And speaking, as we were yesterday, of a couple of guys in Argent, I had forgotten how utterly gorgeous this song from their eponymous debut album is.
Seriously -- that could have been on a Zombies album. Spinetinglingly good.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
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8 comments:
Steve,
I agree - the track is gorgeous and the album from which it comes, which you first recommended a couple of years ago, is seriously underrated. There's a lot of hauntingly good (the Zombies' trademark?) music on it. It would be nice if some enterprising North American label out there reissued it on CD and told its story more fully (it is out in the U.K. as part of two-fer with their RING OF HANDS release).
J. Lag
I still love that first Argent album and feel that they never quite equaled it with their later releases.
I love Rod Ballard's tunes and only recently heard Argent's "Liar" but afraid to say 3 Dog Night completely own that one. "Since You Been Gone" in the Head East version is a good Russ tune as well.
Definite Zombies vibe - Argent's keyboard sound is like his in the Zombies and Ballard's (I assume it's Ballard) vocals are reminiscent of C. Blunstone's.
Nice toon.
"Schoolgirl" was the flip side of Liar. Their debut 45 was a very strong one albeit unsuccessful. Such an injustice and disgrace.
As far as Argent goes, IMO, it's steadily downhill from the first LP despite the later hits.
Sandy bought this record (along with Quicksilver's "Shady Grove" and The Beatles "Kum Back") as a Christmas present for me in 1969. I cherish it. We saw them at the Whisky the following year behind this album.
Also saw them in 1972 when they opened for Jeff Beck with Foghat. Rod Argent had a pretty good sized hole in the crotch of his pants. I informed him of this after the show, much to his embarrassment. It was a fun concert. Beck was transitioning from Jeff Beck Group to Beck Bogert & Appice. Line-up was Beck, Bogert, Appice, Middleton, Tench. Argent was a welcome interlude twixt Foghat & Beck.
Concurrently, my boss from the Wildcat got me, Sandy and another girl adjoining suites at the Farmer's Daughter for a month to use as we wished. No strings attached. Consequently, we spent nearly all of our time in Hollywood during the last month of summer vacation, which is when the above concert took place. Good times.
VR
Mirror...the audience that always smiles back.
VR, boy I thought it was fun growing up in and later near New Haven, CT.
You had the Whiskey and more, I had FIllmore East and Oakdale Theater.
Our Artists/Bands list might be close, I get the feeling that your geo proximity let you see more than me.
I had Woodstock but I'm guessing that you had Monteray.
I had the Morrison, pants concert but I'm thinking it pales.
Enjoy your posts,
rob
Very "Time Of the Season"-ish opening on this one. Could be one of Ballard's best vocals, too.
"Remember, when you were a schoolgirl, those holidays when I showed you what I had. Remember, when your mother caught us there, my father kept me in for being bad."
Stupid parents, always ruining innocent moments. Mine never did that, thank god.
rob: re: shows and stuff - I got around. I had friends and relatives in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Hawthorne, Fresno, Anaheim. I lived in Berdoo but didn't limit myself to that area. I was driving my dad's cars around at 13. Mainly his black 1966 2+2 with four on the floor, but sometimes the Baja Bug or Ranchero. When cars weren't available, me and Sandy hitched. We each carried switchblades/stilettos in case someone got weird in an unwanted way.
While you were at Woodstock, we were going to Blind Faith shows. Admittedly, they were kinda disappointing, but no one could have lived up to the hype. Still great shows due to Delaney & Bonnie & Free being the openers. The Forum was sorta fucked because the LAPD and hippies were going at it and the house wasn't dimming the lights. Lots of arrests. Santa Barbara was more mellow.
My piano teacher, who thankfully left his blabbermouth bitch of a wife at home, took me to Huntington Beach where we saw the Charles Lloyd Quartet that same weekend. Keith Jarrett fascinated us. Diane Hildebrand opened. We took the long way home. We stopped for coffee and eats at the Harbor House Cafe. I toyed with him the whole time:-)
Re: Monterey - We didn't go the first night because we wanted to attend a local show that featured The Light and the House of DBS. After that, we consumed half a rack of whites and pulled an all-nighter driving to the Bay Area.
The guy I was with was a senior in high school. His dad owned a mortuary. We drove up in a 1967 black Cadillac Hearse with Sandy and another guy rolling around in the back. I always had coconut oil in my purse. I used it on my guy so that he could fully appreciate my manual dexterity. I was obscenely young and that's all I would do for him at that stage.
So we were there at Monterey for the Saturday and Sunday shows. People were passing acid around like candy. And little girls do love candy. We goofed on some of the dudes there who had fucking obvious long-haired wigs on.
We skipped the early show on Sunday because none of us cared about that Ravi Shankar bullshit. Far as we were concerned, that irritating noodling was for phonies. Instead, we drove down to the local Fisherman's Wharf and gorged on some much needed quality food. Chased with Monterey Purple.
The guys from The Light also drove up for Monterey. In fact, one of them got a piece of Hendrix's guitar when he sacrificed it. Hendrix switched guitars for that last number. Guess he didn't want to bust up numero uno.
Re: Doors - I saw the Doors 36 times, mostly during 1966-1967. The first time I saw them, they were opening for The Count Five. Saw 'em play with The Enemys and The Groupies a bunch of times too. And, speaking of The Light, I saw them open for the Doors at The Kaiser Dome in Berdoo on July the 4th 1967. That was a fuckin' groovy show. Sandy and me got our hands on some tuinals so everything was smooth and loose. Jimbo looked and carried himself like a dream.
VR
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