The Return of the Red Baron - The Royal Guardsmen

The Return of the Red Baron

The Royal Guardsmen

Laurie LLP2039 

1967

I first encountered The Royal Guardsmen in my teenage aunt's record collection when I was a kid.  She was a Peanuts fanatic and I think she had at least three of their albums in her tiny collection of records.  I liked Peanuts too, but I was too shy to ask her to play one of them for me.  Eventually I heard "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" on an oldies radio station and I liked it.  Not so much however that I made any effort to track down that album.  However being a passionate crate digger it was only a matter of time before I stumbled across a copy of it and I decided to indulge my childhood passion.  The record was okay, mostly novelty songs and bubble gum with a few rock songs sprinkled in the mix.  I figured I was done with The Royal Guardsmen after that but then I came across "The Return of the Red Baron" which intrigued me with its covers of The Yardbirds, The Byrds and The Spencer Davis Group.  I also dug the cover picture of the group so I bought it.  It was a good choice.  Trapped inside the commercial bubble gum group there was a real rock band trying to break out.  The album opens with "Airplane Song (My Airplane)" which was written by Michael Murphey of "Wildfire" fame and Owens Castleman.  It was released as a single and almost cracked the top 40.  It is basically a bubble gum song, but I find it  charming.  It is followed by a cover of "I'm a Man" that blatantly and quite creditably imitates the version by The Yardbirds right down to Jeff Beck's manic guitar solo.  It definitively shows that the band had some impressive chops.  I read in an interview that the band used to cover Cream and Jimi Hendrix in their live shows and I totally believe they could do it.  "Any Wednesday" was written by Charlie Souza and was a flop single.  I actually like it better than any of their hit singles.  It is ebullient sunshine pop with nice harmonies that pushes all my buttons.  It is one of my favorite tracks on the album.  "Shot Down" is fortunately not another Snoopy song, but rather a punchy rocker by Dick Holler and John McCullough.  It reminds me of Paul Revere and the Raiders particularly in its raucous atmosphere.  "I'm Not Gonna Stay" was written by Alice Heller and is a melodic soft rock song reminiscent of The Association.  It is a bit sappy, but I dig the the harmonies.  Side one concludes with an instrumental version of The Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock 'N Roll Star" which sounds so much like the original that it seems kind of pointless although I enjoy it anyway, particularly the guitar work.  Side two opens with their hit single "The Return of the Red Baron" which is a shameless retread of "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron."  If you liked the first one you will probably like this one too although it is not quite as catchy.  "Gimme Some Lovin'" is of course the Steve Winwood song that was a big hit for The Spencer Davis Group.  It sounds pretty much like the original except that lead singer Barry Winslow can't come close to matching Winwood's soulful vocal.  "Om" was written by guitarist Tom Richards and organist Billy Taylor of the group and is a psychedelic instrumental driven by a hypnotic bass riff with some trippy guitar noodling on top of it.  It is another one of my favorite tracks. "Searchin' for the Good Times" was written by prolific songwriter Bob Stone.  It is a bit bubble gummy but it has some garage flavor and compelling raga flourishes.  It reminds me of the Monkees.  "I Need You Girl" unfortunately is pure bubble gum written by the master of the genre Artie Resnick and his wife Kris.  It easily the weakest song on the album after the title track.  The band saves the best song for last, Barry Winslow's "Leaving Me" which is pure fuzzed out garage bliss.  It really makes me regret that the band didn't have more creative freedom and support.  This is such a fine record that I'm sure the band had the potential to be a more significant group.  Perhaps not in the same league as The Standells, The Electric Prunes and The Chocolate Watchband, but probably at least as good as The Count Five, The Leaves or The Shadows of Knight all of whom have received more attention and respect than these guys ever managed.  I guess this falls a little short of being some lost garage classic, but it comes pretty close.  I would not hesitate to suggest it to any one interested in the genre or the period.  Recommended to fans of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Stockholm 67 - The Electric Prunes

Stockholm 67

The Electric Prunes

Sutro Park SP1010

2012

I like the first three albums by the Electric Prunes, "The Electric Prunes," "Underground" and "Mass in F Minor," but I think if you are going to own just one Prunes album this is the one to get.  It is a live album professionally recorded by Swedish radio from a concert in Stockholm in December 1967.  Since the Prunes were undermined by their management and record company during their recording sessions, this live album arguably represents the purest and most effective expression of the Prunes' vision and capabilities as a band.  There are only eight songs but the band offers up high energy and elongated versions of them that shred the original studio recordings.  The album opens up with "You Never Had It Better" which was the B-side of a single.  The studio version is a riff-driven psych rocker that is one of my favorite Prunes tracks.  The live version follows that blueprint but with a more thunderously heavy performance.  Ken Williams has a blistering guitar solo that is even better than the smoking studio version.  Vocalist James Lowe apologizes for America's involvement in the Vietnam War prior to launching into the Prunes' biggest hit "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)."  The song is missing the psychedelic sound effects of the studio version but otherwise sounds similar.  "Try Me on for Size" was on their first album.  It opens with a blast of acid rock guitar that is right out of the Big Brother and the Holding Company playbook before launching into the song's hypnotic riff.  Lowe's vocal is far more impassioned than the studio version and Williams unleashes an extended killer guitar solo that I find thrilling.  Mark Tulin's bass solo is less compelling but energetic.  The song evolves into an acid rock jam that is unlike any of their studio recordings.  This is the highlight of the record for me.  The record slows down with "I Happen to Love You" which was on "Underground."  Lowe introduces the song as a Monkees reject that they picked up.  Lowe's vocal is grittier than the studio version and the band's performance is heavier with a wonderful rave-up at the end.  Side two opens with a cover of Muddy Waters' blues classic "I Got My Mojo Workin'."  The song is more garage-psych than it is blues however with Tulin laying down a mesmerizing bass riff over which Williams unleashes sizzling torrents of acid rock guitar.  Lowe delivers a riveting vocal that reminds me of Jim Morrison at this best.  "Long Day's Flight (Til Tomorrow)" is another track from "Underground."  Williams and Lowe again shine on this track which crushes the studio version with its power and energy.  It is followed by a tremendously exciting cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning" which is highlighted by Lowe's charismatic vocal and William's dynamic guitar runs.  The song was probably inspired by the Yardbirds' classic cover which has long been my favorite version, but this one is arguably even more exhilarating.  The record concludes with "Get Me to the World on Time" which was the band's second top 40 single.  The band kicks out the jams on the song with electrifying riffing from Tulin and Williams that gives the record an explosive finish.  What a breath-taking set!  I wish I could have been there.  I first heard this on CD about 20 years ago and it was revelatory to me.  I was a fan of the Prunes but I had no idea they were this talented.  I was thrilled when it finally came out on vinyl in 2012 in a very handsome package.  It is among my favorite records.  If you like edgier garage rock or hard-psych this is a must have.  I rate it among the best recordings of the genre.  Recommended to fans of the Chocolate Watchband.

Jim Brown Tells It Like It Is! - Jim Brown

Jim Brown Tells It Like It Is!

