The Lewis and Clarke Expedition


Band members                              Related acts

  line up 1 (1966-68)

- Ken Bloom -- lead guitar, autoharp, clarinet, sax, flute, organ 
- Boomer Clarke (aka Owen Castleman)  (RIP 2015) -- guitar, 

   percussion
- Travis Lewis (aka Michael Martin Murphy) -- guitar, harmonica
- John London -- guitar, bass, percussion 
- Johnny Raines -- drums, percussion

 

 

- Owen Castleman (solo efforts)

- Michael Nesmith and The First National Band (John London)
- Michael Martin Murphy (solo efforts)


 

Genre: pop

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Title: Earth, Air, Fire & Water

Company: Colgems

Catalog: COM-105

Year: 1967

Country/State: Dallas, Texas

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: --

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 5167

Price: $50.00

 

Having enjoyed mammoth profits with their pre-packaged Beatles-clones The Monkees, it only made sense that Colgems (co-owned by RCA and Columbia) would attempt to manufacture a second corporate super group. That said, how many of you remember The Lewis and Clarke Expedition?  Probably few of you. That's unfortunate since the band's sole album, 1967's "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" was surprisingly enjoyable. 

1966 found Travis Lewis (aka Michael Martin Murphey) and Boomer Clarke (aka Owen Castleman) paying their bills as songwriters for Screen Gems. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Lewis and Murphey were passing acquaintances of Mike Nesmith. The connection helped the pair place one of their compositions 'Hangin' Round' with The Monkees, in the process bringing them to the attention of Colgems which quickly recognized their potential and signed them to a recording contract. 

 

While parallels to The Monkees were apparent (having a group with All American good looks and plenty of charm certainly didn't hurt), there were also some major difference; notably the fact the band were all capable musicians with namesakes Lewis and Clarke responsible for the majority of the material. That said, "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" was almost as good as anything in The Monkees catalog.  Musically varied, the set included stabs at shimmering top-40 pop ('I Feel Good (I Feel Bad)'), folk-rock ('This Town Ain't the Same Anymore'), vaudeville ('Everybody Loves a Fire'), raga ('House of My Sorrow'), ecological messages ('Chain of Flowers'), and Byrds-styled jangle-rock ('Blue Revelations'). Rounded out by strong melodies and tight harmonies, mid-1960s pop simply didn't get much better. Highlights included the goofy 'Spirit of Argyle High' and the extended suite 'Memorial To the American Indian' which included one of the first covers of J.D. Loudermilk's '(The Lament of) The Cherokee Reservation Indian'. Paul Revere and the Raiders didn't have a hit with the tune until four years later.  Unfortunately for the band, with Colgems devoting most of it's energy to marketing The Monkees, neither the band nor the LP got much in the way of promotional support.  Needless to say, it failed to chart and within a year the band had called it quits.


"Earth, Air, Fire & Water" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Windy Day   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 3:00   rating: ** stars

To be honest, 'Windy Day' was a disappointment.   With an old timey feel and a rag-timey mid-song segment, it came off as one of those cutesy tunes The Sopwith Camel, or Spanky and Our Gang might have tried to pull off.  Yech.
2.) Freedom Bird   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 2:50
   rating: ** stars

I liked thee sweet melody on 'Freedom Bird', but the lyric was ... well hyper-sensitive; almost fey.  It almost sounded like a parody of a mid- '60s folk-rock tune, though that didn't stop Colgems from releasing it as a single:

 

 

 

 

- 1967's 'Freedom Bird' b/w 'Destination Unknown' (Colgems catalog number 66-1011)  

 

 

 

 

 

3.) Spirit of Argyle High   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 3:15  rating: *** stars

Strange, strange, strange - 'Spirit of Argyle High' offered up a bizarre mix of country, bluegrass, high school marching band, and lysergic touches.  Added in a football theme and the result was ... strange, strange, strange ...    
4.) This Town Ain't the Same Anymore   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 2:40
  rating: *** stars

'This Town Ain't the Same Anymore ' was a pretty, heavily orchestrated folk-rock ballad with a socially relevant lyric.  The heartfelt, it sappy lyric gave the song an almost pre-rock and roll sound. 
5.) Everybody Loves a Fire   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 2:30
  rating: * star

Opening up with a brief slice of Gregorian chanting, 'Everybody Loves a Fire' found the group slipping into goofy Vaudeville moves.   The perfect tune for your favorite local pyromaniac.    Everyone may have loved a fire, but I sure didn't love this song.   

