MARKLEY - "A Group" - Forward label - 1970 - LP PRESS - Psychedelic - SHRINK

$

37

MARKLEY

(THE WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND)

“A GROUP”

Forward     ST-F-1007

1970

EX / EX

FIRST PRESSING

STILL IN SHRINK

BEST PRICED COPY ON EBAY AS OF 4-19-2017.  Two copies currently on eBay sitting at $54 and $100, incl. post. 

Beautiful copy of this L.A. psychedelic album credited to Markley but actually THE WEST COASTPOP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND.  This is a first pressing that was pressed and distributed by the independent (L.A.) Forward label.  Previous West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band albums were pressed by Reprise after 1966 making this album tougher to find.

The fine AllMusic website says: “The final West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band album didn't even feature the band's name (although for once all four band members, including Michael Lloyd, were properly credited in the liner notes): Bob Markley had suggested that they change the band's name for this release, and the rest of the group consented, perhaps simply tired of dealing with Markley's legendary egomania.

Surprisingly, this is actually a pretty good record, including both some excellent string parts by Lloyd and some of Danny Harris' best vocals. (Brother Shaun Harris appears only on the final track, a superior remake of "Outside/Inside" from 1969's Where's My Daddy?) Musically, the simple, often delicate sound is most akin to the group's first indie album from 1966 (reissued on Sundazed in 1997). The soft-edged arrangements prominently feature Lloyd's keyboards and overdubbed harmonies courtesy of Harris and Lloyd; most of the guitars are acoustic for once. Lyrically, however, Bob Markley seems to be continuing Where's My Daddy?'s creepy themes of paranoia, class resentment (for someone who funded the band through his trust fund, Markley seemed to write an awful lot of songs about wealth redistribution), and, perhaps most tellingly in light of the lyricist's eventual legal troubles, a predilection for underage girls. That blend of musical beauty and lyrical ickiness is, at heart, the true legacy of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.

Stored vertically in a smoke-free environment for 47 years.