Jim Brown

Main Line Records MLP 101

1967

I bought this at a garage sale in West Hollywood for fifty cents about thirty years ago.  I bought it out of curiosity, gave it a single spin and then eventually it ended up on my purgatory shelf of records I'm thinking of discarding.  I pulled it out this summer and gave it another spin in the wake of the turmoil and racial activism that was sweeping the country.  I was impressed and also depressed that it still sounds relevant today.  The record was made to benefit the Negro Industrial and Economic Union (later renamed the Black Economic Union) which Brown founded.  The record consists of recordings of Brown's speeches as well as interviews with journalist Bill Jorgensen who also acts as a narrator for the record.  The record opens with some football highlights featuring Brown and recordings of civil rights activism before segueing into his speech at Jim Brown Farewell Day at Cleveland Municipal Stadium upon retiring from the National Football League.  The speech excerpt contains no reference to football but rather is devoted to racial equality and Brown's beliefs regarding the proper approach to it which involves economic betterment and earning respect.  This is followed by Brown explaining his program to Jorgensen in an interview which involves getting black Americans and supportive whites to join his union and providing the members with education, training and financial support through loans.  Brown believes economic self-sufficiency will lead to greater racial equality and social integration.  Jorgensen next interviews Brown about black nationalists.  Brown expresses respect but also distances himself from them because of their lack of organization and their attempts to separate from mainstream society.  Brown also makes some general comments about racism and how it deprives black males of their ability to be a "man."  The side concludes with some comments about racial violence.  He states that the violence is one-sided, that blacks are always on the receiving end of the violence.  He also criticizes riots as being unconstructive and a senseless destruction of property.  At the end of side one Jorgensen calls Brown a revolutionary and endorses his approach of equality through economic achievement.  Side two opens with Brown interviewing a new member of his union in his office.  He talks about the membership process.  Next Brown discusses the benefits of his union for young people and black businessmen.  This is followed by Brown talking about the people who have helped him in his life noting that some of them were white.  He argues that although racism is prevalent in American society, that there are sympathetic white people who can help the movement.  The next track is about black pride.  He approves of the expression of pride in their African heritage by young blacks.  He talks about his use of the term "negro" instead of "black" or "Afro-American" (which he does throughout the record) which I don't understand.  He doesn't justify it, just notes that you can get away with it if you don't act like an "Uncle Tom."  He again addresses black nationalism which he associates with young people on the West Coast.  He is sympathetic but rejects economic separatism considering it an impossibility.  He next speaks about black Muslims whose popularity he attributes to racism.  He believes they would be irrelevant if there was racial equality.  This leads into a discussion about Muhammad Ali whose defiant position he attributes to the historical emasculation of the black man.  I'm not sure why he feels a need to defend Ali or why he chooses such a convoluted defense.  He doesn't agree with Ali but he does not oppose him either.  He positions himself somewhere in between Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. who he also does not agree with.  The record concludes with Jorgensen outlining and defending Brown's positions presumably addressing white listeners which is reinforced by a clip of John F. Kennedy asking white people to try to relate to black Americans' frustration and impatience with racial inequality.  I suspect that white people are the principle target of this record.  It is so defensive and wary about being offensive that I think some black listeners of the time would have found it condescending or wishy-washy.  It is also extremely male-centric.  Brown's perspective is defined by a macho interpretation of masculinity.  He rarely has anything to say about black women.  He even complains about black men's authority being usurped by black women in their homes, not allowing them to be the "pillar of strength" in their families.  Given the prominence of women in the Black Lives Matter movement and the current civil rights struggle, this is the most dated aspect of the album along with Brown's insistence on using the term "negro."  Brown's entire ethos revolves around a man being a man.  This is clearly his problem with Dr. King's movement, the idea of being passive and non-violent in the face of aggression is an anathema to him - hardly surprising when you consider the style of football he played.  I think it is also at the core of his economic position.  A man should not take hand outs or complain about others, he should earn his own way in order to gain respect.  Fifty years later Brown's economic solution still makes sense to me.  It is why I find this record relevant.  I wish it was more of a historical artifact, but most of the problems that Brown talks about are still around today.  It is an interesting record and Brown is an engaging speaker, so I moved it off the purgatory shelf and back into my collection.  That said, I would only recommend it to black Republicans and misogynist libertarians.

Tangerine Dream - Kaleidoscope

Tangerine Dream
Kaleidoscope
Sunbeam Records SBRLP5086
2011

This is a reissue of the debut album by the British band Kaleidoscope originally released as STL 5448 on Fontana Records in 1967.  Original copies command a princely sum and they are worth it if you can afford it, because it is a truly wonderful album.  I'm very happy with the reissue though.  It is a quality pressing on heavy vinyl that sounds terrific.  The sleeve is very nice and there is a booklet with notes by the group's leader, Peter Daltrey, with many wonderful pictures and ephemera from the record's 1967 release.  I consider Daltrey to be among the most underrated figures in the history of rock.  He was a fine singer and a brilliant songwriter.  Kaleidoscope is much admired by cultists, but they ought to be appreciated by everyone.  All of their albums are excellent and their unreleased album "White Faced Lady" is one of my all-time favorites.  It was finally released on CD in the 1990s and if it ever comes out on vinyl I will be raving about it in this blog.  Daltrey's solo records are also very worthwhile full of intelligence and melodic charm, but unfortunately I don't think they've ever been issued on vinyl either.  This fantastic album opens with "Kaleidoscope" which is driven by Dan Bridgman's crisp drumming along with brisk piano runs and jangly guitar.  It features psychedelic lyrics describing the sensations and images of being out in a crowd.  The record becomes introspective with the gentle "Please Excuse My Face" which describes hiding one's heartbreak.  A ringing guitar riff introduces the remarkable "Dive Into Yesterday" which is one of my favorite Kaleidoscope songs.  The lyrics are extraordinarily trippy, a cascade of colorful imagery reminiscent of John Lennon's work on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Strawberry Fields."  "Mr. Small, the Watch Repairer Man" is a sympathetic portrait of a lonely worker very similar to Keith West's "Excerpt from a Teenage Opera" or the Hollies' "Charlie and Fred" which also were released in 1967.  The song is extremely poppy and engaging.  "Flight From Ashiya" was the single off the album.  I think it has less commercial appeal than "Dive Into Yesterday" or "Mr. Small, the Watch Repairer Man" and it was not a hit.  It is still a great song though.  It begins with an ominous piano chord before shifting into an insistent bass riff supported by jangly raga rock guitar runs as Daltrey gives an atmospheric account of a doomed flight.  "The Murder of Lewis Tollani" begins with a pounding drum that sounds like a heartbeat suggestive of "The Tell-Tale Heart" before lurching into a swirling psychedelic melange of melodies that recount a murderer's apology to his victim.  This dazzling song concludes one of the finest album sides you will ever hear.  Side two opens with "(Further Reflections), In the Room of Percussion" which as you might guess from the title is quite hallucinogenic.  The music is a mixture of a trippy ballad and music hall recitation that reminds me of Syd Barrett.  The lyrics are dreamlike and poetic.  "Dear Nellie Goodrich" is a delicate love song with a chamber pop flavor and just enough trippiness to make it fit in with the rest of the album.  It reminds me of some of the Zombies' songs on "Odessey and Oracle."  The soaring "Holidaymaker" describes a holiday at the beach with colorful detail.  With punchy horn overdubs and a straight forward poppy sound, it is the most commercial song on the album.  It was the B-side for their single but perhaps it should have been the A-side.  The elongated vocals and the shifting tempos give the song some psychedelic flavor.  "A Lesson Perhaps" is spoken word with courtly accompaniment.  It is a trippy fairy tale about a king who is lost in dreams, unable to act.  The album concludes with the ballad of "The Sky Children" which is nearly 8 minutes long without any lengthy instrumental breaks.  It is a psychedelic fairy tale about a journey undertaken by a group of children through a magical land.  It features a mixture of colorful whimsy, evocative nonsense and trippy symbolism that recalls Donovan or even Lewis Carroll.  I don't think the story is quite interesting enough to justify its length, but the melody is very hypnotic and appealing.  Thus ends one of the best albums of 1967 which is no mean feat considering how many excellent albums were released that year.  I rank it among the best British psychedelic albums along with "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Sgt. Pepper."  Daltrey's lyrics are original, poetic and stimulating and the band's music is exciting and memorable.  I've listened to this record many times and it still sounds fresh and enchanting to me.  Even if you have little use for psychedelic music, this album is also a very rewarding pop record, one that really ought to be much better known.  Recommended to fans of "Butterfly," "Forever Changes" and "Odessey and Oracle."

