The Action
Rolled Gold

THE REVIEW

It is incredible, almost shocking, that there are albums that have remained in the record companies' drawers for years… 35 in the case of this “Rolled Gold”, the unique non-album album by London's The Action.

The group has been active since 1963 under the acronym The Boys, playing a raw rhythm and blues, primitive, as defined by the very few testimonies of the time. The band evolves, changes its name (becoming the definitive The Action), after a successful single in '64, and the four original members Alan "Bam" King (guitar), Reg King (vocals), Mike Evans (bass) and Roger Powell (drums) are joined by Pete Watson (guitar); the sound remains rough and powerful, but embraces soul (the American black one more than the English “northern”) allowing them to become one of the three favorite bands of the hordes of Mods increasingly invading the streets and clubs of the capital (and forgive me if the others were The Who and Small Faces).

They do not go unnoticed and George Martin, the Beatles' producer, signs them for his newly-formed Air label, sponsored by Emi, managing to get the King brothers' band a contract for two 45s. Four more follow, without ever making the group soar in the sales charts.
From '65 to '67, the year they disbanded, their sound is in continuous evolution and transformation, until it eventually melts into the burgeoning psychedelic scene. But a long-distance record release remains elusive. They record the demo-tape of “Rolled Gold” at the beginning of 1967, but it is of no interest to Emi/Parlophone, who do not produce it, effectively putting the final word on the group's story, which in the meantime had also added keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Ian Whiteman to its ranks. Reg King leaves to pursue a solo career with mixed success, and the other members transform into the psychedelic project Mighty Baby.

The label Reaction Musik in 2002 finally gives life to this “forgotten” gem, offering us about fifteen tracks that testify to a mature, committed, and inspired band, without the furious energy of the previous singles but with an awareness of their own capabilities and a clear vision of the astonishing result they wanted to achieve. Completely immersed in the cultural revolution/liberation movements surrounding them, The Action seems to want to experiment with the best solutions, always remaining more faithful than any other band to their roots, so much so that even the Byrds' jingle-jangle sounds 100% British as in “Come Around” (a collision between McGuinn and Crosby's group with Nash's Hollies) or in the heartfelt “Little Boy” (a crystal-clear example of that English psych-pop championed by Tomorrow or Kaleidoscope).
The Summer of Love finds in “Love Is All” a progressive exercise well ahead of its time, which "claustrophobizes" the best minds of the Bay Area (Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe, and the Los Angeles-based Love) within the visions of future Jethro Tull, so much so that a flute even appears in the voice and guitar phrasings. “Icarus” seems to want to show Townsend the path for his “Tommy”, while the beat root becomes hallucinogenic in “Really Doesn’t Matter” or expanded in the power-psych-pop “I’m A Stranger”.

A special mention is deserved for the three pearls of the album, “Something To Say” is a perfect American-indie track from the second half of the '80s, where it seems R.E.M. or Pavement (just to name two not-so-well-known names) studied. “Brain” is almost epic in its progressive march with King's voice praying for immortality, and the double final version of “In My Dreams” is pure English psych-folk with a melancholy comparable only to “The Sky Children” by contemporary Kaleidoscope (UK).
A final mention is deserved by “Follow Me” where our guys indulge (sadly for the last time) in a fiery garage-beat seemingly wanting to put an end to that fantastic season, closing the circle opened by the Yardbirds with “For Your Love” and the Kinks with “You Really Got Me”, a few years earlier.

All for my (sure) and the “Modfather” Paul Weller's orgasmic joy (I believe).