Spanky & Our Gang: Without Rhyme Or Reason B/W Anything You Choose (1969) Original Mercury Records Vinyl Transfer

This record really surprised me. I had only given Spanky and the Gang a few listens, mostly from my 45s of the Sunshine Pop hits "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" and "Sunday Morning". I hadn't ever really dove into their LPs though, for some reason I kinda assumed they were mostly full of filler padding their hits (I was wrong). But I did some research on their 3rd LP, Without Rhyme Or Reason B/W Anything You Choose, and was really intrigued by the reviews I'd read. So, being the vinyl junky I am, I went out on the inevitable hunt for the album, and after rummaging through a couple record stores, I managed to find a nice, near mint copy.

The record is substantially better than I imagined it would be. Essentially, this album is a concept record, except with no real concept, much like the Harpers Bizarre's The Secret Life, or Boyce & Hart's It's All Happening on the Inside. But it flows much like a concept album with each song flowing in to the other with some very clever editing and even, on a few occasions, excerpts of dialogue, not unlike the Monkee's Head. However, the music is really where the album shines. Like a shot of adrenaline, the first track "Leopard Skin Phones" bursts out of the speakers at a frenetic pace, a scintillating piece of psych pop with big harmony vocals, a fuzz guitar solo and really cool stereo sound effects. The song quickly disintegrates, the next track "But Back Then" is a dialogue excerpt of an old time jazz cat talking about how things used to be in the music world when suddenly the conversation ends and "Mecca Flat Blues" an appropriately bluesy New Orleans style Ragtime tune takes center stage. The title track, "Without Rhyme or Reason" is a more updated sounding song, an equally jazzy but more contemporary LA styled soft-pop tune with lush vocals and instrumentation. "Jane" is a bouncy folk influenced bossanova-esque sunshine pop tune with a sparkling acoustic guitar pattern and jaunty flute runs. The jazzy theme continues with the haunting, orchestral conclusion to side one, "Since You've Gone", with ethereal "ba-baa" harmonies and a beautiful string arrangement.

Side 2 kicks off with the other title track, "Anything You Choose", a rocking, brassy R'n B number, done Spanky style, with some folky guitar work and broadway harmonies. The next track "And She's Mine" is definitely a standout tune, one of the more straightforward tracks on the record, just a simple sugary folk-pop melody dressed up with the Gang's big vocal arrangements and dreamy production. But I think the most  obvious highlights come in the last 2 or 3 tracks of the album, starting with "Hong Kong Blues", an eastern flavored retro-pop tune with great tack piano, a fantastic horn section and frantic vocals from the whole Gang. The track segues into finale "Give a Damn", a grandiose slice of psych-folk, with more big brass, airy harmonies and a gorgeous and dreamy jazz fade-out that signals the close of the record.

Very good album, I'd say side one flows more as conceptual piece, whereas the songs on side 2, while they still flow together, stand out more on an individual basis. One of the better LP statements by a Sunshine Pop band, the speed at which this record flies by is very impressive, clocking in at around 40 minutes, it feels like it goes by much shorter. The heavy pop-jazz accents are very tasteful and suit the band very well.  Highly recommended for fans of Harpers Bizarre, Roger Nichols and the Free Design.

I believe some of these songs are available on various compilations but the album has never been re-issued in it's original form, outside of a Japanese CD issue that is long out of print. The vinyl has obviously been OOP for over forty years, so I thought I'd share it here, as we wait for a proper reissue. I transferred my clean, original vinyl record, issued on Mercury, to .mp3 using EAC's .WAV editor and dbpoweramp (using LAME 3.97) @ 320vbr. No EQing or pop-removal, just a flat transfer. I did not seperate the tracks individually, as this album is intended to be listened to from start to finish by the listener. I know that's not the most convenient way to listen, but it's certainly the most effective way to get the most enjoyment out of this record. http://www.mediafire.com/?jh9d18soyx0g9z2

-Casey