Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Collectors - The Collectors (1967)


Είναι το δεύτερο post που κάνω για τους Collectors όπου αυτή την φορά έχουμε το ντεμπούτο τους. Ποιοτικότατη ψυχεδέλια από αυτό το Καναδέζικο γκρουπ, με εξαιρετικές αρμονίες και όμορφα φωνητικά. Θα ξεχωρίσω το πανέμορφο She (The Will O'The Wind) από ένα δίσκο που προτείνω ανεπιφύλαχτα να ακούσουν όσοι δεν έτυχε. Όπως έχω γράψει στο παρελθόν, όπου βλέπεται Καναδούς να τους ακούτε. Εκτιμώ πως σαν κράτος ήταν περισσότερο κοντά στην δυτική κουλτούρα, για αυτό και η μουσική τους είναι πιο «περίπλοκη».

Personnel:
BILL HENDERSON gtr, keyb'ds A
CLAIRE LAWRENCE keyb'ds, sax, flute A
GLEN MILLER bs, vcls A
ROSS TURNEY drms A
HOWIE VICKERS vcls A

ALBUMS:
1(A) THE COLLECTORS aka NEW VIBRATIONS FROM CANADA (New Syndrome/Warner Bros WF 1746) 1967 SC
2(A) GRASS AND WILD STRAWBERRIES (New Syndrome/Warner Bros WF 1774) 1968 SC
3(A) SEVENTEENTH SUMMER (Edsel ED 214) 1987-U.K.
NB: (1) and (2) issued on Warner Bros in 1968 and 1969 respectively. (1) and (2) also reissued on CD (Line LECD 9.01009 O) 1991 and (Line LECD 9.01013 O) 1990.

45s:
1 Looking At A Baby/Old Man (New Syndrome 16) 1967 23
2 Fisherwoman/Listen To The Words (New Syndrome 19) 1967 18
3 Fat Bird/Make It Easy (Warner Bros 7159) 1968 99
4 Lydia Purple/She (Will O' The Wind) (Warner Bros 7194) 1968 55
5 Early Morning/My Love Delights Me (Warner Bros 7300) 1969 84
6 I Must Have Been Blind/Beginning Part I (London M 17379) 1970 56
7 Sometimes We're Up/Beginning Part 2 (London M 17383) 1970 63
NB: (1) Also issued on (Valiant V-760) in the U.S.. (2) Also on (Warner Bros 7059) in the U.S.. (7) Also on (London HLU 10304) in the U.K..

This Vancouver, B.C., band formed as the C-Fun Classics in 1961 and set out playing cover versions of current and past hits. Also known as The Classics they soon reverted to their own material and put out two 45s: Ace's High/Comin' Home Baby (Jaguar J 2001) 1963 and Till I Met You/I Didn't Take Much (Jaguar J 2002) 1964. The second of these was picked up by Jerden for national distribution in the U.S. (Jerden 742) 1964. Having appeared as a back-up band to local DJ Fred Latremouille on his 45, Latromotion/Good Lovin' (London M17339), the band travelled to Los Angeles to cut a 45, I Don't Know/Gone Away (Valiant V 723) in 1965 as The Canadian Classics to differentiate them from the other Classics around. The same coupling was issued in Canada on Jaguar 2003. It was only a minor success but helped establish The Classics at a time when other Canadian bands like Sparrow were beginning to attract attention in California. The Classics became known as The Collectors during 1967. Their first 45 was picked up by Valiant and after the follow-up, Fisherwoman, reached No. 15 in the Canadian Hot 100, they travelled to Los Angeles to record their brilliant debut album. One side was given over to the What Love (Suite), an ambitious live 19-minute piece which is at times brilliant and at other times flawed. The other side contained songs like She The Will O'The Wind which had a beautiful flute piece; the more strident Howard Christman's Older which bordered on the menacing; the melodic Lydia Purple and the beautifully haunting One Act Play. What Love was later commissioned as a film soundtrack by the Canadian Film Board and they were also invited to write music for their country's Pavilion at the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, Japan.
Fans of the band should also check out the internet distributed U Spaces: Psychedelic Archaeology Vol. 4 CDR. This includes two tracks by The Collectors originally broadcast on the CBS 'Let's Go - Music Hop' TV show, Ring The Bells and Uncle Wiggley in '67/'68. The band got to lip-sync six numbers, which were recorded prior to transmission - the other four being, Fly Too High, Fat Bird, Curse Of The Universe and Adanac.
(Vernon Joynson/Ben Chaput/John Melbourne/Gert Veltinkby)

Tracks:
1 What is Love? (3:51)
2 She (Will-O-the-Wind) (3:51)
3 Howard Christman’s Older (5:08)
4 Lydia Purple (2:47)
5 One Act Play (3:42)
6 What Love (Suite) (19:06)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Θυμαμαι το ειχα βρει αρχες nineties σε ψιλοαθλια κατασταση (vg+) στον Κοντογουρη.Μου αρεσε το εξωφυλλο και το πηρα.Η πρωτη πλευρα ειναι πραγματικα πολυ καλη.Το ειδος της ψυχεδελειας που προτιμω.Το What Love ομως το χαντακωνει.Πιο βαρετο και το Ελλαδα-Σουηδια...

Εξαφανισμενος εισαι τις τελευταιες μερες.Ενταξει καταλαβαινω λογω δουλειας αλλα προτεινω το εξης:μην "σηκωνεις" albums αλλα μικρα ψυχεδελικα κειμενα.Αυτο ειναι που ξεχωριζει στο blog σου.