J.G.Ballard has produced a book which is good by all standards. Surprisingly few SF fans of my acquaintance have read it, which is strange because this is one of the only SF books worth keeping and re-reading. Its starting point is a familiar one -- a change in the balance of nature and its effects on the human race. THE KRAKEN WAKES, DEATH OF GRASS and WHEN THE TIDE WENT OUT are; three of this type,-- a type in which English writers seem to specialise. Unlike those three, Ballard's book has more than a readable English style and the story of how John and Mary get things going again; it contains a wealth of symbols and implications all with a valid relationship to real life. It is a well-written book, combining good characterisation with a theme that need not be agreed with, but which sets off a thousand sparks in the conscious and unconscious mind. The descriptive passage of a world of super-tropical temperature swiftly reverting to the Paleozoic, complete with steaming, teeming waters over-shadowed by the scattered ruins of buildings still poking above the surface, of the tangled, dense vegetation and the large reptilian life forms which sit like statues on the cliffs that were once giant office blocks, are excellent. More than this we have Kerans, the central character, his whole psyche moving backwards in time, keeping pace with the world's devolution; the doomed, tiredly optimistic Major Riggs and his team, trying hopelessly to halt the inevitable process, the bewildered Strangeman with his defiance and refusal to accept the change while taking advantage of it to loot the abandoned treasures of the world. Three of the characters, each symbolising the different reactions of their species to the supercession of what are, in fact, their remote, primeval ancestors. But where are they going? What were they in the first place? What is the human being's relationship to space and time? These are a few of the implicit questions in the book. Undoubtedly, THE DROWNED WORLD is a definite breakthrough, not only for SF, but a new kind of literature which is beginning to emerge from the Mean Ages. This is not to be, I feel, Ballard's finest work -- he has still plenty of time to write several even better ones, and I look forward to them. Of a more diffused and frenetic nature are the three Olympia Press editions of William Burrough's experimental novels -- THE NAKED LUNCH, THE TICKET THAT EXPLODED and THE SOFT MACHINE. Obscene, picturesque, romantic, frightened, funny, bewildered and perverse, they are not to be compared with the groping, warm-hearted, troubled meanderings of Henry Miller. These books have a more logical mind behind them. Though conforming to few of the rules, they still strike one as having had all the skill and intellect of a superior writer put into their construction. And, in their way, they are science fiction – science fiction as it must become if it is to survive as anything but a superficial form of entertainment. His invented societies are worlds of horror and turmoil -- THING POLICE KEEP ALL BOARD REPORTS reads one chapter heading. "The Novia Kid came in trailing clouds of cosmic dust from his last assignment." "A, boy dropped his clothes on iron and gut naked the iridescent oil film through candirus pirhanha fish electric eels and sting rays and sharp braille of hidden metal. Pulled himself, into the boat and shook a condom from his hair. He put on his hustling smile and flipped a hand to the town: 'Them NO GOOD RACE. NG Conditions." Typical sights leak out. "Malo Fourth Grade See Dogs. Of Appalling Terminal." "Swamp delta to the sky that does not change. Speared a sick dolphin in bubbles of coal gas. Only food in this village. Smell and taste rotten metal. Shrinking in heavy time." "Pass without doing our ticket -- mountain wind of Saturn in the morning sky--From the death trauma weary goodbye then." Irony is strong, the frantic irony of a man who wishes desperately to communicate his vision and resorts to increasingly obscure means in an effort to pull the trigger of the reader's mind, the trigger which will set off a similar series of explosions as those erupting through Mr Burrough's junky-faced skull. I've seen that face a million times in clubs and pubs and coffee-bars--the same shrunken features, hooded eyes and introversion as a man sinks deeper and deeper into himself, into his own private world with its own universe and boundless landscapes, wanting to talk to you about it, but lacking words that would be the right ones, and pretending he doesn't care. Burroughs is a junky with enough brains, soul, or will-power to have wrenched himself into a supercool state in order to construct a code that will leap from mind to mind like a spark between plugs and start a big engine running somewhere down there. He begins by creating associations in the reader's mind --, key words, trigger-phrases, which he later uses when he employs his fold-in method of taking two typewritten sheets of his own, folding them lengthways down the middle, and sticking the two halves together so that the result is a sheet with a half sentence of each scanning across. This has been sneered at, but it is a relevant experiment which works if the author has succeeded first in building up the trigger-words in your mind. Then the reading becomes a rewarding experience quite unlike ordinary reading. The method is science fiction in itself. It is lift-off taking you out to the inside, by space ship to the psyche. Those SF writers who lean backwards, using the intellectual novel of the thirties as their model, might do well to have a closer look at William Burroughs. SF stuck in the thirties. It stuck in the age of the sexy, shiny machine with cogs and throb. If it then combined the techniques of the pulp-writers, of other fields with the ideas of the engineer now it often combines the tired techniques of the Waughs and Huxleys, Hemingways and Steinbecks (adopting, quite often, the same attitudes) with the ideas of the engineer. Only a little of the material escapes this criticism, only a little catches the mood of modern scientific thought. In the American magazines we have Cordwainer Smith with his macabre lyricism. Smith's YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME contains a few very good stories and some that are not so good, approaching whimsicality and the empty sparkle of Bradbury at his worst. But Smith is a giant compared to most of the others who appear in the same magazines. He has zest, he is stimulating and achieves his effects by means of a good, clean, style. Smith is no carper, rarely the backward-looking predictor of worlds of the future which are really idealised pictures of worlds of the past (like so many boring American after-the-bomb novels). He is a writer who sees in the developments of modern physics, a future world of brilliance, mediocrity, cruelty and wonder. He draws his inspiration from inside, not from the Sunday Supplement Science Page, and because of this he is seen as a serious and individual writer whose work has genuine relevance to us, now and here, and then and when. Like all worthwhile romantics, he is also rational and objective. Reading him, one senses that he has a clear head and knows what he’s doing which can’t be said for any of the others. It's a wild thing to say, but it is just possible that SF can become the literary form of the future -- but so changed will it be by that time, that admirers of EARTHMAN, COME HOME probably won't recognize it. SF must be broadened and deepened and rid of its flashy gimmicks before it can become a good vehicle for the serious writer, but the process appears to be at work and ten years should prove me right or wrong.
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JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT: the early years by Paul CROSS

INTRO
The history of the lyricist-composer relationship of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber is both well known and well documented, but here in skeleton form is a brief outline of that association as it relates to the early history of Joseph.
PRE-JOSEPH
Tim Rice was a member of the pop group the Aardvarks, 1961-1963. He then got a job at EMI Records, 1966-1968, then joined the Norrie Paramor Organisation, 1968-1969. On 21 April 1965 Tim sent Andrew a letter in which he said "I've been told you're looking for a "with it" writer of lyrics for your songs, and as I've been writing pop songs for a while and particularly enjoy writing the lyrics I wonder if you consider it worth your while meeting me. I may fall short of your requirements, but anyway it would be interesting to meet up -- I hope!". Tim, then aged 21, had studied law, worked in a solicitor's office, and was already mixing with professional singers and producers (he joined EMI as a management trainee on 6 June 1966) impressed young Andrew (then aged 17), who was on his way to Magdalen (he would leave Oxford after just two terms). The two met, the meeting changed their lives, they immediately started to cooperate, churning out pop songs, following the pattern of music first, words later, which marked all their collaborations.
The Lloyd Webber household in South Kensington became home for Tim, too, as he moved into a spare bedroom in the large apartment owned by Andrew's grandmother. Another regular visitor, and family friend, was a music teacher, Alan Doggett, who had taught Andrew's younger brother, Julian (now a renowned solo cellist), at Westminster preparatory school. Doggett had moved on to another preparatory school, St Paul's, Colet Court in Hammersmith, where he was head of music.
Their first musical written by Tim & Andrew became People Like Us (1965), on the life of Victorian philanthropist Dr Barnardo. It is very Oliver-ish ("a sub-Bart-ish score") and thus not at all pop or rock-ish. The recording, cut by Southern Music, is of little interest to us save that it has some quirky moments of English pythonic-centricity, most notably, the lyric "Here I have a lovely parrot sound in wind and limb / I can guarantee that there is nothing wrong with him".
