Fargo
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1968) - Daryl Cooper -- keyboards - Tony Decker -- vocals, guitar - Pete Frease -- drums, percussion - Dean Wilden -- vocals, bass
line up 2 (1968-69) - Tony Decker -- vocals, guitar NEW - Randle Potts -- drums, percussion (replaced Pete Frease) - Dean Wilden -- vocals, bass
supporting musicians (1969) - Rick Chuna -- guitar - Jim Gordon -- drums, percussion - Dr. John -- keyboards - Terry Paul -- bass
line up 3 (1969) - Tony Decker -- vocals, guitar NEW - Bob Holman -- drums, percussion (replaced Randle Potts) - Dean Wilden -- vocals, bass
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- The Garfield Air Mattress - The Tuesday Club (Tony Decker and Dean Wilden) - Dean Wyatt (Dean Wilden)
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Genre: folk-rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: I See It Now Company: RCA Victor Catalog: LSP-4178 Country/State: Salt Lake City, Utah Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $45.00
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Singer/guitarist
Tony Decker and bass player Dean Wilden started their recording careers as
members of the Grand Junction, Colorado band The Tuesday Club. That
band mana
- 1967's 'Godess In Many Ways' b/w 'Only Human' (Philips catalog 40 478)
Note the song title reflects Philips' spelling, not mine ...
By 1968 Decker and Wilden had morphed The Tuesday Club into "Wells Fargo" which was quickly abbreviated to Fargo. With a line-up rounded out by keyboardist Daryl Cooper and drummer Pete Frease the group hit the Southwest club circuit. Frease was subsequently lost to the draft and the band called it quits. Decker and Wilden relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah where they resumed their musical partnership under the Fargo nameplate. Recruiting drummer Randle Potts they began recording demos, finding a mentor in producer Martin Cooper who helped them get signed to a recording contract by Capitol. The trio made their label debut with a mildly interesting folk-rock single:
- 1968's 'Robins, Robins' b/w 'Sunny Day Blue' (Capitol catalog number 2149)
Dropped by Capitol, the following year the trio rebounded signing a contract with RCA Victor. Recorded at Al Casey's Studios in Hollywood, the sessions were produced by Martin Cooper and arranged by Allan Capps. A host of uncredited studio musicians including keyboardist Dr. John Rebbenack and drummer Jim Gordon were brought in for support. For an album released in 1969, musically "I See It Now" sounded distinctly out of time. Showcasing Decker and Wilden's pleasant voices and harmonies the collection featured a set of dated melodies that were heavy on ballads. Capps suffocating orchestration on tracks like 'Lady Goodbye', 'When The Dew Drops Change To Teardrops' and 'Place Everyone' reminded me of outtakes from a Peter and Gordon album, or some third tier Merseybeat band. Elsewhere 'A Castle In Wales' recalled the overwhelming maudlin feel of the mid-career Bee Gees catalog. That's not to imply these guys didn't have talent. In spite of the clunky title the opener 'Round About Way Of Describing Our Situation' had a nice melody but succumbed to Capps ill-advised handiwork. That was also the fate of the sparkling folk rocker 'Talks We Used To Have.' The album also had a mild Jesus Music undercurrent. Nothing here was blatantly in-your-face evangelizing, but the title track and 'Cross With No Name' clearly reflected their religious orientations.
For whatever reason RCA Victor marketing effectively ignored the album. Promotion was non-existent; no single was released, and backing by new drummer Bob Holman, touring was limited to a series of performances at high schools and colleges in Utah. Within a matter of months the band was history and the album relegated to cutout bins.
"I See It
Now" track listing: 1.) Round About Way Of Describing Our Situation (Tony Decker) - 2:37 rating: *** stars Well, I certainly liked Terry Paul's melodic bass line ... Overlooking the complicated title, 'Round About Way Of Describing Our Situation' served as a nice introduction to their sound. Buried under waves of Allan Capps orchestration the song actually had a nice melody and while Decker's voice was lightweight, it was pleasant. Unfortunately the orchestration literally drown Decker under layers and layers of strings, horns, and gawd only knows what else. 2.) Lady Goodbye (Dean Wilden - Tony Decker) - 1:52 rating: *** stars Imagine a couple of British guys taking a stab at recording an American country tune ... add in some truly doping lyrics. I'll give it an extra star for the fact Capps' orchestration was absent from this one. This was apparently the only track drummer Potts played on. He was replaced by studio musician Jim Gordon on the rest of the collection. 3.) The Sound Of It (Tony Decker) - 2:40 rating: *** stars Did I detect an Everly Brothers vibe on 'The Sound Of It'? Sweet melody with some MOR horn charts. 4.) Places Everyone (Tony Decker) - 2:01 rating: ** stars Opening up with a pretty Baroque-styled string quartet arrangement, the ballad 'Places Everyone' reflected a distinctive 'Eleanor Rigby' flavor. Mind you, I love a bit of McCartney schmaltz as much as anyone, but this was a threat to anyone with high blood sugar. 5.) A Castle In Wales (Tony Decker) - 2:50 rating: * star Crap, back to the faux accents, made worse by the honky-tonk arrangement and fake applause. I've never bothered to count, but the lyric seems to consist of Decker repeating the title over and over and over ... This was like being forced to listen to a really bad Herman's Hermits tune. 6.) Talks We Used To Have (Tony Decker) - 2:35 rating: **** stars Sporting a nice folk-rock melody and some nice blended vocals 'Talks We Used To Have' was probably the album's best performance. Capps' heavy handed orchestration and the morbid lyrics gave the tune sort of a mid-career Bee Gees flavor.
(side
2) Yeah the song titles were a little clunky ... 'When The Dew Drops Change To Teardrops' was another tune that had a Merseybeat - Peter and Gordon vibe. Docked a star for Capps' instrumentation. 2.) Promises Of Love (Tony Decker) - 2:17 rating:*** stars Listening to 'Promises of Love' it was a shame these guys didn't pursue more of a folk-rock direction. 3.) You Need Me (Tony Decker) - 1:24 rating:*** stars The ballad 'You Need Me' had kind of an early Fab Four feel. Interesting channel separation on the tune. Too bad the track faded out so early. 4.) Cross With No Name (Dean Wilden - Tony Decker) - 2:49 rating:**** stars I know nothing about the pair's religious backgrounds and beliefs and it doesn't matter one way or the other, but be aware that 'Cross with No Name' (and to a lesser degree 'I See It Now') had a bit of evangelizing in the lyrics. Opening up with a spoken word section and acid-tinged plucked piano strings, musically this was easily the album's most experimental effort. After the strange introduction the song morphed into one of the album's prettier melodies. Always liked The Hollies-styled harmonies. 5.) I See It Now (Tony Decker) - 2:29 rating: ** stars Complete with faux British-sounding vocals and overwhelming orchestration, the title track has always reminded me of something a group like Peter and Gordon might have recorded. The problem with that comparison stems from the fact by 1969 that sound was hopelessly out of date and this tune did nothing to make it sound more contemporary. Music to do your grocery shopping by ...
I've never seen, or heard a copy, but I think there's one final non-LP promotional single:
- 1970's 'Miss Lady Loretta' b/w 'I've Gotta Know Where I'm At' (Paramount catalog number PAA-0039)
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ged
to record an obscure single for Philips before collapsing. For anyone
curious to hear it, just be warned, this may be one of the fey-ist songs
you've ever heard.