Tim Rose - Tim Rose

Tim Rose
Tim Rose
Columbia CS 9577
1967

I became interested in Tim Rose when I read that Jimi Hendrix's version of "Hey Joe" was based on Rose's arrangement.  Hendrix's version of that much covered song on "Are You Experienced" is my favorite so I wanted to hear its origin.  That led me to Rose's debut album which proved to be interesting beyond "Hey Joe."  I expected a folkie, but Rose was more of a rocker both in style and spirit.  He is backed by a full band throughout the album including such notable musicians as Hugh McCracken on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums and Felix Pappalardi on bass.  The album begins with Rose's composition "I Got a Loneliness" which is a soulful rocker.  Rose was typically a very emotional singer who sang with a lot of force and urgency.  His voice had a lot of texture becoming rough and gravelly when he got all worked up.  The album shifts gears dramatically with the emotional ballad "I'm Gonna Be Strong" which was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and was a big hit for Gene Pitney in 1964.  The song suits Rose's dramatic style although the old-fashioned string arrangement is at odds with the funky rock sound that is predominant on most of the album.  "I Gotta Do Things My Way" was written by Rose and Richard Hussan who played bass on several tracks of the album including this one.  This song features a welcome return to the soulful rock sound of the opening track.  It is driven by Hussan's rumbling bass line and Rose delivers the lyrics with a lot of passion.  Rose wrote "Fare Thee Well" which is a moody slow rocker that builds in strength as it goes along.  "Eat, Drink and Be Merry" is a cover of a 1955 Porter Wagoner song written by Celia and Sandra Ferguson.  Rose's somber version is quite different from Wagoner's more maudlin mainstream country recording.  Rose slows down the song and invests it with his usual urgency.  It is a remarkable transformation from country to rhythm and blues that reminds me of Ray Charles' "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music."  I think it is one of the best tracks on the album.  Side one concludes with "Hey Joe" which is erroneously listed as if it were a traditional song, presumably so Rose could claim the songwriting royalties for it.  Rose did transform the song quite a bit, it is totally different from the folk-rock versions that came before it.  Hendrix's version is almost identical except that it is blessed with his incomparable guitar work and Hendrix's vocal was more subdued which I prefer.  Nonetheless Rose's version of the song is very impressive and it is by far the album's highlight.  Side two begins with Bonnie Dobson's classic "Morning Dew" on which Rose inappropriately claimed a co-writing credit for slightly changing the lyrics.  Rose sped up the song and gave it a full rock treatment which probably inspired the Jeff Beck Group's version the following year on "Truth."  I like the propulsive quality of Rose's version as well as its energy, but when I want to hear the song, I usually play the Grateful Dead's version from "The Grateful Dead" which I think is more emotionally effective.  "Where Was I" was written by Norman Martin.  It is an old fashioned dramatic pop ballad with a soaring string arrangement.  I think Rose's vocal sounds melodramatic and strained.  Rose wrote "You're Slipping Away From Me" which is a lot more satisfying to me.  It has a chamber pop arrangement and a more nuanced and resonant performance from Rose.  Rose claimed songwriting credit for "Long Time Man" but it is really the traditional African-American ballad "It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad" which I first heard on the debut album by Ian and Sylvia from 1962.  I prefer the Ian and Sylvia version which has a more robust tempo, but I admire the way Rose dramatically transformed the song through a very creative arrangement that sounds swampy and funky.  His vocal is very strong as well.  The album concludes with "Come Away, Melinda" by Fred Hellerman and Fran Minkoff which has been covered by many singers including Harry Belafonte and Judy Collins although I've never heard as dramatic a version as the one that Rose delivered.  The man had a real gift for arrangements.  His passionate performance gives the album a strong emotional finish.  I have a lot of respect for this album which deserves to be better known.  Rose was an expressive singer and a superb interpreter of lyrics.  He reminds me in that regard of Joe Cocker, although Rose was a better songwriter.  I like the way the album maintains a consistent musical tone despite a highly eclectic selection of songs.  It sounds particularly nice late at night when its moodiness and dramatic ambience are especially potent.  I rarely see this record in the bins so I suspect it sold poorly and that people who are fortunate enough to have a copy tend to keep it.  1967 was such an incredible year for music, I suppose the record got lost in the avalanche of great albums that came out then.  It is worth seeking out though, it holds up very well nearly 50 years later.  Recommended to fans of Jake Holmes and Fred Neil.

