The Nashville Teens - Nashville Teens (New World) (1972)

The Nashville Teens hit their commercial peak with their debut single, the John D. Loudermilk penned "Tobacco Road" in 1964 on Decca Records, reaching number 6 in the UK charts. Their second single "Google Eye" release later that year would also rise to a respectable number 10. These records would do pretty well in the U.S too, prompting an LP release but oddly, not in the UK. The band continued to trudge through the 1960's with several flop singles, most of them in the beat style of the highest quality. The band never kept a steady line-up with the exception on singer Art Sharp, who stayed with the band from 1962 to 1972. This may be why Decca never offered the opportunity to record an album for the UK market.

An albums worth of material did turn up though, better late than never in 1972 on the budget label New World. "Nashville Teens" is a collection of some of the band's late sixties singles but also includes some killer unreleased psych, which I'm guessing was recorded at least a few years before it's release date. A few of these songs have appeared on compilations: "Widdicombe Fair" and "Ex Kay One LX" both on Incredible Sound Show Stories Volume 3 and "I'm A Lonely One" on Psychedelia Volume 4. One track which I'm surprised wasn't picked up by a comp is "Day & Night", a moody, heavy folk number which sounds like it could be straight off a soundtrack to an obscure British horror flick. A re-recording of "Tobacco Road" is on there too, although it's pretty similar to the original. With the exception of a couple of so-so blues songs, this is actually a really good compilation which highlights what a great band the Nashville Teens were and I'd imagine they were a killer live act too.

I'll leave you with the opening cut on the LP, the Randy Newman penned, Vic Smith produced "The Biggest Night Of Her Life", also recorded by Harper's Bizzare for their third album "The Secret Life Of...". Released by Decca in September 1967 as a single (backed with the equally ace "Last Minute") for me, is the band's champion song. A hard pop nugget with subtle psychedelic undertones. It should have been a massive hit.

Lyrics
The Nashville Teens - The Biggest Night Of Her Life
(Randy Newman)

Susie's going out tonight to her sixteenth birthday party 
Her shoes are pink, her dress is white 
And she's a beautiful sight to see 
And you can bet it will be the biggest night of her life 

Susie's got a boy she likes 
And his name is Tom Van Fleet 
Susie's parents think he's nice because his hair is always neat 
And you can bet it will be the biggest night of his life 

Two kids out dancing, having fun till the sun comes up 
In a high-school sweater and a paper hat 
What could be wrong with that? 

Susie's going out tonight to a promise she must keep 
She thought about it all last night 
And she was too excited to sleep 
And tonight's gonna be the biggest night of her life

Arthur's Mother - On The Dole (1971)

I'm not sure whether I should call "On The Dole" by Arthur's Mother a novelty record or not. It's not as downright cheesy as "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle Of The Road but it is very playful a'la "Pushbike Song" by the Mixtures. I'm also probably in the minority, even in obscure pop circles standards, who think that this is a great song. There's a bouncy, upbeat charm about this throwaway tune, released in March 1971, that I just can't resist and any song with the lyrics "kiss me on the helmet" gets a thumbs up from me! These sort of records, for now at least, seem to be ignored by the reissue market. Not psychedelic enough for Mixed Up Minds and too late for Piccadilly Sunshine comps. And so they wind up in an even more embarrassing place than a charity shop/car boot. A poorly written blog. Here!

The man behind Arthur's Mother, as it states on the song writing credit, is John Bryant and was released a year before his self titled solo album (of much more sophisticated songs), also on Polydor records, hit the shelves. Production is handled by Wayne Bickerton (World Of Oz, Giles, Giles & Fripp). A European picture sleeve for the single shows Bryant (top left) joined by a band who except from Mike Wedgewood (bottom right) are unknown to me. Anyone out there recognize them?

The single was a minor hit thanks to some substantial radio play and should be reasonably easy to track down for a cheap price. I should also point out that the b-side, a contrasting acoustic ballad entitled "Butterfly" is comparable to late sixties Bee Gees. One for the Fading Yellow heads. 

Rick Jones - Twixt You And Me (1971)

Here's another record with children's television connections. British readers of a certain age will remember Rick Jones from Playschool and Fingerbobs, but I doubt that many will remember the Canadian's two solo albums. I've not heard the second of the two, "Hiya Maya" from 1972, but I do have in my possession his first, "Twixt You And Me". Released on Argo Records in 1971, it contains seven of Jones original compositions, six co-written with Jeffrey Alexander Ryan (Georgie Fame's sideman) and a couple of covers including a flute driven version of the Beatles' "Blackbird". The overall Soft Pop sound of the album will appeal to anyone who likes the first Peter Sarstedt LP. Don't get too excited though, it is by no means a classic, but within it's grand production, courtesy of Frederick Woods, are a few songs worth mentioning on this blog.

