seashorepiano
Active Member
I like the song "What's Your Name" from Richard Barbary's Soul Machine.
Your Favorite Obscure A&M Artists!
- Thread starter Dave
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Dave
Well-Known Member
How 'bout Shango?? One good album--plus two songs on a non-LP single--on A&M, before putting out an OK album, Trampin', on ABC/Dunhill, then one member of the group, Tommy Reynolds, joining forces with Joe Frank Carollo and the late-Danny Hamilton...
My aunt recorded a Nature Documentary on a Super-8 movie camera, which featured a few songs from SP 4195, and I remember her playing the album in my grandparents' Sunroom and "A Taste Of Honey" playing while we were fixing dinner...
The one song I do like on Trampin', "Blue One, Blue Two", has about the same melody as "Day After Day (It's Slipping Away)", from the first album: ...Morning coffee's cold, orange juice is hot...burned my fingers pouring tea from the tea pot...
Dave
My aunt recorded a Nature Documentary on a Super-8 movie camera, which featured a few songs from SP 4195, and I remember her playing the album in my grandparents' Sunroom and "A Taste Of Honey" playing while we were fixing dinner...
The one song I do like on Trampin', "Blue One, Blue Two", has about the same melody as "Day After Day (It's Slipping Away)", from the first album: ...Morning coffee's cold, orange juice is hot...burned my fingers pouring tea from the tea pot...
Dave
seashorepiano
Active Member
I saw the non-LP single in a store a few weeks back but didn't get it. I know nothing about them.
My two favorite "obscure" A&M groups are:
1. PUNCH - Released one A&M lp (SP4307) in 1971 and had a minor hit with the song "Fallin' Lady" from that album. Great songwriting by leader Charles Merriam; great vocal arrangements and production by Bones Howe.
2. THE CHURLS - Rock group from Canada; released their debut lp on A&M (SP-4169) around 1969. Great garage-psych group with excellent songwriting. I am convinced their song "Where Will You Be Tomorrow" would have been huge if the Rolling Stones covered it. For that matter, maybe someone should cover it today. It could be massive!
Bobby Vox
bobbyvox.com
1. PUNCH - Released one A&M lp (SP4307) in 1971 and had a minor hit with the song "Fallin' Lady" from that album. Great songwriting by leader Charles Merriam; great vocal arrangements and production by Bones Howe.
2. THE CHURLS - Rock group from Canada; released their debut lp on A&M (SP-4169) around 1969. Great garage-psych group with excellent songwriting. I am convinced their song "Where Will You Be Tomorrow" would have been huge if the Rolling Stones covered it. For that matter, maybe someone should cover it today. It could be massive!
Bobby Vox
bobbyvox.com
Dave
Well-Known Member
How 'bout that Junior's Eyes, whose A&M LP, Junior's Eyes (SP 4189) was issued between Burt Bacharach's Make It Easy On Yourself (SP 4188) and Warm by Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass (SP 4190)...!! Which to me, is a rather funny place for it to be...! 
I had both the Imported CD Reissue of the original album (which also had new liner notes) as well as the Imported CD Reissue, which included Bonus Material: 45's, (which were issued by Island Records in the UK) Demo's, Alternate Versions of some of the songs and completely Unreleased Tracks...! The original A&M vinyl, I'm sure I saw a couple of times and it is increasingly difficult to find...!!
And those hooks on those songs really gave way to later-Heavy Metal/Death Metal/Thrash Metal/Gothic or "Goth" groups like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Mötley Crüe... :scared:
Dave
...who, falling asleep during the 2nd Reissue of the CD, caused me to have a dream about a trumpet factory, cranking out ONE TRUMPET, AFTER ANOTHER! (Like on a certain cover of an obscure, possibly foreign, Herb Alpert & TjB Greatest Hits compilation) HERB ALPERT and This Band were in it!!
Yes, it was during "Mr. Golden Trumpet Player"; and it was playing loud enough for me to hear it, too!!
