Merrel Fankhauser & H.M.S. Bounty - Things (Psychedelia US 1968)

Selasa, 16 Oktober 2012


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Fine, tuneful '60s psychedelia with a pop edge, featuring Fankhauser's first-rate songwriting and warm vocals. About half of the tunes are excellent, especially the country-rocker "Your Painted Lives," and the folk-rock ballad "Ice Cube Island," and "A Visit With Ashiya," one of the best raga-rock songs ever cut. 

The reissue adds a bluesy non-LP B-side, "Flying Home," that looks forward to the innovations of Mu; it also includes fine, lengthy liner notes detailing Fankhauser's fascinating and winding career.

After the brief Fapardokly project Merrell finally settled into another band with three other musicians; Bill Dodd who'd been with him in Fapardokly, plus Jack Jordan and Larry Meyers who'd both played in The Impacts.

Calling themselves H.M.S. Bounty as a nod towards the British invasion Merrell envisaged them as taking elements from Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds and Cream to create a 12-string Rickenbacker driven sound.

They became the house band for The Cove at Pismo Beach, where one memorable night they played a 30 minute version of their song "Rich Man's Fable" to placate a biker gang who had taken over the club.

Two songs, "Rich Man's Fable" and "Drivin' Sideways (on A One-Way Street)", were recorded at Hollywood's Gold Star Studios in the summer of 1968 and used to negotiate a deal with Uni Records. Uni were impressed enough to finance a full album at Gold Star. Unfortunately, this is where the trouble started. The producers tried to rein in any experimentation and to move towards a more commercial bubblegum sound which did not impress the band.

Released in November 1968, the band were more than a little surprised to find the album credited to "Merrell Fankhauser and HMS Bounty". Despite their annoyance at this the album did get a four star rating in Billboard and was played on many radio stations; it looked like it could be a hit. But at this point Uni seemed to lose interest and the band's producers appeared to be more interested in developing Merrell's solo career.

There were problems within the band too. The drummer, Larry Meyers, was becoming unreliable. This resulted in the band playing at least one show at a military base with a drummer from the audience. So Merrell hooked up with former Exiles drummer, Randy Wimer again.

In June 1969 Merrell went into Gold Star Studios with Don Aldridge and the HMS Bounty band (but with Randy Wimer on drums) to record the song about dope smuggling, "Tampa Run". However, it looks like most of that session was erased and the track was re-recorded later with Merrell backed by session musicians.

In September 1969 "Tampa Run" were released as a single with "Everybody's Talkin" (yes, that song!) on the flip side under Merrell's name. The single was played against Poco's "Pickin' Up the Pieces", on the Rate-A-Record segment of American Bandstand. It lost by a hair, but went on to be a regional hit in the Southwestern and Northwestern U.S.

By this time, Uni's indifference and Merrell's 'mutiny' pretty much caused the rest of HMS Bounty to call it a day. Just to rub salt in the wounds Merrell and the band discovered that a large advance for the album plus all royalties had gone to the producers, ... and the musicians (as is so often the case) received nothing apart from the PA system they'd been using.

This reissue in CD format, adds a bluesy non-LP B-side, "Flying Home," that looks forward to the innovations of Mu; it also includes fine, lengthy liner notes detailing Fankhauser's fascinating and winding career (review by unknown).

01. Things (Goin' Round in My Mind) 2:30
02. Girl (I'm Waiting for You) 2:28
03. What Does She See in You 2:31
04. Lost in the City 2:06
05. Your Painted Lives 2:12
06. Drivin' Side Ways (On a One Way Street) 2:10
07. In a Minute Not Too Soon 1:53
08. A Visit With Ashiya 3:22
09. The Big Gray Sky 2:13
10. Rich Man's Fable 2:20
11. Ice Cube Island 3:23
12. Madame Silky 2:39
13. I'm Flying Home 2:48
14. Everybody's Talkin' 2:45
15. Tampa Run 2:43

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