07-13-2016, 11:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-13-2016, 11:56 PM by Eric the Green.)
1967-1966 is an infinite resource for pop and other music. Here's another little jewel by Tom Northcott from Canada, of a song written and recorded by British folk-rock singer Donovan Leitch in 1965. In 1966 Judy Collins took all the same surrealistic, psychedelic lyrics and gave it the shape of an infectious melody as only she can do. Northcott and Leon Russell then made it into an instrumental and vocal pop-psychedelic extravaganza in 1967, but replacing the reference to hash smokers. It was a West Coast hit, at least.
Judy Collins version:
https://youtu.be/YsH3riem5ek
"On the firefly platform on sunny Goodge Street violent hash-smoker shook a chocolates machine, involved in an eating scene. Smashing into neon lights in their stonedness, smearing their eyes on the crazy cult goddess, listenin' to sounds of Mingus mellow fantastic. "My, my", they sigh, "My, my", they sigh. La, la, la, la etc. In doll house rooms with coloured lights swingin,' strange music boxes sadly tinklin,' drinking the sun shining all around you. "My, my", they sigh, "My, my", they sigh, La, la, la, la, la, la etc. The magician, he sparkles in satin and velvet, you gaze at his splendor with eyes you've not used yet. I tell you his name is Love, Love, Love. "My, my", they sigh, "My, my", they sigh.La, la, la la, la, etc. "
Donovan's "Sunny Goodge Street," which Collins covers here, might be described as surrealist, or, too loosely, "Jazz." In fact, it's what in the 60's we simply called "head music, which coincidentally describes a "scene." Simply put, music to get stoned by. It's all about the drug scene in Britain. A single reference to Mingus does not make it anything like Jazz. The keys to "interpreting" the song lie in phrases like "eyes you've not used yet," i.e. the way you see things on drugs, [often LSD at that time] or "smearing your eyes on the crazy cult goddess."To read that, you need to have seen, as I have seen, people on LSD sitting around and worshipping neon signs advertising, in one instance I remember, exterminator services, with cartoon bugs flashing:-)
Judy Collins version:
https://youtu.be/YsH3riem5ek
"On the firefly platform on sunny Goodge Street violent hash-smoker shook a chocolates machine, involved in an eating scene. Smashing into neon lights in their stonedness, smearing their eyes on the crazy cult goddess, listenin' to sounds of Mingus mellow fantastic. "My, my", they sigh, "My, my", they sigh. La, la, la, la etc. In doll house rooms with coloured lights swingin,' strange music boxes sadly tinklin,' drinking the sun shining all around you. "My, my", they sigh, "My, my", they sigh, La, la, la, la, la, la etc. The magician, he sparkles in satin and velvet, you gaze at his splendor with eyes you've not used yet. I tell you his name is Love, Love, Love. "My, my", they sigh, "My, my", they sigh.La, la, la la, la, etc. "
Donovan's "Sunny Goodge Street," which Collins covers here, might be described as surrealist, or, too loosely, "Jazz." In fact, it's what in the 60's we simply called "head music, which coincidentally describes a "scene." Simply put, music to get stoned by. It's all about the drug scene in Britain. A single reference to Mingus does not make it anything like Jazz. The keys to "interpreting" the song lie in phrases like "eyes you've not used yet," i.e. the way you see things on drugs, [often LSD at that time] or "smearing your eyes on the crazy cult goddess."To read that, you need to have seen, as I have seen, people on LSD sitting around and worshipping neon signs advertising, in one instance I remember, exterminator services, with cartoon bugs flashing:-)