Other musical notables with a Tim Rice connection, from 1967-69 (notable from a LAURA's GARDEN perspective, that is), are the apocalyptic '1969', which together with 'Down Thru' Summer', was the first recorded (Olympic, Barnes, June 1967) and released Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice collaboration; and 'Probably On Thursday' / 'I'll Give All My Love To Southend' (recorded October 1967; the latter also covered, in French, by Danièle Noël, and also produced by Tim) by the lovely Ross [i.e. Rosalind] Hannaman (who would soon become Mrs Mark Wirtz); and of course Tim's association with UK Psych heroes Tales of Justine. Then there's Just Plain Smith ('Don’t Open Your Mind' (1969) ~ includes Tim on backing vocals), and 'Million Dollar Bash' by The Mixed Bag (also 1969). Also, worth mentioning here, are Alan Doggett's choirboys, who, performing under the Harrison-esque name of Wonderschool, cut a bizarre version of Syd Barrett's 'Bike'!!!
Circa late-summer/autumn '67 (Michael Coveney says "in late '67"), with Tim wanting to write more pop songs and Andrew planning to write another musical, Andrew got a call from Alan Doggett.
THE COMMISSION:
Doggett suggested that Tim and Andrew should write a pop cantata for the annual school concert, ideally on a Biblical subject, for the school choir to sing at their Easter end of term concert. Various tales are told about how it was that Joseph came to be that subject. It is stated that it had long been "Tim's favorite Bible story"; also, that the pair simply opened the Bible at random; also, that Joseph was decided upon only after a James Bond-type scenario has been considered. Anyhow, within a couple of months the duo had a fifteen-minute pop version (as opposed to the present-day two-hour showbiz monster it has become!) of Genesis 37-46, the biblical story of Joseph and his coloured coat. Thus was born Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Lyrics by Tim Rice. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber). Note the title's reference to the recent Ally Pally 14 Hour Technicolor Dream psychedelic happening-rave.FIRST PERFORMANCES
The World Première took place at the Old Assembly Hall, Colet Court School, Hammersmith, 2:30 pm on the cold afternoon of 1 March 1968, performed by the school choir, accompanied by the School orchestra and conducted by Alan Doggett. The performance was only 20 minutes long. It then grew at subsequent performances at Central Hall, Westminster (where Andrew's father was the organist) on May 12th, 1968. Julian Lloyd Webber, along with Bill Lloyd Webber, gave a 45 minute classical recital as an opener. The audience of approximately 1000 (some sources say 2500) consisted mainly of proud parents of the Colet Court boys. Tim Rice played Pharaoh. To Andrew and Tim's surprise, Derek Jewell, Jazz and Pop Critic for The Sunday Times, and parent of one of the boys, was in the audience and penned an unsolicited and favourable review ('Pop Goes Joseph'), which appeared on 19th May 1968: "Throughout its twenty-minute duration it bristles with wonderfully singable tunes. It entertains. It communicates instantly, as all good pop should. And it is a considerable piece of barrier-breaking by its creators." Jewell viewed Joseph as progressive, in that it "emphasized the rich expansiveness of pop tather than the limitations of its frontiers", he was also one of the first to fall foul of that perennially slippery title, mistakenly substituting "His" for "The"!
The performance was such a success that a third performance took place ("Pop into St. Paul's"), at the invitation of the Dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev'd Martin Sullivan, on 9th November 1968 at St Paul's Cathedral. Here Joseph was expanded to include songs such as 'Potiphar' for the first time.
The fourth, and final performance (January 1969) of the first run of Joseph was a return to the Central Hall. It included as support, a performance by David Daltrey of his wonderful 'Planet Suite' (checkout the wonderful Tales Of Justine. Petals From A Sunflower collection (Tenth Planet TP034)).
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Andrew, desperate for financial backing to enable him to continue writing, was introduced to Sefton Myers, a property entrepreneur keen to expand into showbusiness His partner, David Land, heard the Joseph album and immediately offered Tim and Andrew a management contract, guaranteeing support for 3 years in return for a shore of their income. This allowed Tim and Andrew to continue writing and enabled Tim to leave his employment with Norrie Paramor. Their first project under the new contract was another piece for schools, Come Back Richard, Your Country Needs You, based on the story of Richard I. It was performed with Alan Doggett, once again as musical director, at the City of London School in November 1969, but Tim & Andrew did not take the project any further as they had already discussed another idea, the story of Jesus Christ. Tim Rice eventually developed Richard into the musical Blondel (1983). Andrew and Tim then went on to write Jesus Christ Superstar (recorded at Olympic, in 1970). It was the success of this project that enabled Joseph to continue to grow. The album of Jesus Christ Superstar was a hufe success in the US, and when Joseph was released there, with a marketing campaign implying it was the follow-up(!) to 'Superstar', the Joseph album stayed in the charts for three months.
In September 1972 Frank Dunlop for the Young Vic directed the Decca album version of Joseph starring Gary Bond, at the Edinburgh Festival, the performance preceded by a faux-medieval mystery play. In October the Edinburgh production played at the Young Vic for a fortnight before transferring to the Roundhouse for a six-week-run. Michael White and Robert Stigwood (Tim & Andrew signed a 10-year contract with RSO following Sefton Myers death)subsequently presented the Edinburgh production at the Albery Theatre, where it opened on 17 February 1973 and was accompanied by a piece called Jacob's Journey, written by Tim and Andrew with dialogue by Alan Simpson and Ray Galton. This told the story of the early life of Joseph's father, Jacob. Soon, it was thought that the combination of Jacob's Journey, mostly spoken dialogue, and Joseph, entirely sung, was not a success, and Jacob's Journey was gradually phased out. Joseph emerged to receive its first major production in its present form at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, then eventually opening on Broadway on 27 January 1982.A few interesting songs (other than from Joseph or Jesus Christ Superstar) with lyrics by Tim Rice & music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, from the tail-end of the 60s, include 'Goodbye Seattle' (1970); 'Roll On Over The Atlantic' (1969); 'Come Back Richard Your Country Needs You' (check out the 'Discogs' in old isues of SFA for more details).
EARLY JOSEPH RECORDINGSAfter reading Derek Jewell's review, Tim Rice's then employer Norrie Paramor, producer of Cliff Richard among others, encouraged Decca to release an album of the St Paul's Cathedral version of Joseph. Released in January 1969 the album, attributed to The Joseph Consortium, featured The Mixed Bag (Terry Saunders- vocs/lead gtr; Malcolm Parry- vocs/bs; John Cook (later in Mungo Jerry)- keys; Bryan Watson- drms), David Daltrey (as Joseph) and Tim Rice (as Pharaoh). The Colet School choir played the part of narrator. Also featured, on harpsichord, acoustic guitar and maraccas, was Martin Wilcox, who had introduced Tim Rice to the Mixed Bag and the Tales of Justine. Tim & Andrew wanted the LP to have a gate-fold sleeve, with printed lyrics, but instead they got a standard sleeve (still, which is very attractive, with a cartoon front cover, and, on the rear, photos of The Mixed Bag, David Daltrey, and Tim & Andrew, "wearing naff late sixties clobber" ~ Tim Rice), with a lric sheet (insert). Whilst it received several good reviews, the album was unsuccessful commercially, selling approximately 3000 copies. At the same time as the album's release, Novello & Co. published the original 20-minute-version of the score.In these infuriating days of endless audition TV shows, myriad wannabe-Josephs singing their queeny little hearts out, massive hype and schmaltzy productions it is difficult to remember just how wonderful, how fresh and innovative ~ and how pop ~ Joseph was when it first appeared. Those of us who remember seeing Joseph in the 60s or early 70s, must wonder that it is probably nigh on impossible for today's youngsters to visualise the show as it was first intended, to see or hear it as anything other than a "mega-glitz production" (Coveney, a huge theatrical juggernaut.
Memories may fade, and hype may predominate, but the earliest recordings present us with a very different Joseph to the current version ~
THE FIRST TWO LP VERSIONS
The first Joseph is not some underground hip sound, but it is very much a product of its time (1967) and place (Swinging London), deeply coloured by the ambition and daring of contemporary pop. Tim Rice appears somewhat disingenuous when he states that "the Summer of Love, the high point of the Swinging Sixties, seemed to have passed us by. For the first time I began to wonder if I was still in touch with contemporary music", especially as he was a witness to two of the epochs most defining momenst: ~ the orchestra rehearsals, at Abbey Road, for the climax to The Beatles' 'A Day In The Life', and the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, which he attended ("I smoked half a banana and had my wallet stolen"). Tim acknowledges that the release of Sgt. Pepper "was the event of the entire music world's year". In the second-half of 1967 it would have been nigh on impossible for anyone, let alone a young EMI insider, not to notice Pepper! It was everywhere The psychedelic-pop vibes of 1967 are much in evidence in the early Josephs, from the very title ~ Technicolor Dream, to the then-fashionable stylistic rummaging in pop's junk box - 1920s vaudevilliana ('Potiphar' is in a similar vein to the Purple Gang, Bonzos, Temperance Seven, New Vaudeville Band,'When I'm 64', et al); and 1950s rock 'n' roll ('Song Of The King'); to the dodgy rhyme-schemes; and ultimately to the Wirtz-style sonic blending of pop & kids & orchestra to form a teenage opera/cantata/oratorio whole. Current productions of Joseph may now present a bloated monstrosity, but in essence, the musical was a product, however much augmented and botoxed and perennially unhip, of the Summer of Love.
