THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,294) Jammë — “Strawberry Jam Man”
Here is a Beatlesque and Mamas & Papasesque ode to, yes, strawberry jam, with “a great melody [and] lyrics that make me smile” (RDTEN1, https://de.rateyourmusic.com/release/album/jamme/jamme/), a “[s]tandout track[] . . . fun . . . [and] endowed with sticky-sweet guitars” (LongPlay33, https://longplay33.wordpress.com/2018/02/16/jamme/) that “sounds like it should be the theme to some whacked-out Saturday morning kids TV show”. (Richard Metzger, https://dangerousminds.net/comments/jamme_long_lost_60s_classic_produced_by_john_phillips)
“Jam” comes from “a remarkable . . . psych-pop album” (Richard Metzger, https://dangerousminds.net/comments/jamme_long_lost_60s_classic_produced_by_john_phillips), a “charming little record . . . with Rubber Soul-like instrumentation throughout [that has] a wonderfully laid back, hippy-folk atmosphere”. (LongPlay33, https://longplay33.wordpress.com/2018/02/16/jamme/) Richie Unterberger, however, is more ambivalent:
Jammë’s sole, self-titled album is rather like what you’d think a late-’60s album by a group with some British expatriates produced by John Phillips might sound like. There’s a lot of influence from the lighter and poppier side of the Beatles, especially in the harmonies. But the Mamas & the Papas similarities can also be heard in the sunny California pop/rock tilt of some of the vocals and arrangements, and the folkiness to some of the guitar parts. It’s an attractive combination, though not one that matches the work of the best Beatles-influenced pop/rock groups, as the songs aren’t as outstanding and memorable.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jamme-mn0001176276#discography
And RDTEN1 is not enamored:
Full of strumming acoustic guitars, pretty ballads, English-accented vocals and lovelorn lyrics, this was an album for young girls with Davy Jones fixations and his posters on their walls. . . . Online review draw comparisons to Emmitt Rhodes, Badfinger and even Paul McCartney’s Fab Four catalog. Don’t fall for it. These tunes are way lighter and far less memorable than any of those other acts. . . . Sure, many of the melodies were attractive and the harmony vocals were sweet, but trying to sit through the whole set felt like one was in danger of suffering from a sugar “overload.”
As to Jammë, Richard Metzger tells us that:
In 1968, Jamme—a four-piece made up of two Brits and two Americans—were just another young group of musicians trying to make it on the Sunset Strip when they were handed the opportunity of a lifetime after John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas offered to produce an album for them, thinking he had found the new Beatles. . . . However, not everything went quite to plan. The band came into Phillips’ life in the summer of 1968, just as the Mamas and the Papas were breaking up, his marriage to Michelle Phillips was on the rocks and he was having an affair with Mia Farrow (right under the nose of Frank Sinatra!). All of that contributed to a rather bizarre recording experience, all of which took place in the studio Phillips had installed in the roof of his Bel Air mansion . . . the entrance to which, incidentally, was hidden (James Bond-style) behind a secret panel on the first floor of the house.
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/jamme_long_lost_60s_classic_produced_by_john_phillips
Richie Unterberger adds:
Jamme evolved in some respects out of the mid-’60s Washington, D.C. group the British Walkers, who did indeed include a genuinely British guitarist, Paul Downing. Downing moved to Los Angeles in 1967 with his girlfriend, Nancy Throckmorton, staying with her mother, Susan Adams, who’d been John Phillips’ first wife. Downing joined the San Diego band the Hard Times for a while, and got to know Phillips, playing on some sessions in [his] home studio. After Downing played guitar on some tracks on [a] Mamas & the Papas album . . . Phillips suggested [he] put a group together, which he did in spring 1968 with fellow ex-British Walker Tim Smyser (on bass) and fellow British expatriate guitarist Don Adey. . . . [They] began recording Jamme’s album in Phillips’ home studio . . . but the road to the LP’s completion wouldn’t be smooth. . . . Phillips asked Downing to replace Smyser with another musician, and when Downing balked, the album fell deeper into limbo, Smyser soon joining a fading Standells. With help from Adey’s bassist brother Keith, the album was finally completed and released in March 1970 on Phillips’ Warlock label. Unsurprisingly given the chaotic circumstances, the LP didn’t gain much exposure . . . .
And RDTEN1 throws in some dirty laundry:
With Phillips bankrolling the project the quartet went into Phillips home studio and began working, on their album only to run afoul of their producers ever more erratic behavior. Jealous of wife Michelle’s apparent affection for drummer Rae, Phillips kicked him out of the band, bringing in a string of sessions players, including Jim Gordon as replacements. Next Phillips demanded bassist Smyser be cut loose. The band initially refused and the sessions ground to a halt. Smyser subsequently quit on his own, reappearing in a late-inning line-up of The Standells, where he was promptly joined by Paul Downing. When recording sessions started back up in early 1970 the Wrecking Crew’s Larry Knechtel was handling bass. Don’s brother Keith Adey was then added to the line-up. The album cover certainly gave you the impression this was all about the Adey brothers. Keith was credited as co-writer for most of the material (though his contributions were apparently minimal; Don being the creative mainstay).
Here’s an alternate version:
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Got a good beat but just not my jam.
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I’m sending you a toe jam football from John Lennon. Hope you like it!
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I deserved that one!
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