THE LEMON PIPERS
 The
members of this five-piece psychedelic band were Ivan Browne on rhythm
guitar and lead vocals, Bill Bartlett on lead guitar, R.G. Nave on
keyboards, Steve Walmsley on bass, and Bill Albaugh on drums. Browne had
been involved in music for some time before the Lemon Pipers came to be,
starting his first band Ivan & the Sabers in 1961.
By 1964, the group had become regionally popular in Ohio, and opened for
some of the well-known recording artists of the day. In 1966, Browne
left the Sabers and replaced Tony in Tony & the Bandits. In time,
their name would be changed to the Lemon Pipers.
Their debut release was "Quiet Please/Monaural 78" on the
independent Carol label. “Quiet Please” was a heavy garage recording
that bore obvious similarities to the Eddie Cochran classic
“Summertime Blues,” but was nevertheless entertaining, featuring
smoldering Bill Bartlett guitar. In 1967, producers Jerry Kasenetz and
Jeff Katz were looking to augment their Super K Productions stable with
talent. They decided to look in central Ohio, where they had previously
found commercial success on Laurie Records with The Music Explosion and
"Little Bit O' Soul." (The song peaked nationally at #2 in
1967.) In Oxford, OH they discovered the Lemon Pipers, who were willing
to follow the producers ba In the beginning, the Pipers were given
complete artistic control on the condition that they made hits. The band
released their first Buddha single, a Bartlett penned original called
"Turn Around and Take a Look." The song did not have the right
commercial formula, and barely cracked the charts, reaching only #132.
This did not sit well with the protuberant record company, who expected
hits at all costs. Next, bigwigs Bob Reno and Neil Bogart heard a demo
called "Green Tambourine" that caught their attention.
Songwriter Shelly Pinz had written the lyrics after reading an article
about a one-man band that performed outside a bank in England. Producer
and composer Paul Leka set the lyrics to music, and created the demo
tape. Bogart and Reno then sent Leka to play the tape for the Lemon
Pipers. They said that if the Pipers refused to record it, the band
would be dropped by Buddha. Initially, when he played the song, the
Lemon Pipers refused to record it, but they would accept when Leka
reluctantly revealed the label's intentions. With solid promotion and
production, "Green Tambourine" reached #1 on the national
charts by February of 1968.
Despite
the strong sales of "Green Tambourine," further significant
chart success was not to be. The follow up single "Rice is
Nice" was certainly
the most saccharine of the Leka/Pinz compositions crafted for the group,
and only made #46. The Green Tambourine album showed the Pipers in a few
different styles. While around half of the songs were in the psychedelic
pop style of "Green Tambourine," the group also covered
folk-rock with “Ask Me If I Care,” explored heavy blues-rock with
“Fifty Year Void,” and probed the dimensions of space rock in
“Through With You.” This latter category of psychedelic
improvisation was to be explored further on the group’s subsequent
album Jungle Marmalade, which would wind up as the band's strongest
album.
The
next single was the Leka/Pinz creation "Jelly Jungle (of Orange
Marmalade)." Though a quality single, it stalled at #51. There was
no more chart activity despite other fine singles, including a cover of
the Goffin/King composition “I Was Not Born to Follow.” Despite not
fully being cohesive, the group’s second album contained the Lemon
Pipers most accomplished original material. In regards to the Lemon
Pipers career as a recording unit, it could be argued that their albums
lacked consistency, that is, the group was often forced to record
material that was in opposition to their actual sound. As a live
quintet, the Pipers favored a harder rock style epitomized by some of
the band's original material. Even so, several of the Leka/Pinz songs
were enjoyable lightweight forays into a psychedelic pop dream world.
After only these two albums, the Lemon Pipers retired their name in
1969. All in all, the Lemon Pipers deserve to be heard beyond their
major hit song. They certainly had a diverse body of work in under two
years of recording activity, and their recordings are worthy of study.
ck to New York.
DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
Green Tambourine (#90) —
Buddah BDM-1009 (Mono)/BDS-5009 (Stereo) — February 1968 Rice Is Nice
/ Shoeshine Boy / Turn Around And Take A Look / Rainbow Tree / Ask Me If
I Care / Straglin' Behind / Green Tambourine / Blueberry Blue / The
Shoemaker Of Leatherwear Square / Fifty Year Void / Through With You
Jungle Marmalade — Buddah BDM-1016 (Mono — promotional release
only)/BDS-5016 (Stereo) — 1968 Jelly Jungle / I Was Not Born To Follow
/ Everything Is You / Catch Me Falling / Hard Core / Love Beads and
Meditation / I Need Someone (The Painter) / Lonely Atmosphere (mistitled
as "Mirrors" on the album cover — see below) / Wine And
Violet / Dead End Street/Half Light.
Singles
Quiet Please / Monaural 78—Carol 107—1966 Turn Around And Take A
Look (#132) / Danger—Buddah 11—10/67 Green Tambourine (#1) / No Help
From Me—Buddah 23—12/67 Rice Is Nice (#46) / Blueberry Blue—Buddah
31—3/68 Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade) (#51) / Shoeshine Boy—Buddah
41—5/68 Wine And Violet / Lonely Atmosphere—Buddah 63—1968 Hard
Core / Rainbow Tree—Buddah 124—1969 I Was Not Born To Follow /
Rainbow Tree—Buddah 136—1969 |