Fans of the more florid end of pop, or the lightest side of syke may appreciate the following -
~ 'Jacob And Sons' opens with some stately orchestation, a touch of fuzz and a drum roll.
~ 'Joseph's Coat' is great pop; its rainbow ending (a roll-call of 29 colours of which 24 were added to the score by the Colet Court boys), is both poetic and veers into kitsch-psych territory.
~ the harpsichord on 'Joseph's Dreams'.
~ the quirky parts (organ and guitar grooviness) which add drama to 'Poor, Poor Joseph'.
~ the weird "Joseph was taken to Egypt in chains and sold..." psych-proggish interludes.
~ the east-west guitar figures in 'Close Every Door to Me'.
~ the self-consciously groovy backing to 'Go, Go, Go Joseph', in particular the bendy "Hey dreamer..." sections with their mesmerising organ and general air of bendiness - the album's most psychedelic moment.
~ the strange vocal sound in the "chained and bound" section.
~ the homage to 'A Day In The Life' in 'Who's The Thief', the orchestral crescendo replicated albeit in teeny weeny miniature scale. (Tim Rice witnessed the orchestral rehearsals in Abbey Road.)
~ the very Wirtzianesque half-minute instrumental intro to 'Jacob In Egypt', which sounds like it dropped straight off the 'Teenage Opera' soundtrack (compare it with the instro tracks on the RPM CD).
~ 'Any Dream Will Do' a simple 60s pop ballad, nothing like the schmaltz-behemoth it's become in recent years.
~ or the many, simple but effective pop moments scattered throughout the album.
The second (1973) recording presents a toughened up Joseph; with higher production values and crisper arrangements (note the cleaner strings on 'Jacob And Sons'). It's also padded-out with new songs, 'One More Angel In Heaven' (a c/w pastiche); 'Pharaoh Story'; 'Those Canaan Days' (a French chanteuse pastiche); 'Stone The Crows'; 'Benjamin Calypso' . Gary Bond plays Joseph, and, unsurprisingly, sings the songs like an actor, not a pop-singer; Gordon Waller plays Pharaoh. Much of the small-scale "sixties" vibe of the first album version is watered-down, or lost altogether; but, the four seconds of weirdness (backwards-sounding but not actually backwards) ~ at 0:13 - 0:17secs ~ on 'Poor, Poor Joseph' are cool; as is the retained pop-proggishness of the "Joseph was taken to Egypt in chains and sold..." parts; the harpsichordian beauty of 'Close Every Door'; the groovy intro to 'Go, Go, Go Joseph'; some better-than-the original easternisms in the "Ishmaelites" section; and the frantic Beatlesque climax to 'Who's the Thief' are also moments of delight.
JOSEPH: ARCHETYPAL 1960s POP CANTATADespite the muddiness of the mix of the first album ~ it originally disappointed the writers ~ and for all its basic "live" feel and amateurishness (those kids, those plonking xylophones) and, worst of all, its un-Wirtzian lack of production finesse and grandeur, one must agree with Tim Rice when he says that "[h]owever polished some of the gigantic commercial productions have been, it is versions similar to the spirit and size of the world première...that I enjoy the most." And, although there are few who would doubt him when he says that "This great tale has everything -- plausible, sympathetic characters, a flawed hero, and redeemed villains ... It is a story of triumph against the odds, of love and hate, of forgiveness and optimism. As with all great stories, the teller has no need to spell out the messages if he tells the tale well. Perhaps risking comparisons with the youthful Joseph's lack of modesty, I believe Andrew and I told the story very well indeed", it is the first Joseph LP version (and to a lesser degree the second) which still has the greatest appeal to fans of late-60s British pop. It remains the most perfectly-formed pop oratorio of the late 1960s.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
With grateful acknowledgments to Tim Rice: Oh, What a Circus [autobiog]; and Michael Coveney: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Story.
**************
P/REVIEWS

PSYCHEDELIC SCHLEMIELS: lost sounds from the Britpsych scene 1966-1969
(Wooden Hill WHCD017) CD compilation (Various artists)
1. WEST COAST CONSORTIUM Elastic Band 2. PEANUT RUBBLE Broken Man 3. SO ON AND SO FORTH Sweet Wine 4. THOSE FADIN’ COLOURS Try Me On For Size 5. URBAN When My Train Comes In 6. THE PHOENIX Brave New Sights 7. HERBAL REMEDY I (Who Have Nothing) 8. PEANUT RUBBLE Willow Tree 9. THE OBJECT Blue Skies And Green Green Grass 10. SO ON AND SO FORTH (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone 11. WEST COAST CONSORTIUM Ginny Stop 12. THE PHOENIX Live For The Sun 13. THOSE FADIN’ COLOURS Blow Up 14. HARVERSON APRICOT Wax Candle 15. THOR You’re My Cream 16. PEANUT RUBBLE Just A Dream 17. ALFIE SHEPHERD Floating On A Dream 18. BARNABY RUDGE In The Sunset 19. THE CARNABY I Don’t Deserve A Girl Like You 20. SOUNDS AROUND Two People
Could this be the LAURA's GARDEN Comp of the Year (2007)?
Psychedelic Schlemiels "explores the secret garden of sweet floral Albion"; and if prizes were awarded for digging up the most obscure tracks in England then this comp would win the boat, the car, the holiday, and the cuddly toy. These are genuine rarities, unique acetates, not releases on major labels. (Incidentally, it is good to see the sleevenotes contain some common sense observations on the current (ridiculous) situation of collectors paying huge sums for relatively common records.)
Approximately half of the tracks here have been recycled from now hard-to-find Tenth Planet vinyl-only comps; all have been rescued from acetates or reel-to-reel tapes, all sounding pretty damed good, especially when one considers that they are mostly demos recorded in bedrooms, garages, the odd tiny provincial studio, and even a room above an undertakers in Shoreditch.
The sounds on offer are varied, ranging from to mod-gone-odd (The Object), sliding into the raw-edged/heavy side of psych (Peanut Rubble)and out the other side into bluesy rock. There are a couple of real kicking covers ('Sweet Wine', 'Steppin' Stone' ~ the latter including a comical "rules, rules" mis-quote). 'Elastic Band' is the original of the ('Circus Days') track by Juice, it's wonderful ~ slower and harmonised into heavenliness. Alfie Shepherd (Angel Pavement) shows us that home-recording can equal 55 hours in Abbey Road for psychedelicity. I'm sure we'd all love to see his 'Wind In The Willows' album ~ from which this beauty is taken ~ granted a release.
'In The Sunset' is Barnaby Rudge's best recording. Ok, Ok, I know that's not saying much! But this is great. Far better than one might expect from that Dickensian ne'er-do-well. It's an elaborate affair, all high-register backing-vocals and kitchen-sink-production.
Roll on the next 20 volumes of Psychedelic Schlemiels!
PS ~ Do listen out for the secret mystery track; it's hidden at the end of the CD, a minute after the final (listed) track ends; it's a curious affair, freakbeat with frantic drums, which rapidly dissolves into a mêlée of dive-bombing backward-tapes, unexpectedly topped off with a dollop of ragtime jazz!
*
CANTERBURY GLASS - Sacred Scenes and Characters
(Ork ORK 5) CD
We all ought to know by now that "progressive-psychedelia" is usually a misnomer for something which is usually just plain prog. Mindful of this it is good that this CD has arrived without a fanfare of hyperbole or misapplied labelising. And yet, the music by Canterbury Glass is "progressive-psychedelia". The real deal. This is the genuine article, the underground sound of Middle Earth resurrected from beyond the grave. I would have liked more info in the sleevenotes, but it seems that the fine detail may now be lost (note: the confusion in the sleevenotes about dates: "early '68" concatenas uneasily into a "Jesus Christ Superstar" 1970).
On the musical side, many an acid sound-head will delight in 'Kyrié'. With its hushed, slowly unravelling intro, dreamy spirituality, hypnotic entwinement of guitar and keyboard, and mind-crunching end, this is superb way to open the disc (and to blow away those cheesey pop-syke sounds from your ear-holes). The tracks are full of meandering, Arzachelianesque guitar & organ explorations, genera,l heavy air of ekklesiodelia (all Anglo-Catholic bells & smells and latin anthems married to underground rock),and loose-but-tight hairy proggishness. There are some cliches, including some ubiquitous Tull-ish flute runs and godawful mouth-harp (how I hate this horrid instument!) may knock the gilt of the gingerbread, but does not mar irreperably the beauty of this long-lost treasure. In fact, if this had been released in its entirety (we are sadly missing one track 'The Roman Head of a Marble Man') at the tail-end of the '60s instead of (in incomplete form) at the tail-end of the first decade of the third millenium it would long ago have achieved some kind of 'classic' status.
*
INSANE TIMES: 25 British Psychedelic Artyfacts From The EMI Vaults
(EMI/Zonophone ZONO 20072) CD compilation (various artists)
1. Kevin Ayers - Song For Insane Times 2. July - Dandelion Seeds (Single Version) 3. Tomorrow - Real Life Permanent Dream 4. Ipsissimus - Hold On 5. Mandrake Paddle Steamer - Strange Walking Man 6. The Gods - Towards The Skies 7. The Penny Peeps - Model Village 8. Paul Jones - The Dog Presides 9. The Idle Race - Hurry Up John 10. The Orange Bicycle - Last Cloud Home 11. Jon - Is It Love? 12. The Brain - Nightmare In Red 13. Bonzos - Equestrian Statue 14. Rainbow Ffolly - Sun Sing 15. Simon Dupree - Castle In The Sky 16. Tale sof Justine - Monday Morning 17. Mike Proctor - Mr Commuter 18. The Hollies - All The World Is Love 19. The Aerovons - World Of You 20. The Lemon Tree - William Chalker's Time Machine 21. The Parking Lot - World Spinning Sadly 22. Herbal Mixture - Please Leave My Mind 23. The Koobas - Barricades 24. The Yardbirds - Think About It 25. Syd Barrett - No Good Trying
Perhaps the selection here, mostly "classics"- sounding superb, from the masters - is a tad too mainstream to turn-on the more obsessive psych-sound-hound, yet it contains such under-exposed gems as the mesmerising 'Last Cloud Home', the 45-version of 'Dandelion Seeds', and Paul Jones's lunatic 'The Dog Presides', and revives a under-appreciated oldies (eg. 'Hold On', 'World Spinning Sadly'). 'Insane Times' remains a good EMI primer for those new to the scene, and at £8 or £9, incredible good value..
Cringe-edelic moment: Something I've been wanting to say for years, but always feared being swiped arond the head with a sunflower (named Albert): David Daltrey's inadvertently hilarious cry of "Alright!!" in 'Monday Morning' has to be one of the nerdiest, weediest, least convincing displays of male braggadocio ever cut to vinyl. But then, perhaps in psych-pop, weedy is really a good thing?
*
PSYCHEDELIC JUMBLE Volume One: What's the Rush, Time Machine Man
(Rev-Ola CR REV 217) CD compilation (various artists)
1. Majority/You Can Run2. Tintern-Abbey/Do What You Must3. Paradox/Whats The Rush Dillbury4 Honeybus/Delighted To See You-Demo5. Penny-Peeps/Meet Me At The Fair6. Majority/Our Love Will Be So Strong7. Tintern-Abbey/How Do You Feel Today8. Fives-Company/Friends And Mirrors9. Paradox/Mary Colinto-Demo10. Penny-Peeps/Into-My-Life-She Came11. Majority/Time-Machine Man12. Opal-Butterfly/Mary-Ann With The Shaky Hand-demo13. Tintern-Abbey/Naked Song-demo14. Paradox/Like The-Day Goes15. Penny-Peeps/Helen Doesn't Care16. Obscured-Rays/You And Me Baby17. Majority/Dont Know What You're Doing18. Tintern-Abbey/It's Just That The People Cant See-demo19. Paradox/Somebody Save Me 20. Ruperts-People/Flying High
Although The Majority's 'Our Love Will Be So Strong' is a compelling east-west musical hybrid, it is unreleased 60's pop rather than unreleased 60's psychedelia is the order of the day with this charming comp. Good to see that Five's Company's stunning 'Friends and Mirrors' (see SFA 34) is finally gaining the appreciation (and release!) it long ago deserved. Some tracks such as 'Time Machine Man' (The Majority) have appeared elsewhere; as have some by the oh, so over-rated Tintern Abbey which do little to enhance the band's currently stellar reputation, built as it is solely on two sides of the(pre-Paul Brett)superlative UK psych release. I wonder what the band's profile would have been like had these tracks been the only known ones? These songs show a band not yet burnt-out but treading water, unable to re-scale those Deram heights. Rupert Peoples' fairly average MOR-ish instro (already known to some from a BBC session) is OKay. The Honeybus demo is truly delight-ful (although I cannot help feeling that with each passing year those lyrics sound more and more dodgy; can't see 'em going down too well with readers of The Scum or the Daily Moron). Paradox (no relation to the guys on Polydor) offer four good un's, "The Obscured Rays" are in actuality The Mirage backing a long-forgotten vocalist, and 'Meet Me At The Fair' by The Penny Peeps is a delightful toytowner with which many a wee grandchild will sing happily along. Nice!
*
A GLASS MENAGERIE
(RETRO822) CD compilation (Various artists)
1) She’s a Rainbow - Glass Menagerie2) But that’s When I Started To Love Her - Glass Menagerie3) Bitter Thoughts Of Little Jane - Timon4) Rambling Boy - Timon5) Anonymous Mr. Brown - Tony Crane6) His World - Tony Crane7) Head For The Sun - Movement8) Mr Man - Movement9) You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice - Glass Menagerie10) Let’s All Run To The Sun - Glass Menagerie11) Riding A Wave - Turnstyle12) Trot - Turnstyle13) My Son John - Onyx14) Step By Step - Onyx15) Never Trust In Tomorrow - Gentle Influence16) Easy To Love - Gentle Influence17) Until My Baby Comes Home - New Formula18) Burning In The Background of My Mind - New Formula19) Hot Smoke And Sasafrass - Mooche20) Seen Through A Light - Mooche21) Frederick Jordan - Glass Menagerie22) I Said Goodbye To Me - Glass Menagerie
Pye label goodies; some comped before, plus a few previously uncollected, some of which are cute but most should have been left in obscurity. Useful.
*
TUESDAY'S CHILDREN - Strange Light From The East: The complete Recordings 1966-1969
(Rev-Ola CR REV 209) CD
This fascinating release shows us a band, which possessing both musical ability and great songwriting talent, failed to make any inroads into the charts. The lack of stylistic cohesion may best explain their lack of commercial success. Rather than a natural progression, an evolution, there's a confusion of styles here ~ this is a band with an identity problem; and what we get veers from mods doing Buddy Holly ('That'll Be The Day'), to sub-Spector ('When You Walk In The Sand), to blue-eyed club soul ('Guess I'm Losing You') via a proto- Bay City Rollers sound('Baby I Need You'), a Greek-tinged holiday song ('High On A Hill'- almost redeemed only by its first-10 and final-7-seconds), and much "professionally"-done, tacky pop ('Baby's Gone', etc), Most of this confusion is probably down to mis-management, because when the band became Czar their identity achieved instant clarity.
However, from out of this stylistic hotch-potch there emerged some marvels. Highlights included here are the title track (a cod-syke classic, heavily draped in capricci cinesi finery); 'Summer Leaves Me With A Sigh' (a superlative example of what is so attractive about much of the very best 1960s British pop: softly sung but with sledgehammer fuzz guitar blasts; the contrast of rock guitar with pop vocal, held together in perfect tension within the 7-inch vinyl-format); 'Ritual Fire Dance' (a classical-progressive-psych epic and a precursor of Czar who also recorded this monster sound); 'Doubtful Nellie' and 'Mr Kipling' (two psych-pop treasures); a take on The Rokes' 'Bright Eyed Apples' ("Bright eyed apples make the trees seems taller / Tall trees make a small man smaller...", with some fab organ); and 'She' their magnum opus, one of the most majestic records from the late-60s, Johnny Arthey-arranged orch-pop, glossed with a lite-psych sheen:
"Follow the man who paints the strawberry jam,
Kiss the girl whose head is in a whirl,
Hold my hand,
And come to Wonderland
With me..."
Also included on this CD is Phil Cordell's wonderfully evocative 'Red Lady', all afghani flavoured and swirly, which we raved about in SFA years ago and which was then promptly bootlegged.
