Raw, sometimes sloppy material by this enigmatic, psychedelic cult band appeared on an extremely rare debut album in 1966 (their first LP for Reprise, Part One, is usually considered their first recording). The West Coast Pop Art were always a strange act, and this collection does nothing to tarnish that perception. It's not so much the weirdness of the sound -- they could be plenty weird per se on Zappaesque freak-outs like "Insanity" (co-penned by Kim Fowley), but only occasionally. It's more the sheer unpredictable range of the material. One minute they're attacking "Louie, Louie" and the classic jazz instrumental "Work Song" with all the finesse of teenagers in their bedroom; the next they're doing pretty psych-pop tunes with a bizarre edge, like "I Won't Hurt You"; then there are the Dylancovers, which are approached as if they are Yardbirds' tunes, with splashes of feedback and hard rock/R&B arrangements. And then there's an original baroque pop number worthy of the Left Banke or late-period Zombies ("She Surely Must Know"), a sharp, witty, country-tinged rocker ("Sassafras"), and covers of the Left Banke's "She May Call You Up Tonight," and the mawkish "Funny How Love Can Be." No stylistic consistency whatsoever, in other words, but plenty of wacky energy, and occasional actual inspiration. Which makes this hard to recommend to anyone other than psychedelic junkies. But if you fit under that umbrella, it's not bad at all, though wildly erratic.
| Robert
Markley was a bizarre and eccentric musician
of the 1960s who formed the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
in Los Angeles in 1966 with guitarists Shaun Harris and Dan
Harris, and help from Kim Fowley. Following a collection of covers
titledVolume One (Fifo,
1966), the psychedelic music of their second album, Part
One (Reprise,
1967 - Sundazed, 2001), fragile and dreamy, had little in common
with the bands of their era (Shifting Sands). The third
album would be released only 24 years later, as The
Legendary Unreleased Album(Raspberry, 1980).
The following album Breaking Through Volume 2(Reprise, 1967) was less successful in recreating that surreal atmosphere, despite the lengthy Smell Of Incense and the Fugs-ian satire of Suppose They Give Us A War And Nobody Comes. The first two official album are summarized on Transparent Day (Edsel, 1986). The band released A Child's Guide To Good & Evil(Reprise, 1968), which increased the similarities with the Fugs, both in terms of agit-prop satire (Until The Poorest People Have Money To Spend, A Child Of A Few Hours Is Burning To Death) and in terms of bizarre collage techniques (Anniversary Of World War 3, with proto-glitch music), Where's My Daddy(Amos, 1969) and Markley A Group before disappearing. A founding member of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, producer Michael Lloyd, assembled the musicians who recorded October Country (1967) and the ones who recorded The Smoke (1968 - Kismet, 2012), both studio project that never had a follow-up. The latter album includes the Turtles-esque Self-Analysis, the Beach Boys-esque October Country Cowboys And Indians, clearly derivative of the Hollies and of the musichall of theBonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Odyssey, a melodic collage that toys with the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour and with horn-driven soul music, and especially the Frank Zappa-esque instrumental The Hobbit Symphony. Lloyd was one of the most creative producers of the age of "bubblegum", of the one-hit wonders artificially constructed in the studio. |
To begin with there was the name itself. Long and unwieldy, it seemed designed to defy recollection and sink the heart of poster designers everywhere. Was it a six-word manifesto of creative intent, or simply a cynical attempt to climb aboard the 'psychedelic' bandwagon? Then there were the song credits and album photos, according to which a certain Bob Markley was the band's driving force, a position seemingly confirmed by the appearance of his final 'solo' LP: 'A Group'.
Yet, somewhat confusingly, on the back of that album's sleeve there appeared - for the first time since the band's debut on the Fifo label - pictures of all four original members. Last, and definitely not least, there were the songs themselves. Along the way the music encompassed almost every musical genre - harmonic guitar pop, acoustic folk, psychedelic rock, jazz and avant-garde; and then there were those extraordinary lyrics - some starkly political, others naive and child-like; at times dark and sinister, at others simply insane.
As Brian Hogg observed in his sleeve notes to Edsel's mid-80s compilation 'Transparent Day': "(t)here are few groups as enigmatic, as mysterious or as plain contradictory..." This article does not pretend to be a definitive account of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - indeed, it now seems clear that some questions will never properly be answered - but the story which emerges is fascinating nevertheless, not least as an insight into how extraordinary music could emerge from a group driven by internal conflicts and held in the thrall of a man driven by dubious motives.
This album was originally issued in 1966 on the tiny "FIFO" label, which was a Hollywood concern specializing mainly in R&B. Probably only 100 or so were ever made!
A mint original copy of this LP was sold in '95 to a private collector for a substantial sum, who in turn reissued it (unauthorized, of course) on LP and CD. The CD featured three songs as bonus tracks that had turned up on the Raspberry Sawfly "Legendary Unreleased Album" bootleg from 1980, the excellent Sassafras and Obviously Bad (released as a single under the name California Spectrum in 1967) and a cover of the Left Banke's She May Call You Up Tonight.
It seems that much of the material was already completed by the time Markley became involved. However, the inclusion of certain tracks - 'Don't Break My Balloon' [a prime example of Bob's 'singing'] and 'If You Want This Love' - indicates that he must have had some influence over the sessions and, more to the point, their subsequent release on vinyl.
The rudimentary album included contemporary hits and original compositions and was recorded in a self-made studio in a strore-front place on San Vincente, just outside of Beverly Hills.
by Tim Forster
1. Something You Got (Chris Kenner) - 2:53
2. Work Song (Oscar Brown, Nat Adderley) - 2:11
3. Louie, Louie (Richard Berry) - 2:46
4. Don't Break My Balloon (Bob Markley) - 3:12
5. You Really Got Me (Ray Davies) - 3:05
6. Don't Let Anything!!! Stand In Your Way (Markley, Kim Fowley) - 2:12
7. I Won't Hurt You (Michael Lloyd, Shaun Harris, Markley) - 2:10
8. If You Want This Love (Sonny Knight) - 1:33
9. Insanity (Markley, Fowley)
10.It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan) - 3:02
11.She Belongs To Me (Dylan) - 1:53
12.She Surely Must Know (Lloyd, Shaun Harris) - 1:57
13.Sassafras (Dan Harris, Lloyd, Shaun Harris) - 1:59
14.She May Call You Up Tonight (Michael Brown, Steve Martin) - 2:25
15.One Day (Lloyd) - 2:01
16.Funny How Love Can Be (John Carter, Ken Harper) - 1:38
17.Obviously Bad (Lloyd, Shaun Harris) - 1:30
18.Endless Night (Shaun Harris) - 2:15
19.Tell Me What You Want To Know (Lloyd) - 1:46
20.Just You & Me (Lloyd) - 1:54
21.Chimes Of Freedom (Dylan) - 3:03
22.Scuse Me Miss Rose (Bob Johnston) - 2:37
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
*Bob Markley - Vocals
*Shaun Harris - Bass Guitar
*Dan Harris - Guitar, Vocals
*Michael Lloyd - Guitar, Vocals