SONGS OF PROTEST & ANTI PROTEST C.LUCEY FOLK PSYCH LP

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79

Songs of protest and anti protest, chris lucey LP ,Original on SURREY RECORDS SS-1027 Both record and cover in M- condition (cover still in shrink wrap w/original price tags) “Bobby Jameson became Chris Lucey in 1965, after recording and releasing a couple of singles in the U.S. and then heading to England for a year. In England, he worked with Andrew Loog Oldham, the manager at the time of the Rolling Stones. Another single followed there, and then Bobby left the U.K. Back in the U.S. after almost a year, Bobby says on his MySpace page, “I met a girl named Pam Burns who was Randy Woods’ secretary at Mira Records. Mira had a budget label that they put stuff on that they weren’t sure what to do with.” And one of the recordings set for release in Europe was an album called Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest by a performer named Chris Ducey. Mira and Ducey had some contractual issues, and the singer bailed on the project, which left Mira with thousands of album jackets already printed and, Bobby notes, a European release date to meet. “They figured out that they could alter the album covers to say Chris Lucey instead of Chris Ducey,” Bobby says. And Pam Burns persuaded Randy Wood to let Bobby Jameson become Chris Lucey. So in a very short time, Bobby Jameson took Chris Ducey’s songs titles, wrote new songs for them and then recorded them. Marshall Lieb, a one-time member of the Teddy Bears in the 1950s with Phil Spector, produced the record. The record, Bobby said, turned out better than anyone expected, and Randy Wood tried to sign Bobby to a long-term contract. Bobby refused: “I had been hired to rewrite Ducey’s songs and sing them, that’s all.” But Wood had promised Bobby that if the album did well, Mira would record and release a Bobby Jameson single. The track “Vietnam,” backed with “Metropolitan Man” was the result. (You can hear it, and a few other tracks, at Bobby Jameson’s MySpace Music page.) Deejays in L.A. refused to play the record because, Bobby says, it was considered too political and anti-American. He notes that the song was used in the soundtrack to the cult film Mondo Hollywood. Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest did not sell well, in Europe, in the U.S. or in England, where it was released under Bobby Jameson’s name as Too Many Mornings. Those who did hear it heard what All-Music Guide calls “a deeply idiosyncratic psych-folk opus resembling the classic early LPs by Arthur Lee and Love.” If you’re going to be pigeon-holed, at least that’s an interesting place to be stuck. And it’s not inaccurate. There are hints of Arthur Lee’s whimsy and sense of melody and filigree. To me, the stand-out tracks on Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest are the gloomy “I’ll Remember Them,” “I Got The Blues,” which has a Byrds-ish feel, the haunting “That’s The Way The World Has Got To Be (Part 2),” and “Girl From The East,” a lovely tune that was covered on a single by the Leaves.” Tracks: That’s The Way The World Has Got To Be (Part 1)- I’ll Remember Them- Girl From Vernon Mountain- I Got The Blues- Saline- That’s The Way The World Has Got To Be (Part 2)- With Pity, But It’s Too Late- You Came, You Saw, But You Didn’t Conquer Me- Girl From The East- Don’t Come Looking-