For more info on Tuesday's Children / Czar, see the Mick Ware interview in SFA 25, or visit the bands' fine website @ http://www.czar.org.uk/
*
TEA & SYMPHONY: the English Baroque Sound 1967-1974.
(Sanctuary CMQCD1541) CD compilation (various artists)1. Time To Wander - John Kerruish 2. Nowhere To Go - Graham Gouldman 3. Alice - John Plum 4. Stop - Vigrass 5. Strange Girl - Kate 6. Off To Find A New Land - Lea Nixon 7. For Where Have You Been - Honeybus 8. Captain Jones - Eddie Addenbury 9. Maisie Jones - Nimbo 10. Summer Love - Almond Marzipan 11. Very Well - Les Payne12. Nothing Else To Say - David Reilly 13. Here Before The Sun - Lori Balmer 14. Copper Coloured Years - Consortium 15. My World Turns Around You - Marc Reid 16. Watching The Boat - Roger Charles 17. 'Til The Sun Goes Down - Tremeloes 18. Growing Older - Graham Gouldman 19. Seductress - Steve Elgin 20. Justine - Julian Brooks 21. If I Call Your Name - JuniorCampbell 22. There Is A Mountain - Quiet World Of Lea & John 23. Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway - Humblebums 24. Sewing Machine - Tuesday
Some of you may remember a prototype of this comp being punted to Sanctuary a few years back (with a different editor/compiler at the helm), contents pretty similar as here. Sanctuary weren't too interested then; but, presumably they changed their minds.
This comp suggests to my nose those smug-faced, camp, London poseurs who revel in their dilligently un-trendy trendiness, their ineffable sense of irony and their own conceit, and who constantly conratulate themselves on their musical élitism, hoping to be seen listening to the right cheesey music without actually listening to it. Bob Stanley's liners are horrible and completely snobbish. There's some old hob-nobs in there about "psych fans not liking this type of music". How very peculiar, as most of these were "discovered", given their first public appreciation by "psych fans", many (eg. John Kerruish, Julian Brooks, Consortium, Nimbo) in the cyber-delic pages of SFA. Although, on refelection, perhaps many "psych fans" won't like everything on offer here. Why should they? John Kerruish is actually a lock of holt bollards~ like a classicized version of The Darkness, his turgid voice, now hysterical and then profoundly macho, sounds like Scott Walker on Exlax; and the wretched Lori Balmer track stinks, Carpenters-cloning of a most anaemic kind.
Still, don't let any distate for the compiler's own music turn you away from this comp, it's worth getting for Eddie Addenbury's 'Captain Jones', which is a gem, one of the best new/old songs we've heard in a long time. There's a sycophantic and dumb review (albeit mercifully short) in a recent issue of Record Cul-lector, full of twaddle about Mr BS discovering a new genre! Hilarious! Another funny thing is that the CD had very little to do with "baroque" anything. The "baroque" label is a bit out of plumb here; ill-equipped to cover the creations from the above-cited Lori Balmer, as well as Nimbo, Consortium, Tuesday, Eddie Addenbury.... Tea & Symphony is basically just a copy of 'Fading Yellow' which is itself basically a copy of 'Circus Days'.
All's said, it's good to hear 'Alice' in all its majestic glory, sounds better (different?) to my "mint" 45. Strange.
Oh, and if Mr BS is still wondering what happened to Julian Kirsch, could some kind soul please point him in the direction of the interview in SFA 23.
~ ~ ~
There is one recommended alternative to the above take on Tea & Symph; a deliciously demolitionous review, and classic of its kind (how very 117ish!!), complete with anagram title, online on Amazon.co.uk (yes, that's it, just below JJ's hype), from a wicked wag by the name of "Johnny Martin" (do get in touch, you naughty man!!); so good a review and so succinct that I have no hesitation in quoting it in extenso:
PYTHON & SEAMY
There was I, thinking I was taking a journey into an enchanted world of delicate orchestration and slightly askew hippy ideology, you know, sort of Incredible String Band without the trees or Nick Drake without the introversion. And what do I get, a place where penny collars and velvet bowties the size of bats are de rigueur, the smell of Old Spice and Falcon hang in the air, and the only hopes for the future are a summer stint at Pontins. Truly horrible.
*
REAL LIFE PERMANENT DREAMS: a cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965 - 1970
(Castle CMXBX1239) 4-CD boxed set (Various artists)Disc 1: 1 The Smoke - My Friend Jack 2 The Tornados ’66 - No More You And Me 3 Lord Sutch - The Cheat 4 The Frame - Doctor Doctor 5 The Drag Set - Day And Night 6 The Kinks - Fancy 7 The Traffic Jam - I Don't Want You (BBC Session) 8 Honeybus - The Breaking-Up Scene 9 Winston's Fumbs - Snow White 10 Neil Christian & The Crusaders - I Like It 11 Australian Playboys - Black Sheep R.I.P. 12 The Fleur De Lys - Circles 13 Marc Bolan (With John's Children) - The Lilac Hand Of Menthol Dan 14 The Buzz - You're Holding Me Down 15 The Riot Squad - I Take It That We're Through 16 Paul & Ritchie & The Cryin' Shames - Come On Back 17 The Kirkbys - It's A Crime 18 The Kinks - Love Me Till The Sun Shines (BBC Session) 19 Marc Bolan - Hippy Gumbo 20 The Incredible String Band - Gently Tender 21 Donovan - Sunny Goodge Street 22 Floribunda Rose - Linda Loves Linda 23 The Small Faces - Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire 24 Santa Barbara Machine Head - Rubber Monkey 25 The Deviants - You've Got To Hold On 26 Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger With The Trinity - Season Of The Witch
Disc 2:27 The End - Loving Sacred Loving (Alt. Version) 28 Blonde On Blonde - All Day All Night 29 Ramases And Selket - Crazy One 30 Skip Bifferty - Man In Black (BBC Session) 31 Icarus - Yellow Balloon (Previously Unreleased) 32 The Orange Machine - Real Life Permanent Dream 33 Eire Apparent - The Clown 34 The Rokes - When The Wind Arises 35 Serendipity - I'm Flying 36 The Orange Bicycle - Trip On An Orange Bicycle 37 The Smoke - Utterly Simple 38 Billy Nicholls - London Social Degree 39 Lomax Alliance - The Golden Lion (Previously Unreleased) 40 Jethro Toe [Tull] - Sunshine Day 41 Paper Blitz Tissue - Boy Meets Girl 42 The Bystanders - Cave Of Clear Light 43 Anan - I Wonder Where My Sister's Gone 44 The Marmalade - Man In A Shop 45 The Bobcats - Lord John (Previously Unreleased) 46 The Peep Show - Mazy 47 Moon's Train - Bakerman 48 Episode Six - Love, Hate, Revenge 49 The Tickle - Good Evening 50 The Excelsior Spring - It 51 Warm Sounds - Nite Is A-Comin' A.K.A. Lindyloo (Previously Unreleased Alt. 52 The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Fire (Alt. Version)
Disc 3: 53 The Status Quo - Pictures Of Matchstick Men (BBC Session) 54 Sun Dragon - Five White Horses 55 The Turnstyle - Riding A Wave 56 The Picadilly Line - I Know She Believes 57 The Fox - Hey! Mr Carpenter 58 Timon - The Bitter Thoughts Of Little Jane 59 Gilbert - Disappear 60 Our Plastic Dream - Encapsulated Marigold 61 The Epics - Henry Long 62 Grapefruit - Lullaby 63 Harmony Grass - I've Seen To Dream 64 Spectrum - Nodnol 65 West Coast Consortium - Colour Sergeant Lillywhite 66 The Yellow Bellow Room Boom - Seeing Things Green 67 The Californians - Golden Apples 68 The Loot - Don't Turn Around 69 The Beatstalkers - Silver Tree Top School For Boys 70 The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Give Him A Flower 71 Tony Hazzard - Fade Away Maureen 72 The Rockin' Berries - Yellow Rainbow 73 The Hill - Sylvie (Previously Unreleased) 74 Andy Ellison - Fool From Upper Eden 75 The Uglys - Love And Best Wishes (BBC Session) 76 The Gun - Sunshine 77 Twice As Much - Green Circles 78 The Alan Bown Set - Mr. Job 79 The Small Faces - Happydaystoytown
Disc 4:80 Junior's Eyes - Circus Days 81 The Kult - No Home Today 82 Velvett Fogg - Lady Caroline 83 Andromeda - Go Your Way 84 The Nice - The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon 85 Sam Gopal - Horse 86 Hardin-York - Candlelight 87 Fat Mattress - How Can I Live? 88 Andrew Bown - Tarot (Ace Of Wands Theme) 89 Humble Pie - The Light Of Love 90 Bobak Jons Malone - On A Meadow Lea 91 Pussy - The Open Ground 92 Woody Kern - Fair Maiden 93 Man - Empty Room 94 Samson - Venus 95 Opal Butterfly - My Gration Or? 96 Soft Machine - Thank You Pierrot Lunaire/ Have You Ever Bean Green?/ Pataph 97 Andwella's Dream - Felix 98 Spice - Born In A Trunk 99 Stray - All In Your Mind
In many respects this is a Sanctuary-label psych-sampler, albeit a sampler of a deluxe nature; yet it also includes newly upturned info, alternative versions and BBC session tracks.
