Colours "Where Is She?" (1968)

  Еще одно мой открытие. Потрясающая группа. И это тоже исключительно для битломанов.

   Here's a distinctly American take on the more psychedelic, orchestral sounds that the Beatles were known for. The project was initiated by songwriters Jack Dalton and Gary Montgomery and features fine session players that also played with A-listers like Derek and the Dominos and Taj Mahal. Besides the obvious Beatles influence, the music here is crossbred with the sounds you'd find with Three Dog Night or hippy musicals like Hair, but this one immediately scores an extra Twinkie on the totem pole of psychedelic sounds as I much prefer this to Hair or Three Dog Night. The production is meaty and top notch, and the vocals are of high quality, both with the singer's Lennon-on-quaaludes sound and the Brian Wilson-worthy back ground harmonies. My only major critique with this one is that a fair portion of the lyrics sound like they were written by a 12-year-old ("Smoke a while, think a while - I feel I'm getting mighty bored - I know what I can do - I think I'll rob a liquor store..." FAIL!!), while the rest don't make much of an impressison. Fortunately, the music half of the songwriting more than makes up for this problem with some top notch psychedelic/sunshine pop melodies.

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Emitt Rhodes "Somebody Made for Me" (1970)

   Чудесный исполнитель. Он меня заворожил своей музыкой. Иногда Эмитт мне напоминает Джерри Рафферти. Но это скорее хорошо, чем плохо. Барри считает, что он поет по-битловски. Я бы так не сказал. Очень близко по стилистике, но не одно и то же. Эх, сколько таких мелодий звучало по радио в 60-х годах. И куда они потом подевались?!! Вот раскапываем помаленьку. Послушать их последний раз и только потом можно спокойно помереть... 

   Rhodes recorded the album in his home studio. At the time, union rules required that recordings released on major labels must be recorded in proper studios, so the fact that this was a home recording could not be mentioned on the cover. The runout groove of the original LP release on Dunhill Records contained a decorative banner proclaiming, "Recorded at Home." Rhodes wanted to call the album Homecooking, but Dunhill decided to title it Emitt Rhodes.

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The Monkees "I'll Love You Forever"

  Песня, которую Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones и Peter Tork спели вживую перед сотнями тысяч своих преданных поклонников. В этой версии голос вокалиста поразительно напоминает голос Джона Леннона.