I had both the Imported CD Reissue of the original album (which also had new liner notes) as well as the Imported CD Reissue, which included Bonus Material: 45's, (which were issued by Island Records in the UK) Demo's, Alternate Versions of some of the songs and completely Unreleased Tracks...! The original A&M vinyl, I'm sure I saw a couple of times and it is increasingly difficult to find...!!
And those hooks on those songs really gave way to later-Heavy Metal/Death Metal/Thrash Metal/Gothic or "Goth" groups like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Mötley Crüe... :scared:
Dave
...who, falling asleep during the 2nd Reissue of the CD, caused me to have a dream about a trumpet factory, cranking out ONE TRUMPET, AFTER ANOTHER! (Like on a certain cover of an obscure, possibly foreign, Herb Alpert & TjB Greatest Hits compilation) HERB ALPERT and This Band were in it!!
Yes, it was during "Mr. Golden Trumpet Player"; and it was playing loud enough for me to hear it, too!! 
My admiration for the Enz was such that I drove to Louisville, KY, last Feb. to attend an in-store performance by the Finn Brothers, who have added new songs to their collection of Enz/House classics.
I don't consider Sandpipers, Lee Michaels, Phil Ochs, Pete Jolly or Paul Winter obscure because they all have more than one well-known (if not high charted) LP.
Spirits & Worm (SP 4229) is definitely obscure and became a rare collector's item when it was allegedly pulled from distibution because of "satanic" cover art. There's also UNDER MILKWOOD (SP 4226) by Milkwood, which didn't get released because of legal difficulties. Another 'Milkwood' existed at the time.
Perhaps the most obscure was THIS IS OUR TIME (SP 4231) by Children of God, from which only one single, the title cut with "Fallen Angel" (# 1052) got released. The Children were actually a religious cult which Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer once joined mid-tour -- creating quite a crisis as you'd imagine. That album was produced by a Mr. Marty Pekar of Greenwich Village, NY, a "Goldmine" magazine advertizer known for his "Steal-A-Record Auction." He told me about the LP's non-release many years ago when I bought some 45s from him and he'd seen SP 4231 on my wantlist.
There's also the missing BRYNDLE album (SP 4278) where conflicting reports exist. One says the finished tapes were stolen and lost; another that they exist but the band was dissatisfied with the final product and agreed not to release it. Who knows?
JB
I don't consider Sandpipers, Lee Michaels, Phil Ochs, Pete Jolly or Paul Winter obscure because they all have more than one well-known (if not high charted) LP.
Spirits & Worm (SP 4229) is definitely obscure and became a rare collector's item when it was allegedly pulled from distibution because of "satanic" cover art. There's also UNDER MILKWOOD (SP 4226) by Milkwood, which didn't get released because of legal difficulties. Another 'Milkwood' existed at the time.
Perhaps the most obscure was THIS IS OUR TIME (SP 4231) by Children of God, from which only one single, the title cut with "Fallen Angel" (# 1052) got released. The Children were actually a religious cult which Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer once joined mid-tour -- creating quite a crisis as you'd imagine. That album was produced by a Mr. Marty Pekar of Greenwich Village, NY, a "Goldmine" magazine advertizer known for his "Steal-A-Record Auction." He told me about the LP's non-release many years ago when I bought some 45s from him and he'd seen SP 4231 on my wantlist.
There's also the missing BRYNDLE album (SP 4278) where conflicting reports exist. One says the finished tapes were stolen and lost; another that they exist but the band was dissatisfied with the final product and agreed not to release it. Who knows?
JB
Dave
Well-Known Member
LPJim said:
I really read that the tapes were stolen--least from what I saw at each members' website; then again, if the CD they finally released years later was totally different than what would have been the original album, then... Well, who knows?
Tramline is another group, I'd call obscure--right along with the remake of "Rock 'N' Roll Woman", by the more recognized and acclaimed, world-reknown Buffalo Springfield...
And so far, I don't think anyone's mentioned Seemon & Marijke's Son Of America--not since it was our Album-Of-The-Week, a while back...
Dave
...A&M Obscurities!
Keep 'Em Comin'...!! :goofygrin:- Status
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