RLPD more than adequately meets its self-imposed agenda "to plot the rise and fall of the scene". And what this beautifully-produced set achieves more effectively than any other to date, is to convey the quick rise and even quicker fall of the "psych era": the rapid, sometimes faltering, advances of mod-into-psych (Disc One: 1965, mostly 1966-7, some '68), the blooms and wonders of psychedelia at the point of maximum impact (Discs 2 & 3: mostly '68), followed by the rapid retreat of psych-into-prog (Disc 4: mostly 1969-70). In the winkling of a Twink and the Skipping of a Biff it was all over. An excellent primer for neophytes with tasty treats for even the most jaded ipsissimus.
Most importantly, there are some delicious sound improvements ~ Serendipity have never sounded this good before; Lomax's 'The Golden Lion' is muchly improved on the version(s) which've been doing the rounds in recent decades); and some genius track sequencing ~ Biff back-to-back with Icarus is magisterial!); alt versions ~ Andy Bown's 'Tarot', which sounds like a different recording (perhaps from a TV-version, not from the 45), rather than a different mix, Andy's vocal has a different feel, the bass is more prominent in some places, some background sound effects/harmonies are missing where other effects have been added!); Eire Apparent's 'Clown' is a trippier, more sinister rendition; The Bobcats' 'Lord John' is simply sublime. Some of the earliest recordinga are a quartet of Joe Meek productions (Tornados '66, The Buzz, The Riot Squad, Crying [sic] Shames). There are a few blooper inclusions: Gilbert (let's be honest 'Disappear' is awful, a curio at most; but his 'Mr Moody's Garden' is excellent); Bobak and Pussy (both are over-rated and over-exposed, and virtually unlistenable!); and Tull (surely, 'Aeroplane' would have fitted much more comfortably?), none of which spoil the show.
With its four discs, booklet ~ containing acres of enjoyable text (some scrumping/recycling here, acknowledged with a wry smile), full of new infos and tons of trainspotterisms, and densely coloured and heavily illustrated, too ~ and pretty box inside a pretty slip-case, RLPD is a luxury product, but with a budget price ~ although that price has already risen online. One of the last psych releases from Sanctuary, it only managed to receive limited distribution before Universal took over the label and effectively shut down operations, killing off one of the UK's most consistently good reissue labels (see obituary, above). RLPD is a wonderful tribute to Sanctuary Records and epecially to the drive and vision of John Reed, David Wells and Sam Szeplanski.
In recent years there have been some pretty abysmal comps and box sets. and we fear that RLPD may represent the high-water-mark of UK Psych reissues. With the loss of Sanctuary we see no other player with the requisite skills entering the ring. It will be interesting to see if any future releasse equal RLPD in scope, depth, quality and beauty. I somehow doubt it. :-(
*
BREAKTHRU - Adventures Highway
(Circle CPW C108) (2 x CDs)
Yet another load of never-weres get a belated 3-seconds lick of the ice-cream of un-fame. Some great sounds from Breakthru (also billed as The Breakthru, and Break Thru), some of which may revivify long-dead memories of raucous nights at Happening 44:~ 'Here Comes The End is mighty (phased?) mod/pop-art. 'I Have A Dream' is er...dreamy,( and with a political message c/o Dr Martin Luther King). 'Shake Off That Lead' is actually not a thousand light years from the 45. 'Love Is Strange' includes some great guitar work, making this well-known tune almost unrecognisable (no bad thing). 'The Sailor Song' is one of the best here, highly enjoyable progressive-pop. But some of the others, 'Alice Dropped Out' (pedestrian hard rock), 'Believe It', and the terminally over-familiar 'Spoonful', are none too hot. To make ammends there's a cute cover of Alan Bown's 'Toyland'-land-land and of course both sides of the lone Mercury 45.
The band hated that single and the 'warning' on the sleeve stinks of modish mind control, humorous it may be, but its sub-text (you-will-enjoy-this-you-will) is less-than-subtle, actually rather desperate, and possibly self-defeating. I don't like blues wailing harp, not even if it's called "anguished harmonica wrk" or "nice harp blowing", to me it remains a hideous racket. And I don't welcome being berated after I've paid my money. Especially as I've always quite liked 'Ice Cream Tree', and like it even more now that we're told that ~ quoting the sleeve-notes: this"cursed...lightweight...twee bubblegum...blatantly commercial...ghastly...horrible mistake", this "sugary...trite, chirpy little pop tune" of which "a bonfire should be made" and that we all "should dance around the flames", is actually "a drug song about somebody high on acid waiting on his dealer"!! Marvellous.
You can get this in a vinyl format (LP + 45), but as two CDs?!?!?! ....for 18 tracks?!?!?! Get out of here. What makes me smile is the faux-luxure with which detritus is dusted down, repackaged, provided with acres of assiduous annotations, dozens of photos and frankly dribbled over. Silk purses? Sow's ears?
PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING! Too much reading of tiny liner-notes can seriously impair your eyesight.
*
THE ZOMBIES/COLIN BLUNSTONE as NEIL MacARTHUR/ROD ARGENT & CHRIS WHITE - Into The Afterlife
(Big Beat CDWIKD 266) CD
This 20-tracker, billed as "the legendary missing link between the Zombies and Argent", actually pulls together an assortment of late-period Zombies tracks, and Colin Blunstone (as Neil MacArthur) solos, with some Rod Argent & Chris White recordings. Some have already been aired on previous Zombies/related releases (comps & the solo 45s). Most of the inclusions are, unsurprisingly, of a high standard ~ all breathy, ethereal perfection (they even manage to make a Buffalo Springfield song sound interesting. No mean feat!); the mixes of Zombies tracks in which the orchestral parts have been given greater prominence are fascinating; the Deram re-cut of 'She's Not There' is well-known, a psych-effects-drenched; 'She Loves The Way They Love Her', 'It Fails To Please Me' ("Jerry Lee Lewis goes baroque"),'To Julia' (all by Rod & Chris), '12:29' and a Procolish 'Don't try To Explain' (both by Colin/ "Neil") are stunning.
Great as these and most of the others are, the real gems on the comp are the two versions of the psych-pop masterpiece ("this is one of the best psych-pop discoveries of recent decades" ~ Dave Thubron, SFA 35) which first surfaced on the MacMacleod comp. The first version (recorded at Central Sound studios, circa March '68), titled 'Telescope' is here credited to Rod A & Chris W; whilst the equally delicious recut credited to Chris White & Argent, has, by this time (around the end of 1971), been re-christened 'Mr Galileo'. Either way, both versions knock the stuffing out of most recent "pop-syke discoveries", and show that the Zombies could successfully dabble in pervo-delia with the very best of them.
*To record labels: Should you have a release (legit, semi-legit, & just plain naughty) which may be of interest to us & our readership of fanatical psychedelic sound-hounds, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Please email us at lauras_garden@msn.com
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'KITES': some thoughts by Mary LAGO
The following are some thoughts on the lyrics of 'Kites' as performed by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound. The lyrics are not nonsensical, they are not to be taken literally, as they would at first appear, but a series of metaphors and symbolisms.
The song is sung from the point of view of a lover (male), who, wishing to do anything for his beloved, focuses, as lovers are wont to do, solely on her desires and his expression of his love for her, and ends up flirting with ideas of omnipotence.
He talks of flying "a yellow paper sun" (sun = warmth, light, the centre of things) in the form of a (paper) kite) on "your sky" (as opposed to the sky), a metaphor for brightening up her life with his love. And, by floating "a silken silver moon" (silken = sensuality; moon = a symbol sacred to lovers) "near your window" he will even brighten her nights, "if your night is dark". The wind, necessary to fly any kite successfully is both a figure (metaphor) and the very agent (metonymy) of freedom.By writing "I love you" in "letters of gold" (gold = eternal, valuable, as is his love for her) "on a snow white kite" (snow white = untainted, virginal, pure = her) and sending it "soaring high above you" (= the ecstatic, orgasmic elevation of the spirits by love), "For all to read", he is declaring his love for her to the entire world, taking this most miraculous event in his life and sharing it with all humanity. In this, writing in gold on white is a pretty silly thing to do if you want to make a public decalration, gold not being very legible on a gold ground! But it matters not, as this song is not one of self-expression, a grand gesture, but about methods of self-expression and grand gestures.
