October 1999 Back Issue |
||
| Ever Heard Of . . . Obscure Band Feature This Month: Opal Butterfly Golden Nugget The Beatles Picture
This . . . Classic
Album Review Lyrics, Quirks & |
|
|
October 1999 Back Issue |
||
| Ever Heard Of . . . Obscure Band Feature This Month: Opal Butterfly Golden Nugget The Beatles Picture
This . . . Classic
Album Review Lyrics, Quirks & |
|
|
Ever Heard Of . . . Opal Butterfly  |
|
 Opal Butterfly was formed in London in late 1967 after the five members quit their 9 to 5 jobs (ranging anywhere
from restaurant manager to engineer to antique dealer). The financial banking of a wealthy
banker allowed the group to spend the first six months of 1968 doing nothing but rehearsing.Opal Butterfly's first single was released in mid 1968 and was a cover of The Cowsills song "Beautiful Beige". Their psychedelic twist to the song at the height of flower power psychedelia failed to generate any real sales or popularity, even though the group toured the British club circuit relentlessly. Their second single was also a re-make, this time using the established and proven songwriting skills of Pete Townshend. The band decided to cover "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand" and released an up-tempo version of the song in early 1969. This second release also generated little in terms of sales. A number of personnel changes followed in late ‘69 (including a guy named Lemmy who joined them for a brief period - yes, the same Lemmy who would be a member of Hawkwind and later form Motorhead). In early 1970 the group released their final single, a self-penned number titled "Groupie Girl". The song was used in a movie and soundtrack of the same name released in mid 1970 that featured the group. Opal Butterfly continued touring for the remainder of 1970, but with no record contract, decided to call it a day. Opal Butterfly...Ever heard of 'em? |
|
| Original Line-Up: Tom Doherty - Simon King - Allan Love - Robby Milne - Richard Bardey |
|
|
|
| Golden Nugget |
|
 The Doors "Break On Through" b/w "End of the Night" US release of first
single 1967 Elektra |
 The Doors EP "Break On Through" "Alabama Song" "Back Door Man" "End Of The Night" French release 1967 Vogue Records Estimated value: £100, $155 US |
| The Beatles Release Their First Record - Liverpool, October 5, 1962 | Subscribe |
|
|
 After
endless months of playing live in Germany and most recently at The Cavern Club, young
Liverpool music group The Beatles have released their first record titled "Love Me
Do" b/w "P.S. I Love You". The group went into the recording studio to
record the two original compositions in September.
Persistence has certainly paid off for the quartet as their manager Brian Epstein recently stated, "We were rejected by almost every record label in Europe, but the boys never lost faith. George Martin has certainly helped things along". George Martin is credited with not only producing the group’s first record, but with signing the group to EMI-Parlophone earlier this year. Excitement continues to surround The Beatles and the band continues to grow in popularity throughout England and enjoys popularity in some parts of Germany as well. It will be interesting to see how their unique sound and image will translate into record sales and indeed how well their first single will do. |
|
| Led Zeppelin World Debut Bowls 'em Over In Surrey - Surrey, October 16, 1968 | |
|
|
The group was most recently in the news when it was reported that they were paid a £200,000 signing bonus by Atlantic Records, the highest advance ever paid to a group. Led Zeppelin played to an enthusiastic crowd that at first seemed a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume the four members produce while onstage. The group’s set featured original compositions that are rumored to be included on their newly recorded and as yet unreleased debut album. Along with some material from Page’s Yardbirds tenure, the band was simply overwhelming in sound, energy and intensity. The band is distinctly influenced by the popularity of the Blues resurgence that is currently sweeping the English music scene. Highlights of the evening included a blistering cover of Willie Dixon’s "I Can’t Quit You Baby", along with originally penned numbers "Communication Breakdown" and "How Many More Times". Seasoned session musician John Paul Jones provided solid bass and keyboard duties while lesser knowns Robert Plant (vocals) and John Bonham (drums) both added their unique and impressive styles to the group’s sound. Judging from the reaction of the young crowd, most of them Surrey University students, Led Zeppelin seems to be on the right track and may just be the next British music export to enjoy international success. |
|
| Picture This . . . Moonie Strips for The Jaggers |
|
Both The Speakeasy and The Tramp were the places to be and be seen as it was the "hang out" of choice for the rock and roll hierarchy of the time. On any given night it wasn’t unusual to find Keith Moon, Jeff Beck and Mick Jagger there at the same time along with their accompanying entourages and assorted bevy of hangers on and groupies. It was at the upscale Tramp club on Jermyn Street in London that the newlywed Mick Jagger and Bianca sat at a table for two, enjoying a late night meal. Noticing the two, Moonie says to a mate with a mischievous gleam in his eye, "Watch this". Moon merrily makes his way over to the unsuspecting couple, all the while whistling happily. As he approached the table he began to undress as a packed room of onlookers gasped and laughed in disbelief. By the time Moonie gets to the Jaggers’ table, he’s as naked as the day he was born! Not a stitch of clothing on and still whistling away! |
