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

Russ Giguere: Hexagram 16 (1971) Original Warner Bros. Vinyl Transfer

Russ Giguere, one of the key cogs in the Association's sun-drenched harmony blend, had always stood out from the rest of the group. Probably the biggest "folky" of the band, his precise, wavering vocal delivery was unmistakable and he was one of the Association's best in-house songwriters, although he wasn't the hit maker that Terry Kirkman and Jim Yester were. In 1971, as the Association were in a full commercial and critical decline, Giguere must have known his band wouldn't be around too much longer. Smartly, he decided to venture out on his own, secured a deal with WB and teamed up with the Associations then-current producer, John Boylan, to make a record.

The result, Hexagram 16, is surprisingly good, and at times rivals some of the Association's finest moments, although Russ's sound does differ a good deal from the band's. Most of the music here is rooted in a folk/country soft-rock sound, with lite-psychedelic accents sprinkled throughout. The very first track on the album, the Giguere original "Now We Begin" is a haunting and sparse folk number. The harmonies that you'd find on an Association record are nowhere to be found here, it's just a delicately picked dreamy acoustic pattern, some echo-y guitar (especially at the fadeout) and one of Giguere's best ever vocals he committed to tape. One of the top tracks on the record. But there are other equally gorgeous moments. Russ's take on Judee Sill's "Ridge Rider" is a blissful country-pop trot, with an ethereal harmonica accompanying the gentle melody and Giguere's acoustic. Giguere, and maybe John Boylan, must have been listening to what the Byrds had been putting out at this time (particularly the Untitled album), as the soft country-rockers "Let it Flow" and "Rosarita Beach Cafe" are perfect examples of that early 70s twangy and breezy pop/rock that had become ubiquitous in LA around this time and they end up being two of the best tracks on the album.

There are some heavier and even psychedelic moments on the album too. The Bill Martin penned "My Plan" and the Jules Alexander composition "Pegasus" are almost prog-rock in their epic scope, with the former sounding like an organ-heavy Moody Blues number and the latter employing a massive, swirling symphony to accompany Alexander's mystical lyrics. For me, these two tracks probably don't play to the strengths of either Giguere, Boylan, and the session musicians on the record, many of whom at had played on the Association's better known material. Although the instrumentation is nice, these two songs are just a bit too..."clunky", if that makes sense. These songs lack the melodic precision of the other material and instead maybe focusing to heavily on the grandiosity of the production and stick out like a sore thumb in contrast with the soft-pop on the rest of the album. But, thats just my take on it, you guys might find these songs to be great (I hate to sound like a music critic).

Overall, a pretty great record, and a very obscure one. Never been re-issued and still isn't that well known, even among Association fans. I found a pretty clean copy of the album at a local record store and transferred it to .mp3 @ 320vbr using EAC's .WAV editor. Compressed to .mp3 using dbpoweramp and LAME 3.97. No EQing, no pop removal, just a flat transfer as always. Enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?en7oa0299nv198d

-Casey

UPDATE: Harpers Bizarre: As Time Goes By (1976) SOURCED FROM ORIGINAL VINYL @ 320VBR HQ SOUND W/ SCANS

Remember that bootleg CD of that Harpers Bizarre album I uploaded a few days ago? Remember how I said original vinyl copies are almost impossible to find? Well, apparently I was wrong. I nearly had a seizure trying to contain my excitement as I stumbled upon a promotional copy in excellent condition at my local record store for an absurdly cheap price. Needless to say, I got home and immediately slapped it on my turn table and ripped it to .mp3. And as I expected, the sound quality on this original LP is vastly superior to that of the bootleg issued by Century Records in Japan, much less hiss and artificial volume boosting, this rip is just pure warm analog sound. This is a big find and is now the definitive way to enjoy this album, outside of owning your own an original vinyl pressing, and I'm really proud to be able to share it with everyone. I'm going to copy and paste my old review below in quotes. You can download the brand new rip here, ripped by EAC's .WAV editor and converted into high quality .mp3 @ 320vbr using dbpoweramp and lame 3.97. As always with my vinyl uploads, no EQing, no pop removal, just a flat transfer. I advise everyone who has enjoyed my previous upload of this record to re-download this as the sound quality here is just so much more pure (although there is a bit of surface noise at the very beginning of the intro, but it quickly ends before "Cowboy" begins): http://www.mediafire.com/?c5g69gq3007g90a