Beyond the earth, even "in heaven" he "will scatter rice paper stars" (rice paper = exotic, also suggestive of confetti; stars = eternal, infinitely distant, and wondrous) even if "there are no stars" ( = in the black void his love will remain forever, seemingly tiny perhaps, but burning bright). Again, the desire for omnipotence, surpassed only by his boastful promise of finding "seven wonders more"(seven = a sacred number, wholeness) with which to impress his beloved.
~ And, here, for your amusement, are the lyrics of 'Kites', including a translation of the Chinese middle-section, performed by Jacqui Chan, who, not undertanding any Chinese, merely verbalised the phrase phonetically. She had no idea what it was she was saying! Nor did the band!
'Kites' ~ performed by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
I will fly a yellow paper sun in your skyWhen the wind is high, when the wind is highI will float a silken silver moon near your windowIf your night is dark, if your night is darkIn letters of gold on a snow white kite I will write "I love you"And send it soaring high above you For all to readI will scatter rice paper stars in your heavenIf there are no stars, if there are no starsAll of these and seven wonders more will I findWhen the wind is high, when the wind is highIn letters of gold on a snow white kite I will write "I love you"And send it soaring high above you For all to read[ Chinese spoken passage. English translation:
I love you I love you
My love is very strong
It flies high like a kite before the wind,
Please do not let go of the string ]In letters of gold on a snow white kite I will write "I love you"And send it soaring high above you For all to read
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HELLO ENID, GOODBYE EDYTHE by Paul Cross, ably assisted by Ray Glynn of THE MIRAGE
The recent Mirage compilation (Tomorrow Never Knows- see review in next issue) issued by RPM, includes a track 'Hello Enid'. Despite a lack of any info on the song in the liner notes, the bat-eared have already noted three curious things about said song ~ [1.] that the track has already appeared twice before, [2.] under a different band name; [3.] with a different title.
The track first appeared for public consumption in 1993, on Dustbin Full Of Rubbish ([USA:] Grants GR-D 1974), issued in the US by Dave Brown (of Distortions records fame), therein entitled 'Hello Edythe' (undated) and attributed to 'The Name' "unreleased acetate 1966". Brown apparently bought the double-sided acetate during a trip to England. I surmise that the acetate was from the (Hertfordshire-based) collection which included not an inconsiderable number of Mirage acetetes (many of which were swiftly bootlegged) which was broken up circa 1989. The track then re-appeared (with the same title/attribution) three years later on the legitimate Syde Tryps Vol. 6 (Tenth Planet TP024), together with its flipside, 'What Do I care' (both songs again dated 1966, accepted on trust to be correct). Almost imperceptably speeded-up as are the 'Enid/Edythe' (on Dustbin) and the 'What Do I Care' (on ST6) ~ these were re-mastered from a cassette ~ both are nonetheless the same recordings as those on the Mirage comp.
Ray Glynn, former guitarist/vocalist with The Mirage confirmed that the band never used 'The Name' moniker. He had no explanation for the attribution, other than that "a tape-op might have done it" in naievety, and then certainly "without the band's knowledge or permission. As, basically studio musicians, we didn't get involved in the distribution, pressing, labelling side of things", Ray expalined, "The only time we used different names to The Mirage, was for contractual reasons, or whatever, (eg. Yellow Pages, Portebello Explosion, Jawbone, Larry Page), we were never known as The Name".
One alternative to the "innocent tape-op" scenario is the "deceitful record dealer" scenaio. It is not uncommon in the world of blank acetates for an over-eager record dealer to spice up an otherwise dowdy "unknown" artist, by the creation of a false identity (see SFA re. 'Circus Days', The Gun, etc.). Certainly, the label of Ray's own EMIdisc copy of 'Hello Enid' is devoid of anything, save only a few splodges of yellow chinagraph pencil, the long-eroded remains of the song title. Ray's copy is also, surprisingly, single-sided.
I always suspected that the earlier "1966" dating of the recording (despite all the Revolver allusions) was incorrect - the song is just too perfectly executed for that year. Ray confirmed my doubts: "Kirk Duncan played harmonium on it. The harmonium was the closest thing we could get, or could afford, to a Mellotron." Ironically, the more recent dating of '1968' seems to me too late, bearing in mind internal evidence (the song's morbidity and ecclesiastical vibes), I'd plump for a recording date of 1967. Most probably sometime around the recording of 'The Wedding of Ramona Blair'.
And Enid Tremaine, herself? "She was never a real person. Just one of Dave Hynes' characters. Like Ramona Blair and Ebaneezer Beaver and Mrs Buzby; he just liked the sound of those names. She was if anything, inspired not by a real person, but by chemical substances!"
Even though Enid Tremaine was not an actual person, this is no escapist fantasy; her attributes, her dottiness, her loneliness are poignantly realistic, and all too common in an indifferent society.
The Mirage were heavily inspired by the Beatles. Lest anyone doubt it, they should witness the Mirage's cover of 'Tomorrow Never Knows, the guitars & harmony vocals on 'That I Know', and the horizontal ("I'm only sleeping") Lennonism of 'Lazy Man'). But always took that inspiration in the opposite direction from pastiche. Directly as a result of 'Eleanor Rigby' (UK release: 5th August 1966) there began to appear a deluge of idiosyncratic pop songs about odd, solitary characters; songs full of clarity, nostalgia (a reaction against mod-ernism), melancholia (reflecting the spiritual crisis of mid-1960s materialism), and the minutiae of everyday life (the commonplace rendered fascinating, sometimes seen through the distorting lens of LSD). Such songs became part of the mid-60s zeitgeist: The focus shifted from the arena of abstracted generic boy-girl relationships to something stranger, more personal, yet often rendered safe by being in the third person. 'Hello Enid', like 'Eleanor Rigby' (and The Mirage's own 'Mrs Buzby, ''Ebaneezer Beaver', 'Is Anybody Home?', and 'The Wedding Of Ramona Blair') is a folk song. 'Folk' not in the sense of traditional, rustic, music, but folk in the sense of its originating from the common people.; what Ian Macdonald termed "technologically evolved folk music".
Curiously, this is what that funny old Tapestry book had to say on the subject (entered under the entry for "The Name", of course): "Basically this is bad psychedelic pop, quite varied [sic] but badly put together and it's easy to see how it's remained unreleased." This assumption reveals a tin ear. 'Hello Enid' is a masterful example of a character-driven song. Melancholic observational psych-pop; small-scale, claustrophobic, and 'Eleanor Rigby'-derived as it is, it's also reminiscent of Lennon's middle-eight on 'We Can Work It Out', not just through the shared use of harmonium, but in the tempo-change to emphasise colour, the churchy gloominess, and in the whole enriched beat-group-sound.
Dave Hynes possessed a novelist's highly-attuned ear for language, and yet the satirical wit with which he captured the lonely old lady's dottiness ("it's a nice day, except for the rain"), is handled with the economy of a major poet; and the Salvation Army band, conjured up by the rhythm change, pulsating bass and galloping harmonium, is as captivating and precise as the detail in an old-master painting. It is too easy to dimiss this sort of material as trite and childish "toytown pop". When in fact it is a shrewd and amusing, and it is these elements in the observation that makes one realise that rather than simply laughing at them, Dave Hynes, behind the childlike masquerade of his works is laughing at our society, at all of us. 'Hello Enid' is - in my opinion - a masterpiece, one of the crown jewels of 1960s pop.
Incidentally, it can also be established here that the track by the "Obscured Rays' " (pun intended???), 'You And Me Baby' (see review of Psychedelic Jumble, this issue) definitely features The Mirage: "That's us, alright. I sung harmonies", confirmed Ray Glynn; although the identity of the lead vocalist remains a mystery: "I've no idea who he was", said Ray. "If this was ever to have been issued as The Mirage (which is doubtful), then a finalised vocal would have been added; that lead vocal would have been replaced. This is most likely one of dozens of tracks we played on, using someone who was either signed to Dick James, or whom DJM contemplated signing."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
'Hello Enid' (lyrics by Dave Hynes) performed by THE MIRAGEHello EnidEnid TremaineHello Enid'Are you waiting for someone?''Yes, I've been waiting for hours', she said'Never mind, it's a nice day''Except for the rain, terrible shame'Hello EnidEnid TremaineHello Enid'Do you need anybody?''Yes, I need someone to talk to', she said'Come and stand in the bandstand'Oh, EnidEnid TremaineHello, the one alone (Hello)She said, 'See you on Sunday''Yes, in a way, 'cos I play in the band'Take a seat in the grandstand'EnidEnid TremaineHello, the one alone (Hello)Enid Tremaine'Are you waiting for someone?''Yes, I've been waiting for hours', she said'Never mind, it's a nice day'Except for the rain, terrible shame'Hello EnidEnid TremaineHello EnidEnid TremaineHello EnidEnid TremaineHello EnidEnid TremaineHello EnidEnid TremaineHello Enid...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
My sincere thanks to Ray Glynn and David Wells.
