Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Misunderstood - Before The Dream Faded




Από τις ελάχιστες φορές που τα χρόνια εκείνα Ελληνική εταιρεία δίσκων αιφνιδίαζε τους πάντες αφού αποφάσιζε να κάνει ανατύπωση ξεχασμένο δίσκο και συγκρότημα. Έτσι έγινε και με τους Καλιφορνέζους Misunderstood που κινήθηκαν με απόλυτη επιτυχία στην ψυχεδέλια αλλά και στο garage. Είναι ένας τέλειος δίσκος που εκτιμώ ότι όλοι οι συμπατριώτες μας θα βρήκαν τότε μία κόπια της Cherry Red (συμφερόντων Music Box). Αρκετές και καλές πληροφορίες για το γκρουπ υπάρχουν παρακάτω από το κλασικό πλέον βιβλίο.

Θα ξεχωρίσω το I Can Take You to the Sun

I rise in the morning, with an open mind,
with guitar and song I drift, the Sun is what I find
Because love I am as you are love
and I never stop to doubt
As I seen the meaning of the word
that glows within not out
I rise in the morning, beneath an open sky,
with guitar and song I drift, and never stop to cry
Because love I am as you are love
and I never stop to doubt
As I seen the meaning of the word
which glows within not out
Well I speak of love but you do not see
cause words are words and they mean nothing more
with half a mind you laugh at me
cause I speak of colours you’ve never seen before
You’ve existed in a lie, that will some day show
I can take you to the Sun, to the Sun,
but you don’t want to go

Αλλά και το Children of The Sun

Let go lovely children
Close your eyes and drift away
When you wake again tomorrow
You'll be born again to stay
Thus the word of love has spoken
You've joined the children of the Sun
You've joined the children of the Sun
Relax yourselves and drift
Into the regons of your mind
As understanding glows before you
All thats left of you is kind
Thus the word of love has spoken
You've joined the children of the Sun
You've joined the children of the Sun


Personnel:

RICK BROWN vcls A
GLENN CAMPBELL steel gtr A B
TONY HILL gtr A
RICK MOE drms A
GREG TREADWAY gtr A
STEVE WHITING bs A
GUY EVANS drms B
STEVE HOARD vcls B
NEIL HUBBARD gtr B
CHRIS MERCER sax B
DAVY O'LIST gtr B
NIC POTTER bs B

ALBUMS:
1(A) BEFORE THE DREAM FADED (Cherry Red BRED 32) 1982
2(B) GOLDEN GLASS (Time Stood Still TSS LP 1) 1984
NB: (1) reissued on CD (Cherry Red CD BRED 32) 1992 and again (Cherry Red BRED 32) 1996. Fans of the band will also be interested in The Legendary Goldstar Album (Cherry Red CDBRED 142) 1997. This double CD package contains all the material featured on (2) plus previously unreleased material recorded at Gold Star in 1966. Only two of these 1966 cuts have surfaced before on the 'B' side to Golden Glass 12" single. however, to confuse matters further, (2) has also been reissued on CD in Italy (Get Back GET 4) 1996, also with the two 12" tracks recorded at Gold Star.
EP:

1 GOLDEN GLASS (Cherry Red 2 THYME 1) 1984
NB: (1) contains Golden Glass plus two tracks recorded at Gold Star studios in 1966: Shake Your Money Maker/I'm Not Talking.

45s:
1 I Can Take You To The Sun/Who Do You Love? (Fontana TF 777) 1966
2 Children Of The Sun/I Unseen (Fontana TF 998) 1968
3 You're Tuff Enough/Little Red Rooster (Fontana TF 1028) 1969
4 Never Had A Girl (Like You Before)/Golden Glass (Fontana TF 1041) 1969

Reissue 45:
5 Children Of The Sun/Who Do You Love?/I Can Take You To The Sun (PS) (Cherry Red CHERRY 22) 1981
NB: (3) & (4) as Misunderstood featuring Glenn 'Fernando' Campbell.

Something of an anachronism, in that they originated in California but recorded in London, The Misunderstood have two claims to fame: they were managed for a while by John Peel and recorded two of the best singles of the psychedelic era:- I Can Take You To The Sun and Children Of The Sun. Both contain some excellent guitar riffs and are sought-after by collectors. Both were recorded at the same time but the second was issued belatedly. The group started out in Riverside, California, when Treadway, Moe and Phelps (lead gtr) formed their own surfing group, The Blue Notes, changing their name to The Misunderstood in 1965 by which time Brown and Whiting had been added to their line-up. Then, having recruited Campbell from another surfing band, The Goldstones, as a replacement for Phelps, who left the band, they had cut two blues tracks, Jimmy Reed's You Don't Have To Go and Howlin' Wolf's Who's Been Talkin' as a single. These can now be heard on Before The Dream Faded, Cherry Red's 1982 release of the group's earlier material. After seeing them play a gig at the opening of a shopping centre in Riverside, John Peel (then known as Ravenscroft) realised their potential and acted as their manager. The band soon developed a mind-blowing stage act. Treadway was soon called home to be drafted and was replaced by Tony Hill, but when Moe, too, was drafted the band began to fall apart.

