Friday, June 20, 2008

H.M.S. Bounty – Things (1968)



Personnel:
BILL DODD gtr A
MERRELL FANKHAUSER gtr, vcls A
JACK JORDAN bs A
LARRY MEYERS perc A

ALBUM:
1(A) THINGS (Shamley SS 701) 1968
NB: (1) reissued on Time Stood Still (TSSLP2) 1985, and CD (Afterglow 015) 1995. Sundazed have also reissued the album on CD with extra tracks.

45s:
1 Things/Rich Man's Fable (Shamley 44006) 1968
2 I'm Flying Home/Girl (I'm Waiting For You) (Shamley 44008) 1969

This brief Fankhauser project was based in Los Angeles in 1968, after he and Dodd had earlier played with Fapardokly. In their time, H.M.S. Bounty often opened for Canned Heat, Electric Flag and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. They split in early 1969 when Meyers and Dodd left.
This album, which was reissued in 1985 by Cherry Red's subsidiary Time Stood Still, is a melodic amalgam of both folk and acid rock. The latter being represented by the paranoid Lost In The City and Drivin' Sideways (On A One Way Street) with the vocalist recounting a bad trip, and mystical numbers like Madame Silky and A Visit Wlth Ashiya. The album is full of hooks, harmonies and sound effects that were typical of the period. The re-issue includes an additional track, I'm Flying Home - the 'B' side from a 1969 45.
Fankhauser went on to form Mu, who also included Jeff Cotton, formerly of Captain Beefheart.
Fankhauser was one of the more interesting rock figures to emerge from Los Angeles in the sixties. Moving to the West Coast from his birthplace of Louisville, Kentucky, he played with surfing outfits like The Sentinels and The Impacts (with Jack Jordan) and later with (Merrell and) The Exiles, prior to forming Fapardokly. Mu spent much of their time in Maui, Hawaii and were a pretty weird bunch. Fankhauser has also cut solo albums in 1976, 1983, and 1985, which are well worth investigation.
Fankhauser suffered a heart attack following a concert appearance in Pismo Beach, California in 1987 and for a while it was touch and go, but he did fully recover.
Compilation appearances have included: Things (Goin' Round In My Mind) and A Visit With Ashiya on Baubles - Down To Middle Earth (LP).

Tracks:
1. Things (Goin' Round In My Mind)
2. Girl (I'm Waiting For You)
3. What Does She See In You
4. Lost In The City
5. Your Painted Lives
6. Drivin' Sideways (On A One Way Street)
7. In A Minute Not Too Soon
8. A Visit With Ashiya
9. The Big Gray Sky
10. Rich Man's Fable
11. Ice Cube Island
12. Madame Silky
13. I'm Flying Home
14. Everybody's Talkin'
15. Tampa Run

2 comments:

psychedelic love said...

Πολύ καλό άλμπουμ.Αν και θα περίμενα να βάλεις πρώτα το Fapardokly και μετά τους H.M.S. Bounty λόγω χρονολογικής σειράς δράσης του μεγάλου παίκτη Merrell Fankhauser.Για μένα το άλμπουμ των Fapardokly είναι πιο καλό αλλά και αυτό είναι μια χαρά.

Anonymous said...

Super album. Many thankx.