6.) House of My Sorrow   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 4:24   rating: **** stars

So remember this was recorded in 1967 when every recording contract seemingly included a requirement for at least one raga flavored tune ....  Just kidding.   No idea if this was a real sitar, or just a banjo tuned to mimic a sitar, but the result was classic lysergic.   Very cool.  Very trippy and one of the album highlights.

 

(side 2)

1.) I Feel Good (I Feel Bad)   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 2:26   rating: *** stars

Sounding like it was recorded in the midst of a recording studio party, 'I Feel Good (I Feel Bad) ' was the album's blatantly commercial tune, though far from the best track    YouTube has an interesting clip of the group lipsynching the song for some forgotten television show:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roCAC4qFhQA     rating: *** stars
2.) (I Call Them) Lies   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 2:44 
rating: **** stars

Maybe because it reminded me of a good Michael Nesmith song, or perhaps because of the prominent xylophone, the sweet country-tinged ballad '(I Call Them) Lies' was one of the album's best tunes. 
3.) Destination Unknown   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke - Jefferson) - 2:51 
rating: **** stars

A fuzzed-up, hyper-speed rocker, 'Destination Unknown' was easily the album's hardest rocking tune.  The song was featured in the film "For Singles Only" with the group playing a house band.  You can see the clip (with lots of fringe) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWdAo-vNtTw    
4.) Chain Around the Flowers   (Vandiver) - 2:53
  rating: ** stars

Social commentary set to a hokey country-tinged tune.  Pretty hideous. 
5.) Blue Revelations   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke - Hilderbrand) - 2:16
  rating: **** stars

The combination of a great folk-rock melody, sweet vocals, and some killer lead guitar made this one a keeper.  It should have provided the group with a massive hit.   COLGEMS tapped it as a single:

- 1967's ' I Feel Good (I Feel Bad)' b/w 'Blue Revelations' (COLGEMS catalog number 66 1006)

6.) Memorial To the American Indian
      Legend of the Creation   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) -1:45
  rating: * stars

Goofy, spoken word segment that probably pissed off most native Americans.
      Send Me Rain   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 1:09
  rating: *** stars

At least 'Send Me Rain' had a pretty Merseybeat sound. 
      Red Cloud's Farewell To His Tribe   (Travis Lewis - Boomer Clarke) - 1:45

Back to another round of spoken word narrative.  If you'd turned this in as a high school English project, you would have failed.   rating; ** stars
      (The Lament of) The Cherokee Reservation Indian   (J.D. Loudermilk) - 2:35
  rating: **** stars

Yeah, Paul Revere and the Raiders enjoyed a massive hit with their version, but it took them an additional four years to get there. This version wasn't nearly as commercial (lot more chanting), but to my ears that actually made this version better.    


The band briefly struggled on contributing music to the film "The Tiger Makes Out" which saw the lysergic ballad 'Why Need They Pretend?' and 'Daddy's Plastic Child released as singles.   

- 1968's 'Why Need They Pretend?' b/w 'Chain of Flowers' (Colgems catalog number 66-1022) 

- 1968's  'Daddy's Plastic Child' b/w 'Gypsy Song Man' (Colgems catalog number 66-1028)

 

Murphey subsequently reinvented himself as a country singer, enjoying a massive pop hit with the nauseating top-10 'Wildfire'. 

 

Castleman also reappeared as a solo act, hitting the charts with 'Judy Mae'.  He died in September, 2015

 

 

I've never been sure if this was the same group, or not.  Produced by Jack Keller and credited to The Lewis and Clark Expedition (note the missing "e" on Clark),  there's an obscure 1966 single for the small Chartmaster label:

 

- 1966's 'Expedition West' b/w '(Young Men Will Die) For Your Freedom Tonight' (Chartmaster catalog number 402)

 

 

 

 

 

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