That Acapulco Gold - The Rainy Daze

That Acapulco Gold
The Rainy Daze
Uni Records  3002
1967

The sole album by the Rainy Daze.  The band is largely known for the title track, "That Acapulco Gold," which was released as a single.  It achieved notoriety for being one of the first rock songs that was explicitly pro-marijuana.  I use the term "rock" lightly because the song sounds more like an old-timey music hall type song akin to Harpers Bizarre or Sopwith Camel.  It is about a couple who go down to Mexico on their honeymoon to score some Acapulco Gold - "ain't nothin' it can't fix."  The song was written by Tim Gilbert, the group's lead singer and rhythm guitar player and his college roommate John Carter, who later had a notable career as a record company executive and record producer.  The Gilbert/Carter team also were credited with "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock" as well as most of the songs on this record almost all of which I think are better than "That Acapulco Gold."  My favorite is the hard rocking "Absurd Bird" which has a smoking guitar solo from Mac Ferris.  It has a terrific garage band sound although I'm not crazy about the misogynistic lyrics which are worthy of the Rolling Stones.  The hard riffing "Weatherman" is another excellent garage rocker which sounds a bit like the Beatles' "Taxman."  It features interesting rebellious lyrics delivered with a sneer by Gilbert.  "Try a Little Harder" is very similar in its sound although the lyrics are less interesting, basically an egotistical jerk ragging on his girlfriend.  "Out of a Calico Dream" is a gentle folk-rocker with a slight psych tinge.  "In My Mind Lives a Forest" is more explicitly psychedelic with silly trippy lyrics and an interesting dynamic between the propulsive verses charged with some fuzz guitar and the slow chorus section with Bob Heckendorf's dreamy organ lines tying it all together.  Very tasty!  "Snow and Ice and Burning Sand" is also psychedelic but it lacks the energy of the previous cut.  It is slow and moody with more whacked out pretentious lyrics.  It is mostly driven by the rhythm section.  I like it but I wouldn't mind a little more instrumental color.  The band's lead guitar player, Mac Ferris, has the only other original song on the album, "Discount City" which is a fast-paced rocker, simple but effective.  The original songwriting is unusually strong by garage band standards but the album is dragged down by the covers which are mostly weak.  The best one is their take on the Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" which is slower than the original and given a psychedelic sound via lysergic organ work and reverb-laden guitar.  I don't think this treatment really suits the song, but it sounds nice.  Their version of the Four Top's "Baby I Need Your Loving" is slow and passionless.  Their medley of "Shake," "Knock On Wood" and "Respect" is competent but pedestrian - pure filler.  Despite the covers, this is still a very worthwhile album.  I wasn't expecting much when I bought it since the only song I knew was the title track which I wasn't all that crazy about.  It turned out to be a happy surprise.  At least half of the album is really engaging and even the lesser tracks are listenable about the same ratio you'd get from Paul Revere and the Raiders or the Standells which is pretty good company.  The band could play and Gilbert was a good singer.  Too bad this was their only album, they might have had a promising career.  If you have a taste for 60s garage bands, this album is well worth seeking out.  Recommended to fans of the Electric Prunes and the Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Butterfly/Dear Eloise/King Midas in Reverse - The Hollies

Butterfly

The Hollies

Parlaphone PMC 7039/PCS 7039

1967

 

Dear Eloise/King Midas in Reverse
The Hollies
Epic BN 26344
1967

"Butterfly" is my favorite Hollies album.  This is the 2016 reissue that contains both the mono and stereo versions of the album.  To be honest I don't need to have both versions, I can't really hear much difference between them and I would be happy with either.  I first acquired this record in its American version released on Epic.  It is decidedly inferior to "Butterfly."  The butchers at Epic removed three songs from "Butterfly" and changed the running order on this album.  Those three missing songs, the lovely "Pegasus" and the psychedelic "Try It" and "Elevated Observations," were among the best songs on "Butterfly."  They were replaced with the single "King Midas In Reverse" and "Leave Me" which had been on the British version of the Hollies' previous album "Evolution" which Epic had also chopped up.  "Leave Me" is a good song but it doesn't fit in with the rest of the album.  Its harsh lyrics encourage a lover to leave the singer.  It is a riff driven rocker with prominent bass and organ.  Its vindictive attitude and rough sound are the opposite of the good vibes, refined tone and colorful visions that permeate "Butterfly."  "King Midas in Reverse" is about a guy who destroys everything he touches and the lyrics alternate between first and third person.  Although not part of "Butterfly," it fits in quite well with its rich harmonies and orchestration.  I think it is one of the best songs Graham Nash ever wrote and I can see why its commercial failure as a single upset him so much.  It is really the only reason to buy the Epic version of "Butterfly" but you can get it on Hollies compilations too so why bother.  Stick with "Butterfly."  The songwriting on the entire album is credited to Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Graham Nash.  The record is an enticing mix of chamber pop and sunny British psych that makes me feel good whenever I play it.  It opens with "Dear Eloise" which features Nash and Clarke sharing the lead vocal.  It is a poppy tune in the Hollies tradition with some psychedelic touches.  The band's trademark harmonies are evident throughout.  It is kind of a creepy song in which a guy sends a letter to a woman who has lost her lover feigning condolence while smugly saying I told you so and gleefully anticipating having the woman for himself.  "Away Away Away" is a description of a pair of lovers escaping their problems with a blissful vacation by the sea.  It is an upbeat chamber pop track given a twee feel by the woodwinds and horns.  "Maker" is a trippy account of escaping reality through what sounds like a religious retreat but it could also be a drug trip given the vague but colorful descriptions that are used throughout the song.  The song features a sitar and exotic percussion making it one of the most overtly psychedelic tracks on the album.  I'm surprised that Epic didn't remove it and keep the more pop oriented "Pegasus" instead for their version of the album.  "Pegasus" comes next.  It is a delicate chamber pop song with idyllic imagery that I find enchanting.  "Would You Believe" is about a guy in love with a girl who is out of his league.  It is a heavily orchestrated ballad with a powerful vocal from Clarke.  Side one concludes with "Wishyouawish" which is a jaunty song that features a pied piper type character describing a blissful walk through the countryside.  It sounds a bit like Simon and Garfunkel and is bolstered by some tasteful brass accompaniment.  Side two opens with the propulsive "Postcard" which is one of my favorite tracks.  It is an invitation to join the singer and experience the joys of living by the sea.  It is an extremely catchy and atmospheric song.  "Charlie and Fred" is about an impoverished rag man and his horse.  Despite the humble subject of the song, it is a majestic tune with a soaring vocal from Clarke and robust support from the horns.  The tone of the album shifts dramatically with the psychedelic "Try It" which is a thinly veiled invitation to get high with trippy flower power language and swirling music driven by a hypnotic bass riff.  "Elevated Observations?" continues in the same vein although the music has a slightly jazzy flavor to it.  When you hear Graham Nash crooning "ego is dead" you know this is not your typical Hollies song.  There is another dramatic shift in tone with the poppy "Step Inside" which is an invitation to a former lover to come and enjoy the singer's hospitality.  It is a joyous song with an engaging melody and wonderful vocal harmonies.  The album concludes with the chamber pop "Butterfly" which is an idealized portrait of the countryside that reminds me of Donovan.  The song is a quiet ballad gently sung by Nash backed by an orchestra.  It gives the album a lovely graceful finish.  This album offers the typical Hollies amenities of delightful vocal harmonies and superb production and supplements them with ambitious lyrical content, adventurous programming and a startling eclecticism that makes it a stimulating and rewarding listening experience.  This album represents the pinnacle of the Hollies' artistic development.  They would never come close to making a record this good again.  Regrettably the album's lack of sales convinced the band to assume a more commercial direction.  They would follow this up with the disastrous "Words and Music by Bob Dylan" album and drive Graham Nash out of the band setting them out on the steep downward slope to irrelevance.  Of course Nash himself would never make a record this good either and that includes the ditties he composed for Crosby, Stills and Nash (and sometimes Young.)  This record is so enjoyable and appealing, it makes me regret that the band couldn't continue in this vein a little longer.  Although not as far out as Pink Floyd, Tomorrow or Tinturn Abbey, the album is definitely in the spirit of its time.  It embodies British psychedelia in the lushness of its sound, its colorful imagery, its whimsy and its preoccupation with escape from reality.  I consider it to be one of the best albums of its era.  Recommended to fans of Kaleidoscope and the psych-era Small Faces.

A Christmas Present....And Past - Paul Revere and the Raiders

A Christmas Present....And Past
Paul Revere and the Raiders
Columbia CS 9555
1967

I was sad to read about Paul Revere's passing back in October.  He is depicted on the back cover of this record looking back at the camera while the rest of the band faces away.  I suspect that was a reference to the back cover of "Sgt. Pepper" where another guy named Paul faces away from the camera while the rest of his band faces forward.  I was too young to catch the Raiders in their heyday when they were on TV all the time clowning around in their Revolutionary War outfits.  I started to like them when I heard "Indian Reservation" on the radio in 1971 when it was a big hit.  Eventually I heard their classic recordings from the mid-1960s and became a big fan.  They weren't fashionable or cool at the time but I didn't care.  I thought they were great and since nobody wanted their records they were cheap and easy to find.  Well not this one.  This one took a little digging and patience to get.  I certainly understand why.  It is easily the weirdest of their Columbia albums, I'm still not sure what they were trying to do.  It was offered as a Christmas album, they called it a present, but I would definitely not recommend that you put this one on to trim the tree or have a Christmas party.  It is a downer as we used to say.  "Jingle Bells" is the only traditional Christmas carol on the record and it is played for laughs.  It features guest vocalists Elaine Gibford and Paul Edward Connors who I have never heard of although Gibford was apparently in a movie in 1966.  They sing the song in a cartoonish old fashioned style and just repeat the chorus over and over against an increasingly rocked up musical backing.  The song breaks down at the end as the singers increase the tempo and go out of sync.  It is an interesting deconstruction of the song that reminds me of the Mothers of Invention.  The rest of the album consists of original songs by lead singer Mark Lindsay and the record's producer Terry Melcher.  The album opens with an introduction that establishes the irreverent tone of the album.  An announcer introduces a brass band described as a Salvation Army street band.  The band is slow to start, but eventually kick in with "Joy to the World" and continue to play even after the announcer tries to get them to stop so the record can continue.  The band reappears throughout the album playing brief snippets of Christmas classics in between the actual songs.  The first actual song is "Wear a Smile at Christmas" which is a music hall type of song that complains about people unhappily rushing about on their holiday errands.  At one point someone impersonates Lyndon Johnson urging his "fellow Americans" to smile at Christmas.  "Brotherly Love" is set to the tune of the English folk song "Greensleeves."  The song attacks hypocrisy and the lack of genuine feeling in people's pretense of goodwill to others at Christmas.  "Rain, Sleet, Snow" is a tribute to the postal service's efforts at Christmas delivered with a quasi-psychedelic treatment featuring strings and a heavy riff.  It is my favorite song on the album.  Side one concludes with "Peace" which is an instrumental played by strings.  They play a simple motif that is repeated over and over interspersed with occasional thunderclaps.  At least I think they are thunderclaps, maybe they are supposed to be explosions that would make more sense.  Side two opens with "Valley Forge" which begins with an announcer setting the scene as Christmas 1775 and noting that no resemblance is intended to any future conflicts presumably referring to Vietnam.  The song reflects the perspective of one of George Washington's disgruntled soldiers who doesn't understand what he is fighting for which sure sounds more like Vietnam than the Revolutionary War to me.  The song moves from a musical comedy type tune to a more rock based one with sleigh bells running through the song for an ironic effect.  "Dear Mr. Claus" is a music hall style song about a guy who wants a "real live doll" for Christmas.  He doesn't want her just for companionship, he needs her to wash the dishes as well.  "Macy's Window" is a description of typical Christmas vignettes that I believe are meant to express the lack of a true Christmas spirit.  This song is followed by "Christmas Spirit" which is another musical hall type tune that celebrates the Christmas spirit but the song is given an exaggerated, almost sloppy performance that suggest some sarcastic distance from the subject not unlike their version of "Jingle Bells."  The album concludes with "A Heavy Christmas Message" which is "who took the Christ out of Christmas."  It takes less than a minute to deliver the message but the song lasts about 4 minutes and 15 seconds.  There is a minute of near silence as the music is mixed so low as to be almost inaudible unless you crank up the volume.  Eventually it is faded up enough to hear some jug band style jamming with a prominent kazoo and then it is faded down for another minute of barely audible music.  It is kind of amusing but I have to admit I don't always wait for it to finish before I turn it off.  And there you have it, a not so merry Christmas with Paul Revere and the Raiders.  Looking at my description it sounds pretty awful, but actually I really like the record.  Its consistency of theme and technique as well as the device of linking the songs with the brass band elevate the whole above the parts.  It is what albums are all about.  The dynamics of this band are so fascinating.  Like the Monkees they combined comedy, crass commercialism and artistic ambition to create a train wreck of an album that still somehow works.  I would compare it to the Monkees' project "Head," a work designed to confound a teenybopper fan base while using the commercial clout of that fan base to create a personal statement.  People who dismiss Paul Revere and the Raiders as a lightweight group ought to give it a spin.  I say these guys were one of the best American bands of their era.  Recommended to fans of "The Beatles Christmas Album."

The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes - Jake Holmes

The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes
Jake Holmes
Tower T 5079
1967

I first heard Holmes' most famous song (if you don't count his commercial jingles and I don't) on "Live Yardbirds."  That song "Dazed and Confused" was retitled "I'm Confused" by the Yardbirds for their epic workout on the song which is one of the highlights of their album.  If I had been a Led Zeppelin fan I probably would have heard it first on their debut album which has always been a lot easier to find than "Live Yardbirds."  On the Yardbirds' record the song carried no composition credit but when Led Zeppelin released it it had Jimmy Page's name on it.  Sure he monkeyed around with it, but that is still plagiarism.  Holmes got a raw deal from Page and I'd say he got a raw deal from music history as well.  He ought to be remembered for more than being a footnote in Led Zeppelin's career.  This album is worthy of recognition in its own right.  Holmes displays his talent right from the first track on this record, "Lonely."  Holmes is accompanied throughout the album by Ted Irwin on electric guitar and Rick Randall on bass and on this track the two really shine.  Irwin's frenzied raga-style runs on top of Randall's pulsing bass is tremendously exciting and gives this jazzy song great intensity and power.  It is my favorite track after "Dazed and Confused."  "Did You Know" is a more conventional mellow love song although it still has a slightly jazzy feeling reminiscent of Nick Drake.  Holmes ups the tempo for the rocking "She Belonged to Me" in which he describes a girlfriend.  Irwin's high velocity strumming propels the song nicely.  "Too Long" is a moody song about two friends who have grown apart.  The delicate interplay between the two guitars and the melodic bass lines gives the song a lot of atmosphere and feeling.  Side one concludes with "Genuine Imitation Life" which was improbably covered by the Four Seasons a few years later.  The song is a grim diatribe about hypocrisy, selfishness and the inability of people to relate to each other.  I find the song kind of pretentious although it is interesting and the music is first rate especially Randall's bass work.  Side two opens with "Dazed and Confused."  I appreciate the thunder and energy that Page brought to his bombastic interpretation of the song with both the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, but I think Holmes' more subdued take of the song serves it best.  The narrator of the song is dazed and confused because of a love affair and the uncertainty he feels about his relationship.  Randall's descending bass riff drives the song and Irwin has an exciting psychedelic-style guitar solo.  The ending of the song with Holmes' crazed strumming of his acoustic guitar on top of the throbbing bass and clanging electric guitar chords is quite thrilling and ends way too soon for my liking.  Holmes shifts gears dramatically with "Penny's" which is a low-key jazzy tune with a little scat singing from Holmes in between the verses about the woman of the title.  The jazz sound is even stronger on "Hard to Keep My Mind On You" which was influenced by Dave Brubeck according to Holmes in the liner notes.  It has a fast tempo in 5/4 time and is a swinging tune in which the singer tells his girlfriend how easily he gets distracted from her when he sees other girls.  I imagine that conversation probably didn't go very well, but you'd never know it from the sunny nature of the tune.  "Wish I Was Anywhere Else" has a slight chamber pop sound to it with its fast paced baroque style guitar runs.  The song is about being forced to engage in a conversation with a person you can't relate to.  The album concludes with "Signs of Age" which is about the relativity of age depending on one's perspective.  He speaks much of the song rather than singing it and the music is laid-back and meandering.  Easily my least favorite track on the album.  It is a disappointing finish but it does not diminish the impact of the album very much.  I love the personal and introspective quality of the lyrics and the music is consistently engaging and stimulating.  1967 was such a fantastic year for music, it is easy to see why this album was overlooked at the time but it deserved a better fate.  Its intelligence and integrity should appeal to anyone who values personal expression and individuality in pop music.  Recommended to fans of Tim Buckley.

