THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,035) Copperpenny — “Castles of Sand”
Before they hit it big in Canada, Ontario’s Copperpenny gave us this charming baroque pop number off its first LP. It is not Little Stevie Wonder’s “Castles in the Sand” or Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made of Sand”!
As to CP, John Bush writes:
In 1965, vocalist Kenny Hollis and keyboard player Rich Wamil formed a band, first known as the Penny Farthings. The Ontario-based duo changed their name to Copperpenny in 1966 and gradually added members Blake Barrett (drums), Ron Hiller (bass) and Bill Mononen (guitar). Canadian hits for Columbia (“Nice Girl”) and RCA (“Stop [Wait a Minute]”) followed in the late ’60s, along with a self-titled 1970 album. Copperpenny signed to a subsidiary of London Records in 1973 and released “You’re Still the One,” the single that put the band on the map. Sittin’ on a Poor Man’s Throne was also issued in 1973. Copperpenny signed with Capitol in 1975 and released The Fuse Album . . . one year later.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/copperpenny-mn0001479203#discography
Citizen Freak goes deep:
The band was formed in 1965 while the British Invasion had been in full force, and so naming the group “The Penny Farthings” (most likely taken from the name of a Yorkville, Toronto, coffeehouse), didn’t sound like such a bad idea. It was wisely changed to “Copperpenny” (or “Copper Penny” as shown on many of their singles), the following year. . . . “Baby Gives Me Everything” and “Beezel Bug” never charted, but in between, “Nice Girl” made an appearance at number 77 on the Canadian weekly RPM 100 Singles chart. Unfortunately, the pop-flavoured releases weren’t successful enough for Columbia to justify spending any additional effort . . . and so the group was dropped. Picking up the ball was Jack Richardson. His Nimbus 9 production company had recently signed a deal with RCA Victor to distribute a new project with The Guess Who, consisting of the Wheatfield Soul album and the smash single, “These Eyes.” After a second Guess Who LP was out of the way, Richardson took Copperpenny to RCA’s recording facility in Chicago to record ten songs. Rich Wamil . . . handled keyboards and lead vocals; Kenny Hollis . . . also sang lead vocals; Vern (Laverne) McDonald . . . played lead guitar; Bert Hamer looked after drums and percussion; and Paul Reibling played bass, but was soon replaced by ex-Rain member, Ron Hiller . . . . Wamil and McDonald also wrote all of the band’s material. The songs were described by Walt Grealis of RPM Weekly Magazine, as “bubblegum or heavy rock[.]” The first single from Copperpenny’s self-titled album was “Just A Sweet Little Thing,” a ray of sunshine pop in 1969. It didn’t chart, and neither did the grittier follow-up, “I’ve Been Hurt Before.” But eventually, the album’s best song, “Stop (Wait A Minute),” cracked the top 100 on the strength of a catchy chorus when Hollis and Wamil trade lead vocals. The song received a lot of airplay in Southern Ontario and kept Copperpenny on the road for most of the year, with the band occasionally opening for The Guess Who or The Five Man Electrical Band. Closing the 1970 debut album was “Stop The World,” a psychedelic track that lasted just under 9 minutes and finished with an explosion followed by the sound of a toilet flushing. . . . Although RCA widened its distribution of Copperpenny’s 1970 album into the U.S., the LP didn’t sell very well. The group was also barely getting by financially, so it’s not surprising then that within a couple years, only Wamil and Hollis remained from the original line-up. . . .
Highschool friends Ken Hollis and Rich Wamil began jamming together in the garage in 1965, and formed their first group, Penny Farthings soon after. Adopting a name they felt reflected the British Invasion they were hearing on the airwaves, they soon became staples around the Kitchener, Ontario area. Members came and went over the next few years, but with Hollis on vocals and Wamil on keyboards and vocals, the lineup by ’68 also featured guitarist Vern McDonald, Paul Reibling on bass, and drummer Bert Hamer. While writing some material, they shopped some demos around while pounding the streets, eventually catching the attention of execs at Columbia. The first thing the label did was suggest a name change, so Copperpenny was born . . . . By that summer, they’d recorded some material, and three tracks were picked as singles over the next few months – “Baby Gives Me Everything” . . . followed shortly after by “Nice GiRL” . . . and “Beezel Bug” . . . . None shook the world’s foundations, nor did they live up to the expectations of some of Columbia’s staff, although “Nice Girl” did make it to #77 on the Canadian RPM chart. This was despite label brass putting little or no effort into promotions . . . . They hooked up with RCA Records and went into the studios in Chicago with famed producer Jack Richardson (Guess Who, among a million others). While finishing up work on their upcoming debut album, they continued playing gigs, highlighted by an opening slot for Led Zeppelin in Kitchener. Their self-titled debut album was in the stores in the spring of 1970, and RCA and Richardson’s Nimbus 9 both released singles. But the lollipop melody of “Just A Sweet Little Thing” and the grittier “I’ve Been Hurt Before” both failed to chart. But the final single, “Stop (Wait A Minute)” cracked the top 100, fuelled by Wamil and Hollis trading lead vocals on the song. It got good airplay in the GTA and throughout southern Ontario. With “Stop (Wait a Minute)” getting decent airplay in the Detroit market, thanks to southern Ontario radio’s support, RCA was encouraged to widen its distribution into the US, but the album still failed to make a dent. Also featured was the psychedelic “Stop The World,” a nine minute epic that when added to the rest of the album, had the critics totally baffled as to what direction the band was going was. The band kept on the road for the better part of a year, opening for the likes of The Guess Who and 5 Man Electrical Band. Throughout ’71 the band continued to tour while writing their own material. But by the following summer, only Hollis and Wamil remained from the original lineup, due in part to what some members claimed to be financial mismanagement, where their manager Dick Wending kept a reported 51% of all bookings and recording deals.
https://citizenfreak.com/artists/93334-copperpenny
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