One truly terrible semi-novelty song, "Kissy Face", destroys the mood, which makes the rest a little harder to take seriously.
If you're in the right mood for it, it's pretty enjoyable, especially since there are some crazed fuzz guitar breaks. The Maze seek a sense of drama, with long songs, prominent organ, eerie harmonies, heavy lyrics and a singer who becomes unhinged here and there. An alternate take of "Whispering Shadows," written by Wayne Gardner-who composed all but two of the 10 songs on Armageddon, fellow members Jensen, Boyd, and Eitrreim dividing two songs between the three of them-was included on Gear Fab's 1997 Psychedelic Crown Jewels Vol. Their all-original material emphasized heavy organ, long drawn-out fuzzy guitar solos, despondent stoned vocals, and minor-key melodies, somewhat in the mold of Iron Butterfly, though not as bombastic. They originally recorded under the name Stonehenge, with a female vocalist, before assuming their more familiar name, and left behind a good deal more than an album's worth of tracks, some of which turned up on the 1995 Sundazed CD reissue of Armageddon. Actually, they don't rank as a very impressive find, in fact epitomizing some of the period's least enduring excesses. The Electric Prunes- I Had Too Much To Dream (Last.An obscure San Francisco-area group that cut one extremely rare album in 1968, Armageddon (recorded at Leo Kulka's Golden State Recorders, and issued on MTA), which is highly valued in some collector circles.The Electric Prunes- Underground (1967).Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends (1968).Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends But Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends is immaculately produced, almost sickeningly consistent, and is a good place to seek out the breezy A&M sound of the 60's. The 5th Dimension sound like Captain Beefheart compared to these folks. This is properly acknowledged as a sunshine pop classic, but don't expect any psychedelia here. Bernie The Sno-Dog." But can one really expect much from a song with that title? They maintain the consistancy of the album with the exception of the completely stupid "St. We get two mono single versions of songs on the proper album while the other tracks are proper outtakes and obscure tracks.
The Rev-Ola reissue includes 8 bonus tracks and makes a pretty nice addition to the set. In fact, it's my favorite moment on the album. The Beatles songs in particular include a fine version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" (I certainly enjoy it more than Joe Cocker's version) and a rendition of "I'll Be Back" which includes and original and unexpected tag at the tail end of the song. They do a pretty good job fitting all these songs into their signature sound, and I don't come off wishing that they'd included more original material. There are a few more original numbers present, along with a slew of covers, including two Lennon/McCartney songs, two Lovin' Spoonful tracks, and one composition each from Burt Bacharach and Goffin/King. Still, don't expect anything close to the emotional whallop of Pet Sounds. Roger Nichols carved out most of his career as a songwriter, penning Carpenters' hits such as "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days And Sundays." For a few years in the 60's he teamed with siblings Murray and Melinda MacLeod for a vocal duo that must have been in it's element in a slightly more upscale Holiday Inn lounge.įortunately on this album he cowrote four songs with Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher and the songs have a little more depth than I usually associate with such breezy pop. The production is top flight and often has a dreamy sheen (hence the 1.5 on the Trip-O-Meter).
#ROGER NICHOLS SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS RAR FULL#
The arrangements here use a little bit of electricity and occasionally louder drums, but once the tight harmonies are in full effect, the songs tend to resemble a really good toothpaste commercial. This is not the place to look for anything that would be considered experimentation, but the sound is as sundrenched as anything you'd expect from A&M Records and Herb Alpert's guidance in the 60's.Įven without any particularly new sounds, Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends is a high quality product that takes more attitude from the Sinatra dominated era of pop than the rock age. And if my grandmother could still hear, I'd have no problem playing this one for her. If Laurence Welk ever tried to bring out a rockin' group to show he was "hep and with it," these folks must have been on the top of his list. It's an odd disc that often earns favorable comparisons to Pet Sounds but in the end remains pretty square. Sunshine pop does not necessarily equate to psychedelic as this 1968 release attests.