Newburgh, New York psych-punks the Jelly Bean Bandits formed in 1966. Singer Billy Donald, guitarist Jack Dougherty, bassist Fred Buck, keyboardist Michael "Mr. Addams" Raab, and drummer Joe "Laredo London" Scalfari originally operated as "the Mirror", regularly packing area nightspots like the local Trade Winds, Poughkeepsie's Buccaneer Nightclub, and Burlington, Vermont's Red Dog. In due time, they recorded a three-song demo reel that resulted in a three-album recording contract with Mainstream Records -- however, unknown to Mainstream, these three songs represented the sum total of the Jelly Bean Bandits' repertoire, forcing the band to write enough additional material to flesh out a full-length LP in the course of a week.
Amazingly, their eponymous 1967 debut is excellent, a freakbeat cult classic distinguished by Dougherty's emotive guitar and some innovative production techniques -- all the more impressive, the album was recorded in a single 12-hour stretch. Mainstream hated the end result, however, and dropped the Jelly Bean Bandits just as they were commencing work on the follow-up -- only one song, "Salesman," was completed before the sessions were aborted. The group dissolved soon after, only to reunite in 1998 to finally commit to tape the songs that were written for their never-completed sophomore LP -- only Donald declined to participate in the project, released in 2001 under the title Time and Again. A vintage live date captured at the Buccaneer on September 3, 1967.
by Jason Ankeny
Tracks
1. Country Woman - 2:34
2. Generation - 3:00
3. Poor Precious Dreams - 2:05
4. Another August Revisited - 2:49
5. Going Nowhere - 2:37
6. Happiness Girl - 2:17
7. Good Time Feeling - 2:43
8. September Rain - 2:13
9. Neon River - 2:39
10.Plastic Soldiers - 3:01
11.Say Mann - 2:26
12.Tapestries - 2:28
All songs by Billy Donald, Fred Buck, Joe Scalfari, John Dougherty, Michael Raab
The Jelly Bean Bandits
*Billy Donald - Vocals
*Fred Buck - Bass
*Joe Scalfari - Drums
*John Dougherty - Lead Guitar
*Michael Raab - Organ
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a lot of thanks, my friend, cheers
ReplyDeleteThank you Marios! I really like this album.
ReplyDeleteThank you for enjoying our LP. Interestingly enough, thanks to Spotify, CD Baby and other such outlets, our Mainstream recording is selling better now than it did 52 years ago. We have done a number of interviews for music press in Europe and the age bracket buying our material are young enough to be our children, or may even grandchildren, which means a whole new audience is discovering us. Again, many thanks!
ReplyDeleteMichael Raab