The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Velvet Underground & Nico
Verve V6-5008
1967

I started listening to this album again for my post on the VU's "Scepter Studio Sessions" record last year.  It is not like I had completely stopped listening to it, it is one of the ten most important records in my life.  However after over 30 years of playing it, I wasn't really hearing it anymore, I knew it too well.  Hearing the acetate version opened up the record for me again.  My copy is not an original pressing.  It dates from the late 1970s when it was reissued by Polydor on the Verve label.  It looks nice and sounds fine so I've never felt compelled to replace it with an original or any of the modern reissues.  Originals were not hard to find in Berkeley back when I was there, but they were pricey and most of them had the banana skin sticker peeled off the cover revealing the pink banana underneath.  This is such a rich album that it has been able to appeal to me in different ways as I have grown and changed.  When I first got it I was an immature and naive teenager from the suburbs.  Back then I was drawn to the shock value of "Heroin," "Venus In Furs," "There She Goes Again," and "I'm Waiting for the Man" with their vivid depictions of drug abuse, perversion and sexual violence.  Those songs were already more than 10 years old when I first heard them but they were still so much more daring and dark than the classic rock crap I was hearing on the radio.  I was as straight as they come and I got a big charge out of hearing Lou Reed singing about putting a "spike" into his vein.  As I got into my 20s and 30s it was the music itself that appealed to me the most.  I loved the slow/fast dynamic of "Heroin," the incessant pounding rhythm of "Run Run Run" and "I'm Waiting For The Man," the dissonant noise of "The Black Angel's Death Song" with John Cale mercilessly tormenting his viola and above all the band's fantastic assault on the eardrums with their epic workout on "European Son."  That song still sounds so modern and exciting to me, it remains one of my favorite VU songs.  However now that I'm an old fogey I find myself drawn to "Sunday Morning" and the three songs Nico sings on the album, "Femme Fatale," "All Tomorrow's Parties," and especially "I'll Be Your Mirror."  The mixture of angst, ennui and tenderness in those songs appeals strongly to me.  I like Nico as an artist and a singer more now than I did when I was young and I value her contribution to this record more than I did back when I first heard it.  Cale has always been intellectual and cold as an artist and Reed was a sarcastic smart ass with a rock and roll heart.  Neither conveyed as much feeling as Nico did as a vocalist.  Nico made the group sexy and her sincerity and worldly persona gave them depth.  The Velvets made great music without her, but I like them best when Nico was with them.  This album is 47 years old but it still sounds fresh and invigorating, unlike a lot of the hippie music from that era.  It captured the world that produced it as well as any record ever has.  Lou Reed had a fantastic gift for observation worthy of a journalist and thrust into the frenzied environment of lunacy, perversion and creativity that surrounded Andy Warhol and the New York experimental art world, he responded with a record that is both a documentary portrait and an artistic analysis.  It is not only a depiction of the energy and insanity of the 1960s but it also foreshadows the nihilism and narcissism of the 1970s.  To borrow an expression from Jean-Luc Godard, this record is the truth at 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute and it is delivered with music that is brimming with vitality and adventurousness.  Cale, Reed and Nico went on to make a lot of great music after this album, but I don't think the music on this album has ever been surpassed, by them or any other rock artist.  Recommended to people who think Andy Warhol's films are better than his paintings.

