THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,184) The New Mix — “Even Brighter”
This absolutely gorgeous ’68 pop psych/sunshine pop confection (out of North Carolina!) is “a hidden gem” that “still reminds me of glimmering golden orange autumn sunsets”. (MoonChild-zg3gx, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X_XhvZcyBU) Bad Cat Records says that “[i]n spite of the falsetto lead vocals, ‘Ever Brighter’ had a glistening melody that put it in the running for standout performance; at least until the MOR horn arrangement tacked on the end of the tune sank it.” (http://badcatrecords.com/NEWmix.htm) Hey, I love the horns, I think they make the song almost anthemic.
Of the New Mix and its only LP, Bad Cat Records tells us:
[I]t may not be 1968’s most original release, but as someone who is a big fan of sunshine pop and light-psych, it was an album I was happy to discover and repeatedly play. . . . Bassist Karl Jarvi, singer/lead guitarist Dave Brown, drummer Rob Thorne and keyboardist Henry Steele started their professional careers as the Statesville, North Carolina based The Eighteenth Edition. Like so many of their contemporaries, they were heavily influenced by The Beatles and other mid-’60s British bands. The quartet managed to release a pair of interesting psych-tinged singles for the small local Panther label. . . . Complete with paisley and Nehru jackets (and heavy Southern drawls), the second single even got them a shot lip-synching on the Charleston, South Carolina-based Village Square television show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgIMYxGkhAQ By 1968 they band had morphed into The New Mix, scoring a contract with United Artists. Produced by Tommy Kaye, The New Mix featured a collection of all original material with Brown and Steele sharing the writing credits. . . . Imagine a trippier version of The Association and you’d get a pretty good feel for moody tracks such as . . . “Ever Brighter”. . . . Brown and Steele had an undeniable knack for melding strong melodies, hooks and psych touches. . . . Originality was in short supply. You can play spot-the-influence throughout the album. Occasionally the band got full of themselves and while Brown was a capable singer . . . when he tried to get overly sensitive, or started singing in his higher registers, things took a turn for the worse. Still, it’s hard to believe United Artists didn’t even float a single.
http://badcatrecords.com/NEWmix.htm
Richie Unterberger had a decidedly negative reaction:
This was an era that saw many a generic pop-psychedelic album on major labels, and even in that class, the New Mix didn’t stand out. . . . [O]verall it’s a faceless clash of California freak-out psychedelia, sunshine pop, and a bit of British influence in some of the arrangements and harmonies.
The New Mix’s sole album is stereotypical 1968 pop-influenced trendy psychedelia. The ten original songs favor San Francisco psych-folk-rock-influenced minor keys, Doors-Strawberry Alarm Clock-influenced organ, and the odd screeching distorted guitar. The arrangements also nod to a pop influence with harmonies that sometimes recall the Hollies’ brief psychedelic phase . . . and some fruity instrumentation that might have made it into sunshine pop records by the likes of the Association. It’s a real melange, in other words, and like a salad made up of various excerpts from the week’s leftovers, it doesn’t go together too well or taste too good or fresh. There’s little memorable about the songs, and some of the lead vocals have a distasteful stiff, strident air. Perhaps as a rough comparison, you might liken the New Mix to groups with awkward mixes of pop and freaky psych, like Fever Tree and the Strawberry Alarm Clock, but the band isn’t even close to their level.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-mix-mn0001210424#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-new-mix-mw0000867848
In reaction to this commentary, starcloud4959 stated that “it looks like that reviewer is some type of pompous twat”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X_XhvZcyBU) Now, I don’t agree with Mr. Unterberger here — I think the New Mix’s album tastes real good and real fresh, and I love Fever Tree [see #614] and the Alarm Clock [see #127, 272, 901, 1,111] — but let’s be civil, it’s only rock and roll (and I like it)!
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