Rick Jones - Smell My Fingerbob

"Saskatchewan Sunrise" with it's ultra laid back vocal reminds me of Gerry Rafferty's early solo work. The similarly mellow "Mornin'" strolls along with a spring in it's step, a proper feel good song bringing to mind Kenny Rankin's "Peaceful". "The Child From The Future" is the real winner on here, written in the perspective of a child in the year 2023 where predictably, the planet is left in a bit of a shit hole. It's the closest on the album that we come to rocking out (in a Sandie Shaw, Reviewing The Situation kind of way!) with some swirling Hammond organ and wailing fuzz guitar solo, both low in the mix, naturally!

Because of it's general rarity and nice psychedelic sleeve, eBay sellers might try to fool you into thinking this is an acid folk or a lost stoner psych classic. That's not to say Jones wasn't stoned when he made it! What it is, is pure Soft Pop! Keep your eye out for it in the charity shops and car boots. Dig...

Joshua - The Automatic Camel (1971)

My friend Stuart gave me this single a couple of weeks ago, "Here, you'll like this" he said. Not only do I love it, but its been on my wants list for a little while now. I'm a sucker for children's television theme tunes from the 1970's and this piano instrumental song ,"The Automatic Camel" by Joshua (aka Joe Griffiths) was used as the backing tack for the music on the UK animated kids show, "Chorlton and the Wheelies", which ran for 40 episodes between 1976 and 1979. This type of music always reminds me of the more playful side of the Beatles, much like the whole Popsike genre. The b-side "Mr Cuffling's Cake-Walk" is equally as enjoyable as the flip.

From the 7" promo sleeve - Joe Griffiths?

I cant find a lot of information about Joe Griffiths, but the connection with producer Harold Franz links them to at least two more single releases under different names.

Independant Operator b/w Share My Caravan as Joe Griffiths (Philips 1970)

Love Is Love, Is Love b/w All You Have To Do Is Say Hello as Umbrella (RCA 1972)

...anyone heard these?


So, a bit of a fun tune for this Easter holiday. I hope you enjoy...

Chris White - Mouth Music (1976)

For years people (including yours truly) have thought that this is the Chris White from the Zombies. It makes sense that the man who wrote a good half of "Odessey & Oracle" would be back in the 1970's with his own album of summery, Beach Boys inspired pop, but the Chris White in question is totally unrelated.

So as I mentioned before, Mr White takes his cue from the Beach Boys with this LP which would fit in their discography quite comfortably between the "M.I.U" and "L.A album" and if I'm honest, I'd probably rank "Mouth Music" a little higher than both of these. Released on the Famous Charisma Label and produced by Shel Talmy (Who, Kinks, Creation) with arrangements by Tom Parker and backed by the same band who played on the Velvet Glove album, namely Clem Cattini (drums), Zed Jenkins (guitar) and Dave Olney (bass).

"The name's White, Chris White...
err, not that Chris White!"

The opinions on this album appear to be mixed with most of the complaints being the production, but lets not forget this is 1976 not 1967 so expect plenty of synth, layers of harmony vocals, disco funk (not as bad as you think) and even cod reggae on "Zombee Jamboree", I personally, don't have an issue with this! "Don't Look Down" is such a killer album opener and "Natural Rhythm" has a very Wings vibe to it. If I've got any beef with this record it would be the unnecessary cover versions, "Surfin' USA" and "Dancing In The Street" but I'm guessing this was a record company decision. Thanks to some push from Kenny Everett, the Chris Rainbow-alike single "Spanish Wine", taken from the album, enjoyed a bit of chart action thus making it an easy record to find and for cheap too.

So maybe "Mouth Music" is what some may call a guilty pleasure, but not me, I just call it great lost pop that deserves more ears, although I won't be playing it in the car with the windows down! Fans of 10CC and Alan Parsons Project will definitely dig this record. The was a CD reissue a few years back with a heap of bonus tracks including a fab unreleased tune called "Frisbee" which is bordering on power pop.

If you're out there reading this Chris White, please get in touch. I'd love to hear your story...

Ted Mulry - Julia (1970)

Ted Mulry was born Martin Albert Mulry in 1949 in Lancashire, UK. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 where he got a job operating a bulldozer. Mulry was already a bit of an amateur musician and his work colleagues, impressed by his compositions encouraged him send some demos to J. Albert Publishing. These songs were good enough to secure him a recording deal with EMI and his first single "Julia" b/w "So Much In Love" was released in February 1970 and was a minor hit. "Julia" is a perfect Beatlesque pop ballad, reminiscent of Paul McCartney circa 65/66, with lush orchestration (not overdone) and ace production by Tony Geary. "So Much In Love" is just as good albeit a little twee with Mulry harmonising with himself in a Everly Brothers style. No surprise then, that both sides of the single were included on Fading Yellow Vol.12, where they fit in most comfortably!

