It's broadly in the mood of other LA studio-psych albums of the period. An album of mild psychedelia it contained a fair degree of orchestration and was probably influenced by The Beatles Sergeant Pepper, released the previous summer. Some tracks like 'Fogbound' and 'Umbrella' had considerable commercial potential, others like 'Song Thru Perception' are notable for their crispy clear vocals and 'October Country' for some beautiful string arrangements... Co-produced by Fowley and Lloyd, it's easy to see why this album's become such a sought after collectable (underscored by the fact it didn't see a CD release until 2003). With Lloyd writing the majority of the material, the resulting mix of California pop moves and psychedelic touches stands as a perfect example of the "sunshine pop" genre. Full of subtle and not-so-subtle homage's to the likes of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys ("Cowboys and Indians" and " Self-Analysis") and The Beatles (" Gold Is the Colour of Thought") makes this LP a wonderful candidate to play 'spot the reference'. Elsewhere the LP includes Lloyd's cover of "October Country" which he'd previously written and produced for the band October Country. Personal favorites: the catchy "Fogbound" (which with it's nice "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" fade out would have made a great single) and the odd "Umbrella". (As an aside, the back cover shows what appear to be four band members - the fourth being guitarist Jimmy Greenspoon, who didn't actually play on the album and went on to join the newly formed Three Dog Night.) Indeed, an amazing result, I believe totally random, is greater than the sum of the internal strength of each piece. The smoke is proof that there is no provision or success, or a masterpiece. @Maris,You are truly an amazing man. Thanks, great post, music and blog. All the best, Adam.
Thanks a lot, this is one of my fav albums from the era. I suppose this is another unauthorized vinyl transfer but hopefully it'll sound better than my Acid Ray pirate CD or the mp3's floating around the web. Sundazed or someone should re-release this masterpiece from the mastertapes!
Thank-you Marios. I looked for this last year and only found mp3s. Greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeletemuchísimas gracias y un gran saludo
ReplyDeleteLet's smoke. Thanks.
ReplyDeletethanks marios,for a great post. i hadn't heard that 1 in years.
ReplyDeleteThanks !
ReplyDeletethanks marios.
ReplyDeleteIt's broadly in the mood of other LA studio-psych albums of the period. An album of mild psychedelia it contained a fair degree of orchestration and was probably influenced by The Beatles Sergeant Pepper, released the previous summer. Some tracks like 'Fogbound' and 'Umbrella' had considerable commercial potential, others like 'Song Thru Perception' are notable for their crispy clear vocals and 'October Country' for some beautiful string arrangements...
ReplyDeleteCo-produced by Fowley and Lloyd, it's easy to see why this album's become such a sought after collectable (underscored by the fact it didn't see a CD release until 2003). With Lloyd writing the majority of the material, the resulting mix of California pop moves and psychedelic touches stands as a perfect example of the "sunshine pop" genre. Full of subtle and not-so-subtle homage's to the likes of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys ("Cowboys and Indians" and " Self-Analysis") and The Beatles (" Gold Is the Colour of Thought") makes this LP a wonderful candidate to play 'spot the reference'. Elsewhere the LP includes Lloyd's cover of "October Country" which he'd previously written and produced for the band October Country. Personal favorites: the catchy "Fogbound" (which with it's nice "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" fade out would have made a great single) and the odd "Umbrella". (As an aside, the back cover shows what appear to be four band members - the fourth being guitarist Jimmy Greenspoon, who didn't actually play on the album and went on to join the newly formed Three Dog Night.)
Indeed, an amazing result, I believe totally random, is greater than the sum of the internal strength of each piece.
The smoke is proof that there is no provision or success, or a masterpiece.
@Maris,You are truly an amazing man.
Thanks, great post, music and blog.
All the best,
Adam.
Hi Marios! Now three times many, many, many thanks!!
ReplyDeleteMore british of the british "Smoke", Thanks Marios
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for this.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Very nice music indeed!!
ReplyDeleteI like this album a lot!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting
Thanks a lot, this is one of my fav albums from the era. I suppose this is another unauthorized vinyl transfer but hopefully it'll sound better than my Acid Ray pirate CD or the mp3's floating around the web. Sundazed or someone should re-release this masterpiece from the mastertapes!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou have a great blog - I would think your readership is very high.
ReplyDeletesmoke shop hollywood
Thank you for sharing this unheard masterpiece!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marios for this...I had this on cd from a vinyl ripp....I downloaded this in FLAC. Cue file burned CD-R using IMGBurn.
ReplyDeleteThank you
ReplyDeleteBless
It's possible reup this album, Marios ??? Thank You.
ReplyDeleteJosevaty, "The Smoke 1968", here: https://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2026/06/rep-smoke-smoke-1968-us-beautiful.html
Delete