Jelly - Sharpshooter (1973)

When Baroque Psych band The New York Rock Ensemble split in 1973, Clifton Nivison (Vocals, Guitar) and Martin Fulterman (Drums) continued to work together on various one off singles.
The best of these include "Monster Movies" (as Clif & Marty) on the Mosaic record label, which sounds very similar to the their work with the NYRE. Another good single is "Brooklyn" (as Wizz) on Capitol records, a whimsical musical hall tune that wouldn't sound out of place on an early Nilsson album. The best though, has to be the single they released on the Scepter label under the name of Jelly. "Sharpshooter" is an instant pop classic which sounds like it was written specifically for reviewing on this blog! A bouncy McCartney-like piano which bobs up and down on the verses along with a xylophone plonking away in the background which makes way for some cello and slide guitar in the chorus, plus you get a neat George Harrison-esque double tracked guitar solo and a cheeky lyrical nod to the Fabs ("Radio stuck in my ear, singing a song with The Beatles") thrown in for good measure.

Unfortunately the single I own is a DJ promo which has the stereo version on one side and the mono on the other, so I've hot heard the actual b-side, a Fulterman composition called "Hey Ho". If anyone has this, I'd love to hear it.


Easily my fave 45 find of the year...enjoy...