Beau Brummels 66
The Beau Brummels
Warner Bros. Records W1644
1966
This is a mono pressing of the disastrous third album by the Beau Brummels. The band had previously recorded two very fine albums for the independent San Francisco record label Autumn Records, "Introducing the Beau Brummels" and "The Beau Brummels, Volume 2," which had established them as one of the best new bands in America. They were in the process of recording a third album for Autumn (which has appeared on archival releases by Sundazed) when Warner Bros. Records acquired the Autumn roster. Based on those archival releases I think the third album might have been the Brummels' best and certainly would have solidified the band's artistic standing. Warner Bros., exhibiting the typical taste and insight of corporate record companies, chose to shelve that album (supposedly over publishing conflicts.) Instead they forced the Brummels to record this album of covers apparently attempting to turn them into Dino, Desi and Billy. This might have destroyed a lesser band, but they were too talented to be denied and recovered to produce the excellent "Triangle" and "Bradley's Barn." For a long time I resisted buying this product of record company greed, but I love the Brummels so much that eventually I succumbed to curiosity and a desire to hear Sal Valentino sing a song I had not heard before. I was pleasantly surprised to find the album enjoyable for the most part although I still bitterly resent that it was ever recorded. Given that the band's original sound was a mixture of British Invasion and folk-rock, it is no surprise that 8 of the 12 tracks fit into those two categories. They do extremely well with the two Beatles covers. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is right in their wheel house and they knock it out of the park. Valentino's vocal is fabulous and I find the song exhilarating, almost as good as the original. Valentino also provides a wonderful vocal for "Yesterday" which the band performs with an appealing mixture of folk-rock and chamber pop. Paul McCartney's song for Peter and Gordon, "Woman," is given a subdued performance but Valentino's resonant vocal makes me prefer it to the sappiness of the original version. The Rolling Stones' "Play with Fire" seems like a great fit and it sounds wonderful aside from Ron Meagher's vocal which is too weak and mannered. I wish Valentino had sung it. I assume that Valentino had too much dignity to go anywhere near Herman's Hermits' "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" which Meagher sings with a fake British accent. The band lethargically copies the original arrangement. It is easily the worst track on the record. The best folk-rock song is their version of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" which of course was a hit for the Byrds. It is jangly like the Byrds version but a little less rocked up although it picks up energy as it rolls along. It features a strong Valentino vocal and includes the verses the Byrds omitted from the song so it has value to me even though it does not approach the kinetic thrills and beauty of the Byrds' hit version. The Brummels deliver a quiet and introspective version of the Mamas and the Papas' "Monday, Monday." Valentino's vocal is very sincere and engaging. I expected more from their cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" but it is largely uninspired. The four commercial pop tracks that make up the rest of album are a mixed bag. Their version of Sonny and Cher's vapid "Bang Bang" is the biggest surprise and one of the best tracks on the record. The song is given a dramatic chamber pop arrangement and Valentino sings the song with genuine feeling. I love it. The album is worth picking up for this song alone. The Brummels' cover of the McCoys' "Hang On Sloopy" is also solid with a robust vocal from Valentino, a compelling bass riff and a frenzied guitar solo. Meagher sings lead on "Louie Louie" which suits his vocal limitations and the band delivers a perfunctory performance that reveals their lack of interest in the song. I prefer the version they cut for Autumn which appeared on the Vault Records compilation "Vol. 44." Meagher provides an amateurish vocal for Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking" which is unfortunate because I dig the band's rollicking backing track although it is a lot less distinctive than the arrangement on the hit version. Even though I despise the crass record company motivations that led to this album's existence, I have to admit that with more sympathetic handling this could have been a pretty good album. As a former bar band, these guys could play just about anything and Sal Valentino is one of my favorite singers, I'd listen to him sing anything he wants to sing. The problem is that I doubt he wanted to sing most of these songs. If this was a cover album of songs that he and the band liked, it would have more value. As it is I enjoy about half of it and the remainder is mostly painless. It was a mistake, but the Brummels were talented enough to still make it work. Recommended to Beau Brummels completists and fans of mid-1960s top 40 radio looking for fresh takes on songs they've heard too many times.
