So, um... Who is "The Galaxy Generation"? Well, in at least four instances, it's Maurice Montez and his groovy organ. Specifically, four tracks from this LP:
The rest are by ?. The opening track, which is quite cool, features a small orchestra, whereas Good Morning Starshine and Hair feature a combo with an organ. Those two might have made good canned music for a hippie-hangout scene in Mannix or Mission: Impossible.
The Sign of the Zodiac, Sun Quadrant, and Gemini feature an accordion and are obviously repurposed--and, needless to say, would not have made the hippie-hangout-music cut (because accordion). Even Paramount Television wasn't that out of touch. ("Wait a minute--do college kids dig accordion sounds? No, let's go with the organ.")
As tossed-together hit-exploitation Pickwick albums go, this is a very pleasant, if not all that exciting, product. That is, no one got ripped off if he or she paid a buck. $1.99? Then we're getting into ethical territory.
I wish that the Aquarius musicians had stuck around long enough to give us the other two actual Hair titles--Good Morning Starshine and Hair--but I guess their contract called for one title only. Too bad, because Aquarius has such a wonderful period vibe, complete with genuinely decent stereo and musicians who sound like they rehearsed. It's good enough to have merited a legit release on, say, Columbia Special Products.
As for Maurice Montez's "groovy" organ, maybe it sounded groovy upon release in 1966 (when the bar was lower), but come 2023 it sounds more like, um, hip lounge jazz. Swinging numbers to dine by, but hardly trippy or hippy. But at least they make good listening.
And I love the cover photo, even if it says "Cheap" in loud font. And it's not all that bad--it's rather artistically done. Some genuine thought went into it. And it certainly conveys the musical's title, Hair, though the LP's main title is actually Aquarius, despite "HAIR" in huge font on the cover. You want consistency, then stay away from Pickwick.
Frankly, I'm impressed that an entire three tracks are from the show, leaving only seven dishonestly marketed numbers. By budget standards, that's "as advertised." And, you ask, how many clicks did I manually remove on MAGIX, even after a pass through VinylStudio's awesome Declicker? Gosh, at least thirty. But something pleases me about putting extra work into a junk artifact. It demonstrates my devotion to vernacular-culture ephemera. Yeah, that has to be it.
DOWNLOAD: Aquarius--Good Morning Starshine--Hair, Featuring the Galaxy Generation (Design SDLP-302; 1970)
Aquarius
Good Morning Starshine
The Sing of the Zodiac
Star Fall--Maurice Montez
Sun Quadrant
Hair
No Love But Your Love--Maurice Montez
Lover's Dream--Maurice Montez
We Found Our Paradise--Maurice Montez
Gemini
Lee
15 comments:
Love these Design records!
Well, at least "Stella by Starlight" or "That Old Black Magic" from Maurice Montez's LP didn't end up on this one. That proves that the Design producer didn't just choose tracks at random, which often seems to be the case with these things.
EW,
They have a special charm--in spite of themselves! These Design cash-in LPs are great fun.
Buster,
Yes, they seem to have taken some care. And "Star Fall" sort of fits in, title-wise. I wish I could figure out where the accordion tracks came from, but the Design discography is too huge. Those tracks are quite well done but rather out of place!
It occurs to me that the musical "Hair" itself was sort of an exploitation product. That makes Design the right label for a cheapo tribute.
Buster,
Excellent point! And I wonder if Crown did its usual one-related-track-plus-retitled-public-domain-material bit with the show.
This is certainly, umm, interesting. But then the whole hippies on Broadway thing was, umm, interesting...
Vernacular Culture Ephemera -- I think we've found your rock group name!
Ernie,
Definitely. And apparently just as much so (if not more) in its revivals. There was a brief pop-culture period of "Nudity is wonderful/Sex is good." A show-everything ethic. We're not quite of the same mindset these days.
Diane,
Or, Vernacular Culture Discards (thrift store items)!
At least No Love But Your Love is a real tune and not a fake, being that it was a hit for Johnny Mathis around 1958 or '59. The organist here has a sound similar to Earl Grant's. It's got a lounge sound, yes, but it is still pretty good.
I do like the "Maurice Montez" cuts off of this. For sure, I will be looking for the source album for the filler here ("The Groovy Organ Goes Romantic"), in my record hunts. The vibes on Star Fall almost give it a George Shearing Quintet sound. At times alternates between small group Jazz and lounge records.
OF the three Hair cuts, Good Morning Starshine could have easily slipped on a Living Trio album of the same time period. It is almoast exactly how Al Nevins would have reimagined the song for the Three Suns had he lived past 1965. The organ player on this could have been the same one that played on the Living Trio Records.
The title track is way better than the original hit cover by the Cowsills and just a touch more funkier in my opinion. The organ and the rhythm section really go to town on this one. It is also a touch more melodic and does not quite have the element of drama that the Cowsills hit cover has.
Fortunately for you, Design's vinyl by this time was probably a lot easier to deal with than trying to coax decent sound of a Hollywood Records LP like you did earlier this year.
musicman1979,
I noticed that when I checked out the title on Wiki ("No Love"), though I didn't take the time to listen to the original. I agree re the Shearing feel, and I suppose that Design's "Hair" version does indeed surpass the Cowsills'. (I've always wanted to type "Cowwills.'")
Yes and no on Design's vinyl. Yes, in the audio-quality department, but the pressings were a cheap hard-vinyl type easily scratched. Hence, all the splicing necessary. But no problem when the music is worth the time.
Vernacular Culture Discards is definitely better. Feels funky!
This will fit nicely in with my "Hair" LP collection, of which I must have about a dozen now.
No vocals?? Still neat-o beat-o.
Thanx......
Timmy,
Happy to help!
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