The next single, "Falling In Love Again" was written by Easybeats' Harry Vanda and George Young and would stay in the Australian charts for 25 weeks peaking at #11. A nice song, but I prefer the Mulry penned b-side "Louisa". Four more singles were released on the Parlophone label in Australia, but none were as successful a "Falling In Love Again". The most collectable of these singles is the stone cold classic, "Remember Me" which was also released in the UK under the name Steve Ryder on the Blue Mountain record label. There's a cool promo video on YouTube which you can watch here. There is also a couple of highly collectable LP's from 1971 and 1973 which I'm still looking for and will update this post when I hear them.

By 1974, Mulry had ditched the sensitive songwriter image for a more ballsy, rocking image, switching from acoustic guitar to bass forming the Ted Mulry Gang whose second single "Jump In My Car" would top the Aussie chart in 1975. There's plenty of YouTube footage from this period available and most of it is pretty good. Check out "Darktown Strutters Ball" for some Status Quo-esque!!

The Ted Mulry Gang would not repeat the success of "Jump In My Car" but would continue on a popular live act until 1980 when they called it a day. Mulry continued to work in the music business as a producer, sporadically releasing the odd single and even reunited the TMG in 1990. Ted Mulry passed away in 2001 of brain cancer. A series of tribute concerts were held shortly before his death with many notable Australian rock acts performing including a reformed TMG fronted by his brother Steve Mulry.

Ray Brooks (1971-1972)

Ray Brooks' face may be familiar to some via his most know acting performances, The Knack, Cathy Come Home, the voice of  Mr Benn and more recently, a stint in the UK soap opera Eastenders. What you may not know though is that in the early seventies he put out an album and a couple of singles for the Polydor record label.

Now we all know that actors trying their hand at being musicians very rarely brings good results but Brooks' solo album "Lend Me Some Of Your Time" from 1971 is a pleasant exception. Melancholia is the general flavour of the album, sounding not a million miles from Bill Fay's solo output from around the same time. All twelve songs were composed by Brooks who according to the LP liner notes, began writing songs in 1969 as a form of therapy! My person highlights include the cinematic/dramatic "Hush, Hush I'm Dying" with it's killer string arrangement, the album's only (quote, unquote) rocker, "Oh Carol" (not the Neil Sedaka song) and "Wish You Were Here", a poetic number, portraying British seaside imagery. The album tracks "Lend Me Some Of Your Time" b/w "Bluebird" were tapped as singles by Polydor but appear to have sank without trace.

An excellent production job done by KPM session man Ray Cameron with help from Guy Fletcher. Arrangements were made by Guy Fletcher and Keith Roberts (Birds 'N' Brass) and the Engineers were Malcolm Jackson (Rainbow Ffolly) and our old mate John Pantry (Peter & The Wolves/Wolfe) with Doug Flett and Mike King as Co-Ordinators. Session musicians include Mike Morgan and Ken Street (Guitars), Les Hurdle (Bass), Byron Davis and Dougie Wright (Drums).

Brooks followed the album up with one of the great lost pop singles of 1972. "Pictures", a non-LP track, is more upbeat and commercial than anything on his album and has a totally infectious chorus that will have you singing along by your second listen. I absolutely adore the lyrics! The first time I heard it (on the fab Mixed Up Minds Part 4 compilation) I thought it was Peter Noone. The B-side, "On My Own" is also worthy of your attention, another upbeat tune which I'm certain Benny & Bjorn had heard before writing "Mamma Mia". It's a shame Brooks didn't dome back with a follow up album because if this single is anything to go by, he was really hitting his stride and could've had a big hit. Brooks returned to acting after this single flopped.

There is a another review of "Lend Me Some Of Your Time" on the ace Downstairs Lounge blog here and you can also check out the official Ray Brooks website here where you can buy his album on CD for the bargain price of £3.75. What are you waiting for?

Lyrics
Pictures
(R. Brooks)

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon
The fire's alight, it flickers round the room
And you and me just sitting here looking at photographs
Having a laugh

Pictures of Auntie Ivy doing things she'll never do again
With uncle Ben
Pictures of Simon Spaniel in the garden looking his best
Now its where he rests

Pictures of faces that we knew
Pictures of me and lots of you
Faded between the pages of our picture book

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon
Pictures of you brighten up the room
And you and me just sitting here looking at photographs
Having a laugh

Pictures of spotty me with a girl who stole my heart one time
Must have been blind
Pictures of lovely you just the same as you are
That beautiful smile I'd run miles to see

Pictures of places by the sea
Pictures of me stuck up a tree
Faded between the pages of our picture book

Pictures of faces that we knew
Pictures of me and lots of you
Faded between the pages of our picture book