Original review:

"In 1976 the original line up of Harpers Bizarre reunited for one last album, this time without co-lead singer/songwriter Ted Templeman. I'm guessing Templeman was busy with his other projects, as he had become a successful staff producer at Warner Bros. Records in the 70s and was producing acts like the Doobie Brothers, Van Morisson and Van Halen. You'd think with the absence of Templeman and their original producer Lenny Waronker, who was very instrumental in shaping their sound, that this album would be a bit of a dud. But you'd be wrong.

It's as if the Harpers had seemingly picked up where they had left off in 1969 as this album retains that classic retro-pop sound infused with old timey Americana, albeit updated with some 70s production values, that the Harpers were known for. Dick Scoppetone, the other vocalist and songwriter from the original lineup, takes over as the leader of the group here and sings lead and harmonies on every track and does a fine job. As far as I know, the only studio musicians that played on this record were the brass, string and keyboard sections, which is a big change from their 60s period, where studio musicians played most of the instrumental parts (with the exception being the '69 album Harpers Bizarre 4).

The material chosen here is fantastic, and perfectly suited to the Harper's tastes and abilities. The lead off track "Cowboy" is an exceptional song, the best on the album. It's a rollicking ride across the old west, with a big bold trumpet section, flutes and a fantastic vocal performance from Scoppetone. Other highlights are the Ragtime throwbacks "Society Strut" and "Down at Papa Joe's", the Spector-meets-Nilsson tropicalia vibe of "Banana King Louie" and the stunningly mellow and jazzy "Speak Low". The band didn't write any of the material here, mostly choosing songs from old movie soundtracks and lesser known songs from contemporary songwriters, but again, it's stuff that suits this band perfectly.

Another thing that is interesting about this record, is that it's the first time you can definitively make out Dick Scoppetone's voice, as their older material was sung by Templeman and Scoppetone in unison making it hard to distinguish whose voice was whose. Scoppetone's voice, which really remains intact from the early Harper's era of the 60s, even almost a decade later, immediately reminds me of Curt Boettcher's voice, particularly later era Curt. The album also reveals that Harpers Bizarre were much more of a real band than history would have you believe, as the material and arrangements and focus on early Americana are pretty consistent with what they were doing with Lenny Waronker, who was seen as the puppet-master of the band, so to speak."

By the way, I learned a little bit more about the Forest Bay Record company from inspecting the liner notes. It was a local Santa Cruz label (the Harpers hometown) and was run by James Scoppetone, who I can only assume was either the father, cousin or brother of the Harpers lead singer Dick Scoppetone. Don't know if they released an other material or if it was just used this once as a way for the band to have more control over their music and money. Interesting stuff nonetheless. Enjoy.

-Casey

Tommy Roe: Phantasy (1967) Original ABC Mono Vinyl

After the success of his early pop-rock singles like "Sweet Pea", "Sheila" and "Hooray For Hazel", Tommy Roe felt like doing some a bit more...adventurous, so he teamed up with the Our Productions crew and recorded two psychedelic bubblegum classics in 1967. Who were the Our Productions crew?  Simply put, they were wheeler -and-dealer Steve Clark's music production company, that could be hired by any record label to record an artist. This differed from the more typical approach to production, where labels would usually have an assemblage of staff producers under contract to record music specifically for that label. In '65/'66 Steve Clark, who really was more of a businessman than anything, tapped the then relatively unknown Curt Boettcher to be the "in house" producer for Our Productions. Rounding out the company were some of Curt's cohorts, including song-writer Sandy Salisbury and session musicians and Jim Bell, Ben Benay, Toxie French, Michele O'Malley, Dotti Holmberg and Lee Mallory, who all went on to record on Curt's other projects like the Ballroom, the Millennium and Sagittarius.

