The Electric Prunes

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The Electric Prunes
General information
Genre (s) Acid rock , psychedelic rock , garage rock
founding 1965 as The Sanctions
1966 as Jim and The Lords
1966 as The Electric Prunes , 2000
resolution 1968
The New Improved Electric Prunes 1970
Website http://www.electricprunes.net/
Current occupation
Vocals, autoharp
 James Lowe (until 1968, since 2000)
Guitar (bass)
 Mark Tulin (until 1968, since 2000)
guitar
 Ken Williams (until 1968, since 2000)
Lead guitar
 Steve Kara (since 2004)
guitar
 Jay Dean (since 2004)
Drums
 Walter Garces (since 2006)
former members
Drums
 Steve Acoff (1965)
Keyboard
 Dick Hargraves (1965-1966)
Drums
 Michael Weakley "Quint" (1965-1966, 1967)
guitar
 James Spagnola "Weasel" (1965-1967)
Drums
 Preston Ritter († 2015) (1966–1967)
guitar
 Mike Gannon (1967–1968; †)
Vocals, guitar
 Kenny Loggins (1968)
Drums
 Joe Dooley (1968)
Keyboard, vocals
 Jeromy Stuart (1968)
Rhythm guitar
 Mark Moulin (2000-2003)
guitar
 Peter Lewis (2000-2003)
Keyboard
 Cameron Lowe (2000-2003)

The Electric Prunes is an American rock band that first received international attention as an experimental psychedelic group in 1966 . After two psychedelic albums, the band turned to religious issues. The musicians were often changed as a result and after one last album for the time being, the band broke up in 1969. In 2000 the band formed again to make new recordings and give concerts from 2001.

history

prehistory

The band was formed in 1965 in the San Fernando Valley by James Lowe, Mark Tulin and Ken Williams, who knew each other from Taft High School in Los Angeles . First drummer, Steve Acoff, was replaced by Mike Weakley and Dick Hargraves (keyboards) joined the band, which first called itself The Sanctions and in 1966 Jim and The Lords . Hargraves left the band and guitarist James ( Weasel ) Spagnola joined them. The band played in clubs and eventually recorded their own songs in Russ Bottomley's home studio, which were only released much later under The Sanctions / Jim and The Lords (Heartbeat Records).

Through an acquaintance of the Tulin family, Barbara Harris, the band met songwriter Annette Tucker and Dave Hassinger, who was a sound engineer at RCA Records at the time and worked with The Rolling Stones while they were in Los Angeles. Hassinger made it possible for the band to do some demo recordings. At this point, the name was also changed to The Electric Prunes . The single Ain't It Hard / Little Olive , which was created there, brought the band a contract with Reprise Records . Mike Weakley did not agree to the terms of the contract and left the band; he was replaced by Preston Ritter (1949-2015). When the single was unsuccessful, Warner Brothers dropped the band.

The band under Dave Hassinger

The second single I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) was selected by Hassinger from material that came from the experienced songwriting team Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz. Together with Luvin ' , Hideaway and a cover version of the Hollies song Way of My Own , Jim Lowe, James Spagnola, Ken Williams, Mark Tulin and Preston Ritter recorded a new demo tape in the studio of Leon Russell ( Sky Hill Studios ) . Reprise Records gave the band a new contract and Dave Hassinger became the band producer.

I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) (B-side: Luvin ) (1966) was made famous by disk jockey Pat O'Day (KJR (AM) in Seattle) and was very popular there before it was also used in national music -Charts appeared. It remained the Prunes' greatest success , reaching number 11 in the US and number 49 in England. The third single, Get Me to the World on Time , was also relatively successful: # 27 in the US and 42 in England. In 1967 the band toured the northwest and southern United States, playing concerts with The Beach Boys , Cream , The Lovin 'Spoonful , Steppenwolf , Jefferson Airplane, and Buffalo Springfield .

The first two albums, The Electric Prunes: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) (1967 at American Recording in North Hollywood; mainly songs by Tucker / Mantz) and Underground (1967; own songs and three songs by Tucker / Mantz) reached the lower regions of the Billboard charts. During the recording of Underground there was tension between Hassinger and the band, who wanted to record more of their own songs and experimental music. Preston Ritter left the band and the original drummer Mike ( Quint ) Weakley came back and Spagnola was replaced by Mike Gannon, who only appeared in two songs. The fourth single, Everybody Knows You're Not In Love , was recorded with this line-up.