(For more on The Mirage, check out the next issue of LAURA's GARDEN)
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BRIC-A-BRAC CORNER
"Psychedelia is as old as humankind. Maybe even one of the things which caused us to become humankind (vide Terence McKenna's theories about the role of psilocybes in the evolutionary leap). During the few years from 1964 to 1970 psychedelia went overground and into the realms of pop-ular culture. But it did not then die in '69/'70, that's for certain. It just fell off the agenda of the fashion-junkies and their media-whores. In the West it undergoes periods of occultation but is alive and well to this day and will with luck remain alive as long as humanity survives." ~ Dave Thubron
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BBC RADIO LEEDS:
Playlist for James Addyman show (09/01/2005), with studio guest David Wells.
Jim's picks included:
The Eagle Flies On Friday - The Exceptions (CBS)I'm Gonna Find A Cave - Miki Dallon (Strike)Morning Dew - The End (Tenth Planet)Midsummer Night's Scene - John's Children (Track)
David's picks:
Arnold Layne - Pink Floyd (Columbia)Real Life Permanent Dream - Tomorrow (Parlophone)Eagle's Son - Pretty Things (De Wolfe)In The First Place - Remo Four with George Harrison (Pilar)Second Production - Mike Stuart Span (Oak)Cowman Milk The Cow - Adam Faith (Parlophone)Have You Heard The Word - The Fut (Beacon)Double Sight - One In A Million (MGM)Tootsy Wootsy Feel Good - Angel Pavement (Wooden Hill)Madman Running Through The Fields - Dantalian's Chariot (Columbia)Beeside - Tintern Abbey (Deram)
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JOHN BROMLEY NEWS
John Bromley (see SFA....) has approx 200 unreleased songs. Plans are afoot to release a selection of these, via Rev-ola.
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ODDBALL 45s
CLIMAX - 'Love Me Woman' / 'There Goes Maloney' ([Belgium:] Ronnex 1424) [1968?] Brit-style kick-ass tune RAY CAMERON - 'Doing My Time' / 'Gateway Gateway Car' (Island WI6003) 1967. Great cheese-pop with fuzz guitar and prison sound effects. Fun! MUMMA BEAR - 'Sally Anne' (Parlophone R5926) 1971. Nice, catchy pop. Far more '68 than '71. Not bendy as such but its orchestral stylings, touches of wah wah, pounding Darryl Stewart - Northern Soul 4/4-rhythm backing track, and Roy Wood hints are all heavily indebted to pop music's greatest, most golden year. There are bubblegum overertones, but as with much "manufactured music" it still has classy undertones. (Was this song also a Cufflinks B-side? I dunno, can't remember and don't care.) This was also issued in Spain, where it came in a pic sleeve. Another side (the ultra-catchy 'My Baby Said Yes'; a Mike Vickers production) by these guys is OK, but not as good as this one. Other Mumma Bear singles: 'Tell Me How' / 'My Baby Said Yes' (Parlophone R5861) Rel.: 09/70. 'Betty Betty, Bye Bye' / 'Susie, Susie' (R5891) 1971. 'Banana Boat Song' / 'Puppet Man' (R5911) 1971. WASHINGTON D.C.s - 'I've Done It Wrong' / 'Anytime' (Domain D9) 1968. Superb pop from a band who had great singles but not a great deal of luck when it came to selling bucketloads of records. BEATNICKS - 'I Feel Good' ([NL:] Philips 355 358PF) [1967?] Dutch band doing a cover version of The Artwoods' 'I Feel Good' which. with its superloud Guitar and killer Brass section. This knocks spots of the original! THE BOX - 'Whole World' / 'Dreams Second Hand' ([West Germany:] Admiral AD 1103) [1968?] THE EVENT - 'Mervin Guy' ([West Germany:] Metronome M 25007) 1967. Another version of this totally silly but totally wonderful toytown pop-syke song, on the flip of the modly 'Scratchin' Ma Head'. TIME MACHINE - 'Hippy Me, Hippy You' / 'Letter Lady' ([France:] /////) 1969. Another beautiful single from the French band whose 'Turn Back Time' and 'Bird In The Wind' were featured on 'Rubble' vol. 11.
**************Re. FOLK PSYCH: off http://www.theunbrokencircle.co.uk/ I'd recommend the 2 CD Marc Brierley set on Sactuary. His first album has a psych feel to it but the rest of the material also has some unusual twists and turns. I think you like him if you like Mark Fry - Brierley is not as "light" but in the same vein. Also been listening to the Nick Garrie album recently. That's a nice one. Maybe check out: Trees,Forest (no connection between the two) and Dando Shaft. The later presents some real listening challenges but the reward is worth the time investment, I think. I tend to be a bit disappointed by acid folk albums as they're never as atmospheric as I expect them to be. I find the Incredible String Band virtually unlistenable and they're supposed to be the best! Anybody know where the songs as good as "Tam Lin" and "Farewell, Farewell" on Liege & Lief are hiding? jtmcfarland@mindspring.com wrote--- Pentangle "Solomon's Seal" and "Reflections" are two albums that give Mellow Candle a run for its money. Just fantastic records and if you don't have them you had better be dead or in jail. One song that stands out as something really different in this vein is Chris Coombs' 'North Country Cinderella.' I'm sure it's meant to be a straight folk song but the recording and instrumentation is so unusual that it blows me away everytime I hear it. It's on a comp called Number Nine Bread Street which is otherwise straight or in some cases traditional folk. Tudor Lodge had some really nice songs but to me they are straight folk with a commerical/pop slant. My favorite is their version of Ralph McTell's 'Kew Gardens.' UK ISB - S/T & 5000 Spirits Dr. Strangely Strange - Kip Of The Serenes Vashti Bunyan - Diamond Day The Mark Fry songs sound particularly promising - about the most "psych" folk music I've ever heard, and with just the sort of dreamy, atmospheric, slightly unsettling mood I've always thought psych and folk should bring out in each other. "Song For Wild" is priceless - I heartily recommend everyone pops along for a listen!
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Re. Bill Kenwright ('Discog.', SFA37): Dear SFA, Interesting to read your thoughts on the Bill Kenwright 45. It is an odd little thing isn't it? As you almost remembered, Bill had earlier been in a group. That group was Room 10. Best wishes and keep up the marvellous work, Phil Cockrup.
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OUTRO: NEXT ISSUE
...we'll be taking a good look at the Psychic Circle label, and Marmalade Skies' Toytown set. We'll have military-satyrical-syke, some fella called Paul McCartney, plenty of reviews of new releases and older ones too (including a tottering great pile of attractive Cherry Red CDs to work through), and lots of other sweetly scented treats!
We in the Garden very nuch look forward to hearing what you think, we also welcome your input, and articles on a wide range of subjects. This is YOUR mag, so do get in touch!
Be seeing you.
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LAURA's GARDEN No. 1 [ incorporating SFA, no. 38 (vol 4, no 2) ] EDITOR: The Rt. Hon. Paul St. James CROSS WRITERS: Marcello CARLIN, Paul CROSS, Mary LAGO, Paul MARTIN, Joe McFARLANDAll contents, Copyright © LAURA's GARDEN, 2007; except: all lyrics, all quotes, all photos, all borrowings; and the following whole texts: 'By Spaceship To The Psyche', by Mike Moorcock. Copyright © Michael Moorcock, 1964; and 'The Herd: Paradise Lost', by Marcello Carlin. Copyright © Marcello Carlin, 2007.LAURA's GARDEN is a non-profit-making & non-capital-generating publication. No part of the contents may be reproduced for gain. It's strictly for personal use and educational purposes only. Mess with us and by jimminy we'll come round in the middle of the night and stuff a sprat up yer nightdress. Nota bene: Any opinions expressed in LAURA's GARDEN are the writer's own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the other writers.
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If you walk in Laura'S Garden you will hear her mind......Listen!