Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:48:23
Size: 110,65 MB
Review by Joe Viglione
After original vocalist Carly Simon left Elephant’s Memory for her own fame and fortune, the band recorded their self-titled Buddah debut, Elephant’s Memory, with Michal Shapiro handling the female lead. That disc is not their John Lennon/Yoko Ono/David Peel Apple Records debut from 1972, which was also named after this ensemble. When two Elephant’s Memory songs from the 1969 Buddah Records album appeared in the Capitol Records soundtrack to the film Midnight Cowboy, Buddah vice president Neil Bogart revamped and re-released the original LP, most likely and understandably, to cash in on the attention the band was getting from the hit film.
“Old Man Willow” and “Jungle Gym at the Zoo” from the first LP appeared in Midnight Cowboy, and they show up again on side one of this disc along with a different spin on the Nilsson hit “Everybody’s Talkin’.” Here Michal Shapiro gives a woman’s take on the classic Fred Neil composition over a poppy/folksy Wes Farrell production. There’s a strange instrumental version of John Barry’s theme to “Midnight Cowboy,” jazzy rock with a female vocal, most likely Michal, adding a nice eerie resonance to the spirited and jumpy rendition, a far cry from the version that contained Vinny Bell’s elegant guitar, the Top Ten hit for Ferrante & Teicher in 1969. The two new titles as well as the Elephant’s Memory material from the movie make up side one. Side two contains seven more titles from the first LP, including the singles that were released from that disc, “Crossroads of the Stepping Stones” and “Don’t Put Me on Trial,” two excellent slices of ’60s pop. Over 40 minutes of music graces Songs From Midnight Cowboy Plus Their Hit Singles, the two new titles plus everything from the Buddah debut minus the songs “Band of Love” and “Hot Dog Man” (which was the flip of the 45 rpm “Jungle Gym at the Zoo”). The album could have been even more interesting had their 45 rpm “Keep Free, Pts. 1 & 2” from November 1968 found its way onboard rather than the reissue of “Yogurt Song,” a composition from keyboardist Richard Sussman and drummer Rick Frank which sounds like a Frank Zappa nightmare.
Other than that, the album actually is quite consistent and is lots of fun. Later releases Take It to the Streets and Angels Forever don’t have the pop meets psychedelia underground feel of this neo-bubblegum period piece.
Tracklist:
01 – Everybody’s Talkin’ 03:50
02 – Old Man Willow 07:07
03 – Midnight Cowboy 02:58
04 – Jungle Gym At The Zoo 02:15
05 – Crossroads Of The Stepping Stones 02:56
06 – Don’t Put Me On Trial No More 02:52
07 – Super Heap 05:32
08 – R.I.P. 01:43
09 – Yogurt Song 02:58
10 – Band Of Love 04:11
11 – Takin’ A Walk 03:49
12 – Hot Dog Man 03:34
13 – Brief Encounter 04:38
http://southernbluesrock.blogspot.com/2014/07/elephants-memory-1969-songs-from.html
“More cohesive than their RCA release in the mid-’70s, the New York underground band who worked with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and David Peel finds themselves on Metromedia, the label which had hits with Bobby Sherman, unleashing eight originals written mostly by drummer Rich Frank and lead vocalist/tenor saxman Stan Bronstein. Guitarist David Cohen contributes to a couple of tunes, with pianist Myron Yules and guitarist Greg Peratori also involved in the songwriting, but it is Frank (listed on the credits as Reek Havoc) and Bronstein who are the major forces behind this well-known-but-not-often-heard group.
Clearly it was Lennon’s participation on an early disc and not the band’s notoriety which made them almost a household name, but one hit record could have changed all that. There is no hit here, but there is some experimental rock that Frank Zappa should have snapped up for his Straight Records. A bubblegum label could only move this if they were called Crazy Elephant and had something akin to “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’.” Rather you have the antithesis, “Mongoose,” followed by “Power” and the revolutionary “Piece Now.” The technical proficiency is traded in for angst and lots of rock & roll attitude.
“Piece Now” could very well be MC5, and the music on all three of the first tunes is dense and noteworthy. “Tricky Noses” ends side one with a flurry of bullets stopping a country-ish protest song, making the point quickly and with uneasy ease. Away from their famous friends, the seven-piece group is at least interesting here, with “She’s Just Naturally Bad” sounding like Blue Cheer when they abandoned the sonic onslaught for laid-back folk-rock. Flashes of Dylan and Lou Reed make their way onto the tune.
Pianist Myron Yules delivers the only song that Rich Frank and Bronstein aren’t associated with, “I Couldn’t Dream,” a light Paul McCartney-style throwaway number.”Damn” gets things somewhat heavy, a nice counterpoint to side one’s “Power.” This is where the band shines, solid ensemble rock with riffs and lots of not-so-quiet energy. For collectors who need anything by anyone ever associated with the Beatles, the Elephant’s Memory’s collection is not to be forgotten. “Ivan” is smooth New York rock a few years before Lou Reed would enter his Coney Island Baby phase, but definitely sounding like it could fit on that epic. Take It to the Streets is a true rock & roll artifact and holds some surprises worth rediscovering. by Joe Viglione http://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2016/09/elephants-memory-elephants-memory-1972.html