Bradley's Barn
The Beau Brummels
Warner Bros. WS 1760
1968
The end of the line for the first incarnation of the Beau Brummels (although they would reunite periodically beginning in the mid 1970s and even record a few more albums.) They had started out as a quintet on Autumn Records back in 1964 but had been reduced to just Sal Valentino and Ron Elliott by the time they recorded this in 1968 supported by a bunch of Nashville studio pros in Owen Bradley's Tennessee recording studio which gives the album its title. It was a long way from their San Francisco home geographically but musically it doesn't stray too far. It does have a countryish sound but most of the songs would not sound out of place amongst the arty folk rock songs on their preceding album, "Triangle." The album begins with one of my all-time favorite Beau Brummels songs, "Turn Around" penned by Elliott and his usual writing partner Bob Durand. This sparkling evocation of youthful romance was also a highlight on the Everly Brothers' "Roots" which Elliott helped arrange and which was recorded around the same time as this album and which it resembles somewhat. The jangly guitars and Valentino's soulful vocal really send me. Valentino sweetly drawls the love song "An Added Attraction (Come and See Me)" which he also wrote. It is the most country-flavored tune on the album. Elliott and Valentino co-wrote "Deep Water" which is one of the strongest songs on the record. It has more jangly guitars and an urgent vocal from Valentino as he delivers the anxiety-laden lyrics. Elliott's "Long Walking Down To Misery" is a folk rock song given the country treatment with another fine Valentino vocal describing how he lost his girlfriend. Elliott's "Little Bird" is a pretty ballad loaded with symbolism. The first side concludes with Elliott and Durand's rocking "Cherokee Girl" which paints a portrait of the title character using imagery of Native American folklore. The song features a soaring vocal from Valentino and is given extra oomph from tasteful string overdubs. It is another one of my favorite songs on the album. Side two opens with the easy going "I'm A Sleeper" by Elliott and Valentino which features Valentino drawling from the perspective of a wishing well. Elliott's "The Loneliest Man In Town" is one of the few songs on the album you can actually imagine a traditional country singer like Porter Wagoner covering. It features the familiar down-on-his-luck theme so popular in country music and it sounds very country as well. In contrast "Love Can Fall a Long Way Down" by Elliott and Durand is pure folk rock and one of the most impressive songs on the album. It is dynamic and highly propulsive with some baroque rock overtones in the keyboards. Valentino passionately delivers lyrics examining a deteriorating relationship in the wake of a bad party. "Jessica" by Elliott and Valentino goes country rock for a song about heartbreak. Randy Newman's "Bless You California" is the only non-original song on the album. It is a rollicking, humorous song about aimlessness and manipulation with a sarcastic edge that stands out from the earnestness of the rest of the record. It gives the finish of the album a bit of a bite to it. This is my favorite Beau Brummels album, the songwriting is so strong and Valentino's vocals are so warm and powerful, the album really stands out as something sincere and original in a year full of self-indulgence and excess. It is a shame that the record did not get the attention or sales it deserved and that the band broke up after its release. It is about as good as country rock gets. Recommended for people who prefer "Nashville Skyline" over "Wheels of Fire."
Introducing The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels
Autumn LP 103
1965
Being from the San Francisco Bay Area, I had a big interest in the San Francisco Sound even though it was long gone by the time I became a record collector. There were still traces of it if you looked for it, lots of hippies, some of the landmark ballrooms were still extant, original posters and records were easy to find and even some of the bands were still around, although most sounded nothing like they had back in the 1960s. It was around this time that the Beau Brummels reunited and started gigging again in the Bay Area. I saw the ads for their shows and I liked their name. I found out they were a 1960s band and I asked my stepmother (who had been a teenager during the Summer of Love in San Francisco) about them. I assumed they had been peers of the Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company, but the funny look she gave me when I mentioned this told me otherwise. Eventually I learned about the chasm between the uncool commercial bands and the hippie bands in San Francisco. At the time I took the side of the hippies, but in retrospect it is clear to me that most of those hippie bands were no better than the Brummels who in fact made some of the best music to come out of San Francisco in the 1960s even if they weren't allowed to be part of that "Sound." This was the Brummels' debut album. Unlike many of the mid-1960s San Francisco bands who derived their sound from folk-rock or rhythm and blues, the Brummels found their sound in the pop side of the British Invasion. Aside from maybe the Knickerbockers, I can't think of another major American group that sounded so English. They weren't just crude imitators though, they had real talent. Sal Valentino was a somewhat limited singer, but what he did, he did extremely well. His voice is very distinctive and evocative. Ron Elliott was a fine songwriter, he wrote 10 of the 12 songs on the album including the two hit singles "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just A Little." His biggest weakness is the lyrics, which tend to be trite and sentimental. He would get better in the future, especially during the Warner Bros. Records era of the group. The two singles are excellent as you probably know, but most of the album tracks are good as well. "Still In Love With You Baby" was the B-side of "Laugh, Laugh" but I think it is strong enough to have been an A-side. "Stick Like Glue" and "That's If You Want Me To" are also really memorable songs loaded with hooks that could have been singles. These songs show how well the group absorbed the style of the British Beat groups. You could play this record next to the Searchers or the Hollies or even the early Beatles and not notice much of a difference. The sappy "I Would Be Happy" is perhaps the most blatantly imitative of the English groups, if I heard it on the radio I would assume it was Peter and Gordon or someone of that ilk. The notable exception to the English influence is "I Want More Loving" which evokes the sound of 1950s rock and roll to great effect. The two covers, Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" and the old warhorse "Ain't That Loving You Baby" are among the weaker numbers on the record. This record is too uneven and derivative to be a classic, but it is quite enjoyable and promising. In 1965 there weren't many American bands more talented than the Beau Brummels and they would only get better in the future. Recommended for fans of the first wave of the British Invasion.
