Aaaahh, more Gary Lewis … the delete button is marked with an "X" on microsoft outlook … use it if you have any complaints about another Gary Lewis album being commented on but you will miss out on something quite surprising.
Do i have a Gary Lewis fixation … not quite, though I must admit I bought a bundle of his albums cheap and I am getting off on them. Though as I have said in the past, a couple of wines adds to the ambience.
I have said on four occasions in the past: ""Most of his albums were 1/2 originals( some written by him) and 1/2 covers of recent(ish) hits. Regardless, whether original or cover, Lewis seemed to have hit after hit. I suspect cause the records are well recorded, tightly played pop rock with a consistent musical personality throughout all …… Gary had a limited vocal range and was a bit gawky looking – like some sort of uber nerd but what he had was sass and good backing. He does what he does best, allows his voice to be pushed into the background or chorused with backing vocals or a multitude of instruments. The result is a romantic, lush pop rock with lyrics that are very mid 60s California – fun, sun, happy and optimistic"
This "romantic, lush pop rock with lyrics that are very mid 60s California – fun, sun, happy and optimistic" is the Lewis sound.
This all still holds true except here Lewis starts to explore the more cerebral side of the pop he was playing. Yes it does exist. And he is surrounded by arrangements by the legendary Jack Nitzche.
Jack "The Lonely Surfer" Nitzche is a legend: writer ("Needles and Pins"), arranger (for Phil Spector), producer (Neil Young), band member (Crazy Horse), solo act ("Lonely Surfer"), studio musician (piano, sax), soundtrack composer (One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest). A true eccentric – a comrade once commented when I found his "Lonely Surfer" album in an op shop …"I can see why he is lonely".
Nitzche's arrangements are contemporary (1967) and lush without being middle of the road which gives Lewis a dimension that he did not have in his other albums. This is not "out there" music but it is sufficiently bent around the edges to make it more than interesting. Prior to this Lewis was content to mine Beatles invasion type sounds or pre-Beatles 60s pop rock. Here he catches up with the "new" sounds but still maintains an identifiable link to his old style. This I like as any other way and it may be disingenuous.
Lewis writes none of the tracks here but he actually is in some of the best voice I have heard as his voice is actually up front and expressive. The song selections are strong as is the playing, and the album is quite experimental and adventurous for Gary Lewis. Previously Lewis albums were aimed at teens (not that there is anything wrong with that) but here the tracks are aimed at young adults. Accordingly there is more doubt, questions posed, and general melancholia which fits in with 1967 (which is the year before everything got markedly worse).
The album comes close to the sounds of The Association, post "Pet Sounds" Beach Boys, The Grass Roots or a less cabaret Gary Puckett and the Union Gap with the first side leaning towards Sunshine pop/baroque pop whilst side two leans to poppy folk rock.
This album qualifies as a "lost" late sixties soft rock / sunshine pop mini masterpiece made more surprising given where it came from. I kid you not … the album is entirely pleasing and would be more highly regarded if it were from someone else other than Lewis. Critics can be blinded by their prejudices and pre-conceptions and they usually are with Lewis which makes this album overlooked.
Lewis however was only encouraged to experiment if the result was shown in "sales" and neither the album or any singles charted. Subsequent albums I have heard reverted to the old formula.
The Tracks ( the best in italics)
- Jill – Bonner, Gordon – a excellent song in the folk rock (with a touch of the baroque) style. Not surprising perhaps as the writers were otherwise in the folk rock band The Magicians.
- Don't Make Promises – Hardin – Hardin ("If I were a Carpenter") was one of the best of the 60s singer-songwriters. Here they have taken his song and fused it with a backbeat (especially at the start) reminiscent of a mid-60s Gary Lewis tune. And it works.
- She'd Rather Be With Me – Bonner, Gordon – The Turtles hit from 1967 though I'm not sure if Lewis' version was first or not. I say that because the writers supplied four songs for this album which suggests that the song may have been supplied to Lewis first. The trouble is they also wrote four songs for the Turtles around this time. I will let others do the digging into recording dates if they could be bothered, though I think Lewis covered the Turtles. Either way the track is a killer for both Lewis and the Turtles
- Here Comes the Sun – Boylan, Boylan – The Boylan brothers were in The Appletree Theatre who put out one great (apparently) album before falling apart. I commented on a solo album by Terry Boylan (what Frank is listening to #41) which wasn't much chop. Here at least this song is excellent though very much of it's time.
- Happiness – Lehman, Perles – one of the few songs on the album that harkens back to Lewis' old teeny bopper image. Though, even here, the song is not so much a teeny bopper song but rather an ode to the innocence of youth.
- Bring the Whole Family – Boylan, Boylan – another Boylan brothers song … not as good as the earlier one but still catchy and quite trippy … very weird for a Gary Lewis song which makes it a kind of perverse pleasure.
- Reason to Believe – Hardin – One of Hardin's best songs and often covered (Bobby Darin, Rod Stewart). Lewis version is good, but the song is so good it's hard to stuff up. Lewis' version sticks close to Hardin's.
- New Day – Bonner, Gordon – another weird one …
- Small Talk – Bonner, Gordon – channelling the post "Pet Sounds" Beach Boys and why wouldn't you?
- Angel on the Corner- Jacobs – a Lovin Spoonful folk rock type number.
- Six O'clock – Sebastian – a actual Lovin Spoonful number – #18 in 1967 for them. A good version.
- Young and Carefree – Dobyne, Jones – a fitting end to the album. A song of its time and, though optimistic, there is a touch of melancholia in it.
And …
This is one of the best Lewis albums I have heard thus far … I'm a keepin'.
Sounds
Jill
Don't Make Promises
attached
She'd Rather Be With Me
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Happiness
Small Talk
attached
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Young and Carefree
attached
Review
Website
Bio
Jack Nitzche
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(originally posted: 08/03/2010)
