Thank U Very Much - The Scaffold

 

Thank U Very Much

The Scaffold

Bell Records 6018

1968

I'm baffled as to how this ever got released in the U.S. much less on a crassly commercial label like Bell.  Like most non-British people I was attracted to this group because trio member Mike McGear was Paul McCartney's brother.  He shared his brother's good looks and fondness for music hall tunes but not his pop genius.  Which is fine, because the band was basically a comedy group that dabbled in music.  I have their 1968 English debut album, "Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall" which consists largely of poetry readings and comedy routines.  Bell cobbled this album out of the group's British singles, it has no British equivalent.  The title track was a big hit in England and I'm guessing Bell thought they could break it here as well but it never came near the top 40 here and I'm surprised it even made it as high as 69 on the Billboard chart.  The album opens with "Long Strong Black Pudding"which was the b-side of the group's second single released in 1966.  It is delivered acapella in the style of a Gregorian chant.  It is presumably intended to be humorous but I just find it annoying.  "Goodbat Nightman" was the a-side of the second single.  Mercifully it features musical accompaniment.  It is driven by a staccato riff that seems to be inspired by Neal Hefti's theme song for "Batman" which is fitting since the song is about the "Batman" character and borrows from the TV show's tropes.  It is one of my favorite tracks on the record.  "2 Days Monday" was the a-side of the Scaffold's debut single from 1966.  It is a music hall style song in the vein of a silly children's song working through the activities of a week delivered in a Cockney accent.  "3 Blind Jellyfish" was the flipside of the first single.  It is another silly children's song using the music of "Three Blind Mice."  "Thank U Very Much" was the group's third single released in 1967 and it made it into the top ten in England.  It was penned by Mike McGear in music hall style featuring silly lyrics and is very catchy, to the point of ear worm status.  I can hear why it became a hit but I also understand why it flopped here.  "Ide B the First" was the b-side.  Much like the a-side it is a music hall style song with silly lyrics, but is not nearly so memorable.  Side two opens with the band's fourth single "Do You Remember?" from 1968.  The piano that drives it is straight out of the music hall, although the song has some contemporary pop touches that I find appealing.  "Knees Up Mother Brown (Knees Down Mother Brown)" made its first appearance on this album.  It is built around the 19th Century pub song of the same title, but Roger McGough has built up a framing story about a disastrous Oxford graduation.  I find it more amusing than most of their stuff.  "1-2-3" was the band's fifth single released in 1968.  It is an inane bubblegum song that seems like a blatant attempt by McGear to repeat the success of "Thank U Very Much."  It does build to a kinetic climax which is the closest this record comes to rock and oddly peters out with a sitar which I presume is satirical rather than an attempt at hipness.  "Today" was the b-side of the fifth single.  I prefer it to the a-side even though it almost as dumb, but it has a jazzy flavor as well as some nice contemporary pop touches that show some of the McCartney pop smarts rubbed off on his brother.  It is one of my favorite cuts.  "Please Sorry" made its debut on this album.  It is another McGear retread of "Thank U Very Much" that mixes music hall with contemporary pop and a bunch of childish silly lyrics.  "Jelly Covered Cloud" also premiered on this album.  I believe it is a satire of psychedelia and although it doesn't jettison the music hall entirely it has some British psych-pop flavor.  It is one of my favorite tracks and gives the album a pleasant conclusion.  I'm not a big fan of these guys but they are definitely different and they mix music hall with contemporary pop about as well as anyone I've heard, although I'm not sure that is actually a good thing.  I frequently find their songs a little irritating, but they never bore me.  McGough was a bona fide intellectual and they all seem like clever lads which makes their penchant for childish nonsense lyrics surprising, but I assume it is an attempt at humor.  I generally don't find their comedy routines very funny and their songs even less, but I'm happy to have some of their albums.  Recommended to Bonzo Dog Band fans who hate rock.

Maybe Tomorrow - The Iveys

 