Curt was first teamed up with Tommy Roe on the chilly '67 psych-pop record It's Now Winter's Day, which was Roe's first foray in to more experimental territory, spearheaded mostly by Boettcher's wildy unorthodox production. The album's title track was a minor hit, but didn't quite compare chart wise to Roe's previous singles. Nevertheless, the album sold relatively well and ABC had to have been at least somewhat pleased with the performance of the single, so Our Productions were tapped once again to record the follow up LP. There were problems though, according to certain sources, there was something in Curt Boettcher's contract with OP that basically did not allow him to receive royalties and even credit for his work as producer (the production credit for It's Now Winters Day, while actually produced by Boettcher, was given to Steve Clark). Not surprisingly, Boettcher and Clark parted ways after the release of Winters Day and it was the last time Curt would record for Clark's company. 

So who would produce the follow up record? Steve Clark of course, presumably with more than a little help from some talented engineers (Gary Paxton maybe?). Luckily though, the session musicians Curt used on the Winters Day record came back to record on this album. And oddly enough, as strong an album as Winters Day was, Phantasy ended up being the best of the two albums. Curt's heavy emphasis on psychedelia and studio trickery employed on Winter's sounded very unique and often quite good, but at times clashed awkwardly with Roe's straight ahead bubblegum melodies and song structures.

On Phantasy, Clark gives Roe's crystal clear sugary melodies more room to breathe, unlike on Winter's Day, where they were often buried underneath Boettcher's relentless percussion and intense multi-layered and intricate harmony vocals. Most of the material here is written by Roe, the exception being the two extraordinarily sweet and bouncy bubblegum numbers "Goodbye Yesterday" and "These Are The Children", which were written by the aforementioned Sandy Salisbury. Roe's songs range from the sun-kissed and introspective on "Visions", to the flower-poppy and beatles-esque on songs like the leadoff track "Paisley Dreams" which comes complete with a full orchestral treatment, sitar runs and spacey harmonies. "Plastic World", a statement on the "phoniness" of modern society, strikes a perfect balance between the power-bubblegum Roe was soon to be known for and the arty experimentation that was in vogue at the time, showcasing found sounds and dramatic tempo changes between verse and chorus. Roe also delivers some material reminiscent of his early teeny-bopper rock 'n' roll with songs like "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Mystic Magic", albeit with a dash more of sugar and perhaps a bit of marijuana smoke thrown in for good measure. "The You I Need" may be the highlight of the record though, as Roe delivers one his most earnest vocals ever along with one of the most sublime melodies he ever penned on this uptempo baroque-bubblegum charmer.

Unfortunately, and somewhat suprisingly, this album tanked completely when it came to chart action, as no singles charted and the album itself went almost unnoticed by the public and music industry. Roe wasn't out of action for too long though, as two years later he would release the smash hit "Dizzy" that came to define him as one of bubblegum's most successful artists.

This record was given a bootleg treatment by Fallout Records a few years ago, their CD version is an obvious needle-drop that had the life sucked out of it in the mastering process. The songs here are also available on Rev-Ola's compilation called Paisley Dreams (which I recommend you purchase if you like my upload), which also includes tracks from the Winters Day album. But as far as I know this record has never been re-issued in it's original mono format. So, I present to you my personal vinyl rip, flat transferred from an original MONO vinyl copy with zero EQing and zero pop removal. I've never heard Rev-Ola's compilation so I'm not sure whether the sound on that is any good, but I can definitely say that my rip blows Fallout's out of water. This is the best way to listen to this record. Ripped using EAC's .WAV editor and converted into high quality 256 kb/s .mp3's. Download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?0gi3ykzka8q236x

Enjoy.

-Casey

Harpers Bizarre: As Time Goes By (1976) '92 Century Records Japanese CD Issue MEGA RARE

In 1976 the original line up of Harpers Bizarre reunited for one last album, this time without co-lead singer/songwriter Ted Templeman. I'm guessing Templeman was busy with his other projects, as he had become a successful staff producer at Warner Bros. Records in the 70s and was producing acts like the Doobie Brothers, Van Morisson and Van Halen. You'd think with the absence of Templeman and their original producer Lenny Waronker, who was very instrumental in shaping their sound, that this album would be a bit of a dud. But you'd be wrong.

