THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,073) H.P. Lovecraft — “That’s How Much I Love You, Baby (More or Less)”
This Chicago band (see #829) truly put the LSD in Lake Shore Drive. As to the song, it is “Dean Martin on acid lounge” (Prog Sothoth, https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2273), “[a] jazzy thing full of blues on which the band plays an excellent vocal performance”. (octopus-4, https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2273) Progfan97402 says that “I really love the lounge jazz” (https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2273) and Richie Unterberger says that the band “put their lounge jazz chops to good use on the suave but moody” song. (liner notes to the CD reissues of HP Lovecraft I and HP Lovecraft II) Jhendrix110 hates all but two of the songs on the album: “This album receives the lowest rating I have ever given for one very simple reason: it is the only album I have turned off in the middle out of sheer disgust and boredom.” (https://jhendrix110.tripod.com/Lovecraft.html) But “How Much I Love You” escapes his wrath!*
Singer and songwriter George Edwards (real name: Charles Ethan Kenning) tells us that the song “came from something [band member] Tony Cavallari said one day…it stuck with me, and I wrote a song around it.” (https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/07/hp-lovecraft-interview-with-ethan.html)
As to the first album, from which I take “How Much I Love You”, hieronymous says “the sound is folk rock meets psychedelia[, t]he vocal sound reminds me of Jefferson Airplane – some of the vocals seem melodramatic at first, but stick with it . . . the combination of [singer Dave] Michaels and George Edwards is actually pretty magical.” (http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2340776)
As to the band, William Ruhlmann says that H.P. Lovecraft was “a potentially important psychedelic act of the ‘60s that couldn’t hold together.” (https://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2019/10/hp-lovecraft-dreams-in-witch-house-1967.html) Richie Unterberger says that:
Like the stories of the author after whom they were named, H.P. Lovecraft’s music was spooky and mysterious, a vibe well-suited for the psychedelic times . . . . Their remarkably eclectic balance of folk, jazz, orchestrated pop, and even bits of garage rock and classical music, was too fragile and ethereal to keep afloat for any longer than that, perhaps. It lasted long enough, however, for the group to gift us with two uneven, occasionally brilliant albums that are among the most intriguing obscure relics of the psychedelic age.
http://www.richieunterberger.com/hplove.html
Unterberger again:
Featuring two strong singers (who often sang dual leads), hauntingly hazy arrangements, and imaginative songwriting that drew from pop and folk influences, H.P. Lovecraft was one of the better psychedelic groups of the late ’60s. The band was formed by ex-folky George Edwards in Chicago in 1967. [He] and keyboardist Dave Michaels, a classically trained singer with a four-octave range, handled the vocals, which echoed Jefferson Airplane’s in their depth and blend of high and low parts. Their self-titled 1967 LP was an impressive debut, featuring strong originals and covers of early compositions by Randy Newman and Fred Neil, as well as one of the first underground FM radio favorites, “White Ship.”
With the exception of a couple of badly dated tracks, th[e first album] is one of the best second-division psychedelic albums, with strong material that shows the immediately identifiable Edwards-Michaels vocal tandem at its best. According to the LP notes, the songs were largely inspired by novelist H.P. Lovecraft’s “macabre tales and poems of Earth populated by another race.” It’s more haunting than gloomy, though, with deft touches of folk, jazz, and horns.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hp-lovecraft-mn0000948429/biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/h-p-lovecraft-i-mw0000461464
George Edwards tells us:
I played Folk Music in high school, then in Chicago area clubs, and later toured the country playing most of the many Folk venues that had become popular in the early 60’s. . . . In the mid sixties, I began my association with Dunwich, working with them as a writer and session singer, eventually recording a series of singles for them. We recorded some of my original songs, and the Lennon/McCartney composition “Norwegian Wood” among others. . . .
In addition to my solo career, I was also working as a backup singer with a trio, playing supper clubs in the midwest. David Michaels was also part of this group. I was still pursuing a recording career, and had just recorded a Chip Taylor tune “Anyway That You Want Me” for my next Dunwich single. After listening to the finished record, I decided to invite David to come in and add a harmony vocal. We had been singing together in the above mentioned group for a couple of years, and had developed a very good musical rapport, and a tight vocal blend. . . .
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/07/hp-lovecraft-interview-with-ethan.html
Of note, the band played some early shows at The Cellar in Chicago. Edwards recalls that:
“The Cellar” was in a Chicago suburb. The only thing I remember about gigging there was a very hot and humid summer gig with “The Who”. The place was packed, and the temperature was close to 120 degrees. It was probably the most uncomfortable gig I ever played.
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/07/hp-lovecraft-interview-with-ethan.html#google_vignette
* Ivan Melgar M truly hates the whole album: “I can just describe [it] as boring, predictable and years behind what they should be doing, the vocal work reminds me of backup singers for crooners, had to press the skip button to maintain my mental sanity.” (https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2273) Every party has a party pooper, and the party pooper is you, Ivan Melgar M!
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I certainly recognize the band by name, maybe just because of the name. Pretty cool song, music to drop acid by, from what I’ve read 😉
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