Chelsea Girl - Nico

Chelsea Girl
Nico
Verve V-5032
1967

A mono pressing of Nico's debut album.  I was watching a dvd of a Nico concert from much later in her career and after the show some college kid interviewed a bored Nico in her dressing room.  He asked her why there were no songs from this album in her repertoire.  Her response was something like they weren't her songs, although that did not stop her from performing in her concert all of the Velvet Underground songs she sang on their debut album.  I know what she meant though, this record is completely unlike all her other records, it attempts to mold her into a pop chanteuse with commercial appeal.  Good luck with that.  The liner notes compare her to Mary Travers (which is ludicrous) but I think the real role model here for producer Tom Wilson and arranger Larry Fallon was Judy Collins.  This record sounds a lot like the chamber pop and genteel folk rock albums Collins cut with Joshua Rifkin in the mid-1960s.  That is practically the opposite of Nico's personal style which emphasizes minimalist rock and roll and moody drones.  Despite Fallon and Wilson's meddling, the presence of Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and John Cale both as musicians and as songwriters throughout the record still gives it the feel of an extension of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" although much less charged.  The album begins however with the first of three songs written by Jackson Browne who had a romantic relationship with Nico for awhile.  "The Fairest of the Seasons" was co-written with Gregory Copeland and features a delicate guitar accompaniment from Browne bolstered by strings.  The song is typical of Browne as he verbosely considers commitment issues.  If he were singing it I'd be bored, but the inherent drama in Nico's deep voice makes the song seem profound, even moving.  The string arrangement is heavy-handed, but I think the instrumental color it provides greatly enhances the feeble tune.  Browne also wrote "These Days" which has identical accompaniment.  I'm no fan of Browne's own version of this song, it sounds phony to me, but Nico's worldly persona and the heavy grain of her vocal give the song the gravity and feeling it needs to overcome Browne's glib cleverness.  It is one of my favorite songs on the album.  "Little Sister" was written by John Cale and Lou Reed and its dark, romantic lyrics are more consistent with Nico's gothic persona.  Cale's droning organ is also more in keeping with Nico's personal style although the song also features strings and a flute that apparently Nico found very upsetting.  Admittedly the cheery chamber pop that results works against the dark tone of the song, but it does not bother me too much.  This is more of a problem with John Cale's bleak "Winter Song" where the flute and strings are truly obtrusive and completely undermine the feeling of the rest of the song.  This is unfortunate because the song is otherwise perfect for Nico.  Side one ends with "It Was a Pleasure Then" by Cale, Reed and Nico.  This is the song on the album that is truest to Nico's style.  It is a minimalist tune featuring Nico solemnly intoning the gloomy lyrics with Reed noodling around on guitar emitting occasional shrieks of feedback and Cale brutally sawing away on his viola.  No chamber pop on this one, it reflects both Nico's past with the experimentally minded Velvet Underground and the uncompromising and personal music she would make in the future.  A great song.  Side two opens with Reed and Sterling Morrison's "Chelsea Girls" which is based on the Andy Warhol film of the same name that Nico appeared in.  It is the song that sounds most like Nico's work on "The Velvet Underground & Nico" aside from the string arrangement and flute which once again undermine the dark lyrics of the song.  The song sticks pretty close to the film, but you don't need to have seen the film to understand the lyrics which are typical of the detached descriptions of decadence favored by Reed in songs like "Venus in Furs" and "Femme Fatale" and it ranks with Reed's best work from that period.  Nico's vocal is mesmerizing, I wish I could erase the strings and flute from it, it would be a masterpiece.  "I'll Keep It With Mine" was written by Bob Dylan another paramour of Nico's.  According to her, he wrote the song about her and her baby and gave her an acetate of it to record.  She waited too long though and Judy Collins beat her to it.  It was also sung by Sandy Denny with Fairport Convention on their second album, "Fairport Convention."  Nico's performance is surprisingly energetic, she sounds very inspired.  Nico is a far more limited singer than Denny or Collins but I think this is the definitive version of the song.  "Somewhere There's A Feather" is another Jackson Browne song which Nico sings with engaging enthusiasm.  The optimism expressed by the lyrics couldn't be further from Nico's oeuvre, but she sounds very convincing crooning it and to his credit Browne manages to restrain his usual long-winded approach to write a direct and lovely song.  "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" was written by Lou Reed for the Velvet Underground.  If you think Nico is a bad singer you should check out the Velvets' demo on the box set, "Peel Slowly and See" featuring John Cale on lead vocal.  The song sounds dreary and lifeless in the Velvets' version, Nico's version is so much more vibrant and appealing.  On this tune the string arrangement makes the song stronger.  The album concludes with Tim Hardin's "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce."  This song has a very minimal arrangement relying on the intimacy of Nico's vocal to carry the song much like most of her later solo work.  The song is about Lenny Bruce who had recently died and the song decries his drug use which seems pretty ironic coming from Hardin, a longtime junkie who would also die from a drug overdose (and of course Nico herself was no stranger to drug addiction either.)  I think this album is largely a betrayal of Nico as an artist, but I still like it.  Yes it is over-produced, but the songs are terrific and suit her voice and persona extremely well.  In contrast to the gloom and doom she projected on her later records, on this album Nico sounds lively, even charming at times.  As a big chamber pop fan, I often like the sound of the record even when it works against Nico's vision.  Besides the compelling quality in Nico's deep dramatic voice ultimately transcends Wilson's attempt to smother her with pretty music, her inner darkness can't be suppressed.  Unlike her later records where the unrelenting gloom of the music can be wearying (to me at least), this album, with its dynamic tension between the singer and the music, is consistently interesting and stimulating.  Recommended to people who prefer "Femme Fatale" over "Heroin."

Neon - The Cyrkle

Neon
The Cyrkle
Columbia CS 9432
1967

As a younger person, I was a fan of the Cyrkle's debut album which features their two hit singles, "Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn Down Day."  I still like it, although it is a bit too sugary for my taste nowadays.  This is their second album which is less sugary although it doesn't stray too far from the folk-rock/sunshine pop of their debut.  It flopped when it came out and when I first got into record collecting I often used to see cut-out copies of this in the bins so obviously nobody wanted it, but I think it has its merits.  The only song I really dislike is "Problem Child" which sounds like something you'd hear in a Broadway musical or music hall.  It was written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer who would later become famous as Carole Bayer Sager and write a bunch more songs that I don't like either.  My favorite song is "Don't Cry, No Fears, No Tears Comin' Your Way" which is a hard driving folk-rocker with mildly psychedelic overtones (including a sitar) written by band members Tom Dawes (guitar/bass/sitar) and Don Dannemann (guitar.)  Dawes and Dannemann also wrote the jangly "Our Love Affair's in Question" which is nearly as good and "Weight of Your Words" which is pedestrian folk-rock.  Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley (of the Seekers) wrote "Red Rubber Ball" and offer "I Wish You Could Be Here" this time around.  It was a flop single for the band and it is easy to see why it tanked.  It is too low-key to make much impact on the radio, but I like it a lot, it is melodic and has that collegiate earnestness characteristic of Paul Simon's early work.  Susan Haber wrote the other single on the album (also a flop), the bouncy chamber pop flavored "Please Don't Ever Leave Me."  It recalls the sugariness of their debut album.  Chip Taylor's "I'm Not Sure What I Wanna Do" is also in a sunshine pop vein, it reminds me of the Monkees.  Fans of the Cyrkle's debut album will probably like these two songs the most.  The rest of the album is mostly filler.  There is a cover of Ricky Nelson's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  I like the upbeat poppiness of this arrangement, I never would have guessed it was a Bacharach/David song hearing the Cyrkle's version which I prefer to Nelson's.  Their sitar-driven chamber pop cover of the Beatles' "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" isn't nearly as successful.  It sounds awkward and pretentious to me although there is no denying that it is unusual.  "Two Rooms" by the band's drummer, Marty Fried and "The Visit (She Was Here)" written by Bodie Chandler and Edward McKendry are soft rock akin to the Association.  They bore me.  Despite its flaws, I find this album's blend of folk-rock and sunshine pop to be appealing and I think fans of either genre will find stuff to appreciate here.  Recommended to fans of the Sunshine Company. 

Smile - The Beach Boys

Smile  [The Smile Sessions]
The Beach Boys
Capitol T 2580   [Capitol T-27658]
1967  [2011]

For many years my most treasured CD has been a bootleg reconstruction of the lost 1967 Beach Boys album, "Smile."  Like many Beach Boys fans, I've been fascinated by this album ever since I first learned of its existence.  I'm not going to go into the background of this album because it is way too complex and mysterious for my humble blog (there is an excellent book about it by Domenic Priore if you are interested.)  Nonetheless I think it is the most crucial event in the Beach Boys' long, turbulent history and I've longed for it to come out on a legitimate release on vinyl.  Of course much of it was on the Beach Boys" "Good Vibrations" CD box set and various tracks were reworked for some of the Beach Boys albums that followed its non-release (most notably on "Smiley Smile") but that is not the same as a unified album.  Then Brian Wilson decided to release his own version of "Smile" re-recorded by his new band and as much as I enjoyed that album, it also made me unhappy because I figured that now he would never sanction a release of the original recording.  But then to my amazement and joy, this album was announced and I happily bought it the day it was released.  I knock Capitol Records often, but this one they got right.  It is in mono just as Brian intended and even has the original catalog number assigned to it back in 1967 as well as a 1960s rainbow inner label.  The album itself is gorgeous.  Frank Holmes original artwork was retained for the cover and the booklet inside the gatefold cover.  It has a facsimile of the original back cover intended for the 1967 release and a back cover that shows the true running order of the album with the additional tracks added to the album for its modern release.  There is some question of what the original track sequence for "Smile" was supposed to be, but there is universal agreement that "Our Prayer" is the proper opening track.  It is a gorgeous a cappella song with wordless vocalizing from the group that segues into an excerpt of the old doo-wop song "Gee."  It is followed by the masterful "Heroes and Villains" which shows Wilson at the height of his creative powers.  He takes his catchy riff through numerous permutations in a tour de force of arranging and marries it to brilliant lyrics from Van Dyke Parks evoking the myths of the old west.  It is among the greatest of all Beach Boys songs.  It leads into the oddly titled "Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)" which features more impressive arranging from Wilson including a reprise of the riff of "Heroes and Villains" along with Hawaiian themes and enigmatic lyrics that refer to Native Americans.  "I'm In Great Shape" is barely even a fragment of a song lasting less than 30 seconds as it describes farm life.  "Barnyard" expands on the farm theme complete with animal sound effects.  "My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine" offers slow string driven fragments of the two old pop songs mentioned in the title.)  "Cabin Essence" features amazing lyrics from Parks describing growing wheat on the Great Plains and building the transcontinental railway.  This was apparently one of the songs that the other band members objected to as being too obscure to understand but it seems pretty clear to me.  Musically it is very strong, alternating between bucolic countryish segments and a harder section driving the line "Who ran the iron horse."  This ends side one and the first movement which depicts American history and life on the American heartland.  Side two opens with the chamber pop song "Wonderful" which is beautifully sung by Brian.  In a delicate and poetic manner it describes a girl losing her virginity and growing up.  "Look (Song For Children)" consists solely of the word "child" (with an occasional "the" added) paired with a bouncy tune with carnival elements to it.  "Child is Father of the Man" expands on this adding the phrase "father of the man" to the "child" chant.  These two songs go on for over 4 minutes combined but are never boring thanks to Brian's arranging skills.  The side concludes with the magnificent "Surf's Up."  I first heard the song on the Beach Boy's 1971 album of the same name which I picked up as a teenager.  It blew me away and was the genesis of my interest in the lost album it was intended for and gave me a life long respect for Brian Wilson's musical genius.  This is another one of the songs that the other band members ridiculed for being incomprehensible.  I beg to differ.  In stunningly poetic language Parks describes upper class emptiness and a night out at the theater which ends with the song's unhappy hero finding redemption in the magic of a child's song which reprises the musical theme from "Child is Father of the Man."  The song is blessed with more arranging wizardry from Brian as well as a moving, heartfelt vocal from him (joined by Al Jardine for the concluding polyphonic finale.)  I consider the song a pinnacle in pop music art, a triumph in every aspect of songwriting.  Brian would never write a better song than this.  It ends the second movement which deals with childhood.  The third movement on side three explores the theme of the elements of the planet: wind, water, fire and earth.  It opens with "I Wanna Be Around/Workshop" which links a jazzy instrumental version of the Johnny Mercer song with the sounds of tools in a workshop.  It is followed by the childlike "Vega-Tables."  I have to admit that the first time I heard the song (on "Smiley Smile") I disliked it, but now I find it completely charming.  The song may seem silly but there is some clever wordplay from Parks and it is lavishly arranged by Brian with complex vocal harmonies supporting Jardine's lead vocal as well as Sir Paul McCartney loudly chomping celery in the background.  "Holidays" is a simple bouncy instrumental that also has a childlike flavor to it.  It leads into the gorgeous melody of "Wind Chimes" which is beautifully sung by Carl Wilson.  The first part of the song is played on a marimba or vibraphone type instrument which replicates the sound of a wind chime and then there is a more elaborate instrumental passage with multi-part vocal harmonies and a full band.  "The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)" is often cited as evidence of Brian's mental deterioration since he apparently came to believe that performing the song led to actual fires breaking out in Los Angeles.  The song does sound kind of sinister, probably the creepiest thing Wilson has ever written.  It is a swirling instrumental driven by a propulsive siren-like musical pattern.  The session excerpts from this song (not included on the record) are quite astonishing and well worth seeking out.  "Love To Say Dada" is a return to a childlike tune with the repeated refrain of "water" and "wah wah" delivered over an exotica style melody.  There is a brief reprise of "Our Prayer" and then the side concludes with the band's immortal "Good Vibrations" arguably the greatest single of all time.  The album version is basically the same as the single until towards the end of the song where a tropical vocal passage (sounds like they are singing "hum de dum") is inserted and there is a different, prolonged outro as well.  This is the end of the reconstructed "Smile" album.  Side 4 features assorted bonus tracks beginning with "You're Welcome" which was recorded during the "Smile" sessions and originally appeared as the b-side of the "Heroes and Villains" single.  Many "Smile" fans feel like this was meant to bookend "Our Prayer" on the album, presumably slotting near the end as it does on some "Smile" bootlegs.  It resembles "Our Prayer" vocally and is largely percussion driven.  It is followed by stereo mixes for "Vega-Tables" and "Wind Chimes" which sound terrific.  There is a five minute plus track of session highlights and a stereo backing track for "Cabin Essence."  It is interesting to hear the way the song was put together and to get a clearer idea of all that is going on beneath the vocal.  The side concludes with a brief session excerpt and a beautiful stereo mix for "Surf's Up."  I'm happy to hear it again, I never get tired of it but I would have preferred to have Brian's demo version which I really love and don't have on vinyl.  I'm thrilled that this album has finally come out, but I'm not pleased with the sequencing.  The potential track order of "Smile" is something fans like to speculate about, Brian Wilson has maintained that there wasn't a definitive order when he abandoned the record.  This album follows the sequencing that Wilson and Van Dyke Parks came up with for Wilson's re-recorded version of the album which comprises three movements.  It is hard to argue with the creators' wishes, but like a lot of "Smile" fans, I think the album was originally designed for just two movements.  One side for the Americana songs and one side for the elements songs.  The second movement is so slight (barely 10 minutes long) it could easily be folded into the other two.  The problem with the second movement is that it moves "Surf's Up" into the middle of the album, whereas it ought to be the concluding song, it sums up all the themes of the record and its majestic melody makes it an ideal concluding number.  Even with the questionable sequencing, this is still a magnificent record, it amazes me that Brian chose to shelve it after all that work.  Reportedly the release of "Sgt Pepper" caused him to think that "Smile" would be overshadowed by its success.  I suppose that is true, "Sgt. Pepper" was more in touch with the zeitgeist of the era and would have inevitably had a bigger cultural impact, but artistically I think this album is equally strong.  1967 saw a lot of great albums released, but I think only "Sgt. Pepper" and Love's "Forever Changes" can approach this in songcraft, originality and artistic vision.  It holds up amazingly well, a timeless masterpiece.  Its boldness and inventiveness take my breath away and I'm so happy that it has finally come out.  Recommended to people whose favorite Beach Boys' album is "Pet Sounds."  That used to be mine too, but now it is this.