Maybe Tomorrow

The Iveys

Audio Clarity ACL 0056

1969

This is a Russian bootleg of Badfinger's debut album originally released in West Germany, Italy and Japan by Apple Records under their original name, the Iveys.  This version features a 2016 copyright for Universal Music, which used to operate in Russia, but I can't believe that this is an authorized release.  I have a couple of other albums put out by Audio Clarity and they are decently made although presumably none of them were generated from the original masters, but more likely from CDs.  I consider myself a passionate record collector but not a fanatic.  If I were a fanatic I would shell out the hefty price that original copies fetch (sometimes more than $1000 in collectible condition.)  It would not be a bad investment, a little over a decade ago you could get one for about $300 to $500 and it will likely keep going up.  Even though I have been a fan of the band since I was a child I've never seriously considered buying an original.  For most of my early life I couldn't afford it and now I just don't care enough to spend that much on a record, particularly when half of it appeared on the easy to find Badfinger album "Magic Christian Music" and even more particularly because I have it on a CD.  Logically I don't need it, but my record collecting is based more on passion than logic.  When I came across a reasonably priced version of this album, I couldn't resist it.  I have no regrets because it is a really good record and it deserved a wider release.  Apple really screwed these guys for reasons I don't understand but I'm inclined to blame Allen Klein.  Anyway I like having a decent facsimile of it on vinyl because that's the kind of nutty record collector I am.  The album opens with "See-Saw, Granpa" by Pete Ham.  It is a rollicking rocker with a power pop flavor and a hot guitar solo.  It was not included on "Magic Christian Music" but it is better than many of the songs on that album.  It gives this album an energetic opening.  Tom Evans wrote "Beautiful and Blue" which did make it onto "Magic Christian Music."  It is a stately ballad that sounds like a retread of the band's single "Maybe Tomorrow" but not nearly as memorable.  It is followed by Ron Griffiths' "Dear Angie" which was the band's second single.  Griffiths would be expelled from the band following "Magic Christian Music" but his sole songwriting contribution to the band is a quality one.  The song is a romantic ballad with a punchy arrangement but a mildly sultry feeling.  It reminds me of "Butterfly" era Hollies.  Mike Gibbins contributes "Think About the Good Times" which is a slight but fun song that reminds me of the Easybeats.  "Yesterday Ain't Coming Back" was written by Ham and Evans and it is another romantic ballad that sounds like Paul McCartney.  It benefits from an elaborate arrangement that makes it seem deeper and richer.  "Fisherman" is a folky tune by Evans.  This was last track on side one of the original pressing but on this version of the album the concluding song is Ham's "They're Knocking Down Our Home" which originally appeared near the end of side two.  It reminds me of Paul McCartney's music hall type songs.  I consider it the worst song on the album, but I guess the folks at Apple disagreed because they stuck it on "Magic Christian Music" as well.  Side two opens with Evans' "Maybe Tomorrow" which was the debut single by the Iveys.  It flopped but it is such a good song that I expect at least some of the blame must lie with the chaos and ineptitude at Apple.  It is one of my favorite Badfinger songs although I prefer the re-mixed version on "Magic Christian Music."  It is followed by Ham's punchy McCartneyesque rocker "Sali Bloo."  It features the guitar intro that is supposedly missing from the legitimate CD issue of this album although it does appear on my CD version of the album which is a bootleg.  I like the song very much and it provides some welcome energy but it was omitted from "Magic Christian Music" to that album's detriment.  Evans' "Angelique" was on the English version of "Magic Christian Music" but dropped from the American version.  It's a romantic ballad with chamber pop flourishes.  It borders on sappiness but I like it anyway.  Ham's "I'm in Love" did make it on to the record presumably because it is so poppy and commercial.  It was originally followed by "They're Knocking Down Our Home" which would be a rough stretch for me, so I'm not all that upset that the Russkies moved it to side one.  Instead we get the original album closer "I've Been Waiting" which is a terrific majestic song featuring dynamic guitar work in the instrumental break.  It is my second favorite song on the album after "Maybe Tomorrow" and I'm flabbergasted that it was not included on "Magic Christian Music."  It is doubly misfortunate that it was omitted because it showcases a heavy side to the band that seldom surfaced on their later albums.  It gives the original album a powerful finish.  There are a two bonus tracks at the end of this record.  Evans' "No Escaping Your Love" was the b-side of the Ivey's second single and it is a pleasant slice of bubble gum.  The second bonus track is Evans and Ham's "And Her Daddy's a Millionaire" which was the b-side to the "Maybe Tomorrow" single.  It is a very engaging power pop track that reminds me of the Kinks.  I like both songs but I wish the Russkies had stuck to the original album's format.  It is a a strong enough album that I resent them tampering with it.  Nonetheless I'm happy to have this album even though the songs that are also on "Magic Christian Music" sound better there.  This record sounds a little thin to me, almost tinny in places and other times it sounds muddy.  "Magic Christian Music" sounds cleaner and more defined in its sound.  Maybe this is attributable to Audio Clarity using inferior sources although people have complained about the sound on original pressings as well.  In any case I'm no audiophile so I'm content with this album but if the bean counters at Universal Music ever decide to do a proper re-mixed vinyl reissue of this album I will happily buy it.  I think you can argue that it is at least as good as "Magic Christian Music" (especially the truncated American version) and a significant album in its own right that deserves more respectful treatment.  Recommended to Bee Gees fans who wish they weren't so sappy.