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Rating: The long wave that started with "Revolver" had caused unimaginable turmoil from various perspectives, and further west, there was a group of crazy people using an electrified amphora and fluttering around aboard unthinkable elevators. They were searching for a name to define their music, and that adjective, "psychedelic," emerged, which would change many things in the future.
Immediately, too, to be honest: a myriad of familiar sonic associations started to flourish on both sides of the ocean. Without delving into the well-known story of the summer of '67 (extremely important as well) and everything else, it's worth remembering that the English "fashion" of those years undoubtedly led many bands to experiment with psychedelia. Bands that started as jazz, or perhaps poorly defined (Soft Machine, Pink Floyd), blues bands (Pretty Things, Fleetwood Mac), predominantly beat groups (Who). And I'm surely forgetting many others. Anyway, in this latter category, one can place the Shondells, led by Tommy James. They started as emulators of the Beatles and Kinks, or—to stay on more accessible shores—as friendly peers of the Monkees, treading the then-almost-untouched path of pop/beat hit-making. They published no less than three albums in 1967, "I Think We're Alone Now," "Gettin' Together," and "Something Special," firmly anchored in the charts. Then in 1968, "Mony Mony" slightly shakes the group, leading up to "Crimson and Clover."
Whether it was due to actual artistic growth or taking advantage of the moment is unknown. The fact is that in the year "S.F. Sorrow" by Pretty Things was quickly proclaimed album of the year, "Crimson and Clover" also timidly made its way. Easily driven by the instantly catchy single that gives the album its title, the journey unfolds through a series of relaxingly toned ballads, with hints of blues influences diluted in a festive pop-psychedelic bath. The rare appearances of acid guitars evoke the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, although (of course) they don't reach those territories or levels. The pastoral delicacy of "Kathleen Mc Arthur", the timid aggressiveness of "I am a Tangerine" and "I'm Alive", and the easily singable "Do Something to Me" emerge. Undoubtedly, the gem of the album—and perhaps one of the most beautiful of the entire English movement—remains "Crimson and Clover". It starts as a ballad, gently accompanied by Mick Vale's bass and James' dreamlike singing, transitioning to instrumental parts that are at times aggressive, at times soft, at times faster, dissolving into gentle percussion and continuing to tease the listener. The ending is spine-chilling, with the «crimson and clover, over and over» repeated ad libitum, with the filtered chorus becoming faster and more uncertain.
Naïve psychedelic experiments? Certainly, although at some moments in the album the five showed talent. Undoubtedly, the sound today is inevitably dated, except for some exceptions, but it thoroughly testifies to a period—the second half of the '60s in England—of utmost importance for music history. A reflection that still resonates today.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Crimson and Clover (03:28)
Now I don't hardly know her
But I think I could love her
Crimson and clover
Ah
Well if she come walkin' over
Now I been waitin' to show her
Crimson and clover
Over and over
Yeah
My mind's such a sweet thing
I wanna do everything
What a beautiful feeling
Crimson and clover
Over and over
Crimson and clover, over and over
02 Mony Mony (02:50)
Here she comes now
Say, Mony, Mony
Shoot 'em down
Turn around
Come on, Mony
Hey, she gives me love
And I feel all right, now
You gotta toss and turn
In the middle of the night
And I feel all right
I say, yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
You make me feel
(Mony, Mony) so (Mony, Mony)
Good (Mony, Mony) yeah (Mony, Mony)
So good (Mony, Mony)
All right (Mony, Mony)
Come on (Mony, Mony)
All right, baby (Mony, Mony)
Say, yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah
Wake me
Shake me
Mony, Mony
Shot gun
Get it done
Come on, Mony
Don't stop cookin'
It feels so good, yeah
Hey-eey, but don't stop, now
Hey, come on, Mony
Come on, Mony
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Well, you make me feel
(Mony, Mony) so (Mony, Mony)
Good (Mony, Mony) yeah
(Mony, Mony) all right (Mony, Mony)
Come on (Mony, Mony)
So good (Mony, Mony)
All right (Mony, Mony)
I say, yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Oooooooooh
(Oooh, I love you Mony, Mo, Mo, Mony)
So good
(Oooh, I love you Mony, Mo, Mo, Mony)
So fine
(Oooh, I love you Mony, Mo, Mo, Mony)
All right
(Oooh, I love you Mony Mony)
Say, Mony Mony
Yeah (yeah)
Everybody (yeah)
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Come on
Come on
03 Hanky Panky (03:02)
My baby does the hanky panky
I saw her walking on down the line,
you know I saw her for the very first time,
a pretty little girl standing all alone,
hey, pretty baby, can I take you home
I never saw her, never ever saw her.
My baby does the hanky panky
04 Crystal Blue Persuasion (04:07)
Look over yonder what do you see?
The sun is a-risin' most definitely
A new day is comin' people are changin'
Ain't it beautiful? crystal blue persuasion
Better get ready gonna see the light
Love, love is the answer and that's all right
So don't you give up now so easy to find
Just look to your soul and open your mind
Crystal blue persuasion, mm-hmm
It's a new vibration
Crystal blue persuasion, crystal
Blue persuasion
Maybe tomorrow when He looks down
Every green field and every town
All of his children every nation
There'll be peace and good brotherhood
Crystal blue persuasion
11 Mirage (02:43)
I see you standing in the alleys and the hallways
Wait a second, you're gone now
I run to touch you but you vanish through the doorway
And oh how
Hard it is to live without you
I love everything about you
Now I know you're really gone
But my imagination is so strong
That I see you coming into view
And your face is telling me that you
Oh yeah oh, want to be by my side
Oh yeah oh, now it's finally time
Wait a second
Mirage, that's all you are to me
Mirage, something I only see
So I keep walking through the alleys and the hallways
Where are you
I keep remembering the kissing in the doorways
The car too
How it all comes back to me
The movies every Saturday
The place we used to go to eat
I want so much to have it like it used to be
That I see you coming into view
And your face is telling me that you
Oh yeah oh, want to be by my side
Oh yeah oh, now it's finally time
Here it comes again
Mirage, that's all you are to me
Mirage, something I only see
Just a mirage, that's all you are to me
Just a mirage, something that I only see
Just a mirage, that's all you are to me
Just a mirage, something that I only see
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