However, the six songs they recorded here in England (now contained on side one of Before The Dream Faded) captured the band at their creative zenith. Musically they predated Pink Floyd by several months and had the whole band not been eventually deported back to the States, they could well have attained similar status.
Campbell reformed the band in 1969 with an entirely different line-up which recorded two Rhythm and Blues influenced singles, You're Tuff Enough and Never Had A Girl (Like You Before). These were not as good as the first two singles although they do now fetch similar prices. When they collapsed, Campbell formed Juicy Lucy, with other members of this group, who reached No 14 in the UK Charts in March 1970 with Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love?. Tony Hill later joined High Tide.
However, the indications of a psychedelic revival in 1981 saw Cherry Red records reissue an EP of the band's finest songs and Rick Brown and Glenn Campbell form an Eastern-influenced hard rock outfit called The Influence. In 1982 they recorded a one-sided flexidisc, You're My Girl (Bucketfull Of Brains BOB 2), which appeared with the excellent 'Bucketfull Of Brains' magazine.
The Golden Glass EP contains material by the second line-up on the 'A' side. By then the band had veered towards blues-based progressive music. On the flip are two tracks by the earlier 1966 line-up:- Shake Your Money Maker and I'm Not Talkin', recorded at the legendary Gold Star studios. Other material recorded at these sessions was thought to have been lost, however in 1998, The Legendary Goldstar Album appeared, which combined the later Golden Glass album with these earlier 1966 cuts. Of these, I'm Not Talkin remains the highlight, with a splendid feedback freakout section.

The Golden Glass album contains material by line-up (B), including both sides of their two singles, You're Tuff Enough and Never Had A Girl Like You Before. The remaining four tracks were a cover of the Spencer Davis Group hit Keep On Running, Freedom, I'm Cruising and the Little Richard Okeh track I Don't Want To Discuss It, which is ladened with feedback. This isn't for psych heads but many appeal to progressive fans who are into long, bluesy guitar solos.
We've also recently heard that Cherry Red have released a CD of post-Misunderstood recordings, from the 1980s, which includes the re-working of many of their classic tracks.
Compilation coverage has included:- Children Of The Sun on Chocolate Soup For Diabetics, Vol. 1 (LP); Golden Glass on Rubble Vol. 4: 49 Minute Technicolour Dream; Never Had A Girl Like You Before (45 version) on Rubble Vol. 1: The Psychedelic Snarl (LP) and Rubble Vol. 1 (CD). In addition a live track recorded by Line-up 'B' Bad Hat, has also resurfaced on Turds On A Bum Ride, Vol. 4 (CD).

Tracks:

Side 1
1 Children of the Sun Hill 2:51
2 My Mind 2:34
3 Who Do You Love? 2:26
4 I Unseen Hill 2:01
5 Find a Hidden Door 2:16
6 I Can Take You to the Sun Brown 3:38

Side 1
1 I'm Not Talking 2:25
2 Who's Been Talking? Burnett 2:57
3 I Need Your Love 3:20
4 You Don't Have to Go Out Reed 4:43
5 I Cried My Eyes Out 2:39
6 Like I Do 2:51
7 You've Got Me Crying Over Love 2:22

5 comments:

JeanBernardFrance said...

a great album by a great group.Thanks for this post just 10 days after another important post of Pablo"link coming soon"Cazorla;"lost acetates"the great work of Mike Stax on the Misunderstood.

BBA Zizou France said...

Guys who are missing this EXTRAORDINARY ALBUM are crazy. One of my top 10 of the Pscychedilic Rock ......

BBA Zizou France

bobbysu said...

thank you very much

dimitris said...

ΑΡΙΣΤΟΥΡΓΗΜΑ ΜΕ ΟΛΗ ΤΗΝ ΣΗΜΑΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΛΕΞΗΣ!!!

dimitris said...

I CAN TAKE YOU TO THE SUN!!!
ΤΙ ΔΙΣΚΟΣ ΘΕΕ ΜΟΥ!!!
ΜΠΡΑΒΟ ΦΙΛΕ ΜΟΥ!!