The band under Dave Axelrod

Before the band set off on a European tour in 1967, they recorded the third album. Mass In F Minor (1968) is a concept album written, arranged and produced by David "Dave" Axelrod . It contains individual pieces of music from a mass that had been implemented in the psychedelic style of the Prunes . The most famous track on this album, Kyrie Eleison , underlines the Mardi Gras scene in the film Easy Rider and appeared on the soundtrack of the film in 1969 .
When the production took too long to record the first track - Mark Tulin was the only one who could read sheet music - studio musicians were brought in to replace Ken Williams and James Spagnola. Only Tulin and Weakley played and James sang, sometimes supported by the Canadian group The Collectors . The album caused a stir and was even featured in Time Magazine , but sales were disappointing.

The European tour also took Lowe, Tulin, Weakley, Williams and Gannon (who replaces the sick Spagnola) to Stockholm , where their concert is being recorded by Sveriges Radio , the public broadcaster in Sweden. This remained the band's only live recording during the 1960s and was later released as Stockholm 67 on Heartbeat Records . Tensions increased during the tour, in France Weakley left the band and stayed in Europe. Back in the States he was replaced by Joe Dooley.

The next album followed in 1968, Release of An Oath , again a concept album with religious themes and again produced entirely by Axelrod. Studio musicians accompanied The Electric Prunes , who were limited to singing. In the same year the band tried to do another tour - without James Lowe, with the cast of Ken Williams, Mark Tulin, Jeromy Stuart and Kenny Loggins, but this tour turned out to be a disaster: the band had no drummer and was unable to to play their greatest hits. Back in Los Angeles, the band broke up.

"The New Improved Electric Prunes"

One album, Just Good Old Rock and Roll , was recorded under the name The New Improved Electric Prunes in 1969 by a completely reorganized group of musicians from Colorado that had no relationship with the original band. This group toured and released a single with Reprise Records, but disappeared in 1970.

New editions and cover versions

The song I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) was on the scrapbook Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era , which was released in 1972 and later re-released - in 1976 and 1998 - bringing The Electric Prunes to a new generation of listeners achieved. This track was also recorded by other groups such as Prince Vlad & the Gargoyle Impalers (early 1980s) and The Damned ( alter ego : Naz Nomad and the Nightmares ; 1980s). Also XTC - under the name of The Dukes of Stratosphear - used the style of Too Much to Dream in their song 25 O'Clock . It was also recorded by Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks for their album Doo Dad and then used in Webb's film Horror Hayride .

In the late 1990s, the release of Stockholm , The Electric Prunes ' only live album , caused a stir. Heartbeat Records also released the band's early recordings under the names The Sanctions and Jim and The Lords , which were transferred from previously unplayed 35-year-old lacquer dubplates , ie thin aluminum plates coated with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc).

Reorganization

After more than 30 years, the original quartet Lowe, Tulin, Williams and Weakley met in a studio to think about a revival of the band. Lowe, Tulin and Williams, who had also played on all of the early recordings, decided - reinforced by two new members, including James Lowe's son Cameron - to reorganize The Electric Prunes . In 2001 they began touring internationally and in 2002 they released the CD album Artifact and a DVD album ( Rewired ). The Rewired Tour followed in 2002 and the Undone Tour in 2004 .

In 2007 the trio Lowe, Tulin, and Williams released the CD Feedback . In 2010 the band made more recordings and went on tour with the new drummer Walter Garces. On March 30, 2015, the former drummer Preston Ritter, who had worked with Linda Ronstadt , The Beach Boys and Dobie Gray after leaving the band , died.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US
1967 The Electric Prunes US113 (12 weeks)
US
Underground US172 (4 weeks)
US
1968 Mass In F Minor US135 (13 weeks)
US
compiled by David Axelrod

More albums

  • Release of An Oath 1968
  • Just Good Old Rock and Roll 1969
  • Artifact 2002
  • California 2004
  • Feedback 2006

Live albums

  • Stockholm 1997/2002 (with various front covers)
  • The Sanctions / Jim and the Lords: Then Came the Electric Prunes 2000