|
| Classic Album Review |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
One of Britain's most successful and long-lived avant-garde rock bands, Pink Floyd emerged relatively unsullied from the mire of mid-Sixties British psychedelic music as early experimenters with outer space concepts. Although that phase of the band's development was of short duration, Pink Floyd have from that time been the pop scene's preeminent techno-rockers: four musicians with a command of electronic instruments who wield an arsenal of sound effects with authority and finesse. While Pink Floyd's albums were hardly hot tickets in the shops, they began to attract an enormous following through their US tours. They have more recently developed a musical style capable of sustaining their dazzling and potentially overwhelming sonic wizardry. The Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's ninth album and is a single extended piece rather than a collection of songs. It seems to deal primarily with the fleetingness and depravity of human life, hardly the commonplace subject matter of rock. "Time" ("The time is gone the song is over"), "Money" ("Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie"), and "Us And Them" ("Forward he cried from the rear") might be viewed as keys to understanding the meaning (if indeed there is any definite meaning) of The Dark Side of the Moon. Even though this is a concept album, a number of the cuts can stand on their own. "Time" is a fine country-tinged rocker with a powerful guitar solo by David Gilmour and "Money" is broadly and satirically played with appropriately raunchy sax playing by Dick Parry, who also contributes a wonderfully-sated, breathy solo to "Us And Them." The non-vocal "On The Run" is a standout with footsteps racing from side to side successfully eluding any number of odd malevolent rumbles and explosions only to be killed off by the clock's ticking that leads into "Time." Throughout the album the band lays down a solid framework which they embellish with synthesizers, sound effects and spoken voice tapes. The sound is lush and multi-layered while remaining clear and well structured. There are a few weak spots. David Gilmour's vocals are sometimes weak and lackluster and "The Great Gig in the Sky" (which closes the first side) probably could have been shortened or dispensed with, but these are really minor quibbles. The Dark Side of the Moon is a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement. There is a certain grandeur here that exceeds mere musical melodramatics and is rarely attempted in rock. The Dark Side of the Moon has flash the true flash that comes from the excellence of a superb performance. - Rolling Stone Magazine- May 24,1973- Lloyd Grossman |
| Responses must be received by October 30, 1999 classicrockpage.com congratulates the following October
trivia winners |
| Connect and chat with like-minded folk in the forum |
Eventually, she broke away from Big Brother, took on manager Albert Grossman, probably the most powerful manipulator in pop music, and formed her own backup band called The Full Tilt Boogie Band featuring on lead guitar John Till. In tours and on records, she continued to be one of rock’s most consistent and expensive drawing cards. Miss Joplin’s appeal and influence extended beyond her music. She was acclaimed for her highly advertised sexual appetites, her constant drinking (especially of Southern Comfort, which she often consumed on stage) and her eccentric dress, all feathers and gowns and flowing things, the ancient costume of a street-walker. Her apparent drug habit was less well known, and while many fans imitated her in dress and free-wheeling ways, perhaps her death by drugs, directly or indirectly, will have a different effect. Perhaps rock and its fans will now take another, more cautious, inward look. |
| Coming Events . . . |
Subscribe |
| Exciting additions and news about what's
happening at classirockpage.com and with the Psychedelic News |
|
|
|
Visit the Trivia Page at classicrockpage.com
to participate in the
Six Month Grand Prize Competition
for a MP3 Player!
To continue your trip back to classicrockpage.com follow the links below:
After a tour of
Scandinavia as The New Yardbirds earlier this month in order to fulfill outstanding
contractual obligations, Jimmy Page debuted his new group at Surrey University yesterday
evening under the new name of Led Zeppelin.
Picture this...It’s early 1972 and The Who are on hold, with
no touring or recording scheduled until May. The band is enjoying both commercial and
critical success with the release of their landmark album "Who’s Next".
Keith Moon is bursting at the seams with his usual exuberance and energy and he’s
handling the hiatus in normal Moon fashion by living it up and partying in many of
London’s nightclubs. Keith would come into town from Tara, his pyramid style mansion
in the country, and wreak havoc in the city while staying in various posh hotels.
He’d go crazy for 2-3 days and then return home to recuperate.