It's as if the Harpers had seemingly picked up where they had left off in 1969 as this album retains that classic retro-pop sound infused with old timey Americana, albeit updated with some 70s production values, that the Harpers were known for. Dick Scoppetone, the other vocalist and songwriter from the original lineup, takes over as the leader of the group here and sings lead and harmonies on every track and does a fine job. As far as I know, the only studio musicians that played on this record were the brass, string and keyboard sections, which is a big change from their 60s period, where studio musicians played most of the instrumental parts (with the exception being the '69 album Harpers Bizarre 4).

The material chosen here is fantastic, and perfectly suited to the Harper's tastes and abilities. The lead off track "Cowboy" is an exceptional song, the best on the album. It's a rollicking ride across the old west, with a big bold trumpet section, flutes and a fantastic vocal performance from Scoppetone. Other highlights are the Ragtime throwbacks "Society Strut" and "Down at Papa Joe's", the Spector-meets-Nilsson tropicalia vibe of "Banana King Louie" and the stunningly mellow and jazzy "Speak Low". The band didn't write any of the material here, mostly choosing songs from old movie soundtracks and lesser known songs from contemporary songwriters, but again, it's stuff that suits this band perfectly.

Another thing that is interesting about this record, is that it's the first time you can definitively make out Dick Scoppetone's voice, as their older material was sung by Templeman and Scoppetone in unison making it hard to distinguish whose voice was whose. Scoppetone's voice, which really remains intact from the early Harper's era of the 60s, even almost a decade later, immediately reminds me of Curt Boettcher's voice, particularly later era Curt. The album also reveals that Harpers Bizarre were much more of a real band than history would have you believe, as the material and arrangements and focus on early Americana are pretty consistent with what they were doing with Lenny Waronker, who was seen as the puppet-master of the band, so to speak.

This album was released on a small label called the Forest Bay Company in '76 and it went pretty much nowhere commercially, although I have heard that it was a minor success in Canada for a short while. It's never been reissued legitimately since, and original vinyl copies are almost impossible to track down leaving this album pretty much forgotten. Fortunately, Century Records, a specialty Japanese label, released what is basically a bootleg copy of the album on CD back in 1992. It features different artwork than the original LP had, hence the naked ladies. It does sound like this CD was probably sourced from a vinyl copy as opposed to master tapes, but the sound is pretty decent throughout, although I'm sure an original vinyl copy would probably sound a little better. This CD is out of print and isn't really able to be found outside of Japan so I'm presenting it here, ripped from the CD by EAC into 320vbr using LAME 3.98, .LOG file included. Enjoy this rare treat!

Get the album HERE

-Casey

Cherry People: Cherry People (1968) Original Heritage Records Stereo Vinyl Transfer

Despite the dark and trippy album cover, this record is East Coast sunshine pop at it's cheeriest, verging in on bubblegum territory at times even. Cherry People were a psychedelic-rock band from the DC area and were considered a reputable live act, known for their intense, guitar heavy sound. But you wouldn't know it having listened to their album. They were signed to legendary producer Jerry Ross's label Heritage Records, a subsidiary of MGM, and set about recording their debut album under the guidance of their producer Ron Haffkine. Apparently Haffkine and the execs at Heritage weren't interested in letting the Cherry People unleash their acid rock sound on the world. I'm guessing that Heritage, particularly Jerry Ross, were looking for a semi-established psychedelic act they could convince to record some tunes they had published and that they wanted to release, potentially as singles material, that they could market to a "hipper" audience.

One song they did manage to get the Cherry People to record was the Left Banke composition "And Suddenly", a swingin' pop song that managed to break the Billboard top 50 in early '68. It's a very upbeat tune, with a really ornate instrumental blend featuring a string section, organs galore, big vocal harmonies, pretty much all the bells & whistles (literally, there are bells and whistles on this track). Great song. Somewhere along the line Cherry People decided they weren't gonna play ball with Haffkine and record the pop and radio-oriented material that was presented to them and there must have been some confrontation between the two parties, as the band were basically kicked out of the studio and studio musicians were brought in to play all the instrumental parts on the album. Is this a good thing? In my opinion, yes. I love the studio sound of the 60s and this album is chock full of that sound.

