MINTY *TRACK* 1969 Orig THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN HOLLYWOOD - The WHO Psych POPSIKE

$

47

         1969 *TRACK RECORDS* ORIGINAL !!!

              TOP COPY == CLEAN!! 

           THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN

                 Hollywood Dream

\                                                       USA - TRACK RECORDS - SD 8264

TOP FINAL COLLECTION COPY = ALL CLEAN ...1969 Original "Track Records" first pressing in THICK gatefold cover ....hard to find this highly wear prone dark cover SO mint clean... 

 A sometimes forgotten album containing powers within....

Includes the scarce song lyrics insert = complete = just as first released.

In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, created the band to play written by the former Who roadie, drummer/singer/guitarist John 'Speedy' Keen (miscredited as "Keene" on the single's label). Keen wrote the opening track on The Who Sell Out album, "Armenia City In The Sky". Townshend produced the single, was its arranger, played bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman and the then fifteen year old Scottish Jimmy McCulloch.

Unfortunately, this is one case where lightning never strikes twice in the same group.

Thunderclap Newman may be a one album wonder, but what a wonder, and what an album. The trio’s most recognizable name now may be Jimmy McCullough (ex-Stone The Crows), who went on to become lead guitarist for Paul McCartney and Wings (McCullough died in 1979 from a heroin overdose). But in the late ’60s much of what made Thunderclap Newman distinctive was keyboardist Andy Newman’s keys and drummer/singer John “Speedy” Keen’s Pete Townshend-like yearning vocals.

Indeed, the Who leader had a lot to do with the formation of the group — in “calling out the instigators,” to paraphrase their hit single — to play songs written by former (WHO)roadie Speedy Keen. Townshend would also play bass, do arrangements, and produce the classic hit single “Something in the Air," which struck a chord with its entrancing melodiousness, punctuating piano, and mellifluous guitar, if not with its wishful hippie lyrics : “Hand out the arms and ammo, we're gonna blast our way through here / We've got to get together sooner or later because the revolution's here…”

For a song whose original title — “Revolution” — was changed in order not to conflict with the Beatles’ single of the same name, there was enough spin on the turntables and enough of something in the airwaves for it to remain on top of the UK charts for three weeks (it peaked at #37 in the U.S.), beating out even Elvis Presley. Surprised band members, who had little in common, were augmented with reinforcements for a handful of hastily planned performances.

And of course “Something in the Air” is also on this 1969 LP Hollywood Dream, which Townshend also produced, issuing “Accidents” as a follow-up single. "Accidents" is a terrifically fun track unedited in the album’s ten-minute version as it leapfrogs from genre to genre and tempo to tempo, shifting instrumentally from psychedelic guitar to harmonica to psychedelic instrumentations, while production effects abound over a variety of Pet Sounds awash over monotonic lyrical admonitions that “Life if just a game, there is no end, Life is just a game, there is no end, Life is just a...”

Hollywood Dream is full of such quirks and inspirations, seemingly taking its cue from the opener, “Hollywood #1,” a winsome “wish there was a Hollywood just like there used to be” that is punctuated by a 1920s-era piano solo, picture-perfect for accompaniment to a silent movie, replete with dastardly deeds and Valentino leads.

“Look Around” finds its more contemporary inspiration in the control room, with Pete Townshend windmill guitar power chords driving the song. Bob Dylan’s “Open the Door, Homer” is gorgeously shimmering with the teenage McCullouch’s sparkling guitar and Keen’s subdued vocals, subtly building to some of Newman’s get-back piano.

If “Open the Door” is marked by its less-is-more musicality, the other end of the instrumental spectrum sees the exotic-sounding heady brew “Wild Country” enhanced with Newman’s Bengali flutes and oboe, and Keen’s Conga drums.

With an equal aptitude for quiet reflection and adventurousness, musical change was as much in the air as any kind of revolution promised on Hollywood Dream. One senses, then, merely from the quality and variety of the songcraft displayed on Thunderclap Newman's only album, that they certainly had the creative spark for some career longevity. Or, at the very least, that they had some more tricks up their heady compositions...

Hollywood #1

The Reason

Open The Door, Homer

Look Around

Accidents (9:40)

B:

Wild Country

when I think

the Old Cornmill

I Don't Know

Hollywood Dream II

Hollywood

Something In The Air

CONDITION: The Cover: The THICK gatefold cover is TOP clean; rated M- very hard to find this wear prone cover SO clean without ANY shelf rub wear (both sides M-) has only a minor delete mark at top left, otherwise 4 sharp corners, flat & square THICK gatefold from 1969  = altogether HIGHlY collectible...has no delete marks = no split seams, no bends, no writing ....bright original colors...

The Vinyl: is all glossy ALL CLEAN, M- Looks and plays outstanding...with CLEAN Track labels too                             

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record