One&Done @ A&M: The Merchants of Dream / Strange Night Voyage -- SP 4149

[JOv2]

• Comments, questions, conjectures and stories are welcomed.
• Recorded in 1968

 

[LPJim]

Cherry Red Records reissued this album on CD in 2011 (TUNE IN 006). J.F. (Jack) Murphy wrote the songs and was discovered by a college classmate, Vinny Testa. Vinny worked with G. Shadow Morton, an established producer of acts such as the Shangri-Las, Janis Ian and Vanilla Fudge. Morton's connections got the band signed to A&M. Despite a review in 'Time' magazine the album was not a commercial success. "Dorothy the Fairy Queen/ Sing Me Life" did not chart as a single either. Murphy later recorded with 'J.F. Murphy & Salt,' later known as 'Free Flowing Salt' and later developed shows for Broadway. The liner notes said the Peter Pan theme drew parallels between the quest for perpetual childhood and the late '60s generation gap and anti-war movement.

Besides Murphy other band members were: John Bumgardner (vocals), David Bumgardner (lead guitar), John Pizar (bass), Bobby Musac (drums) and Jeff Druck (lead guitar).

JB

 

[JOv2]

Thanks, LPJim, for the background info. I listened to the LP tonight for the first time.



I have to say, overall it's decent -- something I probably would have all the more picked up back in the '90s or '00s. Now, however, I'm a bit more discerning with these post-Pepper excursions. To my ears, the only notable weak link are the vocals (particularly when they go into "Association" mode -- and these guys ain't The Association) and the orchestrations, which sound like they came from a Broadway-influenced 9-to-5er.

I guess this is A&M's first "psychedelic" LP. Though, it sounds more like someone trying to make music that captures the sonic spirit of the late '66--early '68 psychedelic fad. By '69 this stuff was already dated.

 

[AM Matt]

I think this album might have been on the late Neil Bogart's Buddah Records label!!

 

[Mr Bill]

I've never heard this and have only seen one copy (a used one for $45, which was beyond my gamble/risk ratio at the time for an unheard product -- it never appeared on any A&M samplers, a common condition for many artists in this era).

So this YouTube posting is the first time I've heard it. I quite enjoyed it and I must say it sounded EXACTLY as I suspected it would sound. The comparison to The Association is pretty spot on -- to me it's like what The Association would've sounded like if David Bowie (old David Bowie) was a member... I guess I have to seek out that CD reissue or find a vinyl copy eventually.... but I still won't pay $45 for it!

--Mr Bill

 

[JOv2]

it's like what The Association would've sounded like if David Bowie (old David Bowie) was a member...

Good analogy. By mid-'68 the vocal pop groups were in a quandary: become more guitar-centeric to stay relevant -- or else! For a bried spell "else" included giving the psychedelic approach a go; but, as luck would have it, for the most part those lavish production concept LPs came and went quite fast and therefore provided no sustainable musical future. As for The Association, like most self-sustaining bands, by 1969 they had scaled back the production and their self-titled '69 release (normally recognized as their best effort) is a good compromise (not unlike what The Beatles had done with their "White Album").