Compilations

  • Long Day's Flight 1986
  • The Singles 1995
  • Lost Dreams 2001
  • Artifact 2001
  • Too Much To Dream: Original Group Recordings: Reprise 1966-1967 2007

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1967 I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)
The Electric Prunes 		UK49 (1 week)
UK 		US11 (14 weeks)
US
Reprise 0532 (US) / Reprise RS 20532 (UK)
B-side: Luvin
Get Me To The World On Time
The Electric Prunes 		UK42 (4 weeks)
UK 		US27 (8 weeks)
US
Reprise 0564 (US) / Reprise RS 20564 (UK)
B-side: Are You Lovin 'Me More

Other singles (US)

  • 1966: Ain't It Hard / Little Olive (reprise 0473)
  • 1967: Vox Wah-Wah Ad (Thomas 08-000132-0)
  • 1967: Dr Do-Good / Hideaway (Reprise 0594)
  • 1967: The Great Banana Hoax / Wind-up Toys (Reprise 0607)
  • 1968: Everybody Knows You're Not In Love / You Never Had it Better (Reprise 0652)
  • 1968: I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night / Get Me To The World On Time (Reprise 0704 - double A-side)
  • 1968: Shadow (Reprise PRO 287, one-sided single)
  • 1968: Sanctus / Credo (Reprise PRO 277)
  • 1968: Help Us (Our Father, Our King) / The Adoration (Reprise PRO 305)
  • 1969: Hey! Mr. President / Flowing Smoothly (reprise 0756)
  • 1969: Violent Rose / Sell (reprise 0833)
  • 1969: Love Grows / Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers (Reprise 0858)
  • 2001: Hollywood Halloween (Birdman Records BMR1313) Peter Lewis ( Moby Grape ) with The Electric Prunes
  • 2002: Get Me To The World On Time (Live) (Birdman Records BMR037) 2002 (recorded at Voxfest III, June 2001)
  • Left in Blue (Original from Azure Halo)

Other singles (UK)

  • 1967: The Great Banana Hoax / Wind-Up Toys (Reprise RS 20607)
  • 1967: Long Days Flight / The King In His Counting House (Reprise RS 23212)
  • 1968: Everybody Knows You're Not In Love / You Never Had It Better (Reprise RS 20652)
  • 1973: Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) / ( Lies by the Knickerbockers) (Elektra K 12102) (from the compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 )
  • 1979: I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) / Luvin (Radar ADA 16 - picture sleeve reissue)

Other singles (France)

  • 1967: I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) / Luvin ' / Little Olive / Ain't It Hard (Reprise RVEP 60098)
  • 1968: Long Day's Flight / Dr Do Good / The Great Banana Hoax / Captain Glory (Reprise RVEP 60110)
  • 1968: Everybody Knows You're Not In Love / You Never Had It Better (Reprise RV 20149)
  • 1969: Hey Mr President / Flowing Smoothly (Reprise RV 20198)

more publishments

  • 1969: Easy Rider Soundtrack (contains "Kyrie Eleison")
  • Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 (contains "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)")
  • 1978: Pebbles, Volume 2 (contains "Vox Wah-Wah Radio Ad")
  • 1981: Rarities: Great Live Concerts
  • 2005: Last Night at The Rendezvous recorded on the Psychedelica Volume One compilation by Northern Star Records

Video albums

  • 2002: Rewired 2002

bibliography

  • 1001 Albums you must hear before you die , 3rd edition 2008, p. 124 (Author: Craig Reece), editor Robert Dimery, Cassell Illustrated, ISBN 978-1-84403-624-0 .
  • Julia Edenhofer: The great oldie lexicon , Weltbild-Verlag Augsburg 1993, p. 203, ISBN 3-89350-720-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The genesis of the name - and whether Hassinger suggested it or whether it came from the band members - can no longer be reconstructed with certainty even by those present at the time.
  2. ↑ This initial success at this local radio station led to rumors that The Electric Prunes were a band from Seattle.
  3. ↑ Rock: Something Heavy , TIME MAGAZINE, Dec. 29, 1967
  4. ^ Preston Ritter, Electric Prunes Drummer, Dies at 65 , accessed June 21, 2015
  5. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US