THE HOBBITS – Down to Middle Earth – (Decca) – 1967

Some of you may recollect my comments in "what frank is listening to #100" in relation to Jimmy Curtiss. I said this:

Curtiss was most famous for being the lead singer of the late 60s psych pop / sunshine pop / folk rock  band The Hobbits who put out a series of Tolkien referenced albums ( that alone would normally throw me off … you cant totally trust anyone who reads Tolkien, can you?). He had been a singer prior to that and he returned to the solo world with this one ( and only) obscure solo album. And in listening to it …I must say it has substantial joys.

Allmusic define "sunshine pop" as, "Naturally created in California, sunshine pop was a mid-'60s mainstream pop style typified by rich harmony vocals, lush orchestrations, and relentless good cheer. It was often mildly influenced by psychedelia, but it usually didn't aim to evoke any sort of drug-induced mind expansion; it simply drew from the warm and whimsical sides of psychedelic pop, incorporating production innovations of the time (especially those of Phil Spector and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson). Sunshine pop often resembled the more elaborate and melancholy baroque pop style, though it could also cross into folk-pop or Brill Building pop. The stars of sunshine pop included the Beach Boys (circa Pet Sounds), the Turtles, the Association, and the Mamas & the Papas; other groups to score hits in the style were the Buckinghams, the Grass Roots, and the Left Banke, while certain others — Sagittarius, the Yellow Balloon, the Millennium — became cult favourites years after the fact".

There is a twist here though. Curtiss as writer, singer and co-arranger had , obviously, a lot of input, into the "sound" and his musical pedigree, as well as his East-coast origin, gives the album a distinctive edge. What separates this album from any number of mid-range sunshine pop albums is that Curtiss' roots are in doo-wop and vocal groups of the late 50s as well as the teen vocalists of the early 60s. So though the album is laden with the folk pop harmonies popular in sunshine pop there is also quite a bit of emphasis on the vocalist as a soloist. It's as if Bobby Vee or Bobby Rydell were picked up and dumped into a psych pop band or if Jay and the Americans took acid. And there is nothing wrong with that. I just mention it as it makes the album slightly different to others in the genre.

Q: Do you like it, Frank?

A: Yes, and though the album is very much of its time it's not horribly dated.

I've waxed lyrical about 60s US pop in the past … it's always good on the ears … whether it be Sinatra, Elvis, Del Shannon, Sonny & Cher, or the Beach Boys. This album is no exception. It is pleasant to listen to and there are a couple of stand out songs though it doesn't reach the level of The Beach Boys or The Left Banke albums from the same period. The lyrics, too, are very much of their time (and maybe a smidgen ahead of their time) and thankfully despite a song title or two, none of the lyrics draw any inspiration from Tolkien – or if they do – they are sufficiently obscure to offend me. We would have to wait till the prog rockers of the 1970s to be "inspired" by Tolkien … groan. More importantly the sound is not horribly dated despite pandering to the "in sound" of the time. Also, as I have said above, the emphasis seems to be on vocals, both harmony and solo, rather than instrumentation and studio tricks which would effect some sunshine pop (and all pop rock) after The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" and The Beatles "Sgt Peppers".

Tracks (best in italics)

• Down to Middle Earth – a great song and very much what I have said above – as if Bobby Vee or Lou Christie had  been dumped into a psychedelic dream … very much of it's time … and it reminds me of of some other song I can't put my finger on. Possibly a touch of The Kinks (before the Kinks were doing the same!). I will say that with the flutes and wailing vocal I would have put this a little bit later in time …

• I'm Just a Young Man – a excellent love song steeped in late 60s counter culture values …

                I'm just a young man trying to find someone who will give me peace of mind ….

                Cause I'm searching for something better than what's around…..

                I'm just a young man making the scene

                I got no time for reading girly magazines

• Daffodil Days (The Affection Song) – falsetto, W.C Field impersonations, lyrics about flowers … very weird and almost a novelty song … but it's not alone. A bit like some of the  crazier moments of The Monkees when Michael Nesmith took the lead but weirder still. Excellent stuff. It grows on repeated listening. 

• Break Away – Turtles, Hollies and especially Beach Boys influences abound, but again, beautifully executed and easy on the ears.

• Treats –  a slight garagy number, or a poppier version of the anti drugs song "Kicks".

                Treats 

                Little itty-bitty treats that groove your head

                Treats

                Little itty-bitty treats that you can never buy for bread

• Hands and Knees – a big power ballad with psych pop overtones, some nice keyboard and tasteful, limited strings.

• Let Me Run My Fingers Through Your Mind (Buy Me flowers) – do you reckon this mid tempo ballad is from the late 60s? Take a chance. What do you think?

• Out of My Mind  – MOR meets psych pop.

• Clap Hands 'Til Daddy Comes Home – Curtiss on his solo album had some insightful songs on children in broken (?) families and their relationships with their fathers. Here is another song about a child's relationship with its father … methinks something must have been going on in his personal life.

• Sunny Day Girl – the breeziest song on the album … pure mainstream AM radio sunshine pop, much like The Association. And of course there is nothing wrong with that. The doo be doo wop chorus sounds very much like the bridge in John Sebastian's "Welcome Back Kotter –   written years later. Coincidence?

 And …

Break Away  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJpWfrrnjzo

Let Me Run My Fingers Through Your Mind (buy me flowers)

attached

Sunny Day Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0udeWEXOg&feature=related

Jimmy Curtis most well known song: