I have commented on Boyce & Hart before check out the earlier entry for biographical detail.
This was their third album in three years. Their second album was impressive given the demands of coming up with another album of songs a year after their first album.
I mused on the harsh nature of the pop music world that requires songs to be churned out rather than inspired at leisure which causes a lot of second albums to fail.
Boyce & Hart overcame that and here are required to produce another twelve songs a year later.
They do.
And with the same consistency.
Part of this can be put down to the fact that they were professional songwriters so are well used to writing to a deadline / for a specific act or just for money.
Partly they can achieve the same because they had their specific pop sound down perfectly on the first album. With the second they just focussed on it and here it is just more of the same.
And, partly they can do this by introducing covers (done in their style) to pad out the album …and there is nothing wrong with that
The pop landscape was changing however. They have made concessions to newer sounds (some fuzz, some psych and a lot of southern gospel) but the basic sound remains the same. There are some experimental overtones which was acceptable in 1969, even for a mainstream act … you wouldn't get it nowadays.
The biggest influence (especially on the first side) seems to be Southern flavoured rock and gospel ala The Band, Dr John, Delaney & Bonnie, Dr John, The Allman Brothers Band, all who were emerging circa 1968-1969 as well as the gospel interludes of the 1968 Elvis Comeback Special filmed in California and released on LP in 1968.
This is, on first blush, an odd sound for a couple of Californians … though they weren't really Californians. They were transplanted . Bobby Hart was from Arizona (and his father was a church minister) and Tommy Boyce was from Virginia. They were also both turning thirty in 1969 so, perhaps, they were looking for something less pop and saw what was gaining popularity (especially with the critics) and it just happened to form part of their musical memory.
The second side seems to concentrate on adding psych to their pop sound which was a more natural progression though it certainly is BIG … which can probably be credited to the arranger, the great Jimmy Haskell.
I suspect the sound was too different for their established fans and others would have stayed away, still associating them with pop (and the Monkees) ….the old story of "too hip for the straights and too straight for the hips", so, the album sank.
Boyce & Hart went into decline until they hooked up with two Monkees in the mid-70s for Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart.
All songs written and produced, unless otherwise indicated, by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart.
Tracks (best in italics)
Side One
- Prelude – this has a revival feeling and opens as a, err "prelude" of what to come …
- Change – this has a Southern gospel feel, like something Delaney & Bonnie would do. It is odd that it appears here
- Maybe Somebody Heard – more gospel flavoured west coast counter culture …striking cosmic chords and peace love and understanding. I'm not sure where this came from but it is enjoyable.
- It's All Happening On The Inside – this has gospel and fuzz psych and it is a winner
- Abracadabra – (Billy Lewis, John Gallie, Louie Shelton) – not sure of how the song came about but the authors are session musicians who regularly played for the Monkees (and I assume Boyce & Hart) …so they wrote a song and plugged it. It's a funky instrumental.
- Jumping Jack Flash – (Keith Richards, Mick Jagger) – the Rolling Stones single from 1968 (#3US, #1UK). The menace from the original is gone, but this isn't too bad because it is different (psych fuzz) rather than a copy of the original. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpin%27_Jack_Flash
Side Two
- We're All Going To The Same Place – some trippy pop in a slightly baroque sound with familiar late 60s lyrics …check the song title again.
- Strawberry Girl – a Monkees type song as if done by a garage band.
- Thanks For Sunday – big psych and quite endearing.
- My Baby Loves Sad Songs – a country hoot song with some hip asides …much like Lee Hazlewood of the time.
- Standing In The Shadows Of Love – (Holland-Dozier-Holland) – the Four Tops soul and pop hit from 1967 (#6US, #6UK) is given a heavy psych treatment here (much like Vanilla Fudge). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_in_the_Shadows_of_Love
- Alice Long – apparently this was a hit in some parts of the world (you can do the googling and research). I'm not sure who Alice Long was though she is mentioned on the liner notes as a member of the Congregation Sound who sing on this album (and I suspect on this song). This is pure pop in The Hollies mould.
And …
This is the least regarded album of the three Boyce & Hart albums but it has many good (and great) moments. A vastly underrated album ripe for discovery. I love it … I'm keeping it.
Chart Action
US
Singles
1968 Alice Long (You're Still My Favorite Girlfriend) #27
1968 We're All Going to the Same Place #123
Album
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England
—
Sounds
It's All Happening On The Inside
mp3 attached
Jumping Jack Flash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCRG3GR6bkE
We're All Going To The Same Place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqeLzPTxGU
My Baby Loves Sad Songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3vzA1Vk-S0
Standing In The Shadows Of Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sX429_mDtE
Alice Long
Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdGPrkQfP2M
Others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfnlBXLHd08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs2OuGGsLXY
Review
https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-all-happening-on-the-inside-mw0001879383
Bio
http://www.forgottenhits.com/the_music_of_tommy_boyce_and_bobby_hart
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/boyce-hart-mn0000095455/biography
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-11-26/news/mn-1559_1_tommy-boyce
interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzNUAbuvwBY
Website
http://www.officialboyceandhart.com/
https://www.facebook.com/boyceandhart/
Trivia
- It's all very well played with Billy Lewis on drums, Louie Shelton on guitar, John Gallie on keyboards and Joe Osborn on bass (I'm not sure why he isn't pictured, perhaps because he was more of a session guitarist with The Wrecking Crew).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Shelton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Osborn
