Don't Stop the Carnival: When I heard the intro, I was going to ask, "Is every song these guys do a novelty?" Then it turned into a regular, if faux-Caribbean, pop song. It worked alright for other artists, and it works alright here too, although I'm not really fussy about the style. 3/5 The Time Has Come: The obligatory B-side that doesn't colour outside the lines. It's almost five minutes in length and is quite attractive. It could possibly do with a little less of whatever instrument over-contributes to the background, whether it's a keyboard, woodwind or something else I'm not sure. 3.5/5
Recorded with Peter Green who had left Mayall's Bluesbreakers in the previous summer. Mayall's last non-LP single for Decca, which he produced himself, without his usual producer Mike Vernon., 'Pictures on the Wall' was recorded on the following day, with the addition of the drummer Keef Hartley, and produced by Mike Vernon.
Jenny: A certain style of blues-rock on display. I thought I heard echoes of The Thrill is Gone by BB King in the guitar work. There's only so much you can do under the limitations of the 12-bar blues chord sequence, but you can still make a competent, decent-sounding record, as has been done here. Not really my style so I'm afraid it won't rise above a de rigueur 3/5 Picture on the Wall: To no one's surprise, more blues-rock. I wonder if said Picture on the wall hides a nasty stain that's lying there? Everything in the above paragraph applies here (except substitute Let's Work Together by Canned Heat for BB King), including the rating (For the record, The Thrill is Gone is a blues-rock song that I really do like, as is Since I've Been Loving You by Zep)
From the US - his only Decca single. written and produced by Paul Korda who had a 1966 single released by EMI/Columbia, and had written songs recorded on A-sides by both P.P. Arnold and the Alan Bown Set. Foray wrote the song on the B-side. Prior to relocating to the UK Forray had a couple of singles released in the US, the first one in 1962 as Artie Forray; the second release in 1963 had both sides written by Horace Ott and Don Covay (arr & cond. by Ott) Artie Forray - Strangers Andy Forray - Monday (Is The Girl For Me) Both Korda and Forray became members of the original London stage cast of Hair and they both appeared on the 1968 “Hair” LP released by Polydor (with amongst others Marsha Hunt, Sonja Kristina, and Paul Nicholas) https://www.discogs.com/release/1597797-Various-Hair Paul Korda - Wikipedia Forray had later releases on other labels (including EMI/Parlophone and Fontana) and also worked as an actor. The number of YT postings suggests that a 1979 single ‘Drac’s Back’ may have been his most popular recording Andy Forray - Drac's Back He appears to have died in 2019, prior to which he seems to have been living in Florida and had a YT channel on which he posted some videos between 2008-2013 https://www.youtube.com/@andyforray/videos
Epitaph to You: A slow 6/8 with plenty going on: woodwinds, low strings, loud "tings", bordering on general cacophony. I don't necessarily mind the production style but this is a little too "busy" for even my liking. 3/5 Dream with Me: Another busy sound, this one a bit quicker and in 4/4 time. Psychedelic guitar solo, piano in the background, and the drummer gets a chance to display his talents. Both of these tracks are sort of missed opportunities, in that they could have been cleaned up just a bit and been greatly improved. Another 3/5
Decca F 12734 (1968-02-02) A: James In The Basement - Denis Couldry CD: An Apple A Day - More Pop-Psych Sounds From The Apple Era 1967-1969 (2006)
B: I Am Nearly There - Denis Couldry And The Next Collection CD: An Apple A Day - More Pop-Psych Sounds From The Apple Era 1967-1969 (2006)
The first of two Decca singles - he wrote the A-side (assuming it was not his brother Bob), and co-wrote the B-side with someone named “Wills” - Denis had previously been involved with the 1967 Decca single by Felius Andromeda, writing and singing the B-side 'Cheadle Heath Delusions'. 1967 Decca 45s Song-By-Song Thread
The Next Collection later became Second Hand - the producer Vic Keary seems to have been the connection between all these artists (he died in 2022) Second Hand (band) - Wikipedia Vic Keary passes away
James in the Basement: Looking presciently into the 21st century for the first song about a keyboard warrior? It sounds more than anything else like Bob Dylan's well-known Rainy Day Women #12 x 35 = 420, doesn't it? Not the worst thing I've ever heard, it actually sounds competently put together but it doesn't make me want to listen to it again. 3/5 I am Nearly There: And the B-side sounds like they used Eric Burdon and the Animals' San Franciscan Nights as a template, at least for the first 30 seconds and the other quieter parts that intersperse with the noisy bits. Maybe a bad trip? This sort of thing has surely been done better, but the song is far from awful and rates another 3/5
I had a lot of those Rubble collections, so I'm recognizing a few of these. A friend of mine gave me them - which was very nice of him!
That's Me is a good record. More than the A I can accept this as a predecessor to the Prog Genesis they became.
Produced by Jonathan King, their first single, released over a year before the LP “From Genesis to Revelation”
Silent Sun and That's Me: I don't have to listen to them, I know them well. Two fine songs. 4/5 and 4/5
Canadian actor and broadcaster who had relocated to the UK - he worked as a DJ on the offshore Radio London, and then for a few months on the BBC. This was his only single; the A-side being written by Rick Minas who had recently recorded for Decca as “Sasha Caro” - Lennox seems to have written the B-side with the arranger Art Greenslade. He was later an A&R man for Phonogram prior to moving back to Canada in 1972. He died in 2020. A tribute to Mike Lennox Mike Lennox | Actor