The album's sound is pretty similar to what we heard on "And Suddenly", lots of orchestral flourishes and neat studio tricks that give these simple, cheery bubblegummy songs alot more depth. There are some psychedelic moments as well, particularly on the band penned track "Imagination". It's a barely two minute piece of dazzling psych-pop, with great orchestral work and tripped out vocal effects, one of the best songs on the record. Another band penned tune "I'm The One Who Loves You" is also a highlight, with a tight, grooving chorus, all kinds of audio treats and a cool disco-y string section. "Mr. Hyde" is another good one, really nice flute section on the intro and tons of high Harpers Bizarre-esque harmonies throughout song. Also on the album is a really cool cover of Tommy James' funky-soul bubblegum number "Do Something To Me."  The majority of the tunes are pretty lightweight, lyrically and musically, but the inventive production and top notch studio musicians keep things interesting. I'd say theres definitely a resemblance to early Cowsill's and alot of Jerry Ross's productions like Spanky and our Gang and Keith, as it's got that very "east coast" pop vibe, distinctly different from the sunshine pop that was coming out of L.A., with more of an emphasis on bubblegum than on psychedelia.

I believe this album was reissued by Collectables, who usually do a pretty mediocre job at remastering and reissuing in general, and the disc hasn't really been in print since the 1990s. So, I present to you my rip of an original near mint copy of the LP. Ripped using EAC's .WAV editor and converted down to 320vbr using LAME 3.97. Really nice sounding stereo copy, no EQing, no pop removal just a flat transfer from vinyl to mp3.  Enjoy! http://www.mediafire.com/?0vzdmubwopx2b7i

-Casey

Marshmallow Way: Marshmallow Way (1969) Original United Artists Vinyl Transfer

Marshmallow Way was a "band" I know very little about, aside from the fact that they released a really fun bubblegum-psych LP on United Artists records in 1969. What I can tell you is that the band was essentially a front for the songwriting and production duo of Billy Carl and Reid Whitelaw. Who were they? Well, all I really know is that they were briefly part of the infamous bubblegum pop empire known as Kasenetz and Katz (aka Super K). K&K basically had a hand in almost every bubblegum single and LP released in the late 60s outside of the Archies and Tommy Roe, they produced all the Ohio Express, the Music Explosion and 1910 Fruitgum Co. stuff and even had a project of their own, the Kasenetz and Katz Super Circus.

Carl and Whitelaw had written a hit single for the 1910 Fruitgum Co. in '68 called "Goody Goody Gumdrops", a prototypical bubblegum song released on the Buddah label that reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Somewhere down the line Carl and Whitelaw must have wanted their own project, but Super K weren't interested so the two parted ways. Carl and Whitelaw eventually landed a deal with United Artists and released this album in 1969.

In terms of the actual sound, this album is similar to the kind of material 1910 Fruitgum was putting out at the time, but this Marshmallow Way LP seems to have an air of sophistication that the Fruitgum Co. didn't. Where the Fruitgum Co.'s songs were impossibly simple boogie-ing bubblegum tunes, Carl and Whitelaw seemed to be striving for smart, studio crafted pop, with tighter harmonies, more dense and even exotic instrumentation and percussion. There's plenty of organ, silly lyrics, handclaps and punchy drumming commonly found on bubblegum records of the era, but theres also vibraphone, marimbas, organ, congas and some nice jangly electric 12 string found on several of the songs on this record. The vocal harmonies seem to also possess a complexion that wasn't often found on your standard Super K release but was more typical of sunshine pop bands like the Turtles. But make no mistake, at it's core, this album is pure, chewy bubblegum, it's just dressed up nicer. This record also shows a consistency from song to song that was lacking on most bubblegum LPs as bubblegum was almost entirely a singles based genre.

Highlights from this 12 song album include the blissful and super jangly "Good Day", the sugary, chug-a-lug rocker "Sweet Thing", the wistful "Romeo and Juliet" and the proto Power Popper "Come On Kitty". But there really isn't a dud track on record, just fun, sunny pop music.

This album has never been reissued on CD, and I really doubt that it ever will be. Original LPs are hard to track down but I bought one a few years ago and transferred it to mp3 using EAC's .WAV editor. Ripped in 256 kb/s. There are a couple of different vinyl rips around on the web of this record, but mine is definitely the superior sounding rip, as my copy of the album is essentially mint. No EQing or pop-removal, just straight from vinyl to mp3. Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/?0xuqe1h5v7kd8vs

-Casey