One&Done @ A&M: The Wozard of Iz / An Electronic Odyssey -- SP 4156

JOv2

Well-Known Member
  • Comments, questions, conjectures and stories are welcomed.
  • Released in 1968
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Here's the story of how Dorothy split from Canvas City and two authority symbols who turned life off and the television on, and on, and on. Perhaps the Wozard could help her find "where it's at." She met the Scared Crow, a guy trapped in a world of status symbols. Next the In Man, caught up in numbers, statistics and technology to the point he's no longer human. Last came the Lyin' Coward, all talk and no action, but possessing the talent to stir up a crowd. Along the way a bad witch tried to lure her into a cult. There are some beautiful melodies from Mort Garson's then state-of-art synthesizer. Jacques Wilson provided lyrics. Some of the story is incoherent and dated, but after all it was the '60s. Rumors that Nancy Sinatra sang on this were untrue, although the actual vocalist (Suzie Jane Hokum) also had worked with Lee Hazelwood. WOZARD (originally SP 4156) was reissued on CD in 2008 on Cherry Red and again in 2019 on the 'Audio Clarity' label.

JB
 
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Thanks for the info, LPJim!

Unfortunately, this one was not as likable as the The Merchants of Dream LP. Perhaps if this was 1968 and I was 16...(or, more accurately, 1980 and 16); otherwise, I really have no patience for stuff like this these days.
 
Turns out WOZARD wasn't 'one & done' when it came to Garson and his synth on A&M. His next project was ELECTRONIC HAIR PIECES (SP 4209) with some then-innovative takes on the many well known tunes from the musical "Hair." After that came the SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC series (SP 4211-4222) with an LP for each sign. It was a brief stint on the label but quite prolific.

JB
 
Turns out WOZARD wasn't 'one & done' when it came to Garson and his synth on A&M
Yes. Initially, I hesitated with this one, but ultimately listed it as it was a multi-artist effort issued under a group name.
 
I remember trying to order both this Wozard album and the Zodiac one that matched my particular sign, but our warehouse didn’t carry either one.
 
Garson's Astrological series is kind of interesting in that the A-side for each sign is specific to that particular star sign, but the B-side is the same general astrology recording for all 12 LPs.

--Mr Bill
 
Garson must have had a good friend in a very high place at A&M to green light 12 LPs that in toto they'd be lucky to move 100,000 units coast-to-coast. I guess the gimmick was that if you're under 25 you'd buy it for your gf/bf. That side 2 is the same stuff is actually quite funny.
 
If this was the era of Tomita and Switched-On Bach, and the rise in synthesizers in general, someone might have figured these would sell in greater numbers, since it was the "new" thing. It would take a group like Kraftwerk to make it a serious genre.
 
It was also the dawn of the whole "new agey" crystals, incense, sitar music, psychic, Uri Gellar, spoon bending, Alien Engineers, chariots of the gawds, reincarnation, ghosts, spiritualism, shamen/native American awakening, Edgar Cayce, Jean Dixon, Men staring at goats, etc., etc mumbo jumbo... Horoscopes were suddenly HUGE. My mom and my wife's mom (they were best friends) were totally into that stuff and shared their "discoveries" with us...

Mr Bill
 
I seem to own Mort Garson's ELECTRONIC HAIR PIECES SP-4209. Looks like a beat up cover and a white-label promo from a radio station.
 
I have Hair Pieces but not the good Wozard... (and five or six of the astrology LPs)

--Mr Bill
 
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