I Shall Be Released; Fortes Mentum — “Green Mello Hill”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 2, 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,003) Fortes Mentum* — “Green Mello Hill”

A delicious UK pop psych confection by Danny Beckerman, a “mercurial producer/arranger/writer/musician . . . an archetypically precocious studio whizzkid who was one of [the] Morgan [Blue Town label] owner Monty Babson’s favoured lieutenants”. (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Angel Pavement: Maybe Tomorrow). Beckerman wrote this “whimsical popsike charmer” (Wells again, talking about Angel Pavement’s version in the liner notes) that was recorded by three Morgan Blue Town bands. Angel Pavement’s version was released as a ’69 B-side, while Fortes Mentum’s (see #904) version wasn’t released in the ’60’s. I have to give the edge to FM, but both versions are wonderful.

Maggie Regan tells us that:

Danny Beckerman was a staff writer at Morgan Music in 1966 and wanted to get a band together to record his own material. He decided on talented London musicians Frank Bennett on vocals, Ron Regan on bass, Keith Giles on drums, Alan Ward on Organ and Barry Clark on lead guitar. Originally Danny didn’t want to be part of the band but as they all got on well together the other guys persuaded him to join them and so was born, Sons of Chopin??? Their first single was refused by the BBC, they wouldn’t play it under copyright rules because, wait for it . . . they were not actually the Sons of Chopin!!! So instead ‘Saga Of A Wrinkled Man’ became the first single from the newly named [Fortes Mentum]. . . . They released three singles as Fortes Mentum. Despite a good following, the band never made any money although they performed all over London and the UK including such famous venues of the time like The Whisky A Go Go and the Starlight Ballroom in Crawley, as well as the usual college gigs and such. In March 1969 they were offered a unique opportunity to work in Germany. Unfortunately Alan and Barry had very good ‘day jobs’ and they didn’t want to give them up. They were replaced by Rod Creasy on keyboards and Paul Coles on lead guitar. This line up worked the famous Top 10 Club in Hamburg and the K52 Club in Frankfurt. It was at the Starlight Ballroom later on that Frank and Danny had a falling out. Danny decided to pursue his career in songwriting and so left the band. The inimitable Bob Flag (ex-Riot Squad) joined on saxaphone and flute. Fortes Mentum then toured with David Bowie amongst others but prestige doesn’t pay the rent and the band disbanded around a year later due to lack of gigs. The band had known agents such as The London City Agency/Capital Artistes but earning a living was hard in those days. The scene went a bit dead, even though the band were getting terrific write ups.

http://www.fortesmentum.com/

As to Angel Pavement (see #933), Bruce Eder tells us that:

Anyone unfamiliar with Angel Pavement shouldn’t feel too bad. . . . [I]ts peak of exposure consisted of a pair of failed singles at the very tail-end of the 1960s in England. But they were a seriously wonderful sunshine pop outfit from late 1960s, hailing from York, with a sound that was equal parts psychedelia and pop/rock in the best Hollies/Zombies/Beatles manner. The band . . . was assembled by guitarist/songwriter Alfie Shepherd out of the remnants of a soul-based outfit, Wesley Hardin’s Shotgun Package . . . . They quickly developed an effective pop-oriented psychedelic sound . . . with lush harmonies, glittering instrumental textures, horns and brass in the right places on the pop numbers. They managed to build a large following in their native York . . . . [and their] attempt to crack the London club scene coincided with their starting work on a debut album at Morgan Studios, but those efforts were interrupted by an offer to play a series of gigs for a few days in Mexico City in early 1969. Instead, they stayed for five months, and returned to London to pick up work on the album . . . . A pair of singles . . . issued through Fontana Records, failed to elicit any serious chart action in late 1969 and early 1970; a third single and their announcement of a forthcoming LP all ended up missing in action because of disputes between Shepherd and the studio’s publishing arm. Their producer apparently put the final nail in the coffin, and they broke up at the end of 1970.

[Their sound] was probably a little late, coming at the end of the decade, but divorced from those commercial concerns . . . [they] make a compelling variant on sunshine pop with British psychedelia. And the truly astonishing thing about the music represented here, apart from its quality and the fact that it was never heard until now, is that most of it is original material — how these guys missed at least a serious grab at success by getting this stuff released is anyone’s guess . . . well-nigh essential listening for anyone who loved those late-’60s British pop/rock sounds.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/angel-pavement-mn0002034391, https://www.allmusic.com/album/maybe-tomorrow-mw0001431873

David Wells adds that:

[P]revious chroniclers . . . suggested[ed] that Angel Pavement weren’t a band at all, merely as studio aggregation that masked the identity of . . . Danny Beckerman . . . . Angel Pavement, however . . . . [were a] five-piece outfit hailing from York . . . christened by their leader, chief songwriter and lead guitarist Clive “Alfie” Shepherd . . . . [It] had a firm following in and around York . . . . They arrived in London in October 1968, almost immediately playing a couple of gigs at Sibylla’s, the trendy Regent Street nightclub part-owned by George Harrision. . . . After two relative flops . . . despite appearances on radio programmes like Radio One Club . . . Fontana elected to pass on further releases. With . . . Morgan, having bitten the dust by this point, Angel Pavement were placed with the clearly uninterested Bell label in time for an intended third single . . . but this failed to gain a release despite advance publicity . . . . Even more peculiarly, a further single . . . and a debut album . . . were trumpeted for an August 1970 release but also didn’t make it to the shops . . . . There were other problems as well, with main composer Alfie Shepherd falling out with . . . Morgan’s publishing arm over their treatment of his songs.

liner notes to the CD comp Angel Pavement: Maybe Tomorrow

* HarvestmanMan says: “If the name [in Latin] was supposed to mean ‘strong mind’ (just one), it’d be ‘fortis mens’… if it was supposed to mean ‘strong minds’ it’d be ‘fortes mentes’. Someone never completed their language classes in school… ;)”. (https://www.45cat.com/record/2400). Harsh!

Here is a shorter version:

Here is Angel Pavement:

Here are the Magic Worms